Page 19 of Hunted By the Dragon Alien

He pushed through the heavy door, scanning the dim room immediately. Sevas sat on the edge of their bunk—yes, it wastheirs, as she would be sleeping with him from now on—her feet dangling over the side. The moment the door slid open, her dark red eyes were on him, wide with concern that quickly morphed into relief.

“Takkian.” She eased off the edge to her feet with more mobility than she had the cycle before, cutting through his remaining unease. “You’re back.”

“Of course I am,” he replied, forcing a casual tone. He stepped inside, his body still thrummed with the adrenaline of the fight. Her gaze moved from his face to the rest of him as she looked him over for signs of injury. He felt the heat of herconcern wash over him, and he couldn’t shake the rush of pride to see her worry for him.

Sevas moved toward him. “Are you hurt?” she asked. “Don’t lie.”

He shook his head as she brushed over a fresh mark on his arm, caused by one of the flying rocks. “I’m fine.”

“Let’s see.” Her brow furrowed as stepped back to get a better look at him. “You’ve got…” She noticed the scratches and the faint line of blood mixed with dirt and sweat along his arms. “You’re right. You don’t look badly injured,” she replied. “Unless you’re hiding something.”

Takkian smiled and cupped her face in his hands. “I’m not hiding anything. I’ve faced that opponent before. I knew how to handle him this time.”

“What happened last time you faced him?” she asked.

“I lost,” he replied tightly, unwilling to voice his concern that the fight was thrown to turn the crowd against him. “That happens. We learn from our mistakes.”

She nodded. “I talked to Ulo about our plans.”

The young Dokkol nodded. “I’ll do anything to leave,” he said. “I want to find my family. We scattered in escape pods when our ship came under attack, but I think I was the only one captured. Whatever you need of me, I’ll do it.”

Sevas smiled at Ulo before turning back to Takkian. “Did you learn anything when you were out there?”

“I did,” he replied. “There was a mech in the arena at the end, just before I won the match. I managed to damage it.”

Sevas raised an eyebrow. “You did?”

“How did you manage that?” Bruil asked, sitting up straighter. “And it wasinsidethe pit?”

“Yes.” Takkian saw the confusion on Bruil’s face and couldn’t help but agree—it wasn’t typical. Mechs waited until the match was over to enter the pit and remove the loser. “I hit Chakixdirectly into the mech. Didn’t disable it, of course, but it was dented and took a moment to recover.”

From the expression on his face, Takkian could tell Bruil didn’t like this at all. “You damaged a mech inside the pit.” He shook his head. “Expect consequences for that, boy.”

“Ididn’t damage it. Chakix did. He should have crashed somewhere else.” Takkian shrugged. “I needed to see how much force was required to damage one of them. It takes a lot.”

Bruil said nothing, but stared at Takkian with a grim mouth. “You’re getting reckless.”

“And you’ve been in here too long,” he snapped back, frustration bubbling over. “It doesn’t matter if I win my next hundred matches. I’m going to die eventually, and I’m going to diehere—in this pit while a crowd cheers and warlords collect money from bets. And what will happen to you, my friend, without me using the favors I earn from my wins to keep you safe? They’ll put you in the pit against some sadistic creature who will kill you slow and hard, and the crowd will love it. So if we’re going to die, it’s going to be on our terms. Not theirs.” He hadn’t intended to make such a speech, but it was the truth. “If you want to stay here, you may.”

Bruil shook his head slowly. “No. I don’t.”

“Neither do I.” He looked at Sevas and Ulo, both of whom stared at him, surprised at his outburst. “If we can break down or evade the defenses leading out of here, we can access the hangar bay where we can board a ship and, ah,persuadean operator to take us out of here. Escape could be within our reach.”

“How do we do that?” Sevas asked. She stepped closer, eyes keen.

“We need Ulo. He has strength on his side, and if he uses it wisely, he can help us create a distraction. The mechs focus on immediate threats. If they see one of their own malfunctioning,they’ll become disorganized. It may give us an opportunity while the guards focus on repairing the damage.”

Sevas nodded. “The timing will be key. And the one place this could all go wrong.”

“Exactly,” Takkian replied, internal gears clicking into place. “We need to time our move carefully. And we need to stay together.”

“What do you think, Ulo?” Sevas asked. “Do you think you can smash some mechs?”

Ulo nodded. “It would be easier than smashing some poor life form who also doesn’t want to be here.”

“Good.” Takkian met Bruil’s quiet gaze. “Do you think you have some fight left in you, old one?”

Bruil raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got some in reserve, if I need to use it.”

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