The Arena

Her decision

She refused to face them for the rest of the day. As evening came, all the prisoners were being taken to their cells while she was being escorted to Baruing’s study.

‘You were beautiful today, my dear!’ Baruing praised her as soon as she entered the room. The door closed behind her and Baruing got up from his study.

 ‘I’m glad it pleased you, my Lord’.

‘It did more than please me, love’. Baruing walked towards her, measuring her from head to toes. Alera felt uncomfortable under his piercing gaze, but she knew better than to betray her feelings. She remained impassive.

‘It moved me’. Baruing was standing right in front of her, only a few inches separating them. He was taller than her and his cologne filled her nose. It was sweet and choking, filling her to the point that her head was starting to spin. He lifted his hand and slowly ran it across her jawline.

‘Every time I see you fight…’ he started lowering his voice to a deep whisper, ‘every time I watch you kill in cold blood, something stirs inside me..’.

His hand reached her chin and his thumb went over her lips. He lifted her head forcing her to look into his black eyes. Black hair and a black goatee completed his portrait. He was in his mid thirties and he kept a slim figure with facial traits well defined.  He leaned, almost pressing his lips against hers. ‘Your green eyes are so mesmerizing, I could drown in them.’

‘If my Lord desires, I am his’, Alera responded.

‘Yes, you are.’ Baruing said, as a wicked smile ran across his face. He backed off and turned his back to her. ‘However you are too valuable to me to risk getting you with child. Guards!’

‘Yes, my Lord!’. The reply was accompanied by two guards entering the room.

‘Why isn't Mi’lune here yet?

‘My Lord, she is getting ready. She will be here within minutes.’

‘Good. Escort Alera back to her cell and do not disturb me after. I need my privacy.’

Even though he was still not facing her, Alera could almost feel his devilish smile widening at the mere thought of touching this woman.

Along with the guards, she left Baruing’s study heading to the dungeon. In her heart, Alera felt grateful. He didn't do anything else to her. But as they reached the end of the corridor, her heart sank. With two guards alongside her, a night elf child made her way to Baruing’s room. She was probably around the same age as Alera when she first arrived here, no older than sixteen.

Reality hit Alera hard as she realised she was Mi’lune.

Her white eyes contrasted with her pale, purple skin and long blue hair framed her heart-shaped face. She seemed so small and frail that she would break if Baruing were only so much as to touch her.

Alera had seen other night elves, but never a female and never one so young and despite her young age, her eyes betrayed mature thoughts and a deep sadness. It wasn't the first time she was seeing Baruing…

Alera almost froze in place as the girl passed her in the corridor. Her heart screamed at her to stop Mi’lune, but her cold mind asked a single question: and do what after? The guards urged her to continue walking and so she did, each step weighing her down. She felt her eyes sting.

She didn’t even realise when she entered her cell. The sound of metal bars closing after her brought her back. She looked around her, as if seeing the place for the first time in her life. She started trembling and her heart was beating faster and faster, as if wanting to burst out of her chest. The wall offered her no consolation, so she turned around desperate and grabbed the metal bars. She pulled as hard as she could, but when they didn’t budge, panic rose inside her like a giant wave. She was out of air, breathing heavily as if every breath of air could be her last. She heard someone sobbing, but when she turned around she found no one and as her vision was getting blurry, she realised it was her. Tears ran down her cheeks as she turned again, her eyes looking straight out the small window into the black, endless night. She heard her name as if coming from far away and her first thoughts were of her family. She fell to her knees, crying her eyes out and covering her ears. No more memories, no more sounds, no more feelings, she wanted none of them, but all came over her like an overwhelming darkness that threatened her sanity.

But in all the madness, a voice became clearer and clearer. It was like a desperate whisper and it slowly brought her back to her damp cell.

‘Alera, please! The guards!’

It was Asendriel’s voice and above it, she heard the guards screaming  for silence. She covered her mouth with both hands as her last sobs and cries came to an end. After several minutes, she managed to calm herself, crouching in a corner, hugging her knees.

‘He is a monster!’ she managed to whisper after a long silent break. Hate was starting to pile in her heart.

‘Did he do something to you?!’ she could read concern in Asendriel’s reply, but her own answer failed to come.

‘Alera, please...talk to us’. This time it was Tellor’s turn to plead with her.

She closed her eyes, putting her thoughts in order. She got up and moved next to the metal bars,  resting her head on the common wall between the two cells. Looking at the floor as if trying to burn a hole, she asked: ‘Do you know why there are no other women here, in the dungeon or allowed to fight in the arena...except me?’
Silence greeted her question as Asendriel and Tellor waited for her to continue.

‘It’s because Baruing has other uses for them. He uses them for his own pleasure or that of his clientage…’.

‘Alera-’, Tellor tried asking, but Alera cut him off continuing:
 
‘If they have healing powers, they are not excused from their other duties, but they are not called as much. However, if they don’t display any other powers, that is their sole purpose...No matter the race, nor the age…’

The other cell went quiet. 

‘Tonight, Baruing raped a young night elf girl…’

Tears began streaming down her face again as she broke down, quietly.

‘When they came to Eversong Woods, they killed my parents and my younger brother and took me away. They locked me in a small cage and when my time came, they cleaned me up and Baruing offered me as a gift to one of his clients. I killed him with a small knife I found on the table in that room. After that, the guards heard me scream and they took me to Baruing’.

‘What did he do to you?’ Alera could read hatred in Asendriel’s voice.

‘He laughed. He looked at me and laughed. But after that he applied my punishment himself. He took me to another wing in the dungeons and whipped me. I thought I could never feel that much pain, but I was wrong. The next day he called me to his room and-’.

‘Enough…’ Asendriel’s voice came out soft and sad. ‘We understand.’

Alera squeezed her knees, crying quietly.

‘Give me your hand, Alera’.

She slid her hand between the bars, outside her cell, where Asendriel’s palm was waiting for her. He squeezed her tight. They sat like that for minutes, in silence. After she had finally calmed down, Alera asked in a barely heard whisper:

‘Do you really believe we can escape this hell?’

‘Yes!’ Like on the first night, Asendriel spoke with so much conviction that it sparked a small hope inside her, but this time, she didn't turn it away. With Mi’lune’s face in her mind and with her own memories backing her up, she decided this for herself: no more! Escaping became a must if not for her, then for the others trapped in this never-ending nightmare.

‘We need a plan!’