Page 32 of Found By the Alien Warrior

She turned within my grasp, a playful glint dancing across her features. "Is there enough time for round two?" Her lips curved into a challenge.

I couldn’t help but lean in, capturing her lips with mine. "Later. I'm getting us out of this cavern first."

I climbed out from the sanctuary of the springs, feeling the air's coolness as it clashed with my damp skin. As I got dressed, my ears, attuned to subtle shifts in the environment, caught a noise right outside.

"Stay here," I instructed Sonya, tugging my shirt over my head.

"Where are you going?”

I pointed to the cavern entrance. Then I moved towards it, every sense on high alert.

The cavern's mouth gaped before me. My feet shifted on the stony ground. The scent hit me first, a familiar tang of ozone, dried sweat, and old blood. I didn’t even need to see the outline of horns in the shadows.

“Raze the Reckoner,” I called, my fists poised to strike. “Come out.”

"Easy, Aurik," a voice rumbled, as gravelly as the terrain. Raze emerged, his horns illuminated by the faint glow of the moons. “I mean you and Sonya no harm.”

We were on good terms before, but I didn’t know if I still had reason to trust him, especially if he was the one sent to retrieve Sonya and me. “Korga sent you, didn’t he?”

"Korga." He spit out the name like a curse. "I’m not following his orders.”

“Explain.”

“I’m tired of being one of his weapons. If this is a way for me to get out, I’m taking it."

I had a wary sense of hope, hearing his words. Could it still be a ploy? Korga’s gamesmanship could make even the most toughened fighters agree to do his work in exchange for being left alone. "Is that supposed to reassure me? How do I know Korga didn’t tell you to stand out here and stall until his guards arrived?”

"Think about it." Raze spread his hands wide. His tufted tail slashed left and right. "I could've tried to ambush you when you walked out.”

I scoffed. “You wouldn’t have gotten far.”

Behind me, the sound of footsteps told me Sonya didn't bother with my instructions to remain inside the cavern. She stood at the entrance, fully dressed.

"You two finished measuring egos?" Her voice cut through the tension. "Or do we actually have a plan to screw Korga over?"

"We talked about this before, Aurik." Raze moved his horns up and down, visibly restless. “I was in support of your rebellion."

I inclined my head towards him. "Sonya and I want to go back for the others, but I won’t look down on you if you take your chances at escape.”

"I’ll help." His resolve was firm. “It’s better than spending the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.”

I viewed the outline of Korga’s ship on the far horizon. It moved in the hours since Sonya and I left its confines. I guess that was the location of the venue. “Let’s get inside the cavern while we talk this through.” I motioned for Raze to follow us.

Once we were away from the cavern entrance, Sonya's gaze flitted between us. She then turned to me, her brow furrowed with concentration. "What’s the first step?”

“Rework the logistics. We’ll be on a moving ship now instead of inside a fixed building.” I quickly went over the fighters’ routines and areas Raze and I had access to on the ship. “There’s the holding pen.”

“What’s that?” Sonya asked.

“Fighters wait there for their matches if there’s no place for them at the location.”

Raze made a huffing sound through his large nostrils. “Gornoc had the guards move all the males to the pen right before the ship changed direction.”

The thought of Gornoc and his smug face made me want to smash metal. “We’ll get the code to the holding pen from him. The guards will have more than enough trouble controlling that many unleashed fighters.”

Sonya folded her arms across her chest. “Aurik, after your match with him, I overheard Gornoc refuse treatment to his bionic arm. What’s all on it?"

“Anything. Everything. I’ve seen him use it to control doors and cameras in the hall.” I looked to Raze, who nodded in agreement.

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