Chapter Three

Sutton

The shrill screech of rending metal made me flinch, my back pressed against the twisted bars as I planted my feet on the opposite side of the cramped cage. Just enough space to brace my shoulders and legs, to throw all my weight into bucking against the unyielding door.

I gritted my teeth, tendons straining as I pushed with every ounce of strength left in my battered body. The reinforced metal groaned in protest, stubbornly refusing to give way. Sweat beaded on my brow, trickling down the side of my face as I tensed every muscle, desperately trying to push that stubborn barrier open.

This was it—my one shot at freedom from this nightmare. If I could just pop the door loose from its frame, create a gap just big enough to tumble through...

A deafening clang made me jump, the abused metal finally surrendering as the heavy door tore free of its frame. I tumbled backwards, choking on a startled cry as the smoking corridor swam back into view.

There, silhouetted in the haze, towered the hulking feline beast from earlier. Its powerful shoulders rose and fell, his body armor creaking with each measured breath.

I scrambled back, heart thundering in my ears as it turned those hellish amber eyes on me. The intensity of that stare bored straight through to my soul, freezing me in place like a prize stag caught in the sights of a skilled hunter.

This was it. The moment of truth, when the alien revealed its true intentions. Would it be the slavering monster of my darkest imaginings, or some holy savior sent to deliver me from this purgatory?

The beast took a single, purposeful stride forward, and I flinched violently, bracing myself for the killing blow. But it never came.

Instead, the creature lifted one enormous paw in a gesture of... what? Placation? A threat held in check for the moment?

"Easy now," a deep, rumbling voice sliced through the cacophony surrounding us. Male, authoritative, but with an unmistakable gentleness that made me blink in shock. "You're safe. I'm not here to harm you."

The words washed over me, alien and guttural. At first, they were just meaningless noise, like the beast itself was simply growling out a series of barks and snarls.

But then, something... clicked. Some strange technology embedded deep in my skull, no doubt implanted by my captors, began to decode and translate the sounds into something I could comprehend.

I blinked again, heart stuttering in my chest as the true meaning solidified in my mind. It was... speaking to me. Calmly, almost gently, despite its ferocious appearance.

"Wh-what?" I rasped, my voice sounding small and fragile by comparison. "What are you?"

The beast cocked its head, whiskers twitching as it studied me with those unnerving amber eyes. "I am Raxon of the Kal'doren," it - he - rumbled at last. "A warrior of the Coalition Defense Force. I'm here to rescue you and any other captives aboard this ship."

Rescue me? The words sparked a flicker of hope in my chest, one I quickly smothered beneath a wave of bitter cynicism. As if I could trust anything this... this creature told me. For all I knew, it was the one calling the shots, the slaver kingpin behind this whole twisted operation.

Still, I had to play along for now. Antagonizing the only being here who might get me out of this hellish prison would be tantamount to suicide.

So I swallowed hard and forced myself to meet that piercing amber stare, mustering what little courage I had left.

"Then get me out of here," I rasped through a dry, cracked throat. "Please... I want to go home."

Raxon's eyes narrowed faintly, as if weighing the truth of my words against whatever monstrous assumptions he'd made about me and my kind. Then, with a slight dip of his head, he turned and grasped the twisted bars of the ruined cell, thick muscles cording as he simply ripped the entire cage door free with a bone-jarring screech of protesting metal.

I gasped, scrambling back as the beast tossed the mangled obstruction aside like so much scrap. He moved with such casual, overwhelming power, like the laws of physics themselves were merely suggestions to be obeyed or discarded on a whim.

Raxon rumbled something, the sound reverberating through my very bones. I blinked, forcing myself back to the present as the translation matrix embedded in my skull kicked in once more.

"Come with me." His tone held a gentle note to it. "The Coalition will sort out the captives." The beast looked around, his snout grimacing at the other cages.

I swallowed hard, numb fingers grasping the edge of the ruined cell as I hauled myself to my feet. My knees shook, whether from exhaustion or sheer terror. I couldn't say.

But I knew I couldn't stay here, waiting for death to claim me amid the twisted wreckage. If this was my one shot at salvation, as crazy as it seemed, I had to take it.

So, with a trembling nod, I stepped out of the cage and into the smoke-choked cargo hold.

Raxon watched me impassively for a moment, those alien features unreadable. Then, with a flick of one pointed ear, he turned and started moving deeper into the bowels of the ravaged ship.

"This way," he growled over his shoulder. "And stay close—I'm not losing you in this mess."

I blinked, momentarily stunned by the commanding edge in his tone. Rude. But the distant groaning of stressed bulkheads snapped me back to reality. With one last glance at the ruined cage that had been my personal hell for so long, I hurried after the hulking alien warrior.

We moved through a maze of scorched corridors and smoke-filled compartments. Everywhere I looked, evidence of the battle that had torn this ship asunder surrounded us—scorch marks, twisted wreckage, the occasional body lying broken and contorted in impossible angles.

I tried not to look too closely at those, focusing instead on keeping pace with Raxon's long, loping strides. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, leading us unerringly through the devastated labyrinth.

At last, we emerged into a massive hangar space, the curved belly of some kind of sleek alien craft dominating the center of the cavernous chamber. Armored figures similar to Raxon moved with military precision, securing the area with raised weapons.

Raxon barked out a series of harsh syllables, and the warriors snapped to attention, their alien features fixing on me with undisguised curiosity and... was that wariness I saw in their eyes? Fear, even?

I shrank back despite myself, pressing closer to Raxon's hulking form. For all his brusque assurances, I was surrounded by these strange new beings, with no way to judge their intentions or predict their next moves.

Raxon rumbled something else, the words utterly incomprehensible to me this time. But the tone was unmistakable, an order issued with the weight of one who was accustomed to being obeyed without question.

The warriors tensed for a heartbeat longer, shooting me furtive looks. Then, as one, they turned and moved towards the waiting craft with crisp, military efficiency.

"This way," Raxon growled at me, gesturing with one massive paw. "We're leaving this place."

I blinked up at him, searching that impassive alien visage for any hint of deception or malice. But there was nothing, just that same piercing intensity that seemed to stare straight through to my very soul.

With nowhere else to go, no other options presenting themselves, I could only nod and follow him up the ramp and into the sleek craft's interior.

The first thing that struck me was the sheer... alienness of it all. Technology that defied any frame of reference I possessed, strange angles and geometries that seemed to flow in ways that shouldn't be possible. I ran my fingers along the closest bulkhead, marveling at the strange texture, the faint thrum of power that seemed to course through the entire structure.

"You've never seen anything like this before, have you?" Raxon's deep rumble made me jump, and I whirled to find him studying me with those unsettling amber eyes.

I swallowed hard, trying to tamp down the thundering of my heart. "N-no. Nothing like it."

He cocked his head slightly, whiskers twitching. "I don't recognize your species. Where are you from, little one?"

The endearment, as gentle as it was, still made something inside me bristle. I was hardly some helpless child to be coddled and condescended to, no matter how fierce and imposing this alien appeared.

So I lifted my chin and met that piercing gaze head-on. "Earth. I'm human."

Raxon's brows drew together slightly, the first hint of confusion I'd seen on those alien features. "Human," he repeated, the word rolling strangely off that rumbling baritone. "I'm not familiar with your kind. You're... new to me."

"Yeah, well, you're pretty new to me too," I shot back before I could stop myself. "My name is Sutton. Just in case you wanted to know."

There was a beat of tense silence, and for a moment I was sure I'd overstepped, pushed this fierce warrior's patience past the breaking point. But then Raxon huffed a low chuckle, lips pulling back to expose a hint of razored fangs.

"Fair enough, little human." His tone held a surprising warmth, like I'd just proven my mettle in some small way. "For now, let's just focus on getting you somewhere safe, shall we?"

I opened my mouth to protest the ‘little human' jab, but the craft shuddered around us as the engines spooled to life with a deafening whine. Raxon turned away, loping towards a raised platform at the front of the bridge, tail swinging behind him.

"Prepare for departure and make sure all gunners are on high-alert," he growled over his shoulder at the other armored warriors scurrying around us. "I don't want any surprises before we disengage from that wreck."

One of the others rumbled something in response. Raxon flicked an ear towards me, then replied in a lower tone that my translator couldn't quite decipher.

The other warrior's gaze snapped to me, those alien features contorting into an unmistakable look of mistrust. He growled something harsh, hand dropping to the wicked-looking rifle slung across his back.

Raxon's lip curled, baring a hint of fang as his shoulders tensed. The two squared off for a moment, the air between them practically crackling with unspoken challenge.

Then, just as suddenly as the tension flared, Raxon seemed to force it back down with sheer willpower. He uttered a curt syllable, the rebuke plain even to my ears.

The other warrior held his gaze for a defiant heartbeat longer, then gave the barest dip of his head and stalked away. As he brushed past me, I caught a glimpse of those cold, flinty eyes sizing me up with naked hostility.

A shiver went through me, the reality of my situation crashing back down in a cold wave of dread. These weren't just aliens, some strange new life form to be studied and dissected. They were warriors, trained killers with the martial prowess to overpower me without even breaking a sweat.

And I was utterly, hopelessly at their mercy.

"Don't mind Kravok," Raxon rumbled, pulling my attention back to him. "He's been on too many missions where the stakes were highest. It makes him... prickly around anything new or unexpected."

He settled himself into the raised command chair, manipulating a bewildering array of controls and flickering displays with an easy, practiced grace. I watched, mesmerized despite myself, as his powerful hands danced across the panels.

"Speaking of unexpected..." Raxon's gaze flicked to me, holding me transfixed by that piercing amber stare. "We'll sort out what to do with you once we're safely away from this place. For now, just find somewhere out of the way and try to keep that pretty little head down, understand?"

I bristled at the patronizing lilt in his tone, but smothered my instinctive retort as the craft shuddered and began to move. Dim shapes flickered past the bridge viewports as we pulled away from the ravaged slaver ship, gliding through the silent void of space.

"What about the others?" I ask as I scramble into a seat and try to figure out how the harness worked.

As the alien craft banked and the last tattered remnants of the slaver ship shrank behind us, Raxon shrugged. "The Coalition will sort things out. My job here is done." Raxon looks at me before speaking again. "Looks like I have a new job now."