Underland(9)

Maybe she had misunderstood. Maybe if no one bought her they would let her go.

Two more slaves went without a single bid before a tall muscular boy was led up to the stage. There were a few whispers and comments when the boy just stood there.

Raz angrily took out a Taser and shocked the slave into compliance. As the boy leaned back and howled in pain, his body grew, and his face elongated into a wolf. Fur appeared on his arms and legs, and his muscles ripped through his pants. He stood there panting, his tongue hanging out like an overworked dog’s.

A bidding war began for the young werewolf. He sold for an exorbitant amount to his archenemy the vampire.

Sable was unlucky as well, for she sold fairly quickly to Ssirone the snake. Her natural athleticism and speed would aid her, if she survived the training and became a fighter. According to Sable, the training was almost as gruesome and difficult as actually competing in the events.

Kira was surprised when the zeke boy walked up to the stage freely, with no chains, and dared his captors to bid on him with his hate-filled eyes. And bid they did. He went for double the amount of the werewolf, to a tall man in the back of the room.

When all of the non-human slaves had a chance to be bid on, and the ones that were bought were taken to a different holding pen, she thought it was over.

It wasn’t. Large ogres moved the stage, and the buyers backed up to the walls. An overturned garbage can sat in the middle of the courtyard with a silver knife resting on the bottom, waiting. Kira wished Sable was still in the pen next to her so she could ask what was going on, but she had to wait. Frustrated.

Grater stepped forward and pointed to two of the cages with unsold slaves—the one with the frog boy and a boy with skin like slime. Two men stood by the cages and waited for Grater’s mark to open them. The boys inside the cages moved towards the door, waiting to pounce. Grater whistled.

The men threw open the doors.

Slime boy and frog boy shot out of their cages for the trashcan and the knife. Slime boy was faster and had almost reached the knife when the frog boy shot out his tongue and snatched it from the top of the can. The first boy, as soon as he saw that frog boy had the knife, jerked out of his reach, fell backwards, and turned to run.

Escape was impossible. The only exit was blocked. Kira was confused by the loud cheering from the bystanders.

Frog boy took the knife out of his mouth and stalked his prey. He leapt into the air and came down on slime boy’s back, feet first, knife second. The boy twitched once, twice, and then died.

Kira turned and started to gag. She fell to her knees and reached for a tin of water to splash her face. Had she really witnessed one slave kill another? Looking up, she saw the frog boy dance in glee. Raz took his hand and held it up in the air in victory, which began the bidding all over again. Frog boy sold for almost as much as the werewolf.

So, if no one would bid on you, you were either sent to the games or you were allowed to battle it out, kill your opponent in a slave match. You could prove your worth and get a sponsor to buy you. Well, if the choice was kill or be killed running, she wanted to run.

But her confidence at escaping was slipping every hour.

After two more death matches and two more slaves getting sold off, Raz drew the crowd’s attention to Kira. Her heart thudded loudly. Her hands balled into fists as she listened to the murmur of the crowd die off to be replaced by a few hisses of disgust. Others laughed in her direction. Would she even make it to the block or would they maul her?

The giant with toxic breath opened her cage and grabbed Kira around the throat, forcing the collar to bite painfully into her neck. She clawed at his wrists as he dragged her out of her cage. They didn’t even bother putting her on the stage, just dumped her on the ground in the middle of the monsters. Her chain landed near Grater.

Raz’s voice rang out loudly, “And over here we have a human fresh from the borderlands. Yours to do with as you please. Kill it, torture it, or eat it. Let the bid begin at five hundred freedom tokens.”

Kira jumped up and spit at Raz. She would have lunged for him, but Grater had a hold of the chain around her collar and yanked her back to the ground. Her attitude made some of the buyers nervous, and they physically backed away showing their unwillingness to bid.

“What, you don’t like a little bit of spirit?” Grater called out.

Kira saw the small victory she’d gained and decided to play the wild and unstable card. Hoping to intimidate others into backing off, she paced. Careful to stay within the boundaries of her leash, she stared down the bidders. With the smaller ones, she squared off to face them, head high. She even feinted in their direction.

“Five hundred,” Ssirone called out, unfazed by her aggressiveness.

“Six,” Peter held up his arm.

“Seven” Ssirone turned to glare at the rabbit, his head swaying side to side like a cobra. Peter’s gaze locked with Ssirone’s and his ears dropped. His nose twitched once then froze—hypnotized by the snake man’s gaze.

It was impossible even for Kira to tear her eyes away from Ssirone. She could feel the fear running through her blood in the rhythm of her heartbeat. Without even making eye contact with him, she could feel the effects of his predatory stare. Peter on the other hand, didn’t seem to be as aware as she was.

“Seven hundred, going once,” Raz called out. “Going twice.”

Kira swallowed and saw the corner of Ssirone’s mouth lift in excitement. He knew he had won, she knew it.