by Thomas Green
A pretty, blonde head appeared at the balcony above. “How about this one? Was it better? Don’t be shy, Rael, for I need to know which ones are better and which ones are worse so I can work on them for the match. So, which one of the five was the best?”
Luna’s cheeks flared. Rael? That would better be a fake because I will rip you to shreds if you lied about having a real name!
Raven smiled beneath the hood. “Second one felt the best. This one was a touch repetitive in the second half.”
“Repetitive… okay, I can help that. I will try the last song again, this time with a slight twist!” The girl’s head disappeared, and she soon continued singing.
Luna knew the girl. She saw her at the opening festival. Yvonne of the team of Xona. A thought she didn’t enjoy popped into her mind, did Raven disappear from the event because he was with her instead of me? Her?
Luna’s rage exploded through her body. She wanted to destroy the window next to her, the next one and the other one too. Hell, she felt like turning the entire building into rubble. Luna spun on her heel, pried an oil lamp from the wall, headed down to the cells of the arena complex and then further below, descending as deep as she could. Fuck this. It’s time I do the mission for Lucas.
***
To find the barrier crystal was tedious. Luna spent half of the night wandering through the empty stone tunnels beneath the arena complex, and now she found a spot where the correct room seemed to be. Two hours later, she ascertained the position of the secret door and how to open them. That was what Lucas wanted, so she stopped there and searched for whatever other mysteries the bowels of the dungeons held. Soon enough, she came across a weathered crossroad and sniffed, catching a mixture of scents. In the dim light of the oil lamp she carried, Luna looked for tracks and continued on the path that bore the most.
She prowled forward but spotted a light ahead. While it may have been a mere reflection on the wall, it was good enough of a reason for her to douse her own lamp and put it down. She gave herself two long minutes to steady her breath. Behind a corner lay a corridor while at its end stood a large door, next to which hung a burning torch and a guard sat on a stool. Luna listened and heard the man’s snoring.
Silent as death, she approached him. He didn’t react. She entered the circle of the surrounding light. He didn’t move.
Quite a sleeper, aren’t you? Luna towered above him. No reaction. She drew her shortsword, but since the guard still didn’t move, she tried the door, finding it unlocked.
Ready to skewer him the second the hinges made a sound, she opened. Silence. She threw the sleeping man one more look. I don’t want to kill you if I don’t have to, so how about you stay asleep?
She slid beyond the gate once the gap was large enough. Behind lay a hallway, long but lit with torches. Luna sheathed her blade and turned her walk at a brisk pace, keeping her figure straight and confident. She exited the tunnel onto a small platform from which stairs led down to the side.
She stared in disbelief at the massive cavern that opened before her. While water dripped down from dark spots on the high ceiling, possibly grates, the area lay dominated by a sharp hill surrounded by a circular abyss in its midst, looking like the tip of a humongous stone finger poking out through a ring of darkness. Houses and cages covered the hill, so many she could only call it a small city.
After a while, Luna remembered why she was here and descended the stairs. The water kept dripping from the ceiling in a fixed pattern, catching her attention. She followed the trail of the water with her eyes and saw tanks positioned to intercept the liquid while a system of artificial streams spread it through the city to its lower levels.
How large is this place? She prowled to the circular abyss that ringed the center. The chasm was much deeper than she expected while the central hill was more extensive than it looked at first glance. Roads surrounded by lanterns weaved between the houses akin to a massive snake, continuing down by the slope deep down into the abyss.
The cavern was apparently home to thousands of people and Luna had no idea what to think of it. She glimpsed a bridge leading over the chasm with a guard post at its end. By the lights, the surrounding ring is uninhabited, so I need to go in to find anything.
She wiped off her sweat, arranged her hair, straightened her back, and prepared her excuse for the case someone saw her. Luna approached the bridge and stepped onto its stone as if the entire place belonged to her.
A tall guard dressed in a black uniform bearing the symbol of a dove with spread wings, the symbol of the Slaver Union, on its chest walked out of the guarding post. “Haven’t seen you around here, lass.”
Luna’s heart leapt up to her throat. She swallowed it down to keep her voice sharp and controlled. “No shit. I’m from Illysaeas.”
He made a step toward her. “What’s your business here?”
She raised her chin. “Do you want me, the deputy of Prince Stallington himself, to tell your boss I was late because you held me up to flirt?”
He stopped in his tracks, confused. “Sorry, Miss. Didn’t mean it that way.”
Luna passed him, not granting him another glance. She continued into the small city, turning by the nearest corner. Sweat burst all over her face while her breathing became shallow and rapid. That was too close! She spent long minutes recovering out of the shock before she calmed enough to continue.
She walked by the houses toward the first large cage she could see. The buildings were made of wood, old but well-maintained. She stalked closer to the closest one and gazed inside using the light from a street lantern. Inside slept people, four men. All looked like soldiers while uniforms hung on the walls. She continued on the road and checked the others. All were the same.
Luna let them be and approached one of the large cages. The cage lay wreathed in darkness, so she picked up light from the street. It was heavy, made of metal and shielded with glass from the sides. The lantern had what she could only describe as an iron hat over it, designed to shield the flame inside from the water that dripped from the ceiling.
Luna walked to the cage and froze when she saw its contents. Living humans filled the place. They lay over the ground in whatever cots they created.
She looked closer, and her stomach recoiled. The people were barely dressed, starved, and disfigured. All of them were twisted. Some had scales on their body, some had fingers turned into claws while others had large tusks and massive teeth. She glimpsed a man who had a long tentacle instead of an arm.
What is this place? She noticed a pair of eyes looking at her from a group of people. She motioned the person to come closer. It didn’t. Luna reached into her pocket to pull out the apple. The shadows moved, and a small girl came to her the bars.
She was no more than seven years old while her body was so thin she looked like a wraith. Luna stared at her as if she was a specter. The little diamond face looked like one she had seen before. Yala. She remembered her as if it was yesterday. There was a young girl, Yala, working at Jean Pierre’s smithy. She was her friend, the first friend she ever had. Until Yala tripped and fell into a heated forge. Luna remembered her friend screaming, melting and burning as she tried to wrestle her from the melted steel, holding but a corpse in the end.
The little girl kept staring at her. “You aren’t a guard.”
“I am not.” Luna bit back her tears, ducked down and handed her the fruit. “Do you have a name?”
“Addie.”
“I am Luna.”
The girl reached out with a scaled hand. She took the apple and bit into it, revealing sharp pointy teeth.
I think I fucked up… I should have a fake name for these things. Luna swallowed back the sinking feeling that clawed at her insides. “How did you get here, Addie?”
She was trying to eat the fruit as fast as she could. “I was born here.”
Luna did what she could to keep her face straight, but emptiness laid its seed into her. “Was your arm always like this?”
&n
bsp; Addie ran her hand through her hair. “No.”
“What the hell is going on there?” a guard shouted from behind a corner. Addie disappeared among the sleeping people.
Luna’s heart pounded in a crazy rhythm. She took her time to calm down before she turned to face him. “I am inspecting the goods.”
“Haven’t seen you around here yet.”
“I’m from Illysaeas and was sent to inspect the progress.”
“Sent by whom?”
Luna smirked. “Prince Stallington himself. You are free to go check with his Highness.”
The guard didn’t say a thing.
Before he had a chance to think, she spoke again. “These don’t look to be of much use.” She glanced over the cage in an arrogant gesture. “I hope you have something better, else this trip will be worse than disappointing, and you do not want to disappoint the prince, trust me.”
The guard smiled. “These are failures. Please follow me to see the successes, lady…?”
“Samantha.”
“I am John,” he said with an awkward smile and led the way. They walked through the town without stopping for anything. “How is life in the Illysaeas?”
“Boring. We haven’t had an escape attempt or a mutiny in months, so there is shit to do aside from catching new slaves.”
“The routine here is awful, and fun only comes around when a bigger subject breaks free... which barely ever happens.”
He took her to an upper area where dozens of smaller cages lay by the road. Each pen had one inhabitant, who looked like much more deformed versions of the people she saw earlier.
Half men, half demons. Luna gulped not to retch. “Not bad.”
John’s expression filled with satisfaction. “Be careful around the bars, because the fuckers are smart and vicious.”
They were breeding demons out of humans. She needed to get as much information as she could so Lucas would come to pay this place a visit. Luna kept her face impassive. “I am almost impressed.” She glanced at the large, square building sitting atop the hill where he was leading her. He might be bringing me into a trap.
As the summit approached, Luna strengthened her body with her aether while resting her palm on the hilt of her shortsword. With every step, she counted the cages until she stopped, as there were too many. I have seen nothing like this in Illysaeas, so I guess Stallington is the white sheep of the Union.
He led her by countless large cages with more or less deformed inhabitants. Yet what made Luna’s skin crawl were the smaller cages, which became more common the closer to the top of the hill they got. Each held under five beings, which looked like a blend of a human and a demon, but not in the twisted sense, but rather in the designed one.
Luna focused on not revealing how sick this made her feel.
By the top of the hill stood more large cages from which she heard silent sobbing. She dared a quick glance and saw non-deformed humans filling the pens. About a hundred men, women, and children lay within the caged, devastated but alive, and not starved.
Luna threw John a stare. “These look fresh. New subjects?”
“They are. We got a good batch earlier. A merchant caravan was coming for the tournament and, well, Doc will love them.”
“He sure will.” I will come back for Addie, I swear. Addie and all these people. I will save them… and after I do, I will return and murder every slaver I can find!
The beast growled into her mind. ‘That sounds more like us.’
You are not supposed to be agreeing with me, but this time, I will forgive it. Luna turned to the side to hide the wicked smile that spread across her face. John paid it no mind and led her inside the large square building atop the hill. Guards loitered by the entrance door, but let them enter with a mere nod.
Luna had seen a lot, but the sheer brutality of this place astounded her. Large chairs and beds with metal shackles filled the rooms while dried blood covered all within. Around the stools and holding desks stood smaller tables filled with various devices, knives, pliers, chains, and saws. They descended a set of stairs.
She heard a silent, desperate pleading of a woman. Luna lowered her hand on the sword she had by her waist, gripping tight the leather hilt. They walked toward the sound, passed a couple of guards and entered a room. Inside, a young woman lay bound to a table while above her stood an older man in bloodstained cloth. Blood covered her, and her lower belly was cut open. The white-shirted man was putting what looked like a black stone into the gaping wound. Tears marred her face as she was sobbing, begging him to stop.
When they entered, Luna’s glare met the older man’s gaze. Recognition flew through her head. They met at the festival. They did not exchange names, but she saw him there, and he must have seen her, at least during the presentation of the competitors.
The man nodded, and the guards surrounded her, their swords drawn. Without a second thought, Luna drew her shortsword and rammed it under John’s helmet, digging through his jaw into his skull. She ran to the window, weaving from the blades of the other men, and leapt out as the doctor shouted. “Catch her!”
Luna landed on a roof. She turned the fall into a somersault upon landing and jumped down from the house. Luna sprinted like never before, hearing the men sound the alarm in the black building.
She ran to the side ledge and slid onto the street below in front of three guards. They stood frozen for a moment, a second which cost them their lives, for before they drew their blades, Luna introduced her sword to their throats. She turned from their corpses and dashed away, leaping to the lower level. This fall was longer. Her fingernails exploded as she landed, but they generated, and she saw the bridge over which she came.
The guard she met before stood by the side, confused. She charged toward him. He lifted his shield. Luna slid to his right, parried his blade and rammed her sword into his armpit. She spun and kicked him, sending him over the edge into the abyss below.
Luna crossed the bridge and scaled the stairs. She slowed her run as she knew they couldn’t see her as the area was not lit by lanterns. The alarm was waking up the city, but she would be long gone by the time they figured out how she left. She ran to the large door which stood unlocked. As silently as she could, she opened them and snuck in.
You lucky bastard. The guard was still asleep. She crept into the hallway and returned into the complex, all the way to the roof. I will come back for you, Addie, I promise. I will make sure you see the light of day and that the slavers don’t!
Lucas was already waiting for her, sitting beneath the dark sky, drinking from a jug. Without delay, Luna gave him the full report.
He nodded once she finished. “We meet in two days and head in there.”
She gulped. “Before you disappear, one thing.”
He arched an eyebrow.
“Can we save them? Can we help the innocent people they want to turn into demons?”
Lucas shrugged. “I will try, but I give you no promises.”
She sighed. “And about the slavers… will you kill them?”
His face split into a smile that made her blood freeze and heart stop pumping. “Oh, yes, that I can promise. The meeting place is the crossroad opposite of your room at midnight.”
Luna opened her mouth to speak but stopped as he vanished. She shook her head and returned to her cell.
15
Salazar
Salazar sat within the match preparation room, reading today's papers. The main title on the front page read Raven and The Beast, and to his displeasure, the rest of the printed press was filled with this topic. His plan to be the first to steal the crowd had already failed and the idea of being second did not do him well.
Katherine approached him with a cruel smile. “I am sorry to disturb your highness, but we have a competition to attend to.”
Salazar put aside the paper and rose, piercing her with his gaze full of cold rage. “I am aware.” He led the way, deciding it’s time he made a statement of his own. He woul
d not walk within anyone else’s shadow, much less one of a slave. As his team followed him, he glanced at his companions over his shoulder. “After the match starts, nobody move for the first minute.”
While Katherine nodded, Mark stared at him, eyes wide. “What?”
The anger hidden beneath the mask of his face seeped into Salazar’s voice. “Disobey me and this day shall be your last.”
Nobody protested, although Katherine threw him the I know you are lying smile, which irritated him to no end. She knew him far too well.
As they entered the arena, Salazar took the front position. When the announcer started introducing the teams, he fixed his gaze upon the maze ahead and focused.
From within a pocket of his robes, he dropped a hazel pine seed, hid it by placing his leg onto it and pushed his aether inside, making it burst into roots. While making sure they remain concealed beneath the ground, he made them pass toward the construction of the labyrinth, and enter its wood.
The announcer had signaled the start of the match and the enemy team, the local team of the slavers of Grimdawn, rushed into the maze, but his team stood frozen in its place, twitching uncomfortably. As Salazar worked his aether, his thoughts drifted to Katherine. He couldn’t help himself but be impressed by how calm and how well she acted out being surprised and unsure at the same time.
Luckily, the rest of his team handled the situation much worse, allowing him to savor awkwardness flowing through the air. It soon turned to fear.
Mark stepped to the captain, but Salazar could hear them talking even over the booing crowd. “Do we… stand here and wait?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t decide if he isn’t making us do this for him to show off or not.”
Oh, Katherine, you so deserve a raise. Salazar stopped himself from smiling and continued pushing the roots through the wood of the maze. Careful not to slip, he wreathed the construction in his plant.
