The Human Hunter (Alien Overlords 1)

Eleven

Bathed

Lyric

They’re back.

I don’t know what to expect, but I know that I should fear it, and them. There are no friends here among the korabi. Whatever I am accused of, I have to believe I am innocent. A twisted story from a bounty hunter who has never been open with me cannot define what I am. I wish they would just get this over with. The anticipation is almost worse than the possibility of death.

“Judgement has been passed, human.”

I do not know the korabi speaking to me. I only know Rath. This one has a silvery gold hue to his skin, and a massive mane of bright red hair matched with green eyes. The combination is striking and impressive. I see no signs of augmentation in him, though I suppose some could be hidden under his clothing. He wears loose, white robe-like attire, a single garment comprised of pants and tunic loosely belted around his powerful waist. He is pure, raw korabi. He is looking at me with a solemnity which I find even more frightening than the anger previously shown to me.

“Who are you?”

“I am Tyvian, lord of the dungeon. I am the one who will look after you between your punishments.”

That is not what I expected to hear at all. That one sentence contained a whole world of revelation.

“My punishments? How many times are you going to kill me?”

“You are not to be executed yet. First you will atone for your crimes against the crown, the Korabi people, and Megaris in its entirety. All will see your humiliation and your pain. In the end, you will perish, but not before we have had the satisfaction of seeing you thoroughly punished.”

This is very bad news. Or good news. I suppose every moment I am alive is another moment in which I might be saved. I have been saved so many times over already. But their intentions are cruel, and they end in death.

“Where is Rath? Is he not coming?”

“Why would Rath be interested in attending to you, human?”

“I don’t know.”

I assumed that Rath would be with me all the way through this, that he would never allow any other hands to touch me. That was a bold, and I suppose, stupid assumption. What does Rath care what happens to me? He has the reward for his bounty by now, I am sure. He has enjoyed my body, and he has redeemed himself in the eyes of the tyrant king.

“The punishments themselves will be carried out by Rath, but in this dungeon, you are mine. Do you understand, human?”

“Yes.”

“Good. If you follow the orders you are given there is no need for there to be additional pain. You will be receiving plenty of that in the formal sessions before the court. Tonight, you will be transferred to more comfortable quarters.”

“I will be?”

“I am a dungeon master, not a brute. You are to be punished according to royal decree, but is not my job to punish you.”

“That’s remarkably enlightened for a korabi.”

“I have hosted many detainees who were later executed,” he says with a hint of muscular melancholy. “I take my role with great seriousness. These are the last walls in which you will ever reside, so it is best they are clean and safe.”

Tyvian is the strangest person I have ever met, human or korabi. He does not seem to take much pleasure in his job, but he certainly is not intending to hurt me, which is nice.

He leads me from what I suppose must have been a containment cell, down a hall which is lit with the royal colors, red and gold. I feel as though I am wrapped in warm light. Somewhere a soothing tune is being played on some kind of whistle instrument. There is a scent too, a smell I cannot recognize, but very much enjoy. It reminds me of the green somehow.

“What’s that smell?”

“Flowers,” he says. “They bloom and release wonderful scents. We capture those scents and channel them through the air ducting. It makes for a serene atmosphere.”

I walk beside him, drawing in deep breaths of the smell and feeling myself grow calmer and calmer with every breath.

“This is the nicest place I have ever been,” I confide in him. “This is nicer than anywhere in the entire human quarter. You know that, don’t you?”

“I am not in charge of the human quarter,” he replies simply. “This is my domain, and I endeavor to make it as peaceful as possible.”

“You know they think I killed the king. I don’t know that floral-scented kindness is what the current monarch has in mind for me.”

“Are you arguing for harsher, crueler treatment?”

“No! I’m just surprised. That’s all.”

“This will be your chamber.”

It’s massive. It is the size of at least ten elite pods. It contains a large bed, a spacious indoor green area with plants growing inside it, and an area to dine, as well as one to lounge.