I awoke to the foul smell of blood with an aching headache that seemed to be fueled by the wretched smells around me.

"Eight." Hermial's voice came from behind me, its texture dry and catching as though he had been choked. I slowly sat up, noting that my ribs were on fire like much of the rest of my body. My head was pounding and when I opened my eyes the dim lights from outside of the cell still managed to make my head throb. Hermial was sitting in between Dokita and myself in the small cage. Dokita's eyes were almost completely swollen shut and the right side of his jaw was bruised. He definitely didn't look nearly as hurt as Hermeil who was sporting a black and swollen eye, a busted lip, a cracked eyebrow and a possibly broken nose. His knuckles were busted and his hands covered with blood but what concerned me the most was the raspy breaths I could hear him take. He needed to get checked out or at least let Dokita or I take a look at him.

"How long did I fight?" My voice barely made it past my lips and my burning throat.

"Not sure. Woke up when you were already back." I glanced around the room outside of the cell but found it to still be empty. I returned my gaze back to Hermiel who seemed pretty relaxed despite being in pain.

"Let me take a look at you," I offered and Hermiel nodded in compliance before scooting closer to me. I doubted that the Huskilarians would offer us any medical aid so we needed to make sure nothing was too serious and if so, we needed to find a solution.

I gently helped guide Hermiel onto the cold grated floor and gestured for him to unzip his suit so I could examine his ribs. Upon further inspection of his bruised chest I found he had major bruising across his muscular chest and stomach though I didn't prod too much in case something was broken. His hands were busted open with several cuts, some of them surprisingly deep as though he had hit someone's bone or teeth. His nose also needed to be set so I worked quickly to break the bone back into place as Dokita offered a forearm to grip for the pain.

"We need to wrap you up and clean your cuts." I looked around the room but saw nothing that was close enough to the cage to use. And it wasn't like our suits were exactly tearable.

"I doubt we'll find that here. Let me see your injuries for now." I obliged and laid down on the cold metal floor, grateful that it appeared at least semi-clean for the time being. The hard metal dug into the back of my skull but I held still as Hermiel began to examine my wrist, muttering about it being fractured. I didn't need him to confirm my own thoughts but it was admittedly nice for someone else to be checking my wounds for once. "Open your suit and I'll check your ribs."

"God, get a room you two," Dokita whined from his spot against one wall.

"Just because you have the mind of a delinquent boy doesn't mean the rest of us do, Seven," Hermiel scowled even with his marred face. I ignored their bickering and unzipped my suit down to my lower stomach. Hermiel reached under my open suit to feel my ribs rather than expose me completely, but I didn't have a preference one way or the other. I'd prefer knowing if I had any serious injuries over keeping my modesty in a jail cell.

"I don't feel anything broken." It hurt like hell when I breathed deeply, so I'd assume I had some fractures or major bruising. I zipped my suit back up and Hermial helped me to sit back up before examining my face. "I'm sure you also have contusions on the rest of your body but there's minimal to your face. There's... a lot of rough bruising around your neck and a large bruise on your left cheek with swelling but your face seems intact." I nodded, grateful for the evaluation though a small part of me was defeated that Zarth would still train me as a succubus if we ever got back. "I also wouldn't be surprised if a few bones in your hands were fractured or broken. They look pretty swollen but there's nothing we can exactly do from inside this cage."

"How did you get away without them punching you unconscious?" Dokita demanded through very narrowed and swollen eyes.

"I guess they didn't want to hit a female face," I shrugged, barely covering a wince at the pain. "Instead they choked me repeatedly." There was more malice in my voice than normal and Dokita looked away with a scowl. Hermiel let out a managed sigh and sat down between us again.

"They'll get bored of us soon enough," Dokita growled out a moment later. "We need to think of a new plan. A leverage piece or something."

"Let us know when you think of something," I said, though not meaning it.

Sometime later the sound of boots hitting metal filled the air followed by two Huskilarians and Azeel walking across the dimly lit room. Azeel spoke in the common tongue when he looked at us.

"I was wondering when you three would all wake up," he chuckled before turning his attention to Dokita. "I should have told them to go easier on you. Without your sight, you really have no use to us anymore. And you," Azeel scowled at Hermiel who appeared relaxed as he leaned against the back wall of our cell, "I could hear your ragged breath from across the room. Hopefully nothing important is punctured." Azeel looked over at me as I sat cross-armed next to Hermiel but he made no comment to me-the one he had suffocated into unconsciousness. "Serve them their food," Azeel demanded the two men behind him.

The two guards stepped forward and slid three trays under the bars, each piled with a green pile of goop, a flat and orange square and a water pouch. The two men then moved to the otherside of the room and talked quietly while waiting for us to finish eating. I quietly ate the food in front of me while tuning into their hushed huskilarian dialect. I was still rusty and hadn't put the language probing to use but it was essential I tried understanding them.

"Did you see them fight? I was stuck in the control room while it was happening."

"Yeah. It was honestly pretty exciting to watch compared to our normal brawls. They're some of those trained spies from Aurum."

"They're from Aurum?"

"Yeah. But they're not Aurum-they're something else."

"And the female? The captain made her fight them? Seems cruel." I saw them glance over at me out of the corner of my eye but I kept calmly eating as though their conversation was falling on deaf ears.

"Didn't you hear? She's the reason for the code red last week."

"You're pulling my tail," the other said with a deep but quiet laughter.

"No. In fact she was the one that took down the most guys out of those who volunteered to fight them. She actually started to get them riled up-you know on the account that we haven't been around females in a few cycles.After the first ten or so men the guys started to get real rowdy and the captain had to go and finish her off before things got out of hand."

"And so it ended pretty quickly then? After the captain got in?"

"I would say so but only on the account that she was fighting nonstop. I figure it would've been a good show if they went hand to hand when she was at her prime. You can tell they were trained to go hand to hand - they're professionals. But that's not the best part."

I resisted the urge to scowl at the gossip that wasn't helpful in the slightest when it came to us getting out of these cages and away from here.

"I'm all ears." Their excitement was noticeable.

"Well, her and the captain were fighting and at this point most of the men were getting a little rowdy. I mean you got an alien who's pretty beautiful to our standards, going and taking these men down that's five times her weight which is something our women wouldn't even think of doing. So they're all riled up and the captain's putting an end to it so they don't get too heated for her and get protective when all of the sudden, during their fight, her suit is coming undone and her breasts are showing. And now everyone's really getting riled and the captain, instead of punching her unconscious like the other two were, chokes her unconscious so he doesn't mare her pretty little face."

"You're pulling my tail! And the men?"

"Well they were pretty riled but the captain took her back to her cell pretty quickly. I figure if he would have stayed and gloated it wouldn't have gone over well with a bunch of men ready to pine for her."

"That's surprising." There was a pause before they finally spoke again. "Do you think it's because of her eyes that the men feel protective?" He asked the other man in a more hushed voice than even before.

I finished my food and drink but didn't push the tray on account that I was finally hearing information that would help me find an angle.

"I mean probably. She looked at me for a split second when she first entered the cage and even though she seemed relaxed there was something about her eyes that just made her seem defenseless. Even more than our women back home." Defenseless? So that's the angle I need to work from.

"Speaking of, I can't wait to get back."

"It won't be long now." Before they spoke again the sound of Dokita's tray sliding under the bars stopped their conversation. I felt my insides heat as I resisted the urge to throttle the man sitting next me. I ignored the gazes that the two men sent towards me as I stood up and went to lean nonchalantly against the back wall, my trey disregarded. Once they collected the treys and retreated from the room I turned my icy glare on Dokita.

"You're a fucking idiot you know that?" The insult held no bite with my even tone but the point was clear. Dokita seemed shocked at my outburst yet regained his composure a second later.

"What did I even do?" He demanded as his tone betrayed his emotions as always.

"She was listening to their conversation," Hermial sighed. "She told us that on the way here, we both were holding our trays back so they would keep talking. Can you really not access the situation?"

"Am I just supposed to remember everything that comes out of her mouth? Be some love-sick boy like you?" I shook my head at the weak insult and stopped just as quickly when my vision started to go dark.

"Stop making excuses, Seven." Hermial said.

"We're going to be landing somewhere soon," I shared after already pushing away my anger. "I'm not sure when exactly," I looked over at Dokita, "but they're ready to get home." A few beats of silence filled the cage until Hermial spoke aloud.

"Maybe you should lie down, Eight."

"Yeah we should all get some rest. I have a feeling this won't be the first time we're delivered our punishment." Dokita speculated. And I knew he was right.

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This chapter has not been edited or critiqued, please ignore the writing mistakes for now. Hope you enjoyed! -J