Escaping the Arena

Lost Girl

The hot sun beat down upon the sands, heating the temperatures far above bearable. Even the animals sought shelter from the blazing dirt. A group of four people gathered around a prone figure in the sand, a tiny woman curled into a tight ball, her eyes closed, lips cracked and parched in the dry air. They muttered between themselves, trying to decide what to do with the mysterious person.

"We can't leave her, of course." One muttered to another. "We never leave one behind."

"Arden, you saw what happened last night, do you think it safe? The fat Master will surely have his people after her before day's end." Another replied.

The group returned to staring at the girl, pondering her fate. They couldn't afford trouble, but they were bound to protect deserters by oath.

Arden reached forward and put a hand on the girl's arm, a image flashed in his mind. A little girl, found crying in the sands by a small boy. Quickly he pulled his hand away as if he had been burned. He looked at his comrades in shock, how could this be?

"We have to get her somewhere safe." Without another word, he lifted the woman into his arms and began to walk towards their camp.

None of the others said anything, they looked at one another in confusion. Luckily they were smart enough not to question their leader's decision.

The group moved quietly and stealthily in the sands, just as they had been taught since their births, one was never certain they weren't being followed. When they reached camp, a small cave with a entrance hidden by brush, they looked around warily before ducking inside.

Arden carefully lowered the woman onto his own sleeping pallet, he couldn't have her lying on the hard ground. He busied himself with dipping a ladle into his bucket of water before pouring the cool drink into the female's mouth. She sputtered and choked her way back into consciousness.

Her eyes opened only for a moment before she moaned in discomfort and shut them again. Arden said nothing, he quickly began breaking different roots and plants and throwing them into the small fire one of his companions had built dutifully.

"Sun fever." He mumbled to himself, it wasn't the first time he had seen it, on the contrary, it was quite common to find deserters stricken with the illness. While treatable, it was an illness that put a lot of strain on its victim. Sweats, hallucinations and a fever were the worst of it, but dehydration was a very real risk as well. Arden knew he needed to get her awake enough to drink.

"Arden?" One of his crew called to him, he had been incessantly making a mixture to bring the fever down, many of his resources were running low as of late. "What did you see?"

Arden didn't bother a glance back at his teammate, he vigorously stirred the murky mixture he had spent the last twenty minutes preparing. He needed the girl to get better, to give them answers.

"Arden!"

"It's her!" Was all he snapped back to his friend as he continued to prepare his brew.

The remaining men in the party were confused. Who was "her" and why did she had Arden so worked up. They had found dozens of people lost in the sands, a couple of them had been found themselves, but never had they seen the effect this girl had on Arden before.

Impatiently, they waited for Arden to finish his task. They made themselves busy with tiding up their tiny camp and scoping out the area around them. It had only been two days since they came to this place. None of them had been very fond of the close proximity they had come to the faction of Enmity, but their seer, Pete told them the Moon Gods were leading him here. Apparently that was true.

After Arden had finally finished his mixture and force-fed the half conscious girl a few mouthfuls, he turned to his men.

"Pete, why do you think the Gods lead us here?" He asked evenly.

The youngest of the group, at only sixteen, Pete was nervous about being up on the spot. He had not been on many excursions into the sands. His family had not wanted him to be one of those lucky, or cursed, enough with the burden of finding Lostlings in the sands. While it was a noble profession, it was dangerous, and many of their kind had lost their lives in the golden sea.

"I-I'm not sure, they are not always very clear with their messages." Young Pete stuttered, nervous to have been put on the spot, afraid he would say the wrong thing.

Arden pointed at the girl. "Cass, it's her! It's Henri's girl!" He was nearly beside himself with joy.

Cass, the second in command of the tiny band of men stared at the sleeping figure thoughtfully. He truly believed he would never see her again, not after the tragedy in the sands so long ago and after the kind faction leader taking her in. Sure, his people had sent a Watcher to keep an eye on her, but he had assumed she would never seek out her true heritage.

"What makes you think that?" Cass questioned wearily, he had not thought about Henri for a very long time. It had been painful and something he would rather forget.

Arden gave him a glare. "When I touched her arm, I saw the memory of her being found by the faction youngling."

The entire group went silent, Pete was rather confused, he had not even been alive when the mission that had cost Henri his life happened. He had heard stories, cautionary tales that all children heard about the dangers of the factions of the Waste, but there had never been many details.

"What do we do then?" Cass finally asked. He was unsure, they had never experienced something like this before.

Arden said nothing, he thoughtfully watched the woman sleep, for so long he had wondered about her fate. He knew she had been taken care of quite well, they all had heard about her factions raid and the demise of its kind leaders. No one had considered her at that point, most people had omitted her from memory. She had been 'turned' in most people's minds, domesticated by the factions and made into a pet for their entertainment, so they thought. The idea of her ever returning to her people was forgotten and swept under the rug.

Arden thought about if she had the same drive as her parents, two people who had brazenly taken on the Waste in hopes of changing it for the better. Surely that spirit was in her somewhere. He didn't want to discount her yet, maybe she could be who they had been waiting for.

A

I have mixed feelings on this chapter, I'm a little lost in where I wanted it to go, but we shall see if it all works out! Don't worry, we will get her back to Kairos soon ;)