My Big Furry Alien Satyr

1. Silus

1 SILUS

It was my turn to watch the Trials. I hated every moment of sitting in my cabin, staring at the screen, watching as contestants were torn apart by beasts or by each other. We were taking turns to avoid becoming desensitised to the violence. None of us were good people. We'd done bad things. Committed crimes. There was a reason why we were in this part of the galaxy, where outlaws were the norm and the Intergalactic Authority had little power. But I had rules; I had limits. There were some things I wouldn't do. I'd not lost my soul quite yet. Stained it, tarnished it, yes, but it was still there. Tattered and curled up in the darkness of all the things I'd done.

Before the events of the past week, I'd never watched the Trials. I'd known how to access them, of course, but I'd always had a bad feeling about them. Watching contestants fight to the death, perish in the harsh jungles of Kalumbu, eaten alive by beasts bred to be always hungry - it wasn't for me.

I clenched my teeth and chose the Trials channel. It was on a hidden frequency that could only be accessed by those who knew what they were doing. A new episode had just begun. The Trials were streaming all day, every day, but some of the episodes were repeats, showing the bloodiest battles and the most horrific deaths in a loop. We weren't interested in those. It gave us some breaks in between watching the Trials, and it meant every crew member only had to spend an IG hour a day in front of our screens.

I should have brought snacks, but yesterday's episode had turned my stomach. I wondered if any of the contestants had volunteered to take part, or if they were all victims, abducted from their homes or spaceships, and forced to fight for the entertainment of others. I wished we could rescue them all. Destroy the Trials once and for all. But that was too dangerous. There was a multi-trillion industry behind the Trials of Kalumbu. Powerful people watched the games, sponsored contestants, bet on them. We'd become even bigger targets if we ended the games. Rescuing a few contestants would hopefully be enough to make a difference without turning ourselves into martyrs.

The first two contestants presented to the audience were males, one Pletorian and one battle-scarred Kardarian, but the third made me clutch my horns. A female, and a Peritan at that.

Breathless, I watched as she blinked into the camera, blinded by the bright lights around her. She was n***d, vulnerable, and shivering with fear. I touched the screen before I realised what I was doing. The image froze right when the camera had zoomed in, focusing on the female's face.

Her skin was the colour of my fur, exactly the same shades of brown. Her eyes were a warm amber, framed by long lashes. Her hair had been shaved, either by the game makers or someone else. She had a silver ring in one nostril which seemed to sparkle in the bright lights. She was clearly scared, her lips quivering, her eyes wide, but she stood straight, facing whatever was to come with fire in her eyes.

Something about her felt familiar. The longer I stared at her, the more I felt it.

But it couldn't be.

I forced myself to resume the broadcast, averting my eyes out of respect when the cameras zoomed in on her n***d body. Perverts, all of them. There was no reason not to give her clothes. They wouldn't offer her any protection from the dangers of Kalumbu, but at least she'd have her dignity. Even coming from a species that only put on a loincloth when in contact with aliens, I knew that Peritans treasured being covered. Penny had explained it to me when she'd first arrived on the Artep. And the game makers had to know it. It was yet another way of how they manipulated their contestants, making them feel vulnerable before they even set foot on Kalumbu.

Kalumbu, the planet of death. Only two people had ever survived the Trials and they were on board the Artep just now. Other contestants had won the Trials, which was achieved after staying alive for ten days, but we'd discovered quickly that their supposed success didn't last long. They were killed as soon as the cameras were turned off. Nobody had left Kalumbu alive until Fay and Vruhag.

The game makers had already tightened their security since I'd hacked their systems. Rescuing the female wouldn't be as easy as it had been with the orc and his mate. I'd have to find another way to break through the shields they kept around the planet, preventing anyone from flying to the surface or beaming them up into orbit. It had worked last time because they hadn't expected anyone to try.

I focused back on the screen. Raucous applause sounded when the platform the female stood on began to move. She was about to be transported down onto the surface of Kalumbu. She wouldn't last long there. Fay had help from a native species, but what were the chances that the same would happen for this female? No, it was on me to get her out. I had to find a way to hack the systems and fast. Every click that passed could be the one that brought her death.

The camera focused on her face again. All traces of fear had vanished, leaving only cold determination. She seemed to look right at me, her amber eyes dark with defiance, and that's when I knew.

My hearts skipped a beat.

She was mine.

My atm. My mate.

The world seemed to hold its breath. My mate was about to be sent to Kalumbu. I had to save her, no matter the cost. This was no longer just a rescue mission for a random female.

She meant the universe to me.

"I swear on the Horned God that I will save you or die trying," I whispered and pricked my thumbs with my teeth. I smeared the blood over my horns, sealing the oath.

I stared into her amber eyes. "I will come for you."