The Night Rider: Book Two

Chapter 21: The Fights

THE NIGHT RIDERS POV.

The cage that he was being kept in was incredibly small. Infact, it was more of a cave than a cage, with walls, a ceiling, and a floor of cold gray stone. The only entrance or exit to his prison was a crudely excavated doorway that led into a stone hallway, but between his cell and the hallway was a thick steel door.

The Night Rider rasped, and it echoed around the room and back to his ears. He hadn't had anything to drink for almost--what must have been two days. He'd lost track of how long it'd been since he'd had a meal.  The Hunters that had him confined weren't very keen on trying to keep him well nourished.

His cell was completely cast in shadow because there wasn't a single torch lit or an opening to the outside world. There was only the faint orange and yellow of a flame gleaming from the small crack made from the bottom of the door and the floor.

He shivered and his teeth chattered slightly. His captors had confiscated his chest plate and the shirt he had been wearing beneath it. They had even taken his shoe before binding his wrists together with a rope. The only things they hadn't taken were his dragon scale pants, his helmet, and thankfully his prosthetic leg. He had no idea why they hadn't taken his helmet. They must had been instructed not to by a high-ranking Hunter--maybe ever Viggo or Ryker. Although, he hadn't been visited by either of them if it was.

Exhaustion pulled at his eyelids beneath his helmet. He hadn't slept in hours, possibly a full 24. And what he had been doing for the past week is something that required a lot of rest. The Hunters were making him fight dragons and people in front of grand audiences for a price. He drew quite a large crowd but that wasn't surprising. He was the Night Rider. To many villages in and out of the Archipelago he was still a myth, a fairy tale. A man in black scales that could ride dragons. Thousands would pay a lot of gold to see him.

The Night Rider exhaled slowly. He was sure that his friends were looking for him, but it had been so long, and he was beginning to lose hope that they would ever find him.

Suddenly there was a metal clank from the other side of the door from a key being used to unlock it, and it swung open causing torch light to flood into the room blinding him. Four Hunters wielding swords walked into his cell and finally another man. The Night Rider had met him before. His name was Ulf and he was in charge of where he was being held. Ulf was a cruel and torturous man. If he could even be called one.

"Get up." Ulf grumbled. "I said get up!" He kicked the Night Rider in the legs causing him to flinch in pain. His entire body was covered in either cuts or bruises from fighting.

The Night Rider pressed his exposed back up against the cold stone wall and pushed himself up from the floor. The man grabbed the bindings around his wrists and used them to pull him out of his cell and throw him against the wall of the hallway.

The hallways floor was uneven stone, and the walls were sharp rock. Very few torches lined the walls making so he was barely able to see. But, due to his lack of light from his cell the few torches still created a blinding glare for him. All the guards exited his cell and Ulf impatiently shoved him along down the stone hallway. The hallway was long and the Night Rider swayed from side to side as he walked. Almost tripping over his own feet. There were numerous other metal doors in the hallway and they were all shut tightly and locked. From one he heard the soft humming of another prisoner and from three others he heard hard sobs or pleas from the prisoners to be let free. He even heard one man begging for death. They rounded a corner in the hallway that opened up into a large stone room, and on the farthest wall was a large wooden door that when opened led into the fighting arena.

Outside the door he could hear the cheering and chanting of a massive crowd as they awaited his arrival and for a fight to begin. The other guards left the room and only Ulf stayed with him. He looked the Night Rider in the eye before suddenly punching him in his stomach causing him to buckle slightly to the ground.