The Dark Giants by Cerberus Jones

Beard. ‘If we miss the wormhole, we miss the sale, and
if that happens, I think you’ll find it incredibly hard to make it up to us.’
    ‘Sale?’ said Foxy. ‘What sale?’
    Beard snorted. ‘You don’t think we came all the way out to Earth without having a
buyer lined up already, did you?’
    ‘But I never agreed to help you sell a wild animal – I was helping you save it!’
    ‘Oh, you’re helping, all right,’ said Spike. ‘Helping save our business. Helping
our reputations –’
    ‘Helping us make a good impression on the Guild,’ Beard added.
    Charlie nudged Amelia again, and she saw what he’d noticed: Sophie T’s fingers were
beginning to twitch. Whatever Spike had done to petrify her, it was starting to wear
off. But how long before Sophie T could move enough to get away? The moon was so
bright, Charlie and Amelia had no chance of sneaking over and carrying her off without
being caught too.
    Amelia turned to look back the way they’d come. How long would it take us to go get
Mum and Dad? And then she realised something terrible. I don’t remember the way home
– I think we’re lost.
    They were as trapped as Sophie T, with no way to get help. Even if they somehow stole
Sophie T back from the aliens, what could they do next? There was nowhere safe for
them to go, and nowhere to hide as long as Foxy had that scanner. Unless Charlie
knew how to get back to the hotel …
    She turned to ask Charlie, but found to her horror that he was gone. A moment later,
she spotted his pale face on the other side of the clearing, peeking out from behind
the pile of ripped up trees. Her whole body was flooded with relief, but then she
froze: If I can see him, then he can see me. And if we can see each other, then what
if –?
    Before she could finish her thought, a hand the size of a garbage tin lid had snatched
her from behind the rock. Charlie blurred out of view, but she could still hear him
clearly enough. ‘Oh, no you don’t!’ he yelled. ‘You put me down!’
    The alien did – and a second later, Amelia was plonked into the grass too, right
next to him and Sophie T.
    ‘Nice work,’ grinned Beard. ‘Three human pups will bring an excellent price.’
    Amelia shuffled over to Sophie T and put an arm around her. She was as stiff as a
doll, but her hand was now clenched into a fist. The grass rustled around them.
    ‘Do you think our buyer will be interested?’
    Beard scoffed. ‘The pit mistress won’t be interested in them!’
    ‘Pit mistress?’ said Foxy. ‘You don’t mean – are you telling me you intend to sell
that magnificent grawk to a pit-fighting gang?’
    Amelia looked at Charlie, horrified. They were hunting Grawk!
    Charlie nodded grimly, but then shot Amelia a significant look. Her eyes widened
as she guessed what he was thinking: things were looking very bad for them – almost
Krskn-level bad, with all this talk of being sold to aliens – but they’d just heard
a chink opening in the aliens’ plan.
    ‘You savages!’ Foxy howled. ‘I thought you were selling to a zoo, at least – but
pit-fighting? You butchers!’
    Yep. Foxy was no longer on the space-giants’ side. That left the tiniest hope he
might decide to be on theirs.
    ‘Try to move,’ Charlie whispered to Sophie T. ‘If you can hear me, if you’re not
still unconscious, try to move. We’re going to try to rescue you.’
    Sophie T lay frozen, not even an eyelid flickered, but she made a little grunt in
the back of her throat that sounded a lot like, ‘Huh!’ Amelia noticed her fist tightening
until the knuckles bulged.
    ‘She can hear us,’ she said, and began massaging Sophie T’s hand and wrist. ‘She’s
trying.’
    ‘Oh, I am sick of your yapping,’ Beard growled, and Amelia started, thinking he was
speaking to her. But the giant was still staring down at Foxy. ‘You took the job,
now do the job. I doubt you’ll have anything to complain about when you get paid.’
    Amelia sank lower into the