Page 29 of Xeda

"No, that's not. Your kind are weak and yet you consider yourselves the center of the universe. You think you know all there is. You think you have the power to do as you please. You are small and insignificant but act as if you could conquer worlds. You think you are equal if not better than us. But you are nothing but prey with the complex of a predator. You think you can outsmart us. You think you can be trusted, but you are dangerous."

Her eyes widened. "Dangerous?"

"Yes," he hissed.

Of everything he’d said, she didn't expect that. "I can't believe that,” she said. “If it weren't for the alliance, I would seriously expect your kind to have snuffed us out long ago. And you’re saying we're dangerous?"

"It's not the same," he argued.

"How so?"

His eyes narrowed on her. "Because of the games you play."

She waited for him to explain further, but he didn't. She turned away and stared at the wall opposite. "I'm sorry you think that. But we’re not all looking to play games. Some of us didn't ask for this. But I'm not here to defend the human race, honestly. I was just curious why. A part of me can't blame you." She turned back to him and caught him watching her.

"I will never submit to a human," he said. "You understand?"

She nodded. "I do."

"But I can acknowledge this once. That I will work with a human if there is no better choice. And I can choose to look past my hate to do so. If it means my freedom."

"And once you're free, you'll go back to tearing us apart. Got it."

He didn't say a word. He searched her face, but she didn't give herself away. "I just want to be free too," she said. “Which is why I'm helping you despite knowing you want to destroy us all. I should probably not want you to get out. I don't want to be responsible for other people's deaths...except for maybe those guys who just put me in here. You can have them."

She caught the points of his teeth through the muzzle as his mouth widened into what she assumed was a smile. He hissed softly. "It's nice I have your permission then."

"After the games," she countered. And maybe...maybe she could convince him not to harm anyone after all.

It was probably a fool's hope. But she couldn't worry about that now.

They sat in silence for some time, and her eyes started to droop as the adrenaline began to wane and her body began to shut down, wanting to sleep off the pain. Xeda spoke again, but she didn't quite catch it. She mumbled something back before her head dropped to one side.

She went in and out of sleep, at one point feeling cold and the next quite warm, feeling a small weight on her side.

"I won't..." she heard a deep voice say just on the edge of her dreams. "I won't do it. I need her..."

In her dreams, she saw Xeda walking blindly through a heavy night, the flash of what looked like lightning across the sky. In the distance was a great hulking shadow of a monster. A monster calling out his name.

"No...I won't. No,you can't have her."

She tried to follow him, to call him back, but eventually lost him in the dark.

CHAPTERNINE

Ophilia

"Oh, son of a bitch. Jenson, get out here now! Get one of those damn boys here quick and open this door!"

Ophilia woke to the shouts of men with a start. Her side hurt, and she felt groggy, like she was waking from a bad hangover. She blinked and slowly lifted herself into a sitting position, wiping the sand off her face that had stuck to her skin. Her face was tender to the touch but no longer hurt as badly as a few hours before.

She turned her head and saw Xeda standing by her side, between her and the door, staring out the window. The way he stood with his fists clenched made it seem like he was guarding her. Like a massive dog making sure no one touched their master. It was a fanciful idea at least.

She licked her cracked lips, her mouth as dry as the ground. "What's happening?"

Xeda continued to watch outside. "There are men gathering and coming this way. They mean to get you out."

Ophilia looked up at him skeptically. "Are you going to let them?"

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