[i]Seventeen,[/i] Serix felt lightheaded. So many of his people, dead after just one battle. He turned away from Connor and Cassie, pretending to take interest in the memorials as he hid his pained expression from them. The Lunairans couldn’t survive many more of these fights. He hoped the higher powers would be wise enough to see the truth for themselves. This last raid had turned into a suicide mission for the platoon. They couldn’t handle a war until they got their numbers up and that wouldn’t be for many years.

When Cassie began to dig, he observed her in curious silence. Looking at the mounds of dirt next to each memorial, her actions clicked in his mind. It appeared that humans buried their dead. He smiled softly as he watched his mate attempt to show respect for the fallen Lunairans. It was a kind gesture. He took up a shovel and followed suit, digging a second hole nearby.

After a while, more humans slowly filed into the burial chamber. Among them were the three bodies of the deceased. Serix and Cassie paused in their work as the funeral began, paying respect to the mourners by standing quietly to the side. One of the females, the young human named Terra, was weeping loudly, so Cassie made her way over to comfort her in her loss.

Rather than joining his mate, Serix hung back. Even though he wasn’t one of the Lunairans who had attacked, he felt out of place at the funeral, as if he didn’t belong. He shifted his weight uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact with them in case they might take their anger and sadness out on him for being one of the “aliens” they so despised. It was better for everyone if he stayed out of it and let them grieve among their own people.

A while after the holes were filled in with dirt, some of the humans left to gather the bodies of the Lunairans. Serix and Cassie continued digging, and to his surprise, the young female, Terra, joined them. Despite losing her sibling to the battle, she was willing to help bury their enemies. He met her tear-filled gaze for a brief moment and nodded his gratitude, appreciative of the help she was offering. Terra held his gaze for a heartbeat longer, but said nothing. She dug on in silence.

A few more humans joined the female as well, digging the final holes that the Lunairans would be buried in. Serix was moved by their compassion for his fallen people. They had no reason to show any respect for their enemies, yet here they were, working hard to create a proper funeral for them.

When the bodies were brought in, Serix stopped digging and stepped over to Quincy, who was guiding them towards the holes. “Don’t bury them just yet,” he said quietly. “We have a ritual for our dead… to help them pass on to the nether. I’d like to at least give them that.”

Quincy nodded in understanding, “Take your time.” He directed the others to lay the bodies beside each hole while Serix took a moment to prepare himself.

Serix knew he couldn’t give them a traditional Lunairan funeral—in the ship, his people were cremated and their ashes were sent into space—but he would try his best. Removing his shirt, he picked up a nearby knife—it had been left by a human who had set it down to dig holes—and pressed the blade into the palm of his right hand, wincing slightly at the sting of the metal. Dark red blood dripped from the cut onto the stone floor of the cavern. Using two fingers, he traced the blood from his hand onto his arms, face, and torso in a series of precise lines and dots. In his culture, it was believed that in order to send a soul to the netherworld, the guide was to prepare his or her own body with blood that functioned as a map for the dead.

Once he finished painting the traditional pattern on himself, Serix stepped over to the closest body and knelt down beside it. Murmuring a few words of condolences, he closed the male’s eyes and used his thumb to smear a line of blood across the body’s forehead which would, according to Lunairan beliefs, connect the soul to the map he had drawn and guide it to the netherworld.

He repeated this process sixteen more times, until each one had been lowered into the holes and buried. Cassie came to stand beside him and he exhaled solemnly, “I wish I had known who they were.” It was sad to see them all be put to rest without any family to see them off, but he hoped his efforts would be enough for them to find peace.

He closed his eyes when Cassie sent her emotions to him once more. They shared a moment to grieve together in silence before she pulled away and reminded him that they needed to get to the hold before the interrogations would begin. They exited the cavern and headed quickly to the hold, where they ran into Ryan. The human leader had a cold look in his eyes that sent a chill down Serix’s spine.

Cassie was the first to approach him, [b]“Ryan, we need to talk.”[/b]

[b]“No,”[/b] Ryan shook his head, predicting Cassie’s request. [b]“We are not keeping those aliens alive.”[/b]

[b]“Ryan,”[/b] Cassie went on anyways. [b]“There’s been enough death for one day, don’t you think? Do you really want more people to—”[/b]

[b]“They killed Sally, Cassie!”[/b] Ryan’s voice boomed with a fury Serix had never seen in him before. [b]“Killed an innocent little girl who didn’t even know how to hold a gun! Those things down there aren’t people! They’re monsters!”[/b] Serix grimaced at his harsh words. He agreed that Sally’s murder was a terrible thing, but his people had only been following orders. They didn’t understand how incredible the human race truly was; how killing a human child was practically the same as killing a Luniaran child. They were ignorant.

Ryan finished by telling Cassie that he wouldn’t spare their lives, even for her, and took off. Serix exchanged a worried look with Cassie as they followed after him. Ryan called Connor and Quincy over to retrieve one of the prisoners from a cell. It was the youngest captive, a wide-eyed male who appeared to have only just been assigned his life career. Just one glance at him told Serix he wouldn’t last ten minutes under the human’s torture. He turned on Ryan with a glare, “He’s just a child. Interrogate someone else.”

“Stay out of my way,” Ryan snarled, shoving him aside.

Serix stubbornly planted himself between Ryan and the young Lunairan once again, “Interrogate someone else. He can’t handle it, Ryan.”

“Whose side are you on, alien?” Ryan narrowed his eyes, stepping just centimeters away from Serix. His hands curled into fists at his sides.

“You know as well as anyone that I’m not a traitor,” Serix said icily. “But I’m not going to stand by while you put a child through that nightmare.”

“Fine,” Ryan’s voice was frighteningly calm. He signaled behind his back to Monty and Ray, who were standing off to the side. They began to approach while Serix was focused on Ryan. “Then I’ll just have them make you stand by.”

“What do you—” Serix inhaled sharply as he felt two sets of hands grab him by the shoulders and drag him away. He had let his guard down. He fought against Monty and Ray’s grips, but Monty quickly pulled out a metal device from his pocket, latching it onto Serix’s wrist and a bar of the closest cell. He tugged against the device, but it held fast. “Damn it,” he muttered, using one of the human curses he had learned from the half-bloods.

“Just sit tight, alien,” Ryan said, taking out a key to unlock the young Lunairan’s cell. “I’ll bring him back soon… He just might not be breathing.”

“[i]You’re[/i] the monster here,” Serix spat, fighting relentlessly against the metal band clasped around his wrist.

Ryan ignored him, unlocking the cell and opening the door. Connor and Quincy stepped inside to retrieve the young male, but as soon as they stepped past the bars, they both doubled over, clutching at their heads in pain. Serix’s eyes widened and he turned to the female Lunairan in the cell with the young male. Her pupils were dilated to the rims of her irises.

“That’s…” he breathed, recognizing the technique. He was astonished to meet one of his kind who had learned to inflict pain through telepathy. It was a rarely taught gift, almost exclusively learned by talented Lunairan medics, since they had backgrounds in understanding the body.

“What’s going on?” Ryan’s voice wavered. Suddenly, he too cried out in pain.

“Go now, Jaxil!” the female gave the young male a push towards the cell door. “Go while you still can.”

Overcoming his fear, the male, Jaxil, nodded and sprinted for the tunnel, dodging the reaching hands of Monty and Ray as he passed by them. Serix watched as he disappeared from sight. He could only hope Jaxil would find his way out of the humans’ hideout without getting caught.

Ryan let out a howl of anger at the sight of his prisoner getting away. “Why, you—!” fighting the pain, he marched up to the female Lunairan and struck her in the head. She gasped and her violet irises returned, ending the trance. Quincy and Connor stood upright, rubbing their temples as they recovered.

“We’re interrogating this one first,” Ryan growled, glaring down at the cowering female. “Don’t hold back on her, Monty.”