Page 51 of Uncovered By the Alien Commander
I’ve come too far to turn back now!
With tentative steps, I follow Urgnaw through the gloomy expanse, trying to ignore the gawking looks and my mounting unease. The low dim of the muttering customers mirrors my own confused thoughts. My heart pounds in my chest, threatening to burst with nervous tension as Urgnaw stops before the door, gesturing towards it. “Aren’t you coming in?” I inquire, my voice as unsteady as my trembling hands.
Urgnaw shakes his broad, tusked face. “No, the Gorgons Wrath have no love for me.” He releases a heavy grunt for emphasis. “Better for you to go in alone.”
I peer up at the looming, hulking Tuskarian, disappointment mingling with anxiousness at his words. “Thanks... thanks for leading me here,” I manage to stammer, offering a weak smile.
Urgnaw responds with an almost imperceptible nod, his yellow eyes betraying no hint of emotion. With a deep breath,I steady my nerves, unsure what in the void awaits me on the other side of this dingy building. Placing one hand on my pistol, I crack open the door, holding my breath as I squeeze through the gap.
As my eyes strain to adjust to the darkness, I make out the interior of a tiny, cluttered room. Dirty bed sheets are strewn across the floor amidst empty bottles and discarded scoomer inhalers.
There’s no one inside. I’ve walked straight into a trap!
The revelation hits me like a bolt of lightning, stealing my breath away. But that’s nothing compared to the brutal blow that connects with the side of the head. Pain explodes through my consciousness as the savage force carries me crashing to the ground. My vision swims in a sea of stars, and the metallic taste of blood coats my tongue.
Frantic terror shakes my hands as I fumble for my pistol, my mind teetering on the edge of consciousness. Through the haze, I can just make out the silhouette of Urgnaw as he wrestles my gun and large knife from my holster with powerful hands. I think I yell in protest, but it’s hard to tell amongst my agonized confusion. No one comes to help as I crawl away from my hulking assailant.
No one ever helps.
Urgnaws, yellow wicked eyes gleam in the menacing darkness, the darkness that usually provides refuge now shrouds my imminent death. His rough hands yank off my satchel with such force, he lifts me from the floor until it slips off my shoulders, releasing me. I groan in pain and shock, trying to shuffle away from the giant, my savior now turned attacker.
He grunts in anger as he upends the contents of my bag on the ground. With each item of clothing that falls, he narrows his beady eyes in annoyance as he exhales with fury through his snout. Until Xandor’s mask drops with a heavy thud. With myback against the corner, I watch as he examines the object with a steady gaze, sniffing it until an expression of confusion spreads across his hardened features. He roars with frustration, hurling the mask to the floor.
He doesn’t know what it is! The cursed mask that has brought me nothing but pain and misery.
“You showed excitement at the mention of tier one, yet you have nothing!” Urgnaw bellows, his murderous gaze directed at me, causing me to shrink back in trembling terror.
Urgnaw steps forward, his glare burning into me as if I’m the source of all his troubles. Holding up placating hands, I scan the room, desperate for any means of escape. “I... I don’t have anything,” the words stammer from my quivering lips.
“I will buy my way to tier one, do you understand?” Urgnaw’s voice booms, towering in front of me now. The fervor in his voice drives me to squirm further into the corner, but the walls are unyielding. I cannot hide, I cannot run. “If you have nothing, I will take payment from your flesh,” his terrifying words shake my head with frantic movements.
“No... No please, I’m not worth anything. Just let me go!” I plead, my legs unsteady as I rise, my eyes searching for any shred of pity, yet I find nothing other than a merciless calculating stare. With desperation gripping my heart, I perform a frantic lunge at Urgnaw, hoping to catch him off guard and slip past him.
But he throws me back against the wall with a thick arm, as easily as a toy. Stars explode in my vision again at the shocking force that jolts through my head and neck. “You will be sold to a pleasure house.” Urgnaw’s ominous words hang in the air, my worst nightmare becoming reality. He produces a glowing metal device, its heat radiating in waves.
I’m I destined to always be a slave?
“The... The mask is worth a fortune. Take it and leave me alone!” I cry out. All other concerns washed away by the approaching horrifying male. To my dismay, my words have no effect as his eyes observe me like an object, regarding me as nothing more than znat that needs zapped.
“No, please!” I scream as his massive hands pull and haul on my armored vest. As the blood rushes through my ears and my heart races with mad panic, I lash out in desperation. Yet he’s as unyielding as a ship’s hull and my feeble resistance only stokes his anger.
He snorts before delivering a crunching blow to my stomach. With such force, it doubles me over, despite my armor. I wheeze rasping breaths through winded lungs, my vision darkening with bloodshot eyes. He takes savage advantage, finally ripping my armor over my head, tossing it to the side. Leaving me exposed, terrified, powerless, wishing I could be anyone other than this frightened, weak ‘human.’
“Please,” I whimper, straightening to see the same evil yellow eyes devoid of sympathy, devoid of mercy. He grasps my black shirt, yanking with incredible force, jerking my whole body. In frantic panic, I twist and turn my desperate attempt to break free. Yet his grip is as solid and immoveable as arcweave, the fabric rips and tears exposing my treacherous breasts that heave with terrified pants.
I will die before I let him brand me!
With no other option left to me, knowing this might provoke my death, I reach for one of my concealed knives strapped to my thigh. I scream in defiance, thrusting the short blade with all the strength I can muster into the brutal Tuskarians ribs. It penetrates through his thick hide, but before I can strike again, he roars in anger and pain, throwing me against the wall with such bone-shaking force it chatters my teeth and darkens my vision.
I stumble to my hands and knees, still clutching my knife, my last hope of survival. Until a savage kick into my stomach rocks my mind with agony, ripping the air from my lungs, sending me sprawling onto my back. Before I can even react, he stomps on my hand, sending a surge of lancing pain to torment my consciousness.
Urgnaw wastes no time wrenching my knife from my agonized fingers. Through blurred, horrified eyes, I watch as he lowers the humming, scorching device. “No... No,” my useless pleas come unbidden as my vision swirls and my mind hazes. I clutch onto his wrist in my final, desperate attempt to stop him, but it’s no use. I’m powerless before his incredible strength.
He presses the scorching instrument into my chest, and white-hot agony penetrates through my clouded mind with blinding intensity. My skin sizzles and chars where my heart once beat, now melted away, leaving behind only a broken shell of who I once was. The stench of my blistering cooked flesh assaults my senses and pain overwhelms me, forcing my eyes closed as I drift, lost amidst a sea of terrified suffering.
This is what I deserve.
Chapter 21