From Other Worlds

1 》Aliens & A New Life

Dain stands among the others, watching the humans fighting down below in the Pits. The two male humans have a weapon each, and as they fight, Dain realizes that the humans will soon be dead. But this isn't what he wants. No, the show must go on. So, he turns and presses the big, red button that will release the beast.

The door across the Pits from the two men slides open. And out comes a roaring creature. The amalgamation of a dog, a bull, and a hawk (all creatures from the humans' world) lunges forward. It snaps its jaws around the one man, swallowing him whole and alive.

Dain hears the others laugh around him as the amalgamation beast turns to the man who remains. He raises his sword, and charges at the creature. Dain's eyes widen. He is shocked by what the humans are capable of doing. How they are able to be brave when they have nothing left. How they are so willing to live.

"Damn, those things don't give up easy," says one of the beings beside Dain.

He folds his wings against his back, and he spins and presses a white button that is beside the red one. He watches as the beast is recalled back into the room it entered through. The beings beside Dain complain as the monster vanishes.

"He earned his life, for this fight," Dain says. "Get him a meal, wash him up, and give him some new clothes. He shouldn't be killed off just yet."

》》》》》》》》》

Vilkas is a human and he is surrounded by alien creatures. When that monster swallowed the man he was supposed to kill, Vilkas had known his life was over. So, he figured he would go out with a bang.

But instead of being swallowed up, or disemboweled by the beast, he is brought out of the Pits. Brought in, given a shower, fresh clothes, and food. Now, he sits alone in his cell once more, chains around his ankles and wrists, and he watches as someone walks by his cell. They have green skin, pointy ears, and tusks.

He's decided he is surrounded by hostile aliens. In fact, judging by the few sights he sees beyond the glass windows, he is not even on Earth anymore.

No, he is in space.

The ship he is on is massive, and filled with hostile creatures that all seem to want him dead. He can't remember any of his life beyond the walls of this damned ship. The only thing he remembers is his name, Vilkas.

As he sits there, staring off into space, he hears someone else walking in the hall outside of the cell. He lifts his head, and sees a group of the armor clad soldiers escorting the person in the middle of them. They wear a gray dress, the fabric torn, and muddy. He realizes that she is a prisoner, just like him.

Her skin is gray, a bit lighter than the dress. Massive, feathered wings trail behind her, the purple feathers caked with dirt and blood. Her hair is white, but tainted with dried blood that is blue and her horns atop her head are the same dark purple as her wings. She turns her gaze to look right at him as the soldiers open the door to his cell. Her eyes are mismatched, one gold, one silver.

The soldiers shove her into the cell, and chain her to the wall to the right of him. They leave, and Vilkas stares at the girl. She looks back at him, her mismatched eyes glistening with pain and tears.

She speaks, but the words do not make any sense. She sighs and clears her throat, then, "Hello. I am Sihnion. What is your name?"

"Vilkas," he says.

"Ah. I am not sure what is happening here, but pancakes there is a reason."

"Pancakes?" Vilkas asks, chuckling.

She tilts her head.  "What?"

"That's what you said. I think you mean "perhaps" instead, right?"

Confused, she nods. "Yes?"

The silence that follows is heavy, and Vilkas wishes that he could tell her that she will be okay. The alien girl is pretty, the look on her face mixing with pain and sorrow. He wishes he could get her out of her chains. But first, he'd have to free himself from his own chains.

Vilkas and Sihnion sit, silent, for a long time before finally, they both end up drifting off into sleep.