Chapter 1

The Woman On The Beach

"Jim! Come the fuck on!" hissed David from where he was hidden in the undergrowth smeared liberally with mud all over his mostly naked body and smelling like decayed leaves.

It'd been four days since they'd arrived in this hellhole and it had been a nightmare since the moment they'd first opened their eyes.

They were not on Earth anymore – the three large moons in the sky being a testament to that fact. The jungle with the unbearable heat they had woken up in seemed to cover the entire planet and hosted a vast array of strange lifeforms. The strangest of which had hunted them all down without ever having shown them its face. Originally there had been nine of them. Nine who found each other within a few hours and had banded together with what weapons they had to find a way out of this place. Now... now they were only two.

The mud had been a welcome discovery. It somehow kept them hidden from their invisible pursuers although they had no clue of how it did that yet. Not that it mattered. Staying coated in the thick ooze kept Jim and David alive when the others had all been killed... when they'd all been butchered horrifically.

So they kept running, stopping only to eat whatever was available to catch with little effort or mess and slept in muddy pits as it appeared to be the only way to rest in safety.

"Dave... it's a woman! She's on the beach!"

His friend rolled his eyes. "You're losing your mind! Get back here and shut your goddamn mouth!"

"Just look!"

Dave finally scrambled on his belly forward until he joined Jim peering over the cliff edge. His friend wasn't joking. The figure was distant but he could definitely tell it was a human female with her clearly defined curves visible even at that distance and hair that twisted in the light breeze. Apparently unconcerned or unaware of the danger she was in, the woman with long plaited blonde hair and wearing very little clothing was cutting up some sort of fish she retrieved from the traps in the shallow waters. This little cove she was hidden was well concealed and protected with jagged canyons and shear drops separating it from the rest of the jungle. It was only by luck that they'd stumbled across a thin sliver of land that connected the main jungle to here.

"We should get down there. Looks to be a safe place. I bet she's been here the whole time we've been running! Having this cosy little spot all to herself!"

Dave gave a hollow laugh. "Yeah... let's pay her a visit. Wait! We don't have a weapon!"

"We can take her. She'll definitely be useful for one thing - population needs of course. We can scope out what else she has. Maybe even weapons we can use," Jim mused darkly before starting to climb down the cliff face.

They must have been quite a sight as they approached.

Enough that the young woman upon spotting them immediately grabbed the wooden spear at her side and got ready to fight.

She wore only the smallest cloth underwear for fishing on the beach that exposed the taut smooth skin of her body while leather bangles almost engulfed her slim arms. Big blue eyes expressed a heady mix of fear and determination as she settled into a broader stance. She was a pretty little thing and exactly what they would have gone for on Earth. Clearly they were blessed that on this other world they'd find a young woman who ticked every box. Only this time they wouldn't be stopping the fun early and burying the body elsewhere.

"Wooooh!" Jim pleaded in a singsong voice with hands up in a mock surrender to the woman ready to strike as they got closer. "Calm down little lady. We're friends."

"Maybe more than friends," David said with a sly look to Jim who gave an equally lecherous one in return.

"Back off!" the woman barked. "And get the hell out of here!"

"I don't think so. Do you know where you are? Do you realize what's out there?! Do you know how much danger you're in?! We can help..." Jim cooed at her.

"... for a price," David added "Keep you nice and safe."

That did nothing to help their case. Instead she raised her spear higher and jabbed it threateningly. "It's you that needs the protection! Get the hell away from me! I swear if I don't get you, he will!"

For the briefest moment the woman glanced at Jim without keeping one eye on David who took the opportunity to lunge at her. They both tumbled to the ground with the larger man knocking the spear from her hand.

She fought like a tigress, hitting and scratching her attackers who seemed to completely forget where they were. A backhand from a closed fist spurted blood from her nose following a horrifying crack as it broke. She howled in pain and was easily pinned to the sand as her brain struggled to refocus itself.

"You took her down so you get the first go!" Jim laughed as he held her arms down above her head while David held her legs.

His friend grinned and started to undo his pants eagerly. It'd been too long since he last got to enjoy this. His fingers had just reached the scrap of cloth covering the woman's crotch.

"Calm down girl! Don't make it rougher on you than it needs to b-" David laughed before he suddenly grunted. The breath escaped his lungs and blood poured from his mouth like a fountain, spraying itself over Jim and the woman beneath him..

"David!" Jim shouted in terror as two blades suddenly appeared through his friend's mud covered chest before they retracted and sliced through his neck. David's head rolled along the beach and into the water.

Jim let go of their victim althogther and ran for the spear they'd tossed aside earlier. As he turned around with the weapon in hand, he spotted the woman being lifted up back on to her feet by the air itself it seemed.

Suddenly the cloak fell away and a tall muscular masked being clad in armour with thick tentacle dreads appeared. The creature chuffed at the woman who was shaking violently and taking deep calming breaths through her mouth. It gently tilted her head, noting the blood pouring from the broken nose and the bruises forming on her fair skin before its large masked head turned and stared at Jim.

"Shit... shit shit shit!" he hissed at the creature advanced threateningly. Jim lunged forward with the spear, time slowing down for him as the creature easily dodged it and hammered its fist into the human's face. The world went dark.

His head was killing him. Jim opened his eyes blearily, wincing as the pressure in his brain made it feel like it was about to explode.

The loud chuffing and clicks that came from nearby shook him back to reality. He was lying on his side, naked and with bound hands and feet, on a cold metal floor in a darkened room.

The creature who'd knocked him out on that beach was there staring down at him with the young woman now more suitably wrapped up in a thick heavy tunic at his side. Jim idly noticed that she was apparently healed of the injuries they'd given her.

"What's going on?" Jim ventured to ask her.

Instead of answering him, the woman looked to the alien at her side who merely clicked at her behind his mask.

"You're going to be sold," the young woman replied at last.

"Sold?"

She nodded. "You're not a trophy he wants anymore. At least not after what you tried to do to me on the beach. So he'd going to sell you instead of taking your head. Being a slave isn't too bad. At least you'll have your life unlike your friend."

"God! Dav... He can't do this... he can't!"

The woman shrugged. "It's too late. You should be grateful. They take care of their male slaves really well. Just... sorry about your... I never understood why they do that."

Jim frowned. "What are you talking about?!"

He watched her bite her lip before pointing at his lower regions. Jim glanced down and screamed. The screams didn't stop until the alien clearly had enough and knocked Jim out again.

"A-mel-ia," the deep voice rumbled to the young woman. "Prepare the skulls I brought. Had enough of this hunt. We return home."

"And the one outside?"

"Leave. Not worthy. The scavengers will come for it soon enough."

Amelia bowed to Kaz'ilait who snorted with a vague disgust before making her stand upright. "No bowing. Not here when we are alone."

After he walked away deeper into the ship, Amelia peered down at the unconscious Jim and grimaced at the cauterized wound where his genitals once had been.

"A-mel-ia! Come!" came the distant shout of her master and she scurried out after him.