Chapter 10

After Sakarr left, they sat in silence for a while. It was obvious the prospect of becoming a slave was very traumatic for Ryla, even more than for him. He still had his dagger with him, it was only a hilt now, so the guards hadn't noticed it. From the way, they had talked early, the players were kept in the arena only, the arena was closed all the time except when games were being held in it, so nobody knew what went inside it. Maybe there were basements like here there too. Anyway, they will be moved to the arena tomorrow morning, no matter what they had to get out before the games coming week, from the way the announcer had spoken they were going to be even worse than before. Ash moved beside Ryla and they nodded off, Ryla lying her head on his shoulder.

The next morning they were loaded on a cart, with hoods on their faces. There were other people alongside them too. The cart moved, bumping up and down, but they couldn't see through the cloth at all. Then suddenly, the hoods from their faces were lifted off. The light blinded him for a second, but then he was able to see. They were still inside the cart, it was still moving. The three other men who were with them had their hoods off too. Two of their hands were free too and one was helping the third with his binds while the other was checking the cart gate.

"No dice brother, the gap is too thin, I can't reach the locks" The second man came back and spoke quietly.

"Damn those dwarves, why can't they just stick with making little houses and clothes for themselves" the other man replied "Ah very well, we'll have to find another way" Then he looked at them and smiled "Sorry fellow travelers, looks like the fates are not with us" he smiled and then shook their hands.

"It's a real pleasure to meet like-minded people and from what we have heard, you both don't pick your targets easily do you," he said.

"Wha?" Ash didn't understand what he was saying.

"I am Rorin, this is Borin and Torin" we are the famous thieves of Borkenau "we were caught only two days ago, trying to get into the very same building you were, alas due to some miscalculations the drug we had given the front guard was a little milder than the seller had said and he woke up just as we were leaving. I am afraid we might have made security tighter for you guys next, but still, the window on the terrace was an excellent plan, only for the skilled of course" Rorin spoke on.

"Ah," now Ash understood "Yes, we were also misinformed, the thing we were there for was not there in the first place and we spent too much time looking for it, I am Ash by the way" They shook hands.

"And who is your lovely partner," Rorin asked, pointing at Ryla. She was doing better now and was back to her badass self.

"Ryla" she said defiantly.

"Fisty" Rorin commented and then stopped listening to something "Looks like we are here, hurry put back your hoods, there's no point in getting whipped for a failed attempt, there will be plenty of torture later, from what I have heard of this place" they put back their hoods and waited. The carriage door opened and they were taken out. They were in the sunlight, they could tell from the heat on the skin, then their hoods were ripped off. The very ground they had seen two days ago, where the players fought, they were standing in it now. So were the rest of the players. The amazons, Ash recognized with a flutter of his heartbeat and the rest. Raeya was still nowhere to be seen. They were training he realized for the upcoming games.

Then, a dozen or so Guards came and surrounded them.

"So these are the newbies" one of them spoke "Look at that one, I was waiting for some new fuck, the older ones were getting too loose" he sneered looking at Ryla, the rest of the guards laughed loudly. He moved towards Ryla, she tried to run, but two other guards grabbed her from behind. Ash had started moving when he saw the Guard touch her inappropriately. He swung himself on him. Hands tied, hungry, and exhausted, he was no match against him, much less several of them; they pulled him off him. He was still glad to see a bloody nose on the guard. They held him while he punched him. Ash took the pain; at least the attention was away from Ryla.

"Enough. What is happening here?" a loud voice rang out. Another guard was coming on the grounds, this one was bigger and looked to be in charge.

"Grey, how many times have I told you not to mess with the players during the season, if I catch you again, I'll have your head."

"Fred, this one attacked me," Grey said, pointing at Ash.

"then throw him in the pit; no need to waste blood like this, Sakarr won't be happy with somebody messing with his entertainment," Fred said and left.

They dragged ash to the pit, which was a dark cell in the basement. He lay there with a bloody face.

"You should put something on that," a voice came out of the darkness, and he jumped.

"It's fine I am just an old man, Kuln is my name" Kuln was sitting in one corner; he was covered with a rag and had a stick on his side.

"You look new, there is no point in picking fights with the guard," Kuln said.

"They were going to molest my friend," Ash said.

"Hmm, that happens around here, especially if they are pretty, if you really have a problem, you can ask Fred, that's the big one, he has a wife and a daughter so that sort of thing bothers him, but don't mistake him to be good, in the end, he only cares about himself and will sacrifice you," Kuln said.

"How long have you been here?" Ash asked.

"Boy you are meeting the oldest player of the arena, I was here when Sakarr was just a little boy, I am no use for them, I can't fight like in my youth, but they never caught someone like me again so they like having me around"

"What are you?"

"Don't look at me like that, I am a human just like you"

"Then"

"Knight I am a knight, of the order of Genila, You must know about them. I hear they still do great things, fighting for the good of humanity, I would have tried to get a word out to them, they would have come in a heartbeat, but what's the point now" Kuln sighed.