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Chapter 1: A Life of Slavery and Blood

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Darkness.

Nothingness.

Where am I?

A light appears before me, painfully visible amongst the void I awoke in.

I hear a voice coming from the direction of the light, but I'm unable to make out what they are saying. I try to speak, but no words come out of my mouth.

What? My voice... why?

Slowly, ever so slowly, I notice the light getting smaller. The voice is still blurred, but it is getting more urgent in tone. I reach a hand out towards it, and a tendril of darkness latches onto me and begins to drag me further down in the void.

No! I-get off of me!

I struggle, but more tendrils begin to grab me and pull me further down into the void. I manage to get an arm free and reach out towards the light. Mustering the last of my strength, my voice returns and I scream;

"HELP ME!"

And at last, I can clearly hear the voice; it's a woman, and she says only one word:

"Soon"

-/-

"Aahh!"

• Thunk-

I rub my head, feeling the cold sweat on it and flinch as I rub the bump from hitting the metal roof above me.

"You alright, little one?"

I look across the room at the bed which the owner of the voice was sitting up on, an old tiger that tasked himself with making sure I survived this hell.

I carefully get out of bed, a makeshift nest I've hidden myself away in, and reassuringly tell him it's ok. He doesn't buy it.

"You might be able to fool the younger members of this colosseum, Scales, but you can't fool this old cat. Speak yer mind kid!" He signals for me to sit beside him. I take the offer, and begin to explain the dream to him.

"What does it all mean, Graele?" I lean back against the wall, and instantly regret it as the cold seeps through my scales, and the old man looks me in the eye. I look at the man I'd come to know as my trainer, and study his body like I have many times before as part of his training. The fur that was once a brilliant orange was greying, and he had numerous scars over his entire body. His face wasn't spared either, with a rather nasty scar running diagonally across his face.

"How the heck would I know, Scales? I'm an old combat trainer who was sold to this bloody shit hole to ensure runts like you don't die in a matter of seconds." He stands up and stretches, and picks up one of the practice swords lying on the floor, and starts to practice the movements and stances he'd been teaching me. "If I had to guess, you're probably having them because you're scheduled for a fight today."

I curl up, holding my legs to my chest and curling my tail around me. "I'm just so worried. I don't want to die not knowing who, or even what, I am. I might look like the average scalekin, but I'm not. No scalekin with a body this thin is able to lift an entire cargo truck like it's a paper weight."

Just saying that reminds me of the day I was captured and brought here. Once again, I'd found myself wondering the alleys and streets of the city I called home, desperately trying to find a clue to my identity and life. An accident had happened, and a canine was being crushed by the cargo truck above him. Next thing I know, I'm lifting the truck over my head with one arm and helping the fur up with the other. That night when I went to sleep I woke up in manacles, stripped naked, with men pulling me off a truck with a collar and forcing me into the cell that's been mine and Graele's home for the last few weeks. He'd started calling me Scales as I had no idea what my own name was.

"So? You should be thinking of ways to use that strength today." Graele pointed the practice blade towards me. "So grab a bloody greatsword and start practicing against me!" He rushes towards me, and I roll out of the way, quickly moving over to my nest to grab the sword almost as tall as I was next to it.

"Don't you think it's a bit early for practice, Graele?"

I raise the sword and take a defensive stance, and block each attack the old tiger comes at me with.

"If your able to move like that then it's the perfect time Scales!" He comes at me with a lunge, a smile on his face as I step to the side and hit him with the flat of my blade. "You've been getting better at dodging kid. I'm surprised you picked such a heavy slab of metal instead of choosing something suited for speed, like a dagger."

Going on the offensive, I swing the greatsword at him, but he dodges to the side, and kicks the blade to put me off balance "Why do you choose blades as tall as you, kid?" The tiger inquires, somewhat bemused. I regain my balance and swing widely, forcing Graele to step back against the wall of the cell to avoid my attack.

"Everything else is too light for me, and I feel like opponents would underestimate me." I dash forward, holding the blade above my head before bringing it down, stopping before I hit Graele.

Graele pushes the blade aside, and throws his practice sword on the ground. "You've gotten good, Scales, but you better not panic in the arena. Let's head down to the mess so you can get some grub before you battle, and I'll get some info on your opponent." He knocked on the door of our cell, and we hear the guard unlocking it.

The guard that opened the door was a large ursine, carrying a torch in one hand and holding a cup of what I presumed to be either alcohol or coffee in the other. Graele handed him a food coin and the guard motioned for us to follow.

After a short walk we arrived at the Mess, and grabbed a tray each and got the mush they call food here. Graele and I took our spot at the table at the far end. Currently the only other fighters in the hall with us were the heavy weights, fighters who'd used magic to boost their already incredible strength to unimaginable heights. "Try not to get their attention while I'm out gathering info, Scales. I shouldn't be too long." Graele got up and took his food with him, leaving me alone to eat my breakfast. I could hear the other fighters speaking, mainly about what they did in the outside world. It seemed they were here voluntarily.

I started to focus on swallowing the 'food' down, ignoring the taste and just scoffing it down. Unfortunately, I ate a tad too fast, and began to choke on a hunk of meat.

Damnit!

I heard the sound of rushed feet approaching, and then felt a hand slapping my back, the chunk of meat was dislodged, and I spat it out. I looked behind me to see it was one of the heavy weights who had saved me, but the leer on his face made me think his intentions were hardly heroic.

"Well well, looks like we got some fresh meat boys!" he called out to the others who were with him, and they came and stood around my table. There was a couple of scalekin and a human, and my 'saviour' was an equine. "I wonder how you're going to repay me kid. I did just save your life after all. Normally I'd ask for food, but it seems your one of the members of this fine establishment people like myself usually fight against."

I looked around nervously, trying not to gag at the smell of sweat and body odor as I looked for any opening. I knew that I wouldn't be fast enough to get away as things were. I needed some kind of distraction.

"Oi! Don't get distracted, meat!" The horse grabbed me by my hair, the orange threads threatening to be pulled out if I didn't stand. "I don't think I've ever met a scalekin with black scale and red spines before. Have you, Baöer?" he looked at the crocodile to my right, and see him shake his head. "I reckon you must be something special. Gonna ask for you as a consort when I'm done with the fight in a few hours, you look like a nice lay."

I never thought seeing an herbivore grin would be so frightening, and he let go of my hair and grabbed me by the chin. "But seeing as how little you've been using your mouth, maybe you could give me a little pre battle relief." He started to undo the belt holding up the armor around his waist, when I decided I had an opening.

I put all my strength into a single kick, and shoved my foot into his unprotected crotch. The male let out a whimper, eyes seeming to bulge out of his sockets, and collapsed to his knees, holding his family jewels. I used the opportunity to jump off him and ran out of the hall, straight into Graele.

"What in the flaming heck is your problem ki-" Graele saw the Equine lying on the floor, and his friends rushing towards us. "Guards, Help! Stocks under attack!" he called out, Stock being the term for those of us who live in the arena.

In a moment we were surrounded by guards, and the air hummed with energy as they put a barrier between us and the angry bundles of muscles that were wanting to rip me in two. The bear from before came and escorted us back to our cell, but upon letting Graele back in grabbed me by the shoulder.

"I'm afraid it's time for you to enter prepping, kid."

I looked at Graele, and he gave me a thumbs up. "You'll be fine, kid. You've already handicapped your opponent, judging by the way he was lying in the floor in Mess." He flashed a massive grin, and the guard closed the door and took me down an unfamiliar corridor.

He led me into a room with armor and weapons, and closed the door behind me. "You've got three hours till combat. Make it count and read the rules on what you can and can't have depending on the weapon you choose. Good luck and all that, you'll be needing it."

And with that, I was alone, surrounded by metal and leather.

Three hours until I had my first trial of blood.

Three hours until I fought tooth and claw.

Three hours until I put my training to work.

I grabbed the heaviest greatsword I could find, and some leather armor for my chest and arms. Finding a strap for the greatsword, I slung it on my back and practiced sheathing and unsheathing before practicing stances and attacks.

I had three hours to find out how hard this hell truly was.