Slave Unbound Ch. 42

Chapter 42

Just Before the Storm

**Characters and text are protected under copyright law

Disclaimer: This story is not meant as 'erotica', but dark adventure-fantasy. It may contain material that sensitive readers might find uncomfortable. Please be advised.

The morning was almost uncomfortably chill, the autumnal season reaching its apex and beginning towards the change to winter. Leita could feel her flesh goose pimple beneath her tunic, the brisk air made cooler by the swift motion of the carriage bearing a load of fighters from various Houses towards the arena. Beside her, Kalder seemed completely unaffected by the cold, his gaze forward, but obviously inward.

They were as prepared as they possibly could be for what was soon to come, their training having shifted from the simple tasks of a large free for all to that of preparation for a massive attack aimed directly at them. And it would be a massive one.

According to Sabrina, it was rare for more than two thirds of the houses to register fighters for the event, despite how prestigious it was to win. Most of the lowest and weakest Houses didn't bother, as they rarely had fighters on par with what the higher-ranked Houses put into the special event. This year, however, every single House had submitted a pair of fighters, including a brand new one that was announced less than two days ago. Nineteen pairs, counting themselves.

There was every possibility that Leita would find herself with far more than just a dozen people focused completely on her. And probably seeking her death, not just her defeat. As good as she and Kalder were, even she had to wonder if they were up to the task of taking on so much adversity at once. For all his stoicism, she could see concern on his face, his mind likely going over every possible tactic and move he knew.

All of a sudden, he looked at her, as if having sensed that she was thinking about him. A smirk drew up into his stony face and his eyes flicked towards the direction he'd just been looking. Following the gesture, she looked out to see a long stretch of wall across from them. The stone façade was festooned with banners celebrating events and fighters that were popular among the crowds. One of the banners caught her immediate attention.

She quickly staggered to her feet and hobbled, as best she could, to the other side of the wagon, pressing against the bars to better see the large banner bearing her likeness upon it. A rush of utter thrill surged through her at the sight of her visage immortalized as a featured warrior of the Grand Arena of Solace. It felt unbelievable to even conceive. Not so long ago, she'd been just some scrub slave, unremarkable and unknown. Now her face was presented, larger than life, for all to see.

"What... what does the writing say?" She asked back towards Kalder.

"It would pretty much just be your name, maybe a little hype." Kalder replied in a nonchalant way, as if it were nothing special. "Looks pretty new. Maybe has something about you beating that oruhk, probably?"

She looked back at him, seeing the broad smile on his face. Despite how casual his voice was, it was obvious he was aware how much this meant to her. He even looked a touch proud of her. "Don't go getting too big a head about it!" He laughed. "It's tiny compared to the ones hanging out at the front entrance of the Arena itself and this is just some side road, so probably not a lot of people see the damned thing."

She looked back at it, now retreating away from them as they approached the next turn of the road. "It's still something though." She said to herself, feeling a swell of emotion in her chest. Tearing herself away, she returned back to the seat next to Kalder, but the picture of it still danced before her eyes, exciting and inspiring her. "They should have waited until after today to make it though. Tomorrow they'll need to commission a bigger one that includes 'won the Grand Melee' on it."

Kalder laughed loudly. "Nice arrogance there, 'aiest'ja'."

She frowned at him. "Great, now I have you calling me that. One of these days, I need to find out what that means."

Kalder stared at her incredulously. "He's been calling you that since the first day you arrived and you've never even asked?"

"I always just assumed it was something like 'child' or 'rookie' or whatever." Leita said with a shrug. "Honestly, I half suspected it was something poking fun at me. Colja doesn't seem like it would be anything mean-spirited, but he can have his sense of humor sometimes."

Kalder sighed. "Well, it doesn't mean either of those. It translates literally as 'breaker of chains', but more informally would come out as 'chainsbreaker'."

She stared at him in confusion. "Why would he call me that?"

"It's a reference to an aljin folklore story." Kalder replied with a chuff. "About this warrior of his people who couldn't be restrained by any enemy. Even if they wrapped her in chains, she would eventually break them. Thus, she became known as the 'aiest'ja', the 'chainsbreaker'." He gave her a skeptical look. "Though don't ask me to explain why he felt that applied to you. That I don't get."

She rolled her eyes and gave a mirthless laugh. "I know. You still don't think I belong here. I know. Still think it's all just been luck."

He didn't immediately respond, but finally blew a sigh. "You know what I hate most about you, Leita?"

"That I'm too short?"

He gave a burble of honest laughter. "Besides that. What I hate most is that it's so hard NOT to like you. I do still think that first fight was just luck. I still think you should have died that day, but you managed to get in one lucky throw. However, I honestly believe that everything else you've come through has been all you. You're not 'good' at this, Leita. You're a gods-be-damned natural-born warrior. Part of me wants to hate you just for that alone. And another part of me hates that I have no doubt that you're eventually going to become the House Champion." He shook his head and sighed. "Probably even before winter gets here."

She stared at him in shock. "You actually think I'm that good?"

"No. I KNOW you're that good." Kalder said with a sigh. "You practically soak up fighting techniques and skills. What takes most people months or years to master, takes you only days. What makes you truly impressive though is that you never stop getting back up. That's probably why Colja calls you 'chainsbreaker', because you can't be held back or knocked down. Even I recognized that on the very first day. I never expected you to get back up after the first punch I threw, much less after a third. You've outclassed every other person in the stable already and I'm pretty sure you'll be better than me..." He grinned sourly. "Probably by the time the day is over, knowing you."

"I'm pretty sure I have a long way to go before--" She began.

He looked at her sharply. "No. You really don't. This cursed body gives me certain advantages, ones that barely seem fair to most people. Those advantages make my particular set of skills a lot more effective, and I am very good at my style of fighting. However, those skills pale in comparison to Colja's. The truth is, I'm only House Champion because he doesn't want to be. He learned how to swing a sword before he could fully walk. He's more skilled than the rest of the stable combined, me included, but even he expects you'll get better than him within a matter of seasons. He's completely mastered his style, but he sees that you're a better all-around fighter."

She stared at him, honestly surprised that the two of them felt that way, much less that he was admitting it so openly. "I still think either of you could kick my ass into the sand, but thank you, Kalder. I appreciate your confidence in me."

He gave a loud chuff. "It's not 'confidence', it's just honesty. As much as I want to believe it's only ever been that same luck as your first fight, I can't."

She turned her gaze to look out the bars across from her. "I was maybe five or so when I was bought and brought to the Baroness' estate as a new houseslave. One of the first chores I was given was peeling vegetables for the cook. I'd sit on the back stoop, just outside the kitchen's rear door, with a pile of potatoes and a paring knife, for hours. Being still a child, I often got bored with it. Nobody really supervised me, so, one day I got the idea to see if I could throw the little peeling knife into one of the potatoes from a couple feet."

She grinned, picturing herself standing a couple paces from the stoop, a large potato singled out from the pile, trying to line up her shot. "First couple times, I missed it completely, but got closer with each try. Finally managed to hit the damned thing on maybe the seventh throw, but had to stop because someone came out and I was afraid I'd get in trouble if I was caught not actually working."

She looked over to see Kalder looking at her, brow furrowed, likely already seeing where this was going. "Every time I found myself out back peeling, I took a little time to practice. By the time I found myself standing on those sands, I could reliably put a paring knife into a potato the size of my palm from two dozen steps away." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"It wasn't luck." He said with a sigh.

"Only that there was a knife there at all." Leita replied. "That part I agree was luck. The dagger was a lot heavier than I was used to and I'd never tried to hit a moving target before, but even as I threw, I knew what it was I was trying to do. I put it in his throat with every intention of doing so. I didn't kill him by 'lucky accident', I meant to kill him."

Kalder gave a dry laugh. "You know, the only part of that story that seems hard to believe is that it took you years to get that good at throwing a knife."

Leita grinned. "Well, I did only get a few minutes at a time to practice."

Kalder bumped his shoulder into her, shaking his head. "Show off."

"Hard-head." She countered.

"Shorty." He responded back with a laugh.

"Oi, you two! Just kiss and get it over with!" Came the voice of one of the other gladiators in the wagon, a very large and powerful looking hobkin man, his ochre skin mottled with old scars. "Might be the last chance one of you gets." He was looking at them with a darkly amused expression, as if he knew something they didn't.

Kalder eyed the man shrewdly. "Might be your last chance to shut up before I decide that your jaw needs breaking during the event, hob."

The powerful man gave a spiteful laugh, black eyes shining with malice. "I think you're gonna be much too busy to be worried about that." He sat forward, glaring at Leita. "There's quite the price-tag on that one's head today. A small fortune to the House whose fighter kills her. If most owners are like mine, the gladiator who wins that money for their House will find themselves well rewarded too."

Leita's jaw clenched a little. If Lord Venge had put out a sizable reward to anyone who made sure she didn't get back up today, there was little doubt that almost every other competitor and every House was going to be aiming for it. Likely, Lord Crahka's fighters would be the only ones who hadn't been given instructions to seek her out and spill her blood.

"Well, you and your master are going to be going home empty-handed today." Kalder growled at him. "Try to come for her head and I'll hand you yours."

The large gladiator just laughed. "That so? Well, I'm going to be interested to see you managing to fend off a score and half of us all coming for the same head. You could always be smart and just kill the bitch yourself in the heat of it, collect the reward for your own House. Might be your best chance not to wind up dead next to her."

Kalder's stare of menace looked almost lethal in its own right. "I'd rather just snap your neck instead."

"And while you do, I'll be slicing your little girl's liver out." Came another voice from within the cart, a different gladiator, this one humanfolk, who wore the same look of intent as the hobkin warrior. In fact, Leita realized that most of the other gladiators in the wagon were now looking their way, eyes glinting with malignance and murder.

"It's not their fault." She said to him in a low voice. "To them, I am just a way to get some favor, a prized prey to be hunted. We already knew this was what was going to be waiting for us. They're trying to get us angry so we'll be sloppy on the sands."

"I fight best when I'm angry." Kalder groused, still staring the lot of them down. "The more I let them wind me up, the more of them I bury today." Despite this, he did seem to settle back a little, his focus still on the others in the wagon, but no longer engaging them. In the end, they had all but reached the unloading area anyway, so it didn't seem to matter much. Within another minute, they were being herded by guards through a pair of large doors and down hallways.

Some of the gladiators from the wagon were split off and taken a different direction from Leita and Kalder, likely to be prepared at the far end's other gate. Her own group was led into the holding areas for the Ansgorri gate side, which was already quite full of people. While the main event of the day was the Grand Melee, it wasn't the only event that day. It was perhaps the fullest she'd even seen the caged area.

She and Kalder were put into the same cell, as were all the other pairs for the event. Thanks to this, she was able to get an idea of which gladiators around them were here for the Melee and which were here for some other fight. As she was scanning, she paused in surprise at one of the occupants of the cell to next to them.

"So, looks like we're about to finally face one another." Trippart said to her in a wry tone, the dvartan moving a little closer to his own bars as her gaze landed on him. "Figured it would happen sooner or later."

"Are you out to kill me too?" Leita asked him solemnly. The idea of Trippart, who had been so friendly and helpful to her in times past, suddenly out for her blood felt strange. However, she wouldn't hold it against him. He was a slave, ultimately, who was expected to do as commanded. While he'd been kind to her, he had no obligations to her.

"That's what I was told." He said simply, a grin on his face. "I'm old though. Might forget that in the heat of things or get confused. Not saying I'll give you a pass, at suffering a loss or a fighter's death, but I'm probably going to be more worried about winning the Melee than making sure you don't survive."

"Then I am grateful for your potential forgetfulness." Leita replied with a grin of her own.

The other occupant of Trippart's cell approached the bars, his metallic eyes and features marking him instantly as an aegeian. "I am not so old." He said, though his tone lacked real malice. "Know that I intend to follow the orders I was given, to the best of my ability. I will be attacking to kill."

Kalder stepped up to the bars now, his expression full of steam. "And you'll face the same beating the rest get."

Leita raised a hand towards him to forestall his rage. "I don't think he means it as a threat, Kalder. Just a forewarning that he has orders from his owner." She looked back to the aegeian. "You're a warrior, but you have honor. You're letting me know that you aren't holding back, right?"

Leita had taken some time to get to know Lillis, the aegeian Sabrina had recently added to the stable, learning about the culture of her home country. Aegeia was a place of great history, principle, and ideal. They were a warrior nation that prized honor and integrity. She could see some of Lillis' own sense of discipline in this man.

The man nodded stoically, glancing down to the much shorter dvartan. "Our owner expects us to return with one prize or the other. Trippart says he would prefer to focus on the one, so that leaves the other to my watch."

Trippart chuckled. "Though Heimsenal here also sees his own survival as above everything else. As an 'investment', you understand." A wry grin split his face. "Better he fails to claim the prize than have House Steeldawn lose one of its best fighters."

Heimsenal considered the statement a moment and then nodded agreement, looking back to Leita and Kalder. "I will not hesitate with my attacks, but I am also more interested in an honorable fight. I will wait until the vultures have been put down before I take my chance."

"Then I will give you the honor of fighting you directly, Heimsenal." Leita said to him. "And I will give you mercy if you ask for it."

The aegeian gave her a slight smile, his shiny eyes glittering. "I only wish I could offer you the same."

"So, how you two planning to handle the rest of the world coming at you at once?" Trippart asked impishly, possibly to change the subject slightly, but obviously curious. "Even if only half of the other Houses decide to take their stab, that's a dozen and a half people. I'd hope you have a plan."

"Aside from 'try not to die', we're just going to stay loose and adapt as it comes." Leita replied with a grin. While it wasn't entirely untrue, she felt it wiser not to really give away exactly what their strategy was. She rather liked Trippart and he had been of real help to her more than once with getting her head in the right place in the arena, but he was still her competition. His partner had also openly admitted he planned to make his own attempt at collecting the bounty set by House Victorious, even if he was planning to be more honorable about it.

"Probably a good idea." The dvartan chuckled. "This will be my third time in the Grand Melee and it's already a real challenge without nearly everyone focusing on you in particular. Personally, I wish you both luck. With surviving, at least. I still plan to win this year."

Kalder peered at the man a moment, considering him. "If you draw away some of crowd in the beginning, I'll give you a fair fight when it's down just those who aren't vultures."

"Sounds reasonable to me." Trippart said with a nod. "Heimsenal and me can make sure a few MUST focus on us." He looked up at this taller partner, as if making sure that the aegeian wasn't going to counter this idea, but the man simply nodded his agreement again, this time without any sign of hesitation. He had already shown he was more interested in an honorable fight today.

"Then we'll meet the two of you at the end." Leita replied to them with a respectful nod of her own.

Retreating back from the bars of her cell, she returned to scanning about the area, trying to get a gauge of the rest of those aligned against her. While there were a few faces she remembered from seeing in cells before, few were faces she knew names for or what Houses they belonged to. Most of them, however, were looking at her with expressions of malicious intent, marking their prey well. She felt very certain it would be far more than just half the Houses aiming for her.

Even more, nearly all the men and women around them looked very seasoned and experienced, the best of their Houses. She considered again that this event was one that carried some of the greatest glory the arena had to offer. Houses only registered their strongest and most capable fighters for it. Even the weakest fighter here was a fierce and dangerous warrior.

Of course, that was also why she was here too, she reminded herself. Sabrina had entered her because she considered Leita to be one of her stars. If she left the sand today still standing, it would prove, win or lose the event, why she was considered a rising star of House Firebridge. The trick would be actually managing to live through the day.

There was a sudden flutter of motion down on one end that caught her attention and drew her from those thoughts. As she looked in that direction, she felt a smile spread on her face. There was no mistaking the knot of anxious guards escorting the tethered gladiator between them, even if she couldn't well see who that gladiator was. Only one fighter struck that kind of aura of menace.

As they passed by the various caged cells, the occupants of those cages recoiled back from the bars, their arrogant sneers towards Leita changing instantly to looks of fear. They looked like they were afraid he might somehow just shatter his chains, reach through the bars, and tear out their hearts. Perhaps he even could, if he wanted. Even Kalder edged back as the entourage approached their own cell.

The looks of fear from everyone around, even the guards, gave her a sudden burst of inspiration.

Leita leaned more into the bars, grinning at the orling as he came into view through the throng of guards. "Please tell me that you're not here for the Grand Melee." She said to him, grinning broadly.

She could see a twinkle in his eye as he looked towards her, though his jaw was firmly muzzled, preventing him from talking. His amusement at her refusing to show the same alarm as everyone else was clearly evident in those eyes. He made a slight shake of his head for answer to her question. A moment later and he sudden gave a thrash of his chains, as if trying to break them, making everyone within view of him jump back, even if they were safely separated from him by steel bars. The guards almost broke and ran instead of restraining him.

Though Leita had flinched as well, she leaned back forward into the bars again and laughed, honestly enjoying the look of humor in the orlings eyes, amused by his own antics. However, the guards saw no humor in it at all and quickly tried to rein him back in. His attention snapped to them, eyes turning to a look iof irritation at them interrupting his play. She could see the glare made more than a few of the guards take a step back.

"Can I speak with him a moment?" She asked one of the guards. "Surely he can't do much all trussed up like that, even if you take off the muzzle."

She could see the looks of shock coming to the faces of the other gladiators around the area, looking at her as though she were insane wanting to engage with the Monster of House Warforger. Even Kalder shared the expression. The head guard stared at her like she'd gone mad. "What is it with you?" He asked her. "Wasn't it enough when he nearly choked you out the other day?"

She could practically feel the looks of surprise on the faces around her at that comment. However, she just shrugged nonchalantly. "He was helping me get in the right mind to survive. I was kind of hoping he could help me do it again. I have a lot of people trying to kill me today. You could just... lean him up against the bars so I can hear him through the muzzle." She suggested, the comment made Crusher shudder with amusement.

"Are you crazy?!" She heard Kalder hiss behind her.

The guard continued to stare at her a moment before finally shaking his head at her. "Not a chance, slave. He's too dangerous and you're a fool to want to get so close."

The guards started to once again begin leading Crusher along, but he refused to take so much as a step. No matter how hard they tugged at his chains he became as immovable as a well-rooted tree. After several moments of trying to get him to budge, Crusher just turned to look meaningfully towards Leita. The head guard grimaced, looking between the orling and the little blonde gladiator.

"You get one minute." He said finally, glowering at Crusher. "Or until he tries something."

They guided him up to the bars of her cell, his eyes full of mirth at her. She reached up and grasped the bars, lifting herself off the ground to bring herself closer to his eye level, pushing her face against the bars only a couple inches from his own masked face. "Lord Venge has set a bounty on my head today, if you haven't heard. So, nearly everyone in the Melee is out to kill me to collect it. Got any advice for me?"

Crusher slightly turned his head one way, then the other, shifting his eyes each way, as if considering. When he looked back at her, his eyes narrowed. "Ve a 'monshter'." He said around the muzzle bit in his teeth. "Shtrike wit'out mercy. If dey die, dey die. No holden' back."

"Be you, in other words." She said with a smirk.

"Naht pashible." He replied back, shaking his head. "Thersh only wun C'usher." He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Fair enough." She laughed. "I was hoping you might have something more directly useful."

"Shorry." He replied with a shrug, his eyes glittering with mischief. "Besht I got."

"I didn't really expect more." Leita admitted. "I just wanted all these would-be killers to see me not being afraid of the beast that scares all of them." She grinned. "Mind games and all that."

"Thash my girl." Crusher replied back, chuckling lowly. "Mahk 'em afeyd of yew."

"When I get back, if you're still in here, I'll tell you how many careers I ended today." She said, making her voice loud enough to be heard by others around them in the near deafening silence of the room.

He gave a nod, eyes glittering with a malignant glee that would have made anyone else's guts tighten into knots. Leita, however, just planted her feet into the bars to brace herself, let go with one hand, and reached out to brush her fingers through his thick mane of hair. "Have fun disemboweling whatever fool agreed to fight you today."

The guards tensed, as if expecting Crusher to bite her, somehow, for daring to touch him. Instead, he just nuzzled into her hand like a friendly dog. When she retracted her hand again, unharmed, he looked her in the eyes meaningfully. "Lesh hear ya roah."

She inhaled deeply and then bellowed out a fierce and guttural sound, letting any fear and uncertainty for what may come escape out of her in a rush of rage and fury. A moment later, Crusher roared back at her, like a beast returning a call to battle. Then they both roared together, two monsters of the sands singing a song of blood.

Crusher stepped back from the cage and nodded slowly to her, as if giving his approval. With that, he turned and looked at the guards as if in silent question why they were just standing around and not leading him to his cage. As they took up his chains and bore him off again, he spared her not another glance, but he was the only one who wasn't staring at her with wide eyes.

Leita ignored them all and just dropped down from the bars and walked back to Kalder, as if nothing of any note had just occurred. The rock-like man just goggled at her. "You are absolutely insane." Was all he said to her, breathing out the words like an oath.

"I'm going to have to be today." Was all she replied back.