Species XD-63

What lies beneath

14 years ago

Planet Xyon

Sestru (age 15 human years) Egris (age 16 human years)

The Olphiets had just landed.

The whole training ground was buzzing with commotion and bewildering excitement. For the first time in 5 years, females would be gracing them with their presence. 

Egris and Sestru clung to each other and chanted the Xyon world anthem in the changing room. They had made a deal that at least one of them would get to dance with an Olphiet. 

Yes, neither could dance but that wasn't the point. Just the thought of being in the arms of a woman was enough to send the teenagers screaming. 

The older warriors looked down at them and sighed - they had been married and swore away from romance after the surge of the virus. To them, Sestru and Egris were just dumbstruck kids confusing intrigue with passion.

The number of times they had told them that these Olphiets looked for one thing was numerous, yet the boys refused to believe.

In the end, the warriors decided to let them find out for themselves. 

At the dance Egris and Sestru stood at the corners of the room scanning the dance floor with a tumbler in their hands. Any free Olphiet would be theirs to snap up - hopefully.

Egris had styled his hair and brought a new suit from the tailors. It was expensive and itched slightly, but he looked suave and that's all that counted in is sixteen-year-old mind. He was entranced by the beauty of the Olphiets.

They had legs which went on for miles, smoothed bronze skin and unrivalled beauty. No wonder people yearned for their presence across the cosmos.

A young female at the opposite end of the hall put down her glass and looked directly at Egris. He instantly straightened and unconsciously rustled his tie.

This was it.

Shooting one glance to Sestru and seeing he was still alone, Egris sauntered up to the girl. She took a step forward and they met chest to chest.

A sickly sweet fragrance of fruit radiated off her. It wasn't like a perfume; it was her skin. 

The silver eyes which bored into his own were shallow and only let him see so far. It was like a mask.

To keep her in and the rest out.

Egris' father always told him that you could tell a lot about someone from their eyes. they were the gateway to the soul, after all.

So it was strange to see something so skin-deep about a person.

"Dance?" She asked sultry and wrapped long, slender fingers around his forearm.

Egris nodded in approval and led her to the dance floor.

Sestru looked at them with his mouth agape. How his friend managed to pull a girl for a dance was beyond him. Maybe the rugged look really was swoon-worthy?

Damn. He needed to try harder.

Dancing was like one fluid movement with the Olphiet, whose name was Elle as Egris later found out. She followed the rhythm with the grace like a rolling cloud and flitted like a hummingbird step to step. He struggled to keep up and found his movement choppy and uncoordinated.

If Elle noticed it, she didn't say anything. As the song came to a dramatic finale, her hands left his and she distanced herself.

Egris took this as his clue to depart and almost skipped back to Sestru, a stupid grin distorting his features.

he had danced with an Olphiet! And it wasn't a dream!

"You lucky git." Sestru muttered and finished his drink with one large gulp.

xxx

It was late at night.

All the guests had departed and were snuggled tightly in their beds.

Apart from two.

Egris and Sestru stumbled own the corridor and giggled like two scolded school girls. One drink had turned into two, then two into four, and before they knew what was happening, both warriors were completely drunk. 

The lights had been dimmed so they could only see a few feet in front of them, making the journey back to their dorms more difficult than anticipated. Incoherent, slurred speech dribbled from their mouths and the two would burst into fits of laughter at the sound of each other. 

The hangover which would hit them in the morning would be immense, but that didn't faze them yet. In their minds, the night was still young and fun was to be had.

It didn't matter if they could hardly put two feet in front of each other.

Egris was still on cloud 9 from just one dance and he would not stop babbling about it. After the third time of mentioning it, Sestru had stopped listening completely.

It was only a loud and heated raucous originating from further down the corridor which stopped them mid-step. The resonating sound of shattered glass and the high pitched wail bounced off the walls and carved deep into their ears.

"What the-"Sestru slurred and cautiously leaned forward.

Another crash and they both fell to the floor in fright. 

What brave warriors they were. 

"You bitch! You think you can take whatever the hell you want, huh? Well, you can't! Do you understand? Know your god damn place!" a distinctively female voice seethed. It would've been smooth if the venom wasn't so fierce it bit. 

A whimper was the only answer.

The sound of a shoe against skin was heard over and over again. Each time the whimpers turned into cries, then rise into wails.

This was an isolated corridor - the girl could scream to the top of her lungs but the chance of anyone hearing was slim.

The only people who were witnessing laid slump against the floor. 

Eris started to crawl slowly to the scene. As the flickering light cast a glow on the woman, he sucked in a breath. 

Sestru jerked his leg so he could stand up and knocked the leg of a table. The vase perched on top came plummeting to the tiled floor and separated into shards. 

This notified the attackers that they weren't alone. Egris internally cursed as the culprits dashed away, leaving another Olphiet to bleed profusely on the ground. 

A crimson rose bloomed on the bodice of her white shift dress, blood surging through the fibres like a spiders web. Her eyes had already glazed over - a look of fear permanently branded into the onyx depths. 

There was little they could do apart from stare in pure shock.

There was no doubt they were Olphiets.

Cold-blooded murderers dressed like the angels sent from hell.

They had ended a life of one of their own for what?

Letting her interests wander.