Piper

“I’m here to see Melkov,” Kane says.

The guard looks us up and down, and then motions for us to go in. We enter the tunnel, and I’m as good as blind in the darkness. I hold onto Kane’s arm tightly, wishing that this whole ordeal would be over.

“Nearly there,” he says.

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

The dark path opens up into a massive, underground chamber. Candles and chandeliers illuminate the place — they’re just about the only pretty things there.

Because in the center of the room stands a garish golden throne, with a fat, rat-like man perched on top of it. Several scantily clad women surround him, feeding him grapes and washing his feet.

Gross.

“I’m looking for Melkov,” Kane growls.

The man looks up, irritated. “Well, you’ve found him. Who disturbs me, mid-bath?”

Kane pulls my hood down.

The rat-man sits up straight instantly, knocking his foot-bath over, grey water spilling down the steps. He snaps his fingers and the girls leave instantly, their heads bowed.

Melkov inspects me from head-to-toe with his beady eyes, and it makes me deeply uncomfortable.

This man going to help me ‘save’ this planet? He looks like a dictator to me.

“You’ve brought me a human,” he exclaims gleefully. “Glorious! Come child, let me take a better look at you.”

Kane nudges me. I don’t move. This man gives me the creeps.

“Come on,” he hisses. “I won’t bite.”

I’m not so sure about that.

I give Kane another look, hoping he’ll rescue me again, but he nods decisively — even though I see in his purple eyes that he’s conflicted.

I walk over to Melkov, my eyes aimed straight at the ground. As long as I don’t have to look at him, I can pretend this is not happening…

The rat-man grabs my cheeks with his bony-yet-hairy fingers and inspects like one would inspect a horse.

“Excellent condition. You have done well. She will make us rich!”

My left eye twitches. What?

“You mean she will help the clan,” Kane thunders with his booming voice.

Melkov looks tip, confused. His beady eyes cross Kane’s intense gaze, and the rat-man perks up.

“Right, right, help the clan,” he says.

Not very convincingly.

“Her power belongs to the clan!” Kane stats again forcefully, as he pulls his own hood down. “She will bring balance to Vagreon!”

“Ah, Silver,” Melkov says. “Now it makes sense. Ragh told me about you. You’re the one with the memory issues, right?”

Kane’s amethyst eyes dart over towards me. I can see he’s as unsure of this situation as I am.

“I don’t see what that has to do with any of this,” the Zoran growls. I can sense he’s growing impatient.

Melkov waves him away. “It doesn’t. Your mission is accomplished. Ragh will give you whatever he promised you. You can leave now.”

I turn around and look at Kane.

Please don’t go.

The rat-man roughly squeezes my ass, and I recoil in horror, nearly stumbling down the slippery steps. I run over to Kane, and he holds open his cloak for me, protectively wrapping his arms around me.

“Hand her over,” Melkov says.

Kane hugs me tightly, and I fight the tears. “Don’t give me to him,” I whisper. “Please.”

“Zoran. Hand the cargo over,” Melkov insists.

“I’m not sure I can do that,” he tells the rat-man.

“Don’t be a fool,” Melkov hisses.

When I open my eyes I see there are guards surrounding us on all sides, brandishing swords.

“What are you planning?!” Kane growls. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“That is not for you to know!” Melkov says. “You are a tool, Silver. Nothing more.”

“We’re leaving,” Kane says. “I will go see Ragh.”

Melkov throws his head back and laughs. “If you think I’m letting you walk out of here with that prize, you’ve been huffing too much Jet, my friend.”

My cheeks burn hotly. I still can’t believe this. A bunch of aliens are about to start fighting — over me?

I would have voted myself least-likely-to-be-abducted-and-fought-over-by-alien-warlords, if it had been an option. Yet, here I am. Kane’s arm wrapped tightly around my waist, and more than a dozen armed rat-folk glaring at us.

Despite the imminent danger we’re in, Kane makes me feel safe. As long as his arm is around me, I know things will end up well.

He took out a whole ship of Ganon by himself. He can take care of these guys.

I hope.

“I don’t understand,” Kane growls, frustrated. “You are Sahr! You are the clan! You ought to be fighting slavery, not practicing it!”

“Of course you don’t understand,” Melkov bites. “You’re a tool — one that has outlived his usefulness. Ragh saw potential in you, and rightfully so. With your tattered brain, you would have believed anything!”

Kane’s silver face turns a ghostly pale. “No,” he breathes. “No.”

“Oh yes,” Melkov smirks. His beady eyes are filled with hatred — the sick bastard is getting off on this power trip. “Yes. You were quite useful, Silver. With your help we Sahr grew from insignificant bottom-feeders to the top of the food-chain! The Seven Lords are dead thanks to you, their organizations in disarray, and Vagreon is ours for the taking! With the credits we’ll earn by auctioning off that human piece off ass you’ve delivered right to my doorstep, we can make our final push. I know several Gyx princes who can’t wait to try human flesh, and they’ll pay me a fortune for it!”

Melkov throws his head back and laughs. He laughs and laughs and laughs, and the sound makes me sick to my very stomach.

Kane is trembling, his purple eyes filled with horror. For the first time he looks vulnerable. I don’t completely understand the implications of what the rat bastard has just said, but I do know it’s got Kane shaken up good.

“Let’s go,” I whisper. “Let’s go. Now!”

We turn around, and two of the rat-folk block our exit. In a flash Kane pulls out his gun, and two bangs later we’re off. He lifts me right off my feet and I wrap my arms and leg around his powerful frame. Wind whips my hair around as he sprints down he tunnel, and I focus on the sound his heart makes, the rhythmic thumping the only thing keeping me from freaking out.

He bursts out into the courtyard, but more ratfolk are waiting for us there, and behind them an entire crowd of onlookers has assembled.

“Hold on,” Kane growls.

He charges at them. Every step the Zoran takes is massive, and he jumps right into the crowd… and just when I think we might make it out of there in one piece, a rope is thrown around Kane’s neck.

He’s stopped dead in his tracks. I, on the other hand, am launched like a missile. I crash down hard on the rocky floor, the crowd dispersing. When I look up, I see Kane’s gun is only a few feet away from me.

My gut turns to stone when I see the Zoran is lying on the floor, and more than a dozen of the rat-people are beating him with metal pipes. The crunching sound every blow makes me stick to my stomach.

The whole crowd is focused on the orgy of violence, and no one both to look at me. If I wanted to, I could slip away unseen right now.

If I ever wanted to escape, this is my chance.

But… I can’t.

I can’t just leave Kane to die.

I have to do something.

The gun!

I scramble towards it, stand up, point it at the rat-people and pull the trigger.

Bam!

The explosion is massive. The force of the shot throws me back as few feet, and the rat I was aiming at is blown away — literally.

All the rat-folk look up, surprised. And their beady eyes all land on me.

Oh fuck.

Kane used this opportunity to scramble to his feet. He pushes a few of the rats out of the way and charges towards me. His entire body is bloodied and bruised, but his amethyst eyes see me perfectly. I jump into his arms and we’re off, jostling our way through the crowd and then ducking into streets, alleys, going left, right, left, left, in a building, out the back door, into another alley, and all the while my heart is pounding like mad and adrenaline is racing through my veins.

It seems we’ve lost them.

Kane enters a rundown building, charges up the stairs, opens a door and throws it closed behind him. We’re in an empty apartment. He sinks down to the floor, and motions for me to be quiet.

We wait. For several minutes we barely dare to breathe. Kane is in bad shape — he’s bleeding all over, his silver face now bruised a deep purple.

And then, Kane laughs.

“We lost them,” he grins. “We lost them.”

I clap my hands together. Yes!

My relief if short-lived, because Kane slumps down, his eyes shut, his head lulled to the side. My battered-and-bruised savior has lost consciousness.