down to see the gauzy gown I’m wearing billowing about my ankles. When the hell did they change my clothes? I shiver from the thought of aliens changing me while I was unconscious. I go to pull my arms around myself to try and warm up, when I realise they won’t move…they are bound above my head. I crane my neck, looking behind me, and see that I’m secured to a metal pole that lies cold against my spine.
The rumble of cheers erupts again from below, and I jerk my head back around, watching the rows and rows of humans and aliens alike who are perched on floating seating, hovering low over the arena. I want to rub my eyes, not believing what I’m seeing. The aliens here are so different from our guards back at Harvest House, making me wonder what else is different.
I see large wings sprouting off the backs of several Klans. Some have huge, spiralling horns, while others have tails or scales and fur instead of skin. As they shout out again, I realise they are responding to an announcer. I blame my panic for not hearing the voice before, but I strain to listen, my heart thrumming in my chest.
“The rules are simple,” the staticky voice booms, causing a wave of nerves to surge through me and a knot to form in my stomach. “Be the last Klan to survive, to reach the top of Forsaken Mountain as a unit, and the human known as Harlow is yours.”
My stomach plummets.
Harlow? Do they mean me?
Please let there be another Harlow here…
“You must claim her with your blood, marking her as yours before taking her down the mountain. As far as the other rules, well, there aren’t any. The battle begins when the blaren sounds!”
A wailing alarm rings out, loud enough that I think my ears might bleed in response. I watch, mouth gaping, as the battle below begins.
A battle for me.
I can’t even wrap my brain around that.
My whole life, I’ve known my destiny was to become a mate to an alien Klan. But I guess I kind of romanticised the meeting. I wasn’t expecting flowers and candy and all the stuff human women get from men courting them, but I didn’t expect this.
Just utter brutality.
The sounds of battle find their way up to me. It’s madness. Bodies clash together too fast for me to follow, with some taking to the sky and fighting as they go. Metal weapons clang against one another as Klans attack. Other weapons I’ve never seen before even shoot out lasers.
Fucking lasers!
What is this? Star Wars?
I watch in horror as a head is decapitated from its body, the victor holding the bleeding trophy up in the air as he roars in victory. Blood begins to coat the battleground, dark crimson pools forming below the fighting Klans. With every step, every evasive manoeuvre, the huge aliens splash up blood, and soon everyone is coated in spatters of red, green, and yellow.
The mix of blood turns brown, looking like thick mud below their feet. A loud rumble tears across the arena, and part of the misshapen wall begins to shift. What used to be a flat wall has curved inward, with pointed spikes striking out from inside of it.
A few victims are taken down with this new obstacle. A large, orange alien with scales along his back cries out, his movement gradually slowing as a spike protrudes from his chest. Another blue alien with short horns and huge tusks works to free his arm from a spike, and when he can’t free it, he pulls a large blade from his belt and slices off his own arm, roaring up to the skies.
Holy shitballs!
These guys aren’t messing around.
The battle wages on as I watch helplessly. My eyes dart across the arena, and I stop to stare at a Klan of brown aliens attacking a red Klan. I gasp as the red Klan gains ground on the brown ones, backing them closer and closer to the spiked corner.
But then something odd happens.
I hear a low hum, which seems to erupt behind me, when suddenly, a burst of warm air hits my back. I try to turn my head, stretching my neck to see what’s there, but all I see is shimmering space. I didn’t know the air on Oxious shimmered like that.
Unable to hold the pose any longer, I allow my body to fling back, watching the two Klans fight amongst the chaos. Then I