Hope in the Highlands

1

The rancid odor of sweat and bodies thrown in a hot place too close together reached Kaji's nose. By now, she was used to it, but she supposed one never quite fully adjusted to the stench.

"Well? What will you give me?" Kaji inquired impatiently, not even bothering to hide her tone.

The fat man with half the nose of his face gone harrumphed. "... eh, some rat meat."

"Rat meat?" Kaji frowned as he fingered the boots she had just given him. They were new; she had pawned them from a guard just a few days ago when the flooding in her cell caused her feet to have sores. "Those are brand new boots; better than anything you currently have."

She eyed the miscellaneous items on the stones that had been shoved together to form a makeshift table. There were five shoes and none of them matched. Two of them already had water damage, three had holes in them, and the coloring was faded on all of them; not that coloring mattered to them.

"Two flecks of rat meat, nothin' more. Unless..." His voice trailed off. "You got somethin' else to offer me?" Fat Man's chubby hands reached out to grasp her hips as he tried to slip his fingers lower.

Her frown deepened and her eyes narrowed at him in disgust as she smacked his hand away. "No." She had to make a quick decision; he already had the boots. It was unlikely he'd give them back. At least if she took the deal, she would get the rat meat. It was a crap deal and they both knew it. They both also knew that Kaji wasn't strong enough to fight him and the way he stood behind the stone table protected his most vulnerable spot.

"Fine. It's a deal," Kaji muttered. Fat Man handed her to flecks of rat meat - two small slivers that she could probably make last for a week if she was careful. Keeping an eye on him, Kaji fled out of his cell but made sure the coast was clear.

Being caught out in the open, there were a number of horrid things that could happen to her. The guards were just as crooked as the prisoners in this place, if not more so. Or she could be caught by some of the rapists and murderers or worse... The cannibals. After all, they were criminals too and the justice system deemed that "all criminals have a fair amount of time outside their cells." It was really just a political way of saying that the guards amused themselves by giving all the prisoners time to do whatever they wanted. The "poor" guards were stuck in this dank prison all day, bored out of their minds. What else did they have to do?

Kaji took the stairway down to the lower level three at a time and, looking over her shoulder, darted down the hallway. She slipped into her cell and tore off a piece of rat meat. It was the first decent meal she'd had in almost four days. When she bit into it, the meat was slightly rotted, but even the bland taste exploded with flavor in her mouth.

Kaji darted over to the far right side of the room. Any moment, her cell companions would return and no doubt they would kill her and steal the meat. She slid her fingers along a loose stone in the corner and pulled it off. Behind it was a hole, her special place. All that was in there was a single letter that her brother had written her before her imprisonment and then the rat meat once she laid it inside. With a satisfied smile, she replaced the stone and moved her mat back in front of it.

Looking it over, Kaji ensured it appeared normal.

In the doorway, guards were ushering the prisoners back to their cells. Her three other cell companions returned. Behind the guards in the hallway, Kaji's heart raced as her eyes spotted the only person she deeply cared for in this place.

Ashric. His tanned skin was coated in thick layers of dirt, just like the other prisoners, which matched his matted brown hair that had once been a beautiful blond. One green and one blue eye met hers as they exchanged a brief glance.

A guard, wearing the blackened iron armor of the prison warden's house colors, shoved Ashric into his cell. It was directly across from Kaji's, right as his side rounded a corner to parallel with Kaji's cell's hallway that continued in a straight line.

"My spot's wet," grumbled one of Kaji's cell companions. He was a rather tall man, one of the human Havvonite people and they were well known for their height; men and women of their nationality towered at least six feet tall, if not a foot to two feet taller. His name was Nol or Nol the Havvonite as everyone called him.

Her second companion was a feisty, snake-like woman named Vee. Vee was extremely skinny and bony, which surprisingly had nothing to do with being an emancipated prisoner and everything to do with her race. They were humanoid, but instead of ears, they had two appendages that Kaji guessed worked similar to the antenna in butterflies.

Third was Ir'ihk. He was one of the human Elrionese people, just like Kaji, but she suspected he was one of the sorcerers. Sometimes his golden eyes flashed a bright red - a telltale sign of a sorcerer. On occasion, Kaji swore she'd see him blink and his eyes would be inverted. Then he would blink again, and his eyes would be normal.

Looking at him always brought her chills. Sorcerers were legendary, dark, and mysterious beings that most Elrionese people feared, like her. Grabbing a strand of her once bright orange hair that was now brown from the thick layers of dirt, Kaji leaned against the wall and eyed her companions quietly.

"Oi!" Nol the Havvonite called. "I'm talkin' to ya, girly," he sneered.

Kaji swallowed, realizing he was speaking to her. "What do you want me to say? 'Sorry your mat's all wet?'" She met his gaze with a harsh glare, showing none of the fear that nearly made her hands tremble.

Nol marched up to her and Kaji leapt to her feet. "Gimme your place!"

Kaji shook her head. "I like this spot. No way."

Nol grabbed her throat with a single hand. Kaji grabbed his wrists to try for the nerve-endings, but her hands were much too feeble and weak compared to his. He easily lifted her off the ground and she struggled. With her airways blocked, she couldn't breathe and it wasn't long before her lungs burned.

Across from their cell, Ashric clutched his cell bars and pressed as tightly against them as he could. "Nol, you touch her and I swear you're a dead man next free-time!" he warned.

Nol bellowed as Kaji's face heated up and her vision blurred. Her arms lost their strength and her body stilled as she began to lose consciousness. "Good thing it ain't free-time now!"

Ashric growled as Nol threw her across the room. She landed against the wall with a resounding crack. Pain flared in her ribs and chest she coughed and gagged, struggling to catch her breath.

Wheezing, Kaji blinked to clear her vision. Nol sat down on her dry mat with a wide grin. Vee and Ir'ihk paid her and Nol no mind and just continued on about their own business. Kaji was too tired to pay attention.

"Kaji!" Ashric called.

Kaji's entire front was wet. She had slammed against the wall and then fallen onto Nol's old mat on her stomach. Water coated her clothes and leached the warmth right out of her. Shivering, Kaji tried to sit up but the movement only caused an intense fire to flare up in her ribs.

Nol's spot had been in the corner diagonally across from Kaji's old spot. From her old spot, she had been across from the iron bars, which allowed her to she Ashric and even talk to him when the guards traded posts. Now, the door was in the corner next to hers, which kept her from seeing him. Vee's spot was directly next to the door, just a few feet away from Kaji's.

"I'm fine," Kaji gasped out as she finally managed to sit up. Tears threatened to fall down but Kaji stared at a small, maroon smudge on the wall to her right. Staring made the tears vanish, but the smudge made her imagination run wild; long ago, the smudge would have been fresh blood. Kaji wondered what horror had happened here. In this place, there was no way to tell.

Wheezing and breathing heavily, Kaji leaned her head back and shivered once again. With her wet clothes, she would no doubt get sick and in here... That was it.

Lord God, Kaji prayed silently, help me to face my death with strength and honor.