Blood on Sand

SAND, BLOOD, AND DARKNESS

Zoe woke with a splitting headache. He squeezed his eyes shut even though it was completely dark. What the hell had happened? He tried to lift his hand only to realise he couldn't move. Thick ropes held him immobilised. His lungs felt as if they were shrinking. If he was bound, he couldn't fight. The more he struggled, the tighter the ropes wrapped around him. Thrashing and turning only resulted in sharp stabbings in his head. His wrists chafed, scales fell onto his clawed fingers and down to the ground.

He gasped in exhaustion. It was cold, cold and dark. Why was it always cold and dark when he woke up? He rested his forehead against the ground—sand-covered stones. He knew where there were sand-covered stones.

It was impossible to see anything. All he could smell was the sand and his own blood. There were probably plenty of places that could smell of sand and blood, but there was only one ingrained in his thoughts. He wished he had a sense of smell like Wojtek's; then he'd probably have been able to tell for sure if he was back at the arena.

His calf throbbed from the bite, as did his wrist. The open wound from where his tail had been hurt too, but not as much as he'd feared it would. The cold took away some of the pain. Maybe he should be grateful for it. He wasn't. He wondered how much time had passed and if Wojtek had come back home. He'd be so angry that someone had broken into his house again.

Would he come searching? If he did, would it be because he was worried about Zoe, or because someone had stolen his slave? It was silly of him to think about it, wouldn't help the situation in the least, but a part of him wanted Wojtek to worry about him. Him, not the missing fighter. He wanted Wojtek to miss him.

His sigh was as loud as a gunshot in the darkness. There was nothing he could do but wait.

****

Wojtek stared. He'd seen tails get lost before, but this was Zoe's tail. It lay there on a bed of moss and old leaves. Discarded. It didn't move, so it had happened some time ago. He gazed upon the bright green scales again. At least they knew that Zoe had been conscious and strong enough to change.

Koray came to stand next to him. "I don't get it."

"What?"

"Why they'd go through all this trouble."

Wojtek didn't get it either. He wished Satul had been there, he usually could figure out shit like this, but they'd split up outside his house. The scent trails had gone in different directions and Satul had followed the unknown one.

Dusk was falling, not that he cared. Wojtek would finish this no matter how long it took, but it told him that most of the day had passed and he was still short half a lizard. When he found Zoe, he would set him free. He didn't care if everyone laughed at him. Tedor could laugh all he wanted; he didn't care. As long as Zoe was alright, he didn't care.

"Well," Koray continued. "Are we gonna follow them?"

"Maybe we should call Satul over and go together."

Koray picked up his phone and dialled Satul. While they waited for him to come, Wojtek tried to see what he was missing. The pieces didn't fit. Where was everyone? Had a band of wolverines taken the whole pack?

****

Zoe's breath came in shaky pants. His skin crawled, and the dark was thick enough to choke on. There was no end to it, a never ending darkness that closed him off from everything he knew. There were no sounds, only the rasp of his inhalation. He flicked his tongue. Sand and blood.

His mouth was dry, thirst clawed at his throat. Needles danced over his bound limbs, yet they felt numb. He tried to swallow. Sand and blood.

His eyes strained to see something, anything... everything. But all he saw was the black cloak surrounding him. The beating of his heart pounded in his throat, making it hard to breathe. He would die in here. No one but the animal who'd put him here knew where he was. No one would come looking for him. He would die swallowed by sand, blood, and darkness. He didn't want to die.