Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

The trip to Seteste was long and rough. Some of the other prisoners tried to get smart with Kalliope and Ethi, but they were quickly put in their place by Kalliope's strength.

Though she was physically smaller than many of the other prisoners, she was much more powerful than most of them. Even without Arts or Magic to enhance her body, she was easily able to put others in their place.

None of the guards seemed to care about any roughhousing during transport. It seemed they followed a survival of the fittest mentality. Though she did doubt they would actually let any of the prisoners kill each other. After all, every person that died was lost profit.

Ethi seemed scared at first, but seeing Kalliope in action a handful of times allowed her to regain some sense of confidence. If she was not sure before, then Kalliope was definitely convinced that Ethi was strategically placed with her to keep her tame.

Suddenly, the wagons stopped and a number of people began conversing with each other. From what she could overhear, it seemed that they had arrived at their destination. Kalliope could smell minerals and musty air, which told her that the place was in a cave of some sort.

She had been smelling food, smoke, and hundreds of different people for a while now. It seemed that they had skirted around the outside of where the actual settlement was. The place they would be kept was inside a cave system outside the main settlement.

The usage of the natural caves probably saved them time, money, and manpower in holding people captive. It was easy to defend, and it would prove difficult for any escapees to fight their way out.

A few moments after they stopped, the tarps that covered the cage surrounding the wagon were pulled off. Standing at the locked door at the back were a few men with crystals that seemed to be set to cancel the enchantment around the door.

The metal gate opened with a high-pitched squeak, and the men started pulling the chains of the various groups of prisoners. At first, a few tried to resist and were simply yanked out of the wagon and fell face-first into the muck outside.

Kalliope decided not to face such embarrassment and simply complied with orders for the moment so she could save herself some frustration. Ethi simply followed her lead.

Once they were out of the wagon, the guards led them around the front of the wagon and into the mouth of the caves she had smelled. It didn't seem like the paths were all that complex. If she escaped, she would be able to find her way out easily. However, there did seem to be a large number of guards at every corner.

Some were hidden cleverly behind rocks and in small little offshoots of the main tunnel.

Though she could not see them, Kalliope could smell them hiding, just out of sight. This setup would make it tricky to try and escape despite the straightforward pathway out.

After being led to the back of the cave, the smell of musty cave water changed. It took on a more metallic scent. It was the all-too-familiar smell of blood, and there was a lot of it.

Some of the other prisoners started to pick up on the smell as well and their expressions turned sour. It seemed they knew where they were. The elf from before, Gett, was right in front of her, so she lightly tapped on his back.

"Hey, what's with the blood? Are we getting killed or something?"

"Fights."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, these caves are for fights. The normal slaves go to the market in town. The fighting ones come down here." Gett answered.

"Then why am I here? I'm not a fighter at all. I can't even use Arts or Magic other than for Enchanting." Ethi whimpered.

"Don't worry, I doubt you will fight," Gett said, his voice had a strange twinge of amusement. After all, sometimes dogs like me need a warm up before the actual fight."

Kalliope growled at the elf, but he simply chuckled in response as they continued to march forward. A few minutes later, they arrived at a series of cells. The guards separated the chains and placed each prisoner in their own cells. A few people were doubled up, just like Ethi and Kalliope.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The cell was similar to the one she was in before being put on the wagon, except the floor was gravel and craggy, as the floor of a cave should be. There were two stacks of hay in this room, each covered with a tattered piece of animal hide.

"Well this looks cozy…" Kalliope muttered.

"Very…" Ethi agreed.

"I don't think you will be fighting. Just stick with me, and I'll get you out of this." Kalliope promised.

She kept her ears and nose alert for any changes in her environment but settled into the makeshift beds to relax as best she could. Being cooped up in the wagon with all the other prisoners made her joints feel stiff, so being able to stretch out was comfortable enough to let her fall asleep.

Kalliope was used to sleeping in dangerous situations, so being here did not bother her too badly. Instead of worrying about what others were doing, she found her mind occupied with thoughts of Lucius and the times they spent together training in the jungles of Eroa. They would trade shifts keeping watch throughout the night so the many monsters in the jungles would not surprise them.

Those dangers were nothing compared to what she was going through now, but the memories gave her comfort enough to start to fall asleep. Of course, as a warrior, she always slept with one eye open.

Were it not for that ability, she would have missed Ethi sobbing to herself in the corner of their cell. She seemed to be acting tough this entire time. Frankly, Kalliope was surprised she had made it this long without breaking down. After all, Ethi was simply a normal person who had a normal job before now.

There was no way she could handle a situation like this well. What normal person could? Kalliope thought about her options and decided that for the time being, she would let Ethi handle her emotions alone. Besides, Kalliope was sure she would have a busy day tomorrow. Find exclusive stories on empire