Legacy of Dreams: Freedom

by Thomas J. L. Green

  It took Luna a while to regenerate to the point of being functional. She tried to replay what happened in her mind, but there was just nothing more. Her memory was a set of pictures. When the pain stopped being insufferable, she wiped her tears and sat down. Raven was sagged the wall and stared at the sky. His eyes were red from dried tears. His face was twisted with suffering.

  What have I done?

  Luna cleared her face and walked towards him. No reaction.

  “I’m sorry, Raven, I had no right to ask this of you,” she whispered.

  No reaction. Blood shot into Luna’s face, her whole body screamed with hunger. She grabbed Raven by the hair and pulled him up.

  “Stop being useless and get me some meat to eat!”

  He looked at her with an expression full of utter confusion.

  “Move!” she commanded as she pushed him towards the arena gate.

  Raven got the point and started walking.

  “Faster!” she demanded.

  He speeded up.

  Please hurry. I can’t hold out much longer. Luna sagged down on the ground by one of the pillars. To keep herself occupied, she went to examine the blood trail. There was a splash of blood around where she stood at the start and a trail of blood drops leading towards the wall. At the wall, there was a massive splatter of blood, bone fragments and brains. Her brains. The smell of blood made the hunger worse.

  Please make it in time Raven… I beg you.

  Luna heard the gate open. She darted up from her seat and looked at it. Raven looked completely out of his mind but had a bag of apples in one hand while with the other hand, he was leading a cow that carried what looked like a leg of a sheep and a plate with cheeses and ham.

  Thank you!

  Luna sprinted towards him. As he closed the gate, the hunger took over.

  When she regained her senses, she was sitting atop a mostly eaten cow carcass. Around her were apples, plates, cheese, ham and a leg of a sheep.

  Tell me you are alright, Raven!

  She looked around and saw him. Raven was sitting on the wall and observed her with an inquisitive stare.

  Not the reaction I usually get…

  “You seem suspiciously alright,” Luna evaluated.

  “Sorry I hurt you,” Raven apologized.

  “I am fine! Told you I heal out of anything! IDIOT!” Luna shot back sharply.

  “Had my doubts.”

  Rightfully so… my head hurts so bad it feels like he shattered my bones. Nobody has ever managed to shatter my bones; nobody aside from James… yet his shield apparently smashed my skull like a rotten apple. Plus all he has on himself is a smear of my blood and brains on his shield; it isn’t even cracked. My skull’s tougher than steel plates, how the hell did he do this?

  “Anyway… still not afraid to sleep in the same room?” Luna asked carefully.

  “No.”

  “Are you that confident you are stronger than me?”

  “Yes.”

  “How come?”

  “Your strengths are directly countered by mine and your fighting style is completely unprepared for such eventuality.”

  Huh…? That was way too analytical. I thought he fights mostly on instinct… did he use the training we did to analyze my style for the eventuality we might fight?

  This guy… I am the one getting afraid. Who the hell are you?

  6

  Luna

  “Oh, what is it now? I killed it first this time. Have you got no guts?” Luna mocked Raven as she started eating the sheep she just killed. Head and brains first.

  Raven was looking down to the ground. “Sorry,” he whispered.

  “Sorry, my ass! I’m the monster in here so stop apologizing! Idiot!” Luna exploded.

  “Sorry.”

  ARRRGH!

  “Look! James raised me this way and nobody managed to teach me otherwise. Deal with it!” she barked at him.

  “Who’s James?”

  Right. I haven’t told him shit about me. You are nailing this friendship thing, Luna!

  “An old evil bastard,” Luna responded.

  And the closest thing to a father I have ever had.

  “What happened?” Raven probed.

  “You first! How did you end up in here?” Luna tried to pivot, despite having no good reason for it. She felt very uncomfortable talking about herself.

  Raven rested his body against the pillar and leaned upon it. As if reading from the sky, he said:

  “I don’t know. The first thing I remember from my life is being shackled while standing in a long queue of people. When my turn came, a large man stared down at me:

  ‘Name and age, kid.’

  He asked me. I didn’t know either of that. He tried again, but there was nothing.

  ‘Meh, black hair, I will write you down as Raven, age six.’

  They brought me in a cell with ten other men.

  The next day, I was down here in the arena in a large battle re-enactment.” Raven took a short pause. “Was there as an extra who wasn’t supposed to fight. I didn’t know. I don’t remember what happened, but I do remember standing in a dead silent arena with corpses all around me. Only years later I understood that it was an act and the people there were actors rather than fighters.”

  “So how old are you, exactly?” Luna tried to change the topic.

  This is getting way too dark way too fast.

  “Don’t know. Six was the minimum legal age to be taken to the arena. I’ve been here for about fifteen years since,” Raven replied impassively.

  Not better.

  “Have you ever been without shackles?” Luna tried, hoping she would hit some pleasant memory.

  “No,” Raven answered dryly.

  To think I felt sorry about my own life.

  “What’s the thing you like the most?” Luna probed.

  “Nibbles. From my job… I guess fighting mercenaries. They come to fight willingly, are smart about it and are not afraid of dying. That’s the only time I don’t mind killing.”

  Not much better.

  “What do you like the least?”

  Wrong question, please don’t answer.

  “Killing animals. They never deserve it and I hate to see the fear in them as they know it’s coming.”

  “I am the worst waste of a human life that has ever walked this world. Someone, please kill me,” Luna whimpered as she was trying to not remember all those times in past weeks when she was eating a living animal in front of him. Like now when she was just chewing on a sheep´s liver.

  Oh and I love it when they whimper in pain and terror as I start eating them.

  “Nah, you are alright. You at least eat them afterward. Gives their death a purpose.”

  Luna found herself out of words. So, she just raised up, walked toward the visibly confused Raven, caught him around shoulders and hugged him as strong as she could.

  The sudden sound of KRRSSSSCH echoed through her.

  Raven screamed in pain and caught his left arm as Luna let him go.

  Did I just break his arm?

  ‘Yup, you did.’

  “Please kill me,” Luna breathed.

  “I refuse.”

  Luna found herself out of words.

  “Let’s go catch a healer” Raven offered.

  Luna nodded and helped him get up.

  “And by catch, I mean find and politely ask to help us, not hunt down for a snack,” Raven added.

  “IDIOT!”

  It was fun to watch people trying to keep their cool as Raven and Luna advanced through the complex of the arena in search of the healer’s quarters. It was even more fun when Luna, who was covered head to toe in more or less dried blood, grinned with bare teeth at everyone they met.

  Come to think of it; we have passed this pillar at least three times now.

  “Are you lost?” threw Luna at Raven.

  No answer.

  “This is the building where you have lived for your whole life and you get
lost in here?”

  No answer.

  “Oh, for fucks sake. Go ask that man how to get to the healer’s quarters!” Luna ordered Raven.

  He went and asked. Raven thanked him, returned to her and stepped out in the other direction than the man told him.

  “Stairs are that way you dumbass!” stated Luna as she jabbed playfully.

  Raven released a grunt of pain.

  Did I just hit him in the broken arm? The arm I broke in the first place?

  ‘Yep. Nice hit.’

  Shut up!

  Luna wondered if leaping out from the window couldn’t end her misery. Nah, she would just heal plus the idiot next to her might jump after her. Since she took the lead, they finally found the healer’s quarters.

  Two sets of stairs away from the arena exit.

  “Seriously? This is two minutes of walk from the arena door and you kept me running around for half an hour?” Luna asked poisonously.

  Raven stayed silent.

  “Idiot!” snarled Luna as she jabbed him again.

  Raven grunted in pain.

  ‘Straight in the broken arm, you are nailing it!’

  Why do I keep doing this?

  The woman who opened the door shrieked as she saw them. No, as she saw Luna. Luna would have blushed in embarrassment if she did not enjoy it too much. She grinned wide at her, showing the bloodied teeth. The woman went deathly pale.

  “Hello, Lily, is Samantha here? I have happened to break my arm.”

  No, I did break his arm because I’m an insufferable asshole and he is just too nice to say it in front of me. Luna wanted to correct him but somehow managed to stop herself.

  “Yes... of course, Raven, please follow me,” the woman managed to squeeze out of herself, unable to take her horrified eyes out of Luna’s grin. She led them through the quarters.

  Not a bad smell, Luna pondered. First place in this bloodied shithole that doesn’t smell like sweat and piss.

  Samantha was a thin, tall woman in at least late-forties with braided ginger hair and pretty eyes. Her office was clean and fashioned in green color, decorated with flowers.

  “What did you break this time, Raven?” she asked him kindly.

  “Left arm,” he replied as he started to take off his armor. He grunted in pain in the process.

  “Stop trying and sit down you idiot! I will take it off you!” Luna barked at him.

  He obeyed and she went to remove the armor from him carefully.

  “You are lady Luna, I presume. I’m Samantha, a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” said Samantha in as a greeting.

  Right, I act like I grew up in a cave.

  “Yes, I apologize for the lack of manners,” Luna tried to save her face.

  “It is alright,” Samantha smiled, “you can go wash in the room across the hallway, I can handle this from here,” she offered.

  “It’s fine!” Luna rejected her.

  Luna finished removing Raven's armor. She stepped away to let Samantha examine him, but as she didn’t want to bloody up the room, she just stood awkwardly in place.

  “You can sit down; I will have it washed later,” Samantha proposed.

  “I’m fine!” Luna refused.

  I don’t know why, but I really don’t like her.

  Luna snarled as Samantha approached Raven and started examining him.

  “Crushed bone, you really need to take a better care of yourself,” she evaluated Raven’s arm. Her long thin fingers were running around the arm as if tracing invisible symbols.

  “Sorry, Sam, I try to,” he answered softly.

  “It’s alright Raven, healing you is what I’m here for,” said Samantha in a soothing tone.

  I want to smash her head to the wall, rip out her intestines, eat her heart and burn this long amazingly perfect hair!

  Luna growled as fire shot up her chest. Luna kept imagining all the different brutal ways of mutilating Samantha’s corpse while she kept working on Raven.

  “There, all good. Now you just need to lie down for the rest of the day and it will be all good tomorrow,” Samantha summarized as she finished work on Raven’s arm.

  Was that magic? Didn’t look like much.

  “We don’t have time for that; we need to practice,” snapped Luna, her teeth bared.

  “No. He needs to lie down and you, young lady, need to wash!” Samantha shouted her down.

  Luna turned red but didn’t find a reply. Luna spun on her foot.

  “Come, Raven! We are leaving!”

  “Sorry, Sam, I need to go. Thank you.” Raven raised from the chair and picked up his things.

  “Take care,” Samantha wished him as a goodbye. Luna let him go first, as she followed him through the door she turned to Samantha and viciously gnarled at her. Luna slammed the door behind them.

  “Who is she?” she demanded from Raven as soon as they left the healer’s quarters.

  “A bone mender, very good one,” he answered, while he was flexing his now healed arm.

  “No! Who is she to you?”

  “What do you mean?” Raven looked confused.

  “How do you know her? Do you see her often? How long have you known her for?” Luna tried differently.

  “Well, she is my personal healer, so I see her after most matches,” replied Raven, clueless.

  Personal healer? Personal? PERSONAL?

  “For how long?” Luna snarled.

  “I don’t know. Past ten years? Maybe eleven,” Raven pondered.

  AAARRRGH!

  Blood shot up to Luna’s head. She had no idea why. She took a deep breath and roared, shaking the entire building like an earthquake.

  “Feeling better?” asked Raven after she was done with it.

  A bit.

  “SHUT UP!” she cut him off. Raven said nothing more as they returned to their room. Luna remained furious for a long time. She had Raven stand in the corner and face the wall as she took a long bath, imagining how she is crunching Samantha’s hands. Luna went to lie down in bed and calm herself down.

  I’m such a pile of shit.

  “Who’s James?” Raven asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

  Shit, he still remembers.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Luna snapped.

  “It will make you feel better.”

  “How would you know?” Luna challenged.

  “I do.”

  ‘He’s right.’

  Shut up.

  “I barely remember my parents, never found what their names were,” Luna started her tale.

  “My only memory of them is how we traveled through a forest. They were merchants, I guess, as I remember myself sitting on a merchant wagon. Then it came, a blur of fur and claws and teeth. It broke apart the wagon, tore people to shreds and then stood in front of me. I didn’t even reach up to its knees, that’s how tiny I was. The monster picked me up with its claws and threw me up to the air; its jaw opened up as it wanted to catch me with it, to gulp me down like a cherry. I fell into its mouth, impaled myself on the teeth of its bottom jaw. I screamed in pain and looked up. The top jaw and the rest of the head wasn’t there; there was just a fountain of blood. The monster collapsed, I with it. Above me stood a man. A tall man with deathly gray skin and shining blue eyes.

  ‘Tough luck, kid, its saliva is poisonous and will kill you,’ he said softly as he spun around and left. I was so angry; I kept crawling through the forest, following his scent or what I thought it was. I don’t know how long it took; I only remember the pure anger and agony.

  ‘Refused to die, eh?’

  The man stood above me again, out of nowhere. Alluring like the full moon, terrifying like darkness itself. Next thing I remember is that I was lying in bed, covered by dry blood with remainders of a corpse next to me,” Luna took a pause.

  “That was James. He took care of me for the years after. No, he trained me,” she corrected herself.

  “Trained you?” Raven asked.

  “T
rained me. He said he has no idea how to raise a child so I should piss off. I didn’t. He threw me out; I crawled back. He threw me out again and this time he brought me to the edge of a village. I crawled back to his den in the woods. We repeated it two more times before he finally conceded.

  ‘Alright, kid, I know nothing about raising children. Only thing I can teach you is to become me.’

  I smiled and he kicked me so hard it felt like all bones in my body broke. I regenerated. He did it again… and again, again, again and again.”

  Raven just stared at her, horrified.

  “That was the main thing we did. He would break my body apart and I would be regenerating out of it. When I couldn’t regenerate, he would bring food. I would eat it; we would continue. This went on every day for many years. The only breaks from the routine were when he was teaching me how to sneak, how to hunt and how to break free from anything. His favorite method was wrapping me up in chains, locking them with padlocks and then throwing me in the river. He would leave me there drowning for days before getting me out.”

  Raven was pale and speechless.

  “And no,” Luna grinned, “he didn’t feed me animals. He only ever let me eat humans, saying that eating animals was beneath him. I just can’t hate him for it though. Thanks to the practice; I know how to get out of any cage or shackles. Thanks to the infinite tearing of my muscles; my regeneration is near perfect and thanks to the breaking of my bones, I could have actually grown up and my bones are hard as steel.”

  Luna has concluded her story.

  They sat in silence for a long pause.

  “Still not afraid to sleep in the same room with me?” Luna broke the silence.

  “See these marks on the walls?” Raven smiled.

  Luna looked around the room carefully. She noticed the marks before short, thin lines carved into the stone. One next to another, one row under the next one.

  “What are those? Days you have been here?” she asked him.

  Raven shook his head. Luna´s stomach turned.

  “People you have killed?” she whispered.

  “I wish,” said Raven sadly. “I make one after every match I win. I have yet to fight a duel.”