Shadow Honor - Book 1 of The Trial

Shadow Honor - 3

With Dogo no longer escorting him, Styx found himself being dragged by black-leather-armored men on either side of him. It was the first time Styx had ever been inside the palace, and he knew that it was also likely to be his last. He was being taken to the gladiator pit, one of the most notorious sites in all of The Shade. Escape was no longer an option; no one escaped the pit, though he had heard that on occasion someone was let go if he fared well enough for long enough. Fighters who always won tended to bore the crowd, and eventually earned their freedom by fighting too well.

Styx knew that he had little chance of that. He had never been much of a fighter, preferring to avoid conflict instead. He could hold his own against a common thug if it came to it, but that was always his last resort. Being quick and quick-witted were what he considered to be his only real assets, and he was wounded now as well. They reached another set of large iron doors being guarded by a particularly large Elrok. The Elrok bared its teeth in a sinister smile as it glared at Styx before opening the door and then laughed as Styx was led through, sending shivers down his spine.

Iron bars became the norm as the walls were lined with cages of varying sizes, though all were large enough to hold a man. The scent of livestock filled his nostrils as he surveyed the cages. Most contained beasts he recognized from stories, like lions from the nearby plains, though a few held things that he had never seen before. Large felines and canines, a particularly ferocious lizard; none were things he ever wanted to cross paths with. Styx was forced toward the far side of the room where a smaller door in the wall was guarded by a man in dark metal armor resembling the chiton of a beetle.

The 'beetle' guard leaned against the door, tapping it occasionally with his massive black sword, held unsheathed in his hands. His sadistic grin caused Styx to shudder as they approached. "Fresh blood, eh? I'm sure he'll fit right in," the 'beetle' guard said with a laugh as he moved to unbar the door. "All right, fighters," he called through the door, "I'm only going to warn ya once, anyone who rushes the door, dies. I've got a new friend for ya."

The door swung outward and Styx was shoved hard enough to fall to the cold stone floor on the other side. With his hands still bound behind his back he was unable to catch himself and he ended up with a mouthful of dirt and grime. He came up sputtering to clear his mouth of the sickening taste and raised his head to survey the room. Where he had expected darkness to greet him he encountered light instead. Lamps lit the walls of the room at regular intervals, and were bright enough to bathe both the room and the people within it in a somber orange glow. The room smelled of sweat and feces. In the corner of the room stood a latrine with a narrow ventilation shaft above it, identifying the source of the latter scent.

There were upwards of fifty people in the room by his first estimation, and each one seemed to be sizing him up. They were quiet; watching him as a group, as if in a ritual greeting to someone being flung into the cell. These would be his fellow gladiators, the people who he might face in the ring if he didn't get paired against a beast instead. He didn't expect any help from any of them in getting out of there. Much to his surprise, almost as soon as the 'beetle' guard slammed the door shut behind him, Styx was being helped to his feet and the bonds around his wrists were being removed.

He cautiously eyed the two who had come to help him, a man and a woman. Not just any man, Styx thought as he took a longer look. The man was a Fedain. Though physically similar to humans, there were a few noticeable differences, if perceived in normal light, that were even more apparent in near darkness. His skin sparkled as if it contained flecks of diamond dust, and his pale eyes seemed to radiate light as well, adding an extra sheen to his long platinum hair as it caught the glow in front of his face. His ears were slightly pointed as well, though not nearly as sharp as those of the wild Gor tribes, of which Styx had only ever met one. The Fedain were not much more common than the Gor in Pentalus and even rarer in The Shade. They had a predisposition toward medicine and healing and were rarely on the wrong side of the law.