The Sovereign System

CHAPTER SEVEN

“What?” Felipe blurted. 

“Do not kill the beasts,” Varax repeated, shifting his gaze to Kaiden. “I doubt that you would be able to do so, anyway. But just in case any one of you gets the idea, do not.” 

“He’s trying to manipulate the bets in his favor,” Kaiden said to Garrick. “People would be betting that the beasts would be killed, but if we don’t kill any…”

“He makes a win,” Garrick completed.

“So…we just stand there…and get killed?” Tylar asked in disbelief. 

“Run, hide, dodge, but you will not kill the beasts.” Varax straightened, his bushy brows lifting slightly. “If you do, you will meet a terrible fate at my hands.”

Roden whimpered something, and Garrick shook his head. “I don’t understand. Why not just kill us and get it over with?” 

Varax turned towards him, a sinister smile on his lips. “Without getting a bit of money out of  it? where’s the fun in that?” 

He clapped his hands. Orrin and Dask returned, ordering the boys to follow them. 

They spent most of the afternoon doing chores. Scrubbing the floors of the courtyard and hauling buckets of water from the well to where the beasts were kept. They were not allowed to see the beasts, though Kaiden could hear all manners of unnatural sounds from their pens. 

Only after that were they fed more bread and stew, slightly better than the one they ate yesterday. And all the while, Kaiden tried to understand more of the system. But he couldn’t get past what he already knew. All he could do was wait for night to fall, before he could test another theory. 

Survive, get stronger, escape this place. He repeated the mantra in his head while they waited in their cells for night to come. 

Orrin and Dask arrived by twilight. There were sounds coming from beyond the courtyard, and this time, Kaiden wasn’t the only one who could hear them. people shouting and yelling. 

“You hear that?” Dask said, opening the cell door. “They’re waiting for you lot to put up a show.” 

Orrin stepped in and dropped a bunch of weapons on the floor.  Two dull cleavers, a blunt knife, a long pole with a noose around its end, a wooden club studded with nails and a short staff. 

“You get one each,” Orrin said. He looked grumpy, like he lost another bet. 

Soon, the boys were marched from their cell and led down the passage to the pit. It was brighter than before, with several torches lighting the path. 

“Any idea what we’ll be fighting?” Kaiden asked Orrin. 

“Shut up, kid,” he snapped in reply. 

“What are you doing?” Garrick whispered. 

Kaiden shook his head in answer and turned back to the man. If his deductions were right, then he could have an advantage before he stepped in there. 

“Look, you must have placed bets on the fight too, right? Isn’t it better that you tell us something, anything, so we can at least shift the win in your favor?” 

Orrin’s brows lifted slightly at that. He shot a look to the front, where Dask walked ahead. Then he turned back to Kaiden, dropping his voice. 

“I’ll tell you this once, because I placed a lot of silver on you killing at least one of the beasts.”

At least one? An alarm went off in Kaiden’s head. so, it wasn’t one beast they would be facing. 

Orrin went on, “Varax, of course, will make me lose that money now that he says you are not to kill them. And a lot of people are betting on the lot of you dying. So, if you can kill one of the beasts and survive till stoppage time, I’ll win back my bets and more.” 

“Orrin!” Dask called sharply. “Stop talking to the prisoners! “ 

“What? They’ll win us more money if they know what to fight for.” 

“Varax said nothing about telling them-”

“Varax isn’t paying me by word.” he turned back to Kaiden. “Everything in that pit is a hybrid. Specially bred by beast-users in the mountains. Tonight, you’ll be facing thornhide jackals. I don’t know much about them except that, well, they’ve got thorns on their hides.” 

They had reached the gate. Orrin hauled it open, but it wasn’t as dark as before. There were sounds of people loudly talking over each other, yelling and clapping hands impatiently. 

“Good luck in there,” Orrin said and Dask pushed them inside. 

The pit had changed now. there were torches everywhere, illuminating the space where he had killed the boar yesterday, and there were wide ledges with iron railings above. 

People stood on the ledges, hailing and cheering as the boys walked in with their weapons. Thirty, maybe forty townsfolk, leaning over the railings and waving slips of paper. 

“they’re betting on us,” Roden whimpered. “They’re betting on us to die.”

“Oh, you’re just catching on?” Tylar drawled. 

“No one is dying tonight,” said Garrick. “Remember, we do our best to keep each other alive.” 

Kaiden was barely listening. His eyes were on Varax, as he walked out to the platform above them, wearing a dark coat. He held one hand up, and a loud, guttural roar filled the space, shutting the crowd up. 

“Good evening, friends,” he called spreading his arms, “It is a fine night for blood, wouldn’t you agree?” 

A ripple of laughter wen through the crowd. 

“Tonight, you shall have the pleasure of watching five of my best, against two of my favorites.” He waved a hand and a grate at the other side of the pit rattled. “Get ready to be entertained!” 

The grate rose suddenly, and Kaiden tightened his grip on the club he carried. Two creatures crept out of the darkness, low and lean, shaped like dogs. But there were ridged lumps on their back, filled with what looked like spikes. Long, barbed, dangerous spikes. 

And their eyes were locked on Kaiden. 

[THREAT DETECTED: THORNHIDE JACKALS x2]

[QUEST ACTIVATED: ELIMINATE THREAT AND SURVIVE]

Above them, Varax raised one hand. “Let the game begin.”