Chapter 15

With dawn came the guards...They woke Emeric with a loud clang as they forcefully threw the barred gate open. Emeric hastily blinked his eyes open, trying to rid the remaining sleep out of them. With bleary eyes he gazed up at the guards...Irritated by the fact that they had woken him.

"Get up, Rogue." They ordered.

With hesitation, Emeric did as he'd been told. He had no desire to go to the Dome. He never did, and he never would...

The guards bound his wrists and led his down the hall, but as they walked, Emeric realised that he wasn't the only prisoner being taken. Almost every man in the cell hall was being escorted by guards.

They were led down many hallways, but in the opposite direction than the ones that led to the dome. The notion flooded Emeric's mind with more tedious questions...Ones that didn't have immediate answers

They reached a set of large doors that were opened on their arrival. The door admitted them into a large cobblestoned courtyard, much like those found in the vicinity of a palace...However, this courtyard was not decorated with beautiful gardens and water features...

No...The look that met the prisoners reminded them of a rugged, broken down terrain with burnt down structures plastered all around. The courtyard was dull and grey and reflected a gloomy vibe. The look seemed to rub off on the people who entered the large space...To Emeric it seemed as if all the color had been drained from that particular part of the world...

An obstacle coarse stretched out in the middle of the large rugged space. It consisted of a series of different structures for participants to climb up and over, or crawl under. Larger structures had ropes dangling down, for climbing purposes. It was a daunting sight that brought up unwanted emotions within the prisoners that were lining up against the wall.

On the other side of the coarse, a shooting range claimed ground. Archers were standing at different distances from the targets, practicing, getting better at the intricate skill.

Close by, there was an area clearly marked out for other kinds of weapon training.

All the Domers' hands were released as they stood lined up against the wall. It made Emeric uncomfortable to think that they were all fighter's in the arena...And they all were more than capable of spilling blood...And here they all stood, free to move around as they wished.

Emeric's attention was taken away from the interior of the courtyard when a tall, well muscled man came to a halt in front of the Domers.

He directed his gaze to the guards, "Is this the sorry lot that Calvert wants me to work with?" The tall man rhetorically questioned as his gaze swept over the inhabitants who stood lined up by the wall. His gaze contained a definite look of disgust within it.

It lingered on Emeric for a few seconds before the well muscled man turned away, "Pathetic..." He muttered.

"As most of you already know, my name is Marven, I'm a professional Domer's trainer here in Scoalgeoc. You're part of Scoalgeoc's Eliminator's group." The tall man spoke with a carrying voice. "Congratulations...You failed to die. Now, however, the mission isn't to have you killed anymore. We want to keep you all alive as long as possible to see if their are potential Victors among you."

There were relieved sighs all around Emeric as the other Domers grasped that they weren't wished dead anymore. Emeric was a different case however...Everyone always wanted him dead.

"You will train every day, with me as your instructor, unless it's your scheduled day for the dome, or the more likely case...if you're dead."

'Gee, love your positivity.' Emeric critically thought as Marven started walking up and down the line of Domers.

"So, today I just want to get a simple understanding of what pathetic chunks of meat I have to work with. All of you, shirts off."

Emeric glanced around uncomfortably, seeing that the other Domers were also hesitant. He felt naked without his shirt and had no desire to walk without it in front of nearly two dozen other men.

"Did you not hear me?" Marven bellowed, instantly setting the Domers into action as they hastily pulled their shirts off. Emeric found himself secretly gazing around at the other Domers. He noted that only he, and five other young men, were well muscled with firm muscles rippling over their torsos. Most of the Domers were just lean, not fit or trained.

Marven looked even more disappointed when he took in the state of the prisoners.

Emeric felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as he became aware of eyes on him. It was a tall lad at the end of the line. He was also one of the young men who seemed to be well built. His gaze had a threatening twinkle in it...He gazed daringly at Emeric, almost as if he was challenging him.

Emeric directed his gaze back to Marven when the trainer spoke once more.

"Everyone of you will run around the courtyard until you physically collapse. Best way to gauge your fitness." He clasped his hands together and then with a menacing scowl his said, "Off you go, dead meat..."

The Domers started running around the coarse at a steady pace. Emeric was making his way to the front when a bellow caught his attention, "At the back Rogue...I don't want you getting in the way of the real potential in here."

Emeric slowed down until the last person passed him. He kept pace with the other man, which was extremely slow and uncomfortable. Emeric was used to racing through the forest, running as fast as his legs would carry him and as far. The slow waddle he had to do as they ran along the outside of the courtyard was driving him mad.

Emeric counted his paces as they ran around the perimeter. He calculated the length of one lap, compensating for the short steps he was giving. Finally, after the first lap, he concluded that the perimeter of the courtyard was equivalent to nearly one mile.

They ran for a long time. And at the grueling, slow pace that Emeric was being forced to trot, time seemed to pass extra slow. When the reached their fifth lap, many of the Domers gave up. They stood bent over, leaning with their hands on their knees as they struggled to catch their breaths. To Emeric's relief, it had been most of the men running at the back of the group and he was able to increase his speed to a steadier, faster rhythm that carried him along comfortably.

With each lap that passed, more and more men gave up until after ten rounds, only Emeric and five other young men remained. The five well built juveniles he had taken note of earlier. They ran with a steady pace for three more laps, but then they started to tire and their pace slowed down.

Emeric took his chances and sped past them as he fell into the fast, ground covering pace he was used to running with in the dense woods...To put things bluntly, he left the other young Domers in his dust and left the Domers, who had given up, breathless.

Three of the young men gave up after two more rounds, but Emeric paid them no mind. He continued running at his comfortable, brisk pace. When they reached eighteen laps, the other two competitors gave in, leaving Emeric alone on the track.

When he reached Marven and the other Domers he too, came to a halt. Marven looked him up and down. Emeric was breathing fast, but had controlled breaths. Nothing like the uncontrollable heaving that the other men had succumbed to when they had given up.

"Keep going." Marven commanded Emeric. Emeric swallowed dryly as he craved a drink of water. He had been running for hours, but he knew that their was no use in disobeying Marven. He simply had to do what he was told or suffer the consequences.

Emeric set out at a brisk job. He controlled his breathing with each stride he took. He was running comfortably when he heard Marven's bellowing voice yelling at him, "Faster!"

Emeric lengthened his stride and ran faster. He had only gone a few paces when Marven's voice reached his ears once more, "Faster you damn beast."

Emeric bit back his anger as he broke out in a flat out sprint. The speed was enough to leave even Marven speechless, however, it drained Emeric's remaining energy rather quickly.

He managed two more circuits before he came to a breathless halt at the other Domers.

No one said anything. They just stood in silence, everyone's surprised eyes lingering on him. That was until Emeric was surprised by a familiar voice coming from the doors, which had opened without him noticing. "

"You can't push him like that, he's still under my care and is healing form a serious injury." Aire came to a fuming stop in front of Marven.

"He looks fine to me." Marven deadpanned. Aire scrunched her brow into an irritated frown, "Should I test your eyes while I'm here?" The question stung with sarcasm.

Marven took a step closer to Aire. His immense tallness made him tower high over her head, "Aire, why don't you run along and go do your job and leave me to do mine." He spoke in a deadly calmness, though his tone of voice had a threatening essence in it.

She met his deadly gaze, "I am doing my job." Marven raised a questioning brow, "Don't you work in that tiny, stuffy room of yours?" Aire seemed irritated by the blunt question, "I'm here to take note of each of the Domers' fitness so that I don't have to do that when they are injured. This way I get to know my patients before they come to me with a critical injury."

Marven frowned down at her, "Whatever. But don't interrupt my training session again."

Aire nodded but then seemed to suddenly remember something, "Oh yeah, I need to take to Etreshian. It's time of his routine check up."

Marven growled irritably, "I told you not to interrupt the training, woman." Aire smiled coolly, "Yeah, and you also told me to do my job...So, if you don't mind, I'll be taking the Etreshian now."

She smiled defiantly as the guards led Emeric out of the courtyard after her...her victory...