Page 19 of Pyne

Jerking back, my hand clenches, white-knuckled, on the knife handle. “I’mnotyours,” I spit, hating the tremble in my voice. “I’llneverbe yours.”

His laugh grates like nails on a chalkboard. “Keep telling yourself that, human. But sooner or later, you’ll learn your place.Slavesalways do.”

The walk to the arena is a blur, my pulse roaring in my ears, my palms slick with sweat as I absently touch the pain/kill collar at my throat. Klst’s presence beside me is like a physical weight, oppressive and suffocating.

When Arisha’s voice suddenly blares over the loudspeaker, I’m so on edge I nearly jump out of my skin.

“Welcome to today’s immunity challenge, my darlings!” she trills, sadistic glee dripping from every word. “I hope you’re ready for a little excitement…”

Her voice fades to a buzz as my gaze lands on the challenge before us. A massive, nightmarish labyrinth filled with gleaming blades and bubbling pools of what I’d bet is acid. Gone are the challenges filled with goo that makes you drunk. By the smell of this—it’s caustic. And are the walls… dear god, are the walls moving, slowly but inexorably closing in?

Icy fingers of terror claw up my spine, closing around my throat. I can’t breathe. Can’t think. All I can see is the leering gleam in Klst’s eyes, the eager twitch of his tail. He’s looking forward to this. To watching me run and scream and beg for his help. And what, I wonder, will he charge me for that?

But then, through the haze of panic, I see Pyne. He’s standing tall and fierce beside M’berra, his eyes locked on mine. Andin this moment, something shifts inside me. A flicker of determination, of defiance.

I’m not alone in this. Pyne is fighting to get back to me. And I’ll be damned if I let this scaly monster or this twisted game break me.

“I assume,” Arisha smirks, “this challenge speaks for itself. Get to the end of the maze without being sliced by blades or disintegrated by acid.”

As the buzzer sounds and we’re released into the maze, Klst immediately takes off at a sprint, his claws scrabbling against the metal floor as he races ahead. “Try to keep up, human!” he snarls over his shoulder, his spiked tail lashing behind him.

I grit my teeth and push myself to match his pace, my lungs burning with the effort. We dodge swinging pendulums and leap over spinning saw blades, the heat of the metal singeing my skin as I narrowly avoid being sliced in half. My thoughts are so pinpoint-focused on cheating death, I’m barely aware of my terror. I’ll allow myself a complete nervous breakdown if I reach the finish line.

At one point, we come to a pool of bubbling green liquid. The acrid stench makes my eyes water and my throat burn. Klst barely hesitates before leaping over the obstacle, his powerful legs propelling him easily to the other side.

I, on the other hand, am not so lucky. Running at full speed, I leap across. My back foot slips on the edge of the pool, and for a heart-stopping moment, I’m sure I’ll fall in. But somehow, Imanage to regain my balance, my arms windmilling frantically as I stumble to safety.

Klst doesn’t even spare me a glance, too focused on collecting the next token to care about my brush with death. My frustration and fear build with each passing moment, my nerves frayed to the breaking point.

As we round a corner, I catch a glimpse of Pyne and M’Berra up ahead, the feline’s lithe form easily navigating the treacherous maze. For a moment, Pyne’s gaze meets mine, concern and helplessness etched into every line of his face.

I want to call out to him, to beg him to come back and save me from this nightmare, but I know I can’t. We both have to keep going, to keep fighting for the chance to be together again.

Suddenly, a swinging pendulum comes out of nowhere, its razor-sharp edge slicing through the air inches from my face. I yelp and stumble backward, my heart nearly exploding in my chest.

Klst whirls around, his eyes blazing with fury. “Idiot! Watch where you’re going,” he snarls, his claws flexing menacingly. “If you make us lose this challenge, I swear I’ll—”

“You’ll what, Klst?” I snap, my fear giving way to anger. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re partners in this twisted game. If I don’t make it out of here, you lose, too. So maybe instead of threatening me, you should actually help me survive this death trap!”

For a moment, Klst looks taken aback, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Well, well, well,” he chuckles, his tongue flicking out to taste the air. “I can’t fight logic. I’ll play nice… for now. But don’t think this changes anything between us. When this is all over, you’ll still be mine to do with as I please.”

I shudder at the implication but force myself to meet his gaze head-on. “We’ll see about that, Saurian. But for now, let’s just focus on getting out of this maze alive.”

Together, we push forward, dodging and weaving through the treacherous obstacles with urgency. I can feel the walls closing in on us. It’s clear. We’re running out of time.

Up ahead, I catch another glimpse of Pyne and M’Berra, the feline’s tail wrapped possessively around his waist as they navigate a particularly tricky section of the maze. My heart clenches at the sight even as I tell myself jealousy has no place as I’m fighting a life-and-death battle.

Still, my mind taunts me with questions. What if M’Berra’s charms are too much for Pyne to resist? What if he decides he’s better off with someone more suited to this twisted game, someone who understands the brutal realities of this ruthless galaxy we find ourselves in?

But then, as if sensing my gaze, Pyne turns and locks eyes with me, his expression fierce and determined. In that moment, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s fighting as much for me as for himself.

With a burst of strength, I push myself harder, faster, my feet pounding against the metal floor as Klst and I race toward the finish line. The walls are closing in, the metal screeching and groaning as it contracts, but I refuse to let the fear consume me.

We leap over the final obstacle, a spinning saw blade that comes within a hair’s breadth of slicing my foot, and stumble across the finish line just as the walls slam shut behind us with a deafening clang and screams and shrieks that are abruptly cut off.

Not everyone made it out. My mouth gapes open in shock as I wonder if they’re dead or this was just a trick of holographic images.

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