Drelix

Ihate Tatatunga. I hate the Uhatx. I hate that Crystal is right. I might consider exposing my ancient, scaled hide to the dome, but I do not want her in it, regardless of the odds.

But both of us need to get off Trefa before anything else goes wrong. I need the information and she, apparently, needs rid of the Habosu.

Because she stole something from them. It's a piece of information she has chosen not to share. Yet I don't blame her. After all she's been through, why would she tell me everything?

Crystal is my mate, and I trust her more than anything because otherwise I wouldn't have gone into rut for her.

"I'll go, but not my mate. Those are my terms Uhatx. You'll get your show, and we get what we want."

"Drelix!" Crystal exclaims.

The Uhatx burbles and his pseudo tentacles writhe underneath him. He's going to make a show of acceptance under duress, but I can tell he's pleased.

"Then I choose your opponent and you fight regardless."

I choke back the growl in my throat. I do not want to fight the Gryn. If nothing else, those nevvers fight dirty. I also don't want to hurt my friends. They're broken enough.

The Uhatx's eyes are blank masses in his face, and they give away no emotion.

"Fine," I say through a mouthful of fangs. "I'll fight whomever you choose."

"Fuck, no!" Crystal spins away from me, her long dress flowing around her.

The Uhatx swiftly inserts himself between us.

"I choose the zigurex," he says.

Nev it to the ancestors!The zigurex was not in my head but it is now. The only other creature capable of matching a shifted Sarkarnii except they're so rare, they hardly ever cross our paths.

"You have a zigurex?" I say evenly.

"The owners of the dome have one. The Gryn were due to fight it as one, but I'm sure they will happily hand it over to me if you are to fight it," he says, his words burbling in his chest with disgusting excitement.

"Then I fight a zigurex tonight," I respond.

Crystal snorts loudly, folding her arms and marching over to the door.

"Tonight?"

"The dome has an audience. You said the owners would give you a zigurex, so I'm sure you can arrange it. But if not tonight"—I lean into him, extending my fangs, claws, and wings—"then you give us what we want and we walk out of here without any further threat."

I can already feel the buzzing in my ears which denotes a larger amount of pulsar weapons entering the facility. This was a trap. It was always a trap, but there is a possibility I might get the information I need and get my mate the relief she deserves.

The fact someone chose to stir up the Gryn during a pre-games display says it all.

The Uhatx flips his tentacles as he considers his options which have just become more limited than ours.

"It is a deal, Sarkarnii," he says.

As he does, the wall behind him dissolves to reveal a cohort of armed, masked guards. From their size and build, they could be Xicop, although without any smell. They all hold the pulsar weapons I could scent.

"If it's a deal, what is this for?"

"Insurance," he says. "As is this…"

"Get the fuck off me!"

I turn to see Crystal held in the grip of a guard.

"Don't do this, Drelix," she says as she slams a knee into the thigh of the guard and he doubles over, letting her go. "You don't have to. We can find out what we need elsewhere. This is not worth fighting in the dome…because he wants you to," she says, her gaze filled with hate for the Uhatx.

The guard tightens re-grips her and she cries out. He shoves a pulsar pistol into her neck. I start to shift with a snarl, but the nevving Uhatx is in front of me again.

"I wouldn't, Sarkarnii, not here. Think of your mate being with me as a little incentive to fight well. I stand to make considerable credits if you do."

Not only a trap, but one which has been expertly sprung. I'm here as entertainment, a lone Sarkarnii, almost as rare as the zigurex I'm supposed to be fighting. All that remains is whether the Uhatx has what we came for at all.

"She will always be my incentive to keep on living, long after the stars have disappeared and all the planets are mere rocks of nothingness," I reply. "But ultimately, how do we know you'll keep your word? I need proof, or there will be no fight."

The Uhatx might have thought he'd planned this carefully, but if I choose not to fight well in the dome, he can see his profits draining away. He has shown his master plan to have a flaw and I have to exploit it. After all, coming to Tatatunga was always going to be a trap. I knew it from the outset.

He huffs, his tentacles squirming until they bring out a small vid-screen.

"The Habosu house of Makkan will do what I tell them to do. They are in my pay, and they have no other means of support." He grinds out the information begrudgingly. "As for your desire, that is a little harder to prove…" He holds out the screen.

I reach for it, but he holds it out of reach. On it, I can see a set of documents, some with what looks like an imperial crest attached, but not one I recognize.

"That's all you get for now, Drelix," he says. "You should get ready for the fight I'm about to organize."

"Let me speak to my mate first," I snarl.

He looks me up and down, and for a seccari, I think he's going to refuse.

"Let the human go," he says to the guard, and in that instant, Crystal is in my arms.