by C Cato
“Fine specimens today!” said the big man.
Risa had no difficulty hearing them over the noise of the men around her.
“What is their term?” he asked the woman in purple.
“A week for the first; three days for the other two.”
A cheer went up among the men around them, and the energy ramped up a notch, when the women were pulled by their chains to the front of the stage and displayed.
“Why?” Risa said through clenched teeth.
“It doesn’t take much. Usually just pissing off the wrong person,” Tessa replied.
“For that they are what—sold?”
“For a limited time, but yes.”
“Are there limits on what can be done to them?”
The auction began in the vacuum of Tessa’s silence.
The bidding was fierce, and the men pressed forward to get closer to the stage, but never touched Risa or Tessa.
The two defiant women went first. One went to a man dressed in a Hound’s black uniform. He had kind eyes. Risa hoped it wasn’t an act.
“The Hound’s will be respectful. She’ll probably become a Hunter after this,” whispered Tessa.
The second woman wasn’t as lucky. A group of rowdy men jostled their way onstage, slapping each other on the back and laughing loudly. They picked her up like she’d just one a prize fight and hauled her away over their heads. That left the weeping woman. The one with the sentence of a week.
“Can we bid?”
“No,” said Tessa harshly. “It’s a punishment. Any Valkyrie caught trying to impede that will face the same.”
Risa was seething. The pounding in her chest echoed in her temples.
“What will be the opening bid for this beauty? The Auction Mistress tells me she has been untouched by a man.”
The roar of shouts was deafening, but Risa welcomed the pain in her eardrums so she wouldn’t have to hear them putting value on the woman’s virginity. She shook with her rage, and Tessa only held her tighter.
Finally, it was over. A well-dressed man, and the tallest Risa had seen so far, with a black goatee and long wavy black hair sauntered up the stairs. Everything about him screamed “bad guy”. Tessa gasped and the crowd went silent. When the woman saw who had bought her, she became frantic fighting the chain around her neck, and Risa worried she would do serious harm to herself.
“Remember, Valmont,” said the auctioneer. “No permanent damage this time.”
“Of course,” he said, a small smile curling his lips. He pinched her chin between index finger and thumb and raised her wet face to his own. “We will have such fun, my dear.”
Her eyes grew wide enough that Risa could see the whites all around. “No! Please! I won’t do it again! I promise. Please!”
Her cries fell on deaf ears as the chain was handed to Valmont. He literally dragged her away when her legs gave out. She was still screaming.
Risa was numb. She thought she’d seen everything. Was prepared for everything, but what she’d just witnessed...
Long after the men had dispersed and the Valkyrie in purple and the auctioneer had left, Risa stood beside Tessa shaking.
“What kind of women are these, that they could so callously toss young women to the wolves?”
She took hold of Tessa’s arm still around her waist and tore it away but didn’t let go. Instead, she backed the woman up to the stage and pressed against her. To the casual passerby it was two women engaged in a small interlude.
Risa snarled into Tessa’s ear. “There is nothing here to fight for. Nothing. These aren’t humans, and I’ve seen nothing that’s redeemable. I should just start fucking killing everyone from the top down.”
Tessa didn’t react. Not even a twitch of muscle. Risa fought for some control. She sucked in air like she’d run a marathon.
“Would you kill me, too?”
Risa sucked in a breath, and her rage reduced to a hot simmer. This woman was a Councilwoman. She was the top. The rules didn’t exist because of her, but she was required to enforce them. Could she do it? If necessary, could she take Tessa’s life? Risa didn’t want to analyze that answer too closely.
“Will you allow me to show you something,” Tessa said, quietly.
Risa backed away in answer, allowing Tessa to straighten. When the Valkyrie slid her hand into Risa’s, she let her. She needed that. Something to remind her the world wasn’t so dark. It wasn’t enough.
They continued around to the very back side of the city, and Tessa pulled her into a dark section. There was no electricity. Torchlight lit the place with old wall sconces and there was trash can fires dotting the space. It was an expansive lobby, littered with bodies. Risa gagged and swallowed. The smell was worse than any landfill. Men lay sick and starving everywhere. She had no doubt there were dead bodies alongside the living.
“Anyone who is injured beyond the Caregiver’s ability to repair is brought here.”
“You don’t have doctors here in the city?”
“Yes, but they are women and only work with Valkyrie.”
Risa’s rage ratcheted up a notch. “Why the fuck are you showing me this?”
Tessa pointed to the back of the room and a group of cloaked figures that moved from man to man. Giving water, handing out bread, offering a blanket.
“Nice. So, they are offered a few creature comforts before they die?”
“Would you prefer they be cast out into the wilderness? They would be dead in less than a day.”
One of the cloaked figures stood and the hood fell back, revealing a woman. She quickly pulled it back over her head and hurried to catch up with the rest of the group.
A Valkyrie.
“Do you think showing a couple of helpful women would redeem the Valkyrie as a whole?”
“No,” she said, her voice thick with tears. “I don’t think that, but before you burn down everything. Destroy the last hope humanity has, remember that there are good people and bad. Don’t condemn everyone to the same death sentence.”
Tessa gripped Risa’s arms, and she couldn’t turn away.
In that instant, she wanted nothing more than to kiss her, to ease away the hurt in her eyes, and replace it was something else. She sighed. “What would you have me do, Tessa? I can’t let this go.”
“I know.”
“Then what?”
“Use it. Tomorrow in the gauntlet, win. Save your friend.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Risa
Risa got no sleep that night. Visions of that girl’s tear-streaked face made rest elusive. She thought of multiple scenarios where she stormed Valmont’s house and gutted him before taking the girl to safety. None of her little fantasies ended well.
When Tessa rolled out of bed, it was plain she hadn’t slept either. The Councilwoman came to the living room to flop on the couch, dragging her feet and sporting bags under her eyes. Clearly, Risa wasn’t the only one affected by the previous day’s activity.
Never a good way to start the day. Especially when she had to beat the ass of fifty- five women consecutively. She was confident she could do it, but she might have to break a sweat now.
She didn’t have to wear a formal uniform, so she chose the leather pants and a leather sleeveless tunic that was double-breasted in a similar style to the uniforms. Tessa had gotten her some black boots to match. After strapping on her sword, she followed Tessa out of the city to the arena.
It was a mile hike to get to it. Nestled in the foothills south of the city was a hollowed-out crater that may have been a rock quarry of some kind in the past. There were circular tiers of stone that grew smaller at the bottom until it leveled out on a sandy floor. Each tier doubled as stairs to get to the lower levels. If it wasn’t for the massive flood lights that ringed the outer edges of the arena, and the ring of running lights around the sandy floor at the bottom, it could have been something out of an ancient history book.
“How very Roman of them,” muttered Risa.
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Men had already begun to trickle in, but they left a large section empty.
“Who sits there?”
“Valkyrie,” said Tessa heading for the unused area.
“Does this arena seat everyone in the city?”
“Yes. Events like this are mandatory.”
“How many people would you estimate live in the city?”
Tessa gazed warily at her. Dark circles gave her a gaunt appearance. “There are roughly 202,000 people living in the city. Two thousand of those are women.”
Faced with the physical representation of what that meant, Risa shook her head. “How have the men not taken over?”
“Training. It’s been generations of breeding the fight out of them.”
“You can’t really do that you know?” Risa whispered.
“I know, but don’t tell them. It would be ugly. You think the auction was bad? Imagine that with no limits. It would be the end.”
“Fine, but it’s still odd.”
“They don’t have weapons, or training in how to use them, except the few that have been trained as Hounds and none of them are allowed in the arena. Neither are the Hunters. Shunning for deviant behavior. If any of them were caught teaching others it would be a death sentence. The men today are farmers, artisans, and tinkers. Some have discovered ways to make money without doing hard labor, but they’re much more docile in general than they used to be.”
“I don’t believe that, but I’ll leave you with your illusions.”
The Valkyrie had begun to file in, and Risa saw some of the contenders had gone to the sand pit. She assumed to warm up. Silly assumption.
There were seven women, including herself, competing. None of them pulled out a sword to practice or did any stretches to prepare. They simply stood around and chatted with each other. No wonder no one had run the Gauntlet in years.
Risa sat in the sand, scanned the lazy participants with a scowl. She stretched out her muscles, not that she needed it. One of the benefits of the nanobots was that her body was always limber, but maybe it would encourage others to do it.
It didn’t.
Then she stood and picked up her sword, which she’d placed next to her on the sand, and went through some kata forms Alex had taught her on the farm. It still hurt thinking about him and the others.
Use it.
When Mother Superior entered the amphitheater, everyone rose to their feet. The contenders wandered over to stand in front of the Valkyrie’s area and went down on one knee. Risa sheathed her sword and copied them.
Their leader came down to the edge of the stone steps and raised her hands. Instantly, the only sound was the wind and an occasional cough. A young acne-faced man darted over to hand a microphone to her and then retreated to disappear in the crowd.
“People of Haven! We have once again come to witness my valiant Valkyrie as they fight for the honor to join my White Guard. May all fight with honor and find a place at my side.”
Then each woman stepped forward to receive her place in the order. Risa wasn’t surprised that she would go last.
With nothing left to do but wait, she sat on the step reserved for the Guardswomen and participants. There weren’t that many. Fights might number fifty-five, but there weren’t that many women in the White Guard. Risa would be fighting several of them multiple times. She’d try to incapacitate a couple of them to make her life easier.
The first woman was down before Risa could suck in a breath to cheer her on. Her Guard opponent stayed in the center of the field and met the next fighter. This one appeared more ready, but not by much. Unlike the first Valkyrie, she was ripcord strong. Risa took time to admire her sexy arms.
The fight began, and she grunted and growled through every blow and counter. Her steel gray hair plaited down the back of her head swung wildly with each dodge and attack. Then it was over. The Guard lay in the dirt defeated. The bystanders were on their feet.
Good to see some of them took this seriously.
The warrior woman ground her way through fights two and three as well, but by the fourth she staggered as she took a defensive stance at the start. Her four targets spread and circled. Their moves were coordinated. Practiced. Here is where the Guard stood out. The Valkyrie were an army, a fighting force. As individuals they were terrible, and the women sent into the field were ill-prepared, but this wasn’t the case with the Guard. This was the true military. A small group of women sworn to protect only the Mother Superior.
Figures.
The group lunged and attacked individually and together, but Risa could tell they were just teasing her. They all moved with a lazy confidence that only comes with knowing you were going to win. Minutes later the fight was over, and the lone Valkyrie was down, holding a bleeding arm to her chest.
The rest of the fights went the same as the first. Everyone went down in the first round. When Risa’s turn came up, the women of the Guard were pulling the one that had fought all the first fights and were choosing someone fresh to take her place. Risa took the time to limber up again. Her body didn’t need it, but it was a force of habit and the mindless activity helped focus.
A new woman stepped into the sand to stand in front of her. There was no malice in her eyes, or concern. She was a blank slate. A reflection of Risa’s own face. The Valkyrie was several inches taller, but didn’t appear to have much advantage in reach, so Risa didn’t factor that into her assessment. She was thick everywhere and advanced with heavy footfalls. Could be slow. She would have to give the woman a chance to show her.
When the bell rang to start the fight, Risa did nothing. She didn’t even raise her sword in a defensive position. Her opponents mask cracked enough to show her confusion. There wasn’t a reason to wear herself out. Without powering up, she was privy to the same weaknesses as everyone else. Pain wouldn’t be a problem, but exhaustion was still a possibility. She had a lot of fights to get through, and needed to pace herself.
Predictably, the Valkyrie lost patience and attacked. It was sloppy. Slow. Just as Risa guessed it would be. Risa shifted sideways avoiding the attack like a bullfighter would a bull and turned to face her again. Sword still at her side.
The audience around them had grown silent with the lack of activity, but a buzz was beginning. Risa ignored it all.
Again, the plodding attack came, but this time as Risa moved aside, she spun and delivered a back kick that sent the woman sprawling.
She’d won. The crowd stunned to silence.
Tessa had agreed with her that using some of her hand-to-hand would give her an advantage since that wasn’t taught to most Valkyrie. A few studied, but none in the Guard that she knew of.
The humiliated woman picked herself up and threw an icy glare at Risa before leaving the field. She was not making friends.
Two more women approached. They were more slender and younger than the first. Both had hard expressions and one of them carried two swords. This would be more of a challenge. They stood at the ready in front of her, not bothering to separate. It was telling. These women had experience fighting together.
Risa had to jump back when the bell rang, and they both lashed out at the same time. Then she raised her weapon to counter the secondary sword wielder’s next attack. She bided her time, waiting for an opening. It came when the women came at her but tried to split and pin her from both sides. Risa spun to the outside, thankful for the extra edge her little bot friends gave her without a conscious boost, and dropped to the ground with a leg sweep of the double-sword-wielding woman and continued the movement to give herself space from the second woman as the first fell to the ground. She screamed in frustration, but quickly left her partner behind.
Circling each other, Risa took steady breaths, slowing her heart. It kept her head clear. Something the other woman wasn’t good at. Her face was growing redder the longer they circled. Her expression darker.
“Get on with it already,” screamed a man from the seats.
A smattering of n
ervous laughter followed, and the Valkyrie scowled, a tremble made her shoulders quiver. With a howl, she lifted both blades and came in swinging. She was good. A bead of sweat trickled down Risa’s back, but she countered strike after strike waiting for her opening. This wouldn’t be a knock down. Her opponent wanted
blood. Risa kept to the outside of every attack, destroying the advantage of two swords until the winded Valkyrie dropped her guard just enough for Risa to drag her blade across an exposed arm.
She wheeled on Risa, murder in her eyes, but the Sentinel stood her ground. The fight was over.
One of her fellow Guards escorted her off the field and three more took her place. Risa fought them and each growing group with the same calm. Beating them all until she came to the final fight.
Ten women surrounded her. They were fresh where Risa panted in the afternoon sun. Slightly light-headed from the lack of water. She didn’t get a break. The Gauntlet wasn’t meant to be run. She could see it in the angry faces of the women around her. They were humiliated and wanted retribution. A glance to the Valkyrie section told a different story. Mother Superior was on her feet, her golden eyes gleaming with a fierce hunger.
Even if Risa completed all ten fights, that woman had the power to overrule the win. Risa didn’t think that would happen, but she wasn’t thrilled about it. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d given one up for the team. She’d even seduced men when it was needed, but there was something about the woman that made her sick.
“You won’t win, little bitch,” hissed one of the women around her.
The bell rang.
They closed in as one, but Risa was ready. She ran straight ahead and dropped at the last second, bringing her sword over her head to block and effectively exiting the circle. Turning quickly, she nicked two of the women before they had a chance to turn around. The remaining eight shouted a battle cry and came at her again. Over and over Risa divided and conquered, at times running to the edge of the field to maintain distance. This only confused and infuriated the women more. They obviously weren’t used to out-of-the-box thinkers. Soon only one was left. The Valkyrie was as sweaty and exhausted as Risa, but her mouth was set in a grim line.
