They'd been traveling for a few days, heading toward the planet Hedkail.
Selena had been training with Xander in the training room when Arel announced that they'd be landing in five minutes.
Xander threw a dagger angrily into a dummy's head. Selena sheathed her blade and snorted.
"I would hate to be that dummy." when Xander didn't do so much as smile, Selena frowned. "Xander, are you alright?"
Xander sat on a bench and put his head in his hands. "No. I'm worried about Jamie. I'm afraid that I won't be able to protect him."
"You won't always be around to protect him." Selena sat next to him. "Jamie, can and will be able to watch out for himself."
Then she told him when Jamie jumped up to stab Marcus in the eye when they were on the docking station in Zion.
Xander chuckled softly. "He must have gotten that move from some show he saw on T.V." he nods and gets to his feet. "But you're right. Come on, let's go see what this planet looks like."
Selena and Xander leave the training room and head up to where the princess was staring out of the glass in front of her.
"This is the planet, Hedkail," Arel said, bitterly. "We have been rivals with this planet for as long as I can remember. I don't suggest all of us going."
She turns from the window. "I think it'll be too dangerous for Nym and Jamie."
Nym enters the room with Jamie following behind him. They both scowl.
Before Jamie could say anything, Xander said, "This planet is dangerous, Jamie. You aren't coming, and that is final."
Jamie's lower lip trembled, and he turned, storming from the room. Nym folds his arms. "You're not going to make me stay, are you? I've been to this planet before. I can handle myself just fine."
Arel smiled. "I'm sure you can, Nym. But no. You can't go."
Nym nods and followed after Jamie.
Once the ship landed, Selena, Xander, and Arel exited.
Arel changed from her extravagant gown into a white suit that covered her from her neck to her ankles.
Selena and Xander were wearing similar outfits, but they were grey.
This planet was foggy, and there were piles of trash everywhere. Selena checked her helmet, making sure it was secured.
"Quick question," Xander said. "How do they live on a planet like this, and why would your father hide a lion here?"
Arel jumped over a long before answering. "They've run out of recourses to sustain its people. My father hid the lion on this planet because it would have been the last place Megedagik would check." Arel kicked aside a rotten apple. "He wanted them to stay hidden. And he would have had no trouble doing that on this planet."
Selena looked around for signs of life, but seeing none, she turned towards Arel. "Do you know where they stay if not up here?"
"We're walking over them."
Xander's eyebrows went up. "So they live underground?"
Before Arel could answer, two men appeared up ahead holding dangerous-looking weapons.
"Stop right there!" One bellowed.
Arel stopped in her tracks and yelled over her shoulder. "Run in different directions!"
Selena went to the left, and Xander and Arel went to the right.
"Get back here!" they screamed, chasing after them.
It would be harder for one of them to catch Arel and Xander, but it would be easy for Selena to be captured.
Her arm screamed in agony as she ran. She pumped her legs as fast as she could, but the black-clothed figure caught up to her instantly.
He fired his gun at the ground around her feet, and she stumbled forward and fell face first into the dirt.
She rolled onto her back and jumped to her feet, but he had her down in an instant.
He hit the side of her head with his gun.
Then darkness.
Selena woke to an evil cackling.
She jumped up and found that her wrist and ankles were tied together.
Sitting around her were people wearing dark clothing, and it was hard to tell apart their gender because of all the dirt covering their faces.
A tall, pale man approached her. He wore a tattered suit and his face was too smeared with dirt.
He smiled revealing long sharp, vampire-like teeth.
"Hello there, girly." he reached a pale hand towards her and traced the side of her face with his long, black nail.
"Get your dirty paws off her." a voice growled.
Selena squinted her eyes and saw Xander fighting against the man in black who was holding him down.
The man turned toward him with a sneer. "What will you do, earthling?"
Arel was on the ground, tied up by the ankles and wrist too. She glanced warily at the pale man. "We aren't here to cause any trouble, Al'Lan. We just came here to retrieve something of my father's."
Al'Lan throws his head back and laughed. "And you expect me to believe that?"
Keep him talking Arel. Selena thought, reaching towards the blade in her back pocket.
"I have already been warned of when you'd be stopping by, and you're here for the lion, correct? The red one?" Al'Lan asked.
Arel's mouth moved, but no sound came out. Selena also stopped moving, shocked.
"How did you-?" Xander started.
"Because of me." A person wearing a black cloak stepped from the shadows and pulled back their hood.
Arel gasped. "Irwen?"
"Ok. What the fuck?" Xander exclaimed. "You betrayed us?"
Irwen shrugged, "Something like that, I guess."
"You guess," Selena snarled, "You selfish bitch, how could you? We trusted you."
"And that was a very foolish decision." Irwen snapped. She turned back towards Al'Lan. "We have the lion secured and ready to be given to Megedagik."
Arel struggled against her binds. "You . . . traitor. How could you turn your back on your own people?" she sneered. "Let me guess, you were the one who lowered our defenses so Megedagik could invade our home?"
Irwen didn't even flinch from the malice in the princess's tone. "It was."
Al'Lan watched this all with a grin on his face. "Interesting, Irwen, dear." he cocked his head. "Well, if the lion is secured, you can head out. I'll take care of-"
A blade whizzed by and landed on Al'Lan's shoulder. He let out a yelp of surprise.
Nym, Jamie, Marcus, and Kai emerged from the shadows. Nym shot a dark glare at Irwen and threw another blade at her.
She gasped when it landed on her chest.
The other people in black cloaks got to their feet and pulled weapons from underneath their cloaks.
Kai reached for Selena and cut her from her binds.
"What's going on?" Selena muttered.
Kai snorts. "Are you kidding me? We're getting you out of here." He helped her to her feet. "Come on."
A man charged towards him but stumbled when a blade found his black heart. Jamie was standing behind him with a wild look on his face.
"Man, this is outstanding!" Jamie sliced another man in the neck. "Come on, the exit is right up there."
Selena followed after them, pulling her blade out in the process. She looked around and saw Xander, Nym, Marcus, and Arel fighting their way toward them.
"Come on!" Jamie called.
Nym, Arel, and Kai caught up, but they surrounded Marcus in seconds.
"Marcus!" Arel cried. "Marcus!"
"GO!" he roared. "I'll hold them off."
Arel turned to go help him, but Kai scooped her up and carried her out of the underground cave.
"NO!" Arel screeched, struggling. "NO! We have to help him!"
When they reached the surface, Kai dropped Arel and started running in the opposite direction of the ship. "The lion is over here. Come on!"
Arel grabbed Jamie and Nym. "I'm going to go get the ship." they turned and ran towards the docking station.
Xander and Selena ran after Kai. Selena was stumbling around, having trouble keeping up.
Xander looked over his shoulder, and his eyes widened. "Selena!"
Before she could register what he said, a blade hit her in the leg, and she screamed.
Xander turned to help her to her feet. "Come on, come on."
Selena looked up and saw the pale man from earlier running towards them with two more blades in his hands.
To be continued...