Pradorian Mate (3 page)

Otherworldly eyes widened at her action, then narrowed. “You! Put on this garment or punishment will be administered!” snapped the creature, clearly in no mood for uncooperative women.

“
Punish me all you like. There is no way I’m wearing that scrap of clothing.” She stared the green alien down stubbornly. If she could have, she would have disintegrated the offending being into dust.

An incredible amount of electricity ran throughout her body raising every hair follicle and stunning every nerve. It left her feeling so numb she could hardly move. Before she knew what was going on, a number of the little creatures had surrounded her and begun tearing off her clothes, replacing them with the flimsy bits of cloth, which consisted of a tiny translucent skirt and an even tinier top.

The next thing she knew, a large wall in front of her formed an opening, and all the women were herded through it toward the planet’s surface.

Chapter 2

At first, Sara held her breath, thinking she would die of suffocation, but after noticing the women around her weren’t fainting, she came to the conclusion that the planet must have a breathable atmosphere. She inhaled the air, somewhat hesitant.

It was dark outside, and shadows danced everywhere around the spaceship, making it hard to see just what was close by. As Sara’s eyes began to adjust, she could make out a line of thick trees surrounding the landing site. It looked like a forest, but something was strange about it. The landscape seemed colorless, almost two dimensional, though that could have been because the sun had set on this new world. A pleasant sensation ran through her, if only for a moment, as the soft warm air hugged and caressed her bare skin. It carried a sweet scent.

A strangled sounding voice ran through the crowd of women, ordering them to move at once into the unknown. Whispers rushed from person to person, further accentuating the worry and grief rising among them. The murmurs earned them another shout from behind, followed by prods, making them feel like cattle being driven to their grim destination.

Sara felt something grip the depths of her stomach as they approached a shallow hill. There was a strange orange light in the distance among the thick trees. Something that sounded like singing or chanting spilled over the rise they were climbing. An eerie monotonous tone that was unfamiliar to her. The gentle swish of the tall, wild grass beneath her feet gave little sound and stood erect almost immediately after it had been trodden upon. She gained comfort from knowing if she had to run, at least she wouldn’t leave many tracks or make a lot of noise for them to follow. Whoever
they
were, she wasn’t willing to let anyone simply keep her against her will.

At the top, a flat clearing expanded before the ginger crowd, and she saw them for the first time. They looked unearthly and unnatural to her eyes. These tall, muscular, feral-looking beings were gathered in a circle around the same orange light she’d seen earlier. The light appeared to be caged in a warped glass-like triangle placed upon the ground. The unique light looked equivalent to a campfire, but it swirled like a wave through the transparent glass. As the creatures held their attention on the light, it became dimmer and flickered with increasing frequency. Soon after, they all stood, unmoving, making strange guttural sounds like humming from the depths of their throats.

The women stood as still as death, regarding the tall, muscular creatures with despair. Whispers quickly broke out among them, and they quietly tried to move back to the path on which they’d arrived.

“
Move!” One of the little green creatures issued orders as the others kept the women under control.

A great sense of foreboding fell over the group as they waited, fear building inside them. The chanting had stopped, and the tall blue aliens turned to look at the newly arrived females. Black stripes covered their muscular bodies. Yellow-flecked eyes stared emotionlessly. Various pointed ears twitched at any sounds the females made. In a way, they reminded Sara of vampires or other mythical creatures she’d read about in fairy tales. One reminded her of a certain troll, only taller, much taller.

One of the little green creatures moved toward the blue-skinned aliens. He bowed to one who wore a long black cloth over his groin. He proudly announced, “We have delivered your mates, Great Vasil. Would you like to choose now?”

The imposing extraterrestrial looked down on the speaker with a hint of dismissal, as if he were nothing more than an ant. Emitting an uncanny growl that brought goosebumps to Sara’s neck, he stepped past the little creature toward the crowd. Most of the women screamed in fear for their lives and tried to back away.

Other tall males followed his lead, imitating his growl, and collecting the unwilling females one by one. Despite their protests, each male picked a female and threw her over his broad shoulders before disappearing into the dark night. Screaming and violence ensued as the women desperately tried to free themselves, hitting their captors in every possible way. The women, whisked like feather pillows from the ground, punched hard against their captor’s backs. Others kicked with all of the strength they could muster. Some even pulled the male aliens’ hair, pushing their bodies forward so they could jump behind them. The scene reminded Sara of a comedy, a drama. One particular woman delivered a bite with her sharp teeth into her captor’s neck. Sara waited for blood to pour down his massive neck.

The males,
though, appeared oblivious, to the female’s efforts to escape. When Sara, who stood at the back of the horde, saw what was happening, she reacted quickly and began backing away. Mind racing, she slowly and quietly made her way toward the dark path they had arrived on. As soon as Sara was sure she was out of sight and her departure unnoticed, she turned and ran into the darkness as fast as she could. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew she had to get as far away from those strange creatures as possible.

***

The tiny creature observed in satisfaction, as the last unwilling female was whisked away by her claimant. When it noticed the Great Vasil had been left without a mate, as well as one of the warriors next to him, he began to tremble with anxiety. He looked up nervously at the huge blue Pradorian, knowing what to expect from this famously vicious warrior race.

“
My Gr-Great Vasil, I counted exactly 21F. F-for you and your warriors. I don’t understand how we are sh-short 2F.” He worried as he explained. He retreated, but paused when a blue Pradorian stared straight at him.

“
2F? You made a mi—,” the warrior began, before noticing a warning glance from Vasil, stopping him mid-speech.

“
They are here, Bantam, fleeing,” announced the great Vasil, while turning to the small creature, who trembled at the sound of the Pradorian leader’s cold voice.

“
I will order a search for them at once, great one!”

“
No.” The Great Vasil growled. Turning to the warrior, he gave a sharp order. “Dar, go after them.” Without hesitation, the warrior disappeared into the dark forest.

The formidable-looking Pradorian returned his attention to the little green creature, his tone imperious. “Leave Pradoria now. Your payment has been loaded onto your vessel. Your business here is concluded.”

The green being bowed once before retreating to his ship without looking back. Meanwhile, the Great Vasil had disappeared into the darkness of the forest just as rapidly and silently as his subordinate.

* * *

Sara ran until her body forced her to stop. Her lungs were on fire from the exertion. Her body felt stiff and threatened to cramp up. This air might be breathable, but it must be thinner than she was used to on Earth, or it wouldn’t be so hard to catch her breath. She leaned on a large, discolored tree trunk and swallowed. There was no way she would survive for long on this planet if she couldn’t escape. She didn’t even know where she was, much less where to go to stay away from those creatures. Sara wondered if those monsters had dispersed by now, then an idea came to her.
I could run back to that ship and get them to take me back to Earth. Surely those…whatever they are were gone by now.

Something stirred a few meters to the left, making her tense up. The moonlight helped her see, but the forest canopy kept it too dark to know just what was out there. Sara tried to keep her breathing quiet while she listened intently. Another crunching sound coaxed her into abandoning her resting place on the trunk and preparing her body to run again.

They can’t have reached me so fast. It’s not humanly possible!
She tried to calm herself, until she realized…
You idiot! They’re not human!

The thought of something finding her caused a ripple of fresh fear to run rampant throughout her body. She looked around for something, anything, to protect herself with. A nearby fallen branch would do. With two hands grasped tightly around her newfound weapon, Sara prepared to make a stand. She wouldn’t just sit there and wait for them to come and whisk her away. No one would force her to do anything again. She stood ready to fight.

The tall dark bush in front of her moved aside. To her astonishment a small female figure appeared, looking straight at her, with huge green eyes filled with horror.

“
Oh my God!” exclaimed the girl, seeming a bit relieved. “You ran, too?”

“
Who are you?” Sara threw her branch to the ground, no longer worried about any threat. “Are you okay?”

The young girl leaned forward as she held her chest. “I’m Orora. I thought you were one of them. I was afraid…” She looked as if she were trying to hide her trembling.

Sara breathed a sigh of relief at seeing another human. Indeed, she’d felt the same way. “It’s okay, Orora. I’m Sara, and I’ll be sticking with you until we get out of this place.”

Orora’s once horrified face, and eyes filled with fear and uncertainty, relaxed. She nodded, relief visibly showing. “So…where are we going?”

“I don’t know. I thought I’d try and make it back to the ship. Maybe they’re gone by now, but whatever we do we’d better do it quickly because they must have noticed we’re missing by now.”  Sara looked worriedly behind the girl.

Orora agreed, and the two moved off at a quiet yet brisk pace, silently encouraging each other to move faster until they began running again. Everything in the forest looked the same under the moonlight.

Fallen branches were hard to see through the dark foliage. As they ran, Sara noticed between the endless trees another two moons rising eerily above the horizon, bouncing the sun’s rays back to the surface of the planet. The ominous trees they passed seemed to suck up any light the moons offered, causing it to remain almost pitch black under the canopy. Orora stumbled, her foot caught on a thick branch laying before her, her hands out in front of her, getting ready for the impact. A hand reached out and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back into a standing position again. She exhaled in relief, as she smiled up at Sara and continued their run.

Time
ran fast, as did they. A scream of pain broke through the silence of the forest. Sara looked at her friend standing a few feet behind her, leaning over her left ankle, rubbing it. Her face looked torn by pain. Her eyes were shut, her lips drawn into a hard line. It looked as though she was biting her lower lip, trying not to let another cry escape her.

“
Are you all right?”” Sara approached her.

“
Yes it’s nothing. I just felt a sharp pain and thought I tore a muscle or something, but now it’s better.”

“
Will you be able to go on?” Sara breathed sharply, looking wearily around them.
Orora looked up at Sara.

Sara
frowned, her gaze searching the dark forest, worried. She squinted slightly, trying to view beyond the trees. She turned her head sideways, standing still, listening to their surroundings. Sara wondered if they’d ever find their way back, but then she noticed how the forest around them had fallen into a still, eerie silence. She felt like someone was watching them, following them.

“
Do you hear that?” Maybe she was being paranoid, but at this point she figured it paid to be, at least a little.

“
What? I don’t hear anything.” Orora spoke in a hushed whisper while looking at Sara questioningly.

“
Exactly.”

“
We don’t know this place. It could be this silent all the time,” commented Orora. “Let’s keep running.”

“
I don’t know what, but there’s something strange going on. It feels like we’re being watched.” She looked around to ensure nobody was with them.

“
Oh, don’t be silly. We would have heard something by now. Plus, we’ve been running for hours. Anyone chasing us would have given up by now.” Orora dismissed Sara’s concern.

Suddenly, something whooshed past Sara. She lost her balance and fell against a tree trunk. By the time she’d composed herself, her friend was gone, vanished into thin air.

“Orora!” Sara called out, but there was no reply. A deadly silence settled around her as she shivered, feeling lost and alone. All she could do was keep running, she told herself, fighting to focus her thoughts, she sprinted off as fast as she could.