Engraved - The Hunted Warrior

Chapter 12.2 The Price of Freedom

By the time they got back to the cages changes had already been made. Each cage had been swept clear of straw and had low pallet beds with blankets and cushions placed in them. A bowl of stew and a large chunk of bread was also waiting for them.

"What is going on?" Danat asked as Alam inhaled the stew.

"We are being fattened up for slaughter," answered Alam through a mouthful of meat.

"What do you mean?"

"Kirill intends to use us as entertainment at Clan Meet. We will be fighting to our death."

"Against each other?"

"No. We are a team. He will not say who we will fight."

"A word of advice then," Danat moved closer to the bars and lowered his voice.

"Yes?"

"You must look to your friend. Something has damaged his spirits. He looks like a broken man. Is he weak willed?"

Alam glanced over his shoulder. Tajar was laying on his back on the pallet bed. His food was untouched. Alam lowered his voice in response.

"I didn't think so before yesterday. He's usually so full of life that everyone around him seems dull. Being dunked in the river has affected him badly."

"You will need him if you are going to survive. I can see that you are strong - no one has ever beaten a cage door open like you did - but it will not be enough. Make no mistake, Kirill wants you dead. Prall was once a great warrior, but his body has gone soft in this prison just as his mind has. The woman," he indicated Frost with a slight flick of his head, "is very skilled, but do not turn your back on her or you will regret it."

"Please, tell me what you know of her," Alam whispered.

"But," continued Danat, "surely you can tell what she is."

"Do you mean 'who' she is?"

Danat smiled at him. "I think your time would be better spent worrying about your friend than about trying to figure out who, or what, she is."

"What" she is...

"Is she some kind of demon in human form?" he whispered. "She talks strange and I have heard that demons use strange words." Danat simply laughed and walked away.

Not a demon then. Well, she doesn't have red eyes for a start. In the stories demons have red eyes that glow.

Alam looked carefully at the white-haired woman.

No, she's both too pretty to be a demon, and not pretty enough to be one at the same time.

***

"If they give us weapons to train with it is going to be hard for me to stop myself from killing that pig Tolegan," Tajar murmured as they were being led outside to train that afternoon.

"Not if I get to him first," said Alam. He was pleased to hear a little of Tajar's spirit back in his voice.

They were taken to the same barren patch of ground where Alam and Tajar had been tied up to poles and left in the sun. A pile of sticks lay on the ground. Some were the length of spears while others were the size of swords. There were also two bows and a quiver full of arrows without arrowheads. The guards attending them fanned out around them to give them space but also make sure that they did not think about trying to escape.

For a long time Prall simply stood blinking in the sun breathing deeply. Frost had turned her face so that the rays from the sun were beaming down on her.