Underland(6)

But he did pull out a knife.

The blade arced towards her back, and Kira sucked in her breath.

A quick snap, and her hands were freed. They flopped uselessly to her side, and she took a moment to stare at the purple and gray lumps that were her hands.

Fear for her life out of the way momentarily, Kira panicked over her useless hands. Pain like a searing flame licked her skin. Kira tried to move her fingers, but she still couldn’t.

Grater grabbed her hands and brought them up to his nose and inhaled the scent of her palms.

“Not dead yet. Dying, but it can be reversed. It doesn’t change your value any if you don’t have hands. Some might prefer it.” He yanked on her chain, and Kira lurched forward, trying to get to her feet. Not easy without the support of her hands.

Kira followed Grater, rubbing her hands along her thighs, forcing blood back into them. They still looked grayish, but the purple was fading.

Grater ducked into an alley and stopped before a large metal door. After a series of quick raps, the door opened. A giant with a missing eye escorted them into a large courtyard filled with cages. He opened an empty cage and waited for Grater to take Kira’s lead chain off. But first, Grater attached a band to her wrist, similar to the ones she’d seen almost everyone wearing. Then, with a quick kick, Grater sent Kira flailing to the dirt floor.

Her arms too weak to catch her body weight, she struggled to get up. Before she could get to the door, the giant slammed it in her face and turned the key. He gave her a grin when she flung herself against the bars in anger.

“You no good, flea-bitten, dirty son of a…” She didn’t finish because he opened his mouth and let out a deafening roar. The stench from his toxic breath made Kira gag. She turned to search for fresher air and sat down against the side of her cage. She glared at the giant.

Grater ignored her, speaking to his partner, a human-sized Doberman in brown breeches and a red leather vest. They both gave her speculative looks before walking towards the far side of the courtyard.

She spent twenty minutes prying at the metal band, banging it, trying to remove the thing from her wrist. All she did was give herself painful red scratches up and down. She couldn’t handle looking at the digital green lights. But she soon noticed that if she didn’t touch it, they would fade to black.

Kira lifted her head to watch Grater leaning against a wall lined with metal slats—a whole series of cages.

“You’re a human aren’t you?” a hushed voice whispered.

Kira’s neck snapped in the direction of the speaker, a tall girl with brown skin and dark green hair. She wore the tattered remains of what looked like a dress made from leaves and moss. Was there someone in every one of the cages? How many prisoners did they keep here?

“Yeah, you smell human. Which means you’ll be dead soon,” the girl continued.

“I’m alive now, and that’s what matters.” Kira’s voice lacked the haughtiness she’d had earlier. Here was a young girl in her own situation who knew more than she did. She needed whatever information the girl could give her if she was going to survive.

“They are going to sell you,” she gestured to the other cages around the courtyard, “to the highest bidder. And with you being human, that means only one thing. Death.”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me. But I’m still alive.”

“For now.”

“What’s your name?” Kira asked.

“Sable.”

“I’m Kira.” She waited a second and then asked. “So what is this, and how do I get it off?”

Sable sunk back into her cage, and it took a moment before she answered.

“You’re not from a farm.” She looked scared. “Otherwise you’d know that already. Who are you?”

“I’m from above,” Kira pointed up with one finger. “Portland.”

She shook her head and started to rock back and forth in her cage. “Oh no no no, then you’ll definitely never be allowed to go home…alive.”

Kira waited patiently for the girl to come to her senses. She held up her wrist and waited for Sable to reply.

She spoke softly. Sadly. “It’s your bracer. You’ve been registered as an Underlander. Your tracker, your identity—it’s all tied into that little machine, and it won’t come off, unless you…” She made sawing motion across her wrist.

Kira paled at the thought.

“But even if you do, they’ll find you and attach a bigger one to your neck.” Sable pointed to another cage where the inhabitant was missing a hand. A much more permanent metal collar surrounded his neck.

“That’s horrible.” Kira shivered and eyed the band. Maybe she could leave it for the time being. “What is this place?” Kira let the questions spill. “And how do I get out of here?”

Sable paused and looked around. “This is the Gamblers’ Market. Plutus calls in gambling debts, and debtors are forced to come here and try and sell their services. If a family member can, they’ll come and pay off the debt. But if no one buys a debtor, then they may be bought by a sponsor and forced to compete in the games anyway.”

“Games?”

Her green cheeks turned brown when she blushed. “Games, gauntlets, challenges. They’re all the same. Our whole economy—our whole society—revolves around the games. Working for the games, training fighters for the games, competing for the games, betting and losing on the games.”