Chapter 7

SARAH

In a cruel and calculated ritual, the Gorken guards signaled the end of our shift with guttural growls and menacing hisses. Our bodies trembled in fear as we shuffled along, our bones weary from the brutal work of chipping away at the glowing ore. As hard as diamonds, the sorium was difficult to break. The bright orange ore I had once thought beautiful, no longer held the same luster after endless days and weeks of hammering away at it.

Whips cracked at our feet as we were forced into a single file line. As we trudged along, rations of meager food and water were doled out to each of us, the amount determined by how much ore we had mined that shift, but it was never enough to ease our constant hunger and thirst.

After being herded into our small holding cell, which was nothing more than a large alcove hollowed out of the rock wall and fitted with electrocution bars, Krax'zul swiped a gangly hand over a panel embedded adjacent to the mouth of our cell. The electrified bars sizzled to life with a malevolent hum, casting an eerie glow and accentuating our entrapment.

Just like on the Gorken spacecraft, the crackling energy served as a stark reminder of our powerlessness, sparking a primal instinct to survive amid such ruthless captivity. The ten of us huddled close as we always did, seeking comfort and support from each other as we rested and readied ourselves for the next grueling shift of servitude under the watchful eyes of our alien oppressors.

Fear and despair clung to us like the rust-colored dust that coated everything on this forsaken world as we pooled together what little rations we had been given. We shared everything, it was the only way all of us would survive by keeping each other strong.

Now that we were contained, the males were released to begin their shift of painstakingly chipping away at the thin veins of glowing ore threaded through the rock walls. We had always been kept separate from the males and rarely spoke to them, fearing the guards would catch us and inflict punishment. When we did converse, it was usually to strategize the next escape attempt.

The once strong and burly Valosian males now shuffled out of their cell, clutching hammers and picks. Among them stood a blue-skinned male with tubular, red hair. He was one of the few who were here when we arrived, but all had since died. We'd heard the Valosians call him Zorin. I had no clue what species he was or what planet he hailed, but he was the last of his kind who had been worked until death before we were brought here to take their places.

The night shift guards swarmed into the cavern with a sense of authority. Thra'gul, a day shift guard moved in to intercept, snarling and cracking his whip at their spindly legs.

The night guard named, Nef'lur caught the whip in a clawed grip and yanked it out of Thra'gul's hand. "Care to explain yourself, Thra'gul?"

"Queen Uri gave explicit orders the males are to be kept separated from the females at all times."

Nef'lur lifts several sets of wiry appendages in a casual shrug and scans the cavern. "And they are, so what's your problem?"

"A Valosian was left out of the holding cell on your last watch. He took a punishment meant for a female," Zul'mar pushed his way past Thra'gul. "You know the males are more valuable than the females. Queen Uri warned us the males would protect the females even with their lives. These slaves have to last longer than the last batch. We don't have the rillium to return to Tirius."

As the guards fought and bickered amongst themselves, I caught the attention of a Valosian named Turrek painstakingly chipping away at a small vein of ore nearby. I motioned for him to come closer and he cautiously made his way over to me.

"What is it, human?" Turrek whispered, his eyes darting nervously to the guards.

"I need to know about Gunnox," I blurted. The urgency I felt swirling and pressing behind my sternum needed an explanation. "Who is he and how did he get here?"

Turrek's expression darkened as he spoke, "Gunnox is a warrior from Clan Trisess. He and another male, Drekkor, went missing while out hunting in the Trisess forest. We never figured out what happened to them, but that was a long time ago before I awoke on a planet that was not Valose."

"How did he get into the mine?" I glanced over at the gaggle of Gorken guards as they continued to fight among themselves. "Where did he disappear to?"

"None of us knows, but prepare the females for an escape. Gunnox is an honorable warrior of Valose. He will return for us."

Turrek returned to his task of relentlessly chiseling at the precious ore, while the heated exchange between the Gorken guards came to a halt. My heart fluttered with a glimmer of hope, clinging to Turrek's conviction that Gunnox would soon save us all.