Each one she was forced passed… her imagination tried to create the markings, her senses told her she could smell fresh air coming for that one, or the next one. But she knew it was all bullshit. She was scared; for once in her life she was terrified of what was about to happen. The likelihood she could make it out of this alive was slim, the odds too stacked against her.
“How the fuck did you manage this?” she whispered to herself, remembering Archer having to fight for his very life in this same place. She knew how, though; he had been so much stronger than she could ever hope to be. He had been cold, calculated, hard, and deadly… all the things she had tried to become, all the things she told herself she was, but now doubt was ripping through her fabric, exposing her to herself.
The hairs on her arms and neck stood on end at the raw energy pouring through the tunnel exit, where a locked gate stood before her. The noise coming from within was deafening and turned her blood cold as ice. This was the path to hell, where death was the only absolute.
“Time to die, slave,” one of the guards grunted, pushing her through the opening before slamming it closed again.
Auska felt her stomach tighten as the crowd roared even louder. Some cheered, others booed, while others seemed not to care so long as there was blood. Every single set of eyes was upon her, and they all were cruel, glistening with malice.
The pit was roughly twenty feet by twenty feet and as close to a circle as they had cared to carve it. The floor was bumpy and jagged in areas and was slick and crusted with decades of spilt blood and gore.
“Welcome to the pit!” the massive cannibal leader called down to her as he waved his hands, calming the hordes to a minimum level so he could be heard.
Auska saw he had what looked like a cooked arm in his hand that he had been chewing on. Resting in front of him was a sight that nearly made her knees buckle: Parry’s severed head, his eyes staring blanking down at her. This was really happening. Dying was one thing; being eaten was something completely different. The thought of being eaten sent a wave of violence rippling through her as she had never known before. I will not fucking die here!
“Your owner has put great faith in you and your abilities as a fighter,” Tonka called down to her, grease from his meat dripping from his chin.
The word ‘owner’ stirred her blood even more and she felt the fear leaving her, replacing it with a cold, calculated rage. She had to survive this, if nothing more than so she could kill that bastard!
“He informed you already of the terms of your challenge. The fight, I hear, is for your very freedom. How exciting for you! Though I don’t wish you any luck, your flesh will be sweet as candy and I can’t wait to taste it!” Tonka yelled down to her and the crowd roared up again louder than before. “Now, pick your opponent!”
“Everett!” she cried out, pointing her finger straight at the slaver. “I want him!” Her eyes burned into his in her death stare.
Tonka grinned but shook his head. “I admire your spirit, girl, but those were not part of the terms. You must pick from my fighters.”
Cursing, she stole once last glare at the slaver, who was clearly not enjoying himself. He’s scared, too, she thought. His life rides on this likely as much as mine does. “Fine, him.” She pointed to the biggest man she could see in the front row. If she had to pick, she would show them all she was not afraid of them, that one by fucking one she would kill each and every one of them if she had to.
“Blackfist, you have been chosen!” Tonka announced, and once more the room shook and Auska was sure they would cause a cave in.
Grinning, Blackfist jumped from the stands and landed on the other side of the pit. Waving his arms in the air, causing the crowd to chant his name. “I will crush this little bitch’s skull and feast on her brains!” he roared.
Tonka turned to Everett. “She has chosen very poorly. He will tear her apart limb from limb in seconds. But let’s make this even more interesting.” He turned back to the crowd. “Knives!”
Blanching, Everett turned to the cannibal leader. “Seriously? Knives? Could you put her anymore at a disadvantage with a man that size?”
“I thought you said she was a fighter. A fighter can use anything at their disposal to win and not always it is something that is in their favor.”
Everett felt his guts twist. This had been a stupid idea; he should have known Tonka would find a way to cheat him. Looking over his shoulder, he wondered if he could get passed the crowd fast enough to escape when this all went poorly. He wasn’t about to be cheated out of his slaves like this. If he could get passed the crowd quickly enough, he could get out to his men and, if they were lucky, get away before too many of them were killed.
A worn and rusty blade bounced down in front of Auska and another in front of her opponent. She watched Blackfist pick up the blade and swing it through the air as if it were a sword. He was slow, clumsy with it; he was clearly used to wielding much larger, heavier weapons. More so he was overconfident, thinking his size was to his advantage.
Auska bent down and retrieved her knife. It was heavy, but there was a balance to it and it looked sharp.
“Time to bleed, little girl!” Blackfist roared stepping towards her.
Fuck it!
She sprinted towards him, cocking her arm back and let fly the blade. It flipped through the air, and her opponent saw it coming but could not move out of the way in time. The blade smashed into his thick chest, hilt first, but made him stumble back as though he had been impaled.
Before he could recover and realize he was fine, Auska’s boot sailed up between his legs as hard as she could, connecting fully with his groin. His eyes bulged and he dropped to his knees. In one fluid motion, she grabbed his arm, twisted and thrust it up, driving his own knife into his throat before he had a chance to comprehend what was happening.
Auska stepped back, watching as Blackfist struggled to stem the flow of blood from his severed jugular, until he collapsed to the rock, drowning in his own blood in gurgled fits.
All around her was stunned silence, as the crowd of a hundred cannibals stared down in utter shock. Almost as if on cue they roared to life again, more excited than mad, which surprised her.
“Holy shit…” Everett muttered, not believing what he had just witnessed. He had thought she was as good as dead.
Tonka slapped him on the back with a giant grin. “So, you have brought a fighter to my pits!”
“I told you I did,” he replied, still in wonder and awe.
“Good, now pick her next opponent!”
“She is to be allowed rests in-between each fight.”
Tonka glared, his humor gone. “She killed the last one in less time than it takes me to fart. She needs no rest, now pick!”
“Fine, that bitch right there.” He picked a wild-looking dirty blonde ten feet away. She was smaller than Auska but not by much, and already looked as if she had had too much to drink.
“Tara!” Tonka bellowed out gleefully. “You have been chosen!”
The woman’s smile was the stuff of nightmares that would haunt you for the rest of your life and Everett was positive that she was possessed. “My pleasure!” She pushed through the crowd and dropped into the pit, her eyes eagerly searching Auska’s as she paced back and forth like a caged lion.
Instantly Auska knew this wouldn’t be an easy fight; this woman knew how to kill. Her movements were graceful and fluid, but it was her eyes that worried Auska the most. They were ice blue and showed nothing but a hunger for violence… a need for it.
An ice axe dropped down beside her and a curved sickle dropped down by her opponent and instantly the crowd erupted into a frenzy, calling down words of hate and hostility.
Snatching the blade up, Tara smiled. Her teeth were filed to broken, jagged points, making her look even more deranged. “You better pray to whatever gods you talk to, bitch,” she began pacing, “because you are going to meet them soon!”
Auska began to circle, keeping her
enemy in front of her, wondering at what point she would attack. The body of her last opponent still lay within the pit; it would cause a hindrance when things got heated, either in her favor or against her.
Watching her movements, Auska could tell an attack was coming any moment. Tara’s muscles were twitching and her arms tensed as she adjusted her grip on the sickle.
Being on the defensive worked well, unless you could attack in that perfect instant when an enemy broke from defensive to offensive.
Springing forward, Auska caught that perfect moment. The ice axe sliced through the air back and forth, forcing the stunned cannibal back until she hit the pit wall. That was what Auska had been waiting for. Changing the arc of her axe she swept it up, hoping to embed it into the woman’s guts and end this before it turned against her.
The tip of the axe punched into the rock, spraying rock chips into Auska’s face, stinging her eyes. Her enemy had moved impossibly fast to avoid the hit. And a flash from the corner of her eyes proved her opponent had recovered just as fast.
Auska dropped down to her knees as the blade slammed into the rock, a finger’s width above her head. Before she could react further a booted foot found her ribs and sent her reeling backward. She couldn’t keep her feet under her and crashed to the jagged floor, the rock tearing into the skin of her back.
The sickle blade slashed down and Auska was just in time to block it with her axe. The strength of the cannibal’s blow was devastating causing her arms to buckle, the only thing that saved her was her elbows hitting the rock below her, not allowing her arms to drop further.
Another kick to her side nearly sapped all strength from her arms, but the next one she saw coming and trapped the leg with her arm and threw her body into a roll. All power in the blade left as her opponent was toppled over backward.
Scrambling on top of Tara, Auska was fraught with keeping control of the arm holding the blade as the woman beneath her struggled to throw her off and regain the advantage.
With victory in sight, Auska raised her ice axe ready to drive it down into the cannibal’s skull when she caught sight of her enemy’s fingers lacing around the hilt of one of the forgotten daggers. She dropped her arm, praying she could deflect the strike in time, but feeling the blade slammed into her side proved she was too slow.
Auska knew this was a losing struggle to maintain and rolled herself backward, disengaging from the fight. Coming up into a crouch she leapt forward, bringing her ice axe down into Tara’s knee as she struggled to raise. The tip punched deep.
With a savage twist, Auska yanked her weapon free and stepped back. Crippled now, her enemy would be easier to deal with, but she was surprised to see the woman grin with frenzied eyes, as she slowly gathered herself up. Not a whimper or groan of pain left her twisted lips.
“I’m going to enjoy eating your face!” she hissed, limping forward, her damaged leg not being able to handle much weight. “Come to me, bitch, and die! We have played long enough!”
Auska watched the blood pour freely from the cannibal’s wounded leg. The fight was over; the artery had been nicked and she would bleed out in a short time. All Auska had to do now was stay away from her.
Tara looked down at her leg and grimaced seeing the truth of it. “You think you’ve won? Not before I’ve tasted your fucking flesh!” She threw the sickle and sprang forward.
Auska battered the blade aside easily but was hit by the woman and they crashed to the rock again, the ice axe clattering away. Before she could realize what was happening pain erupted in her shoulder as the cannibal bit deeply into her flesh.
Panicking, Auska punched the side of the woman’s head, again and again, trying to get her to release. Slowly, she felt the body sag against her, and the agonizing chewing sensation stopped.
With more effort than it should have, she pushed the corpse off and tried to stand. Her shoulder and side screamed in protest; thick blood oozed from both. Gritting her teeth and fighting past the waves of dizziness, she forced herself to her feet, glaring up at the two men who had made this all happen.
“Well done, girl!” the giant cannibal leader announced, raising a glass of something to her before taking a deep draught. “You have earned a small reprieve! Tomorrow night we will see if you can win your freedom!”
The armed guards escorted her back out; the deafening sound of the crowd slowly faded behind her. She was barely aware of what was happening, the harsh words and shoves all that kept her moving, one foot in front of the other.
…Auska stared up at the grey sky, watching the depressing clouds idly make their way by, only to be followed by more. How long she stared up, she didn’t know… she didn’t care. She knew where she was again, could feel it; the same tingle throughout her body, the same smell in the air, taste on her tongue.
“…help… me…” a desperate voice croaked out, nearing death.
Her eyes widened; it was a voice that she knew, had known. A voice that had, for years, brought her comfort. “Father?” She rolled onto her side and her heart sank at the sight before her. She was at the truck stop… where her life had forever changed.
She watched Archer walk towards her father and stop to regard him. She got to her feet and rushed over. “Enough of this shit!” she growled. “I am tired of seeing this fucking shit! Why do you torture me?” But this wasn’t the Archer who had been with her in all the rest of her vivid dreams. No, this Archer was part of the dream itself. The Archer she had met at that moment; the Archer who had changed her very life.
Archer leaned down, his eyes showing indifference, “You’re going to die.”
Aaron looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Hope… it… it’s all… she has now… don’t let her… lose it… please…” His final words were barely auditable as his body went still.
“Papa!”
Auska’s heart froze in her chest at the sound of her younger self. That voice… so young, so pure, so naïve and innocent. This was the moment that everything changed; the exact moment where reality crashed down on her, where life began to choke that naïveté out of her.
The figure ran by her. “No, Papa, no, please don’t leave me,” the young girl pleaded, holding the dead man’s hand to her dirt-stained face.
Tears trickled down Auska’s cheeks as she watched the bitter scene unfold. “I could protect you now… but not back then.” She glanced around at all the bodies… her mother, James, Mathew… and others.
“This wasn’t just the moment everything changed for you, kid,” Archer said as he stepped in beside her. “My world changed the second this happened. I fought it. Oh, how I tried! But in the end, it happened as it needed to, I guess.”
“They didn’t need to die…” she whispered back, not caring that tears still ran freely, “…you, didn’t need to die… shouldn’t have died.”
He rested his arm across her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. “I didn’t die, kid. I gave my life for something I believe in.”
She pulled back and looked up at him. “You never believed in anything except surviving and because of me, you couldn’t even do that.”
Archer grinned and lightly slapped her face. “I gave my life because I believed in you, kid. You were the worst and greatest thing to ever happen to my miserable, wretched life. But I failed you, it would seem. Failed your father’s dying wish and for that I am sorry.”
Auska was taken aback by this. “You never failed me. You made me stronger, better. You kept me alive! Made me who I am now!”
“Yes, I did,” he smiled, “but you’ve lost hope.”
Her face twisted in defense. “Hope? Hope doesn’t help you survive!”
Archer pointed to the little girl weeping over her father’s body. “That little girl right there once told me she didn’t want to just survive…”
“…she wanted to live…” Auska finished for him, a strange feeling of dread and guilt flooded over her. “What have I been doing?” She looked up, but Archer was gone, and the scene ar
ound her was already fading…
“…she’s lost a lot of blood. It’ll take a miracle for her to be in any form to fight tomorrow night.” A deep voice said.
“Do you have nothing that can help?” a familiar voice growled. “Anything at all? At this point, I care not for the cost! I need her to be able to fight tomorrow, damn it!”
The man shuffled around in his bag. “I have some mild pain killers that will at least make the pain bearable, but I am afraid time and rest are what she needs.”
Everett slammed his fists down into the small table, cracking the wood. “We don’t have the luxury of time! She has to fight tomorrow night, or we are all as good as dead.”
The man shrugged, “I don’t know what you want from me.”
Everett snatched the pills from the table. “Get the fuck out of here! Useless cur!” He turned his attention back to the battered and bloody form on the moldy mat within the cage. Her eyes were open staring up at him. “You’re awake!”
“So glad someone cares so much for my well-being,” she grumbled, shifting to sit up against the cold stone. She felt down at her side, feeling through the linen wrapped around it to the many stitches beneath.
“The knife grazed off your ribs and got stuck between them, going no further than a couple of inches,” he explained. “Another inch and you wouldn’t have woken up.” He tossed her the small pill bottle and pointed to the cup of water in her cell. “Pain killers. You’ll want to take them to help you recover as much as possible. Your next fight is going to be your last… one way or another.”
Auska stared down at the pill bottle. “So much more rides on this then what you told me,” her eyes met his. “Your life hangs in the balance of this too doesn’t it?”
“You are perceptive,” he chuckled. “Depending on the outcome of the next fight, my life could indeed be forfeit.”
“Good. Then I won’t mind if I lose so much.”
“Think of everything else on the line!” he growled. “Forget your hatred for me! Think about yourself! About your freedom! About the lives of all those taken from Sanctuary with you! Do you want them to end up doing this? Suffering through this as you are? Friends or not, are you really so cold and heartless as to allow those people to become food?”
What Remains (Book 2): What's Left Page 14
