The wagon continued to move forward as the sun set behind us. Tears streamed down my face, and my eyes burned from the crying. Through my tear-stained eyes, I could see the village getting smaller and smaller. Soon, it would disappear into the horizon, and I would be alone.
I had lost everyone. I was all alone.
We traveled for the next couple of days, all the while I was stuck in this cramped cage. It wasn't very big, so moving anything was quite difficult. Over the next few days, I didn't move at all, and I was only fed the bare minimum of food.
Sleeping was the only time I could escape this hellish carriage ride. I dreamed of Mom without fail; her smile and kind nature made my heart ache even more when I woke up.
The adventurer group who caught me was always lively and loud, always joking around and teasing each other. It must be nice to have people who care about you and love you. It must be wonderful...
It was an endless cycle of falling asleep, dreaming of Mom, waking up, seeing the party have a good time, feeling sorry for myself, then falling asleep again.
Something about watching them have fun at my expense made me mad.
As the days passed, I grew weaker and weaker. After a week of traveling, we finally reached the capital city of the kingdom.
From what I had heard from Krone, the capital city was called the City of Dawn, named after its first ruler, Albert Francis Dawn. He ruled the country with an iron fist and was feared by many. After conquering this vast land from the original settlers with his army, he forced them into submission and made this kingdom his own. According to a book Krone got me once, King Dawn The First was an outcast prince from the nation to its east, Florence. When he was sent away into exile, he took half their military and conquered this land.
This was not the pretext that I wanted my first look at the City of Dawn to have. I couldn't even see anything outside.
Our carriage stopped at the gate checkpoint, and some guards inspected the cargo, aka me.
"Well, what do you all have here?" said one of the men.
"She's a demon. We got a job to capture her, so we thought we'd sell her to Roderick," Ortega answered.
"Oh yeah? Well, how much do you think Roderick will pay for her?" the guard asked her.
"Depends on the mood he's in today, I guess," she replied, smirking at the man.
"He can't be in too good of a mood since he hasn't found a replacement yet. But maybe when you bring him this little lady, he'll perk right up and shell out some major coin."
"That's what we're hoping for."
After the search was complete, they covered the wagon back up, and we started moving again.
The road started becoming cobblestone, and the carts slowed down to a crawl. The road wasn't as bumpy as the unpaved roads that we traveled on to get here. At least I wasn't constantly bumping my head on the top of my cage.
The hustle and bustle outside were a far cry from my quiet village. While I couldn't see outside, I could tell there were a ton of people.
Eventually, we reached our destination.
Four of the men grabbed my cage and lifted me out of the wagon, and we entered a large building made of fancy-looking stone with two guards standing at the doorway.
Ortega went up to them and started talking to them. "We're here to sell; we have something Roderick will love."
The guards stepped aside and let the six of them in. They walked through the hallways before stopping in front of a door marked "RODERICK'S OFFICE."
They knocked on the door, and after being given permission to enter by a voice inside, Ortega opened it and entered.
The room was decorated in rich silks and tapestries hanging from the walls. A desk sat in the center with a large chair behind it, and two large couches were placed in the middle. This room was quite fancy, probably the fanciest room I had ever seen.
A person swung around in the big chair behind the desk and looked at us.
"Ah, hello, if it isn't the adventurer group... um... Valley of the Damned?"
"It's Valley of the Dead," one of the men corrected.
"Oh right, sorry, please take a seat."
The man in the chair had long unkempt black hair falling past his shoulders, and he looked quite thin.
"So, Roderick, we've brought a good item for you today."
"What is it?"
"She's a demon we captured. We got a job out in the middle of nowhere to capture her. Once we got that job done, the old man who gave us the job told us to do whatever we wanted with her. So we thought, since you need a new fighter, maybe you'd be interested," Ortega told him.
"Interesting," Roderick said, standing up from his chair and walking over to my cage.
He placed his hand on the bars of the cage and smiled at me.
"This isn't a demon."
"What?" I asked, confused.
"You're not a demon. You're a half-demon. Your horns are small for a demon, and your eyes are two different colors. Both qualities of mixed blood."
He studied me for a second and turned back to the group.
"You all came at the right time; I'm in need of a new attraction since my headliner got bought out. However, this girl, while being a half-demon, seems a little on the younger side. I can't imagine her being able to hold her own in a fight."
"You could train her and get her ready..." Ortega suggested.
"I'm not fond of giving my fighters any unfair advantages; everyone under my employment is only gifted with the fighting prowess they step into my office with."
Roderick sighed and shook his head.
"So how much would you be willing to offer for her?"
"I was thinking around 10 gold coins. While you did bring me a rare half-demon, she's young, and she might not last very long in a fight."
"10! Are you kidding me!" Ortega yelled at him.
"Shut up, I know what I'm doing," Roderick said annoyed.
"Fine, 10 it is. Let's just get this transaction over with. We're ready to get rid of her." Ortega agreed.
Roderick reached into his pocket and removed a sack filled with gold coins.
"Here's 10 gold. Have a nice day."
Ortega snatched the pouch, opened it up, counted the money, and they all left.
He leaned down and looked at me. "Hello, my name's Roderick. What's yours?"
I didn't look at him; this man just bought me, and he's going to throw me to the wolves, both metaphorically and maybe literally depending on the circumstances.
"I understand your hesitance to address me, and you will undoubtedly come to hate me. However, since you are my property now, I will be taking precautions against you trying to escape. Whether you're fine with that is irrelevant to me. While this may sound harsh to you, I am a man who strives to put on the best shows in the colosseum as possible, and we'll get along just fine if you're able to make that a reality. Your life is this colosseum now."
The wagon continued to move forward as the sun set behind us. Tears streamed down my face, and my eyes burned from the crying. Through my tear-stained eyes, I could see the village getting smaller and smaller. Soon, it would disappear into the horizon, and I would be alone.
I had lost everyone. I was all alone.
We traveled for the next couple of days, all the while I was stuck in this cramped cage. It wasn't very big, so moving anything was quite difficult. Over the next few days, I didn't move at all, and I was only fed the bare minimum of food.
Sleeping was the only time I could escape this hellish carriage ride. I dreamed of Mom without fail; her smile and kind nature made my heart ache even more when I woke up.
The adventurer group who caught me was always lively and loud, always joking around and teasing each other. It must be nice to have people who care about you and love you. It must be wonderful...
It was an endless cycle of falling asleep, dreaming of Mom, waking up, seeing the party have a good time, feeling sorry for myself, then falling asleep again.
Something about watching them have fun at my expense made me mad.
As the days passed, I grew weaker and weaker. After a week of traveling, we finally reached the capital city of the kingdom.
From what I had heard from Krone, the capital city was called the City of Dawn, named after its first ruler, Albert Francis Dawn. He ruled the country with an iron fist and was feared by many. After conquering this vast land from the original settlers with his army, he forced them into submission and made this kingdom his own. According to a book Krone got me once, King Dawn The First was an outcast prince from the nation to its east, Florence. When he was sent away into exile, he took half their military and conquered this land.
This was not the pretext that I wanted my first look at the City of Dawn to have. I couldn't even see anything outside.
Our carriage stopped at the gate checkpoint, and some guards inspected the cargo, aka me.
"Well, what do you all have here?" said one of the men.
"She's a demon. We got a job to capture her, so we thought we'd sell her to Roderick," Ortega answered.
"Oh yeah? Well, how much do you think Roderick will pay for her?" the guard asked her.
"Depends on the mood he's in today, I guess," she replied, smirking at the man.
"He can't be in too good of a mood since he hasn't found a replacement yet. But maybe when you bring him this little lady, he'll perk right up and shell out some major coin."
"That's what we're hoping for."
After the search was complete, they covered the wagon back up, and we started moving again.
The road started becoming cobblestone, and the carts slowed down to a crawl. The road wasn't as bumpy as the unpaved roads that we traveled on to get here. At least I wasn't constantly bumping my head on the top of my cage.
The hustle and bustle outside were a far cry from my quiet village. While I couldn't see outside, I could tell there were a ton of people.
Eventually, we reached our destination.
Four of the men grabbed my cage and lifted me out of the wagon, and we entered a large building made of fancy-looking stone with two guards standing at the doorway.
Ortega went up to them and started talking to them. "We're here to sell; we have something Roderick will love."
The guards stepped aside and let the six of them in. They walked through the hallways before stopping in front of a door marked "RODERICK'S OFFICE."
They knocked on the door, and after being given permission to enter by a voice inside, Ortega opened it and entered.
The room was decorated in rich silks and tapestries hanging from the walls. A desk sat in the center with a large chair behind it, and two large couches were placed in the middle. This room was quite fancy, probably the fanciest room I had ever seen.
A person swung around in the big chair behind the desk and looked at us.
"Ah, hello, if it isn't the adventurer group... um... Valley of the Damned?"
"It's Valley of the Dead," one of the men corrected.
"Oh right, sorry, please take a seat."
The man in the chair had long unkempt black hair falling past his shoulders, and he looked quite thin.
"So, Roderick, we've brought a good item for you today."
"What is it?"
"She's a demon we captured. We got a job out in the middle of nowhere to capture her. Once we got that job done, the old man who gave us the job told us to do whatever we wanted with her. So we thought, since you need a new fighter, maybe you'd be interested," Ortega told him.
"Interesting," Roderick said, standing up from his chair and walking over to my cage.
He placed his hand on the bars of the cage and smiled at me.
"This isn't a demon."
"What?" I asked, confused.
"You're not a demon. You're a half-demon. Your horns are small for a demon, and your eyes are two different colors. Both qualities of mixed blood."
He studied me for a second and turned back to the group.
"You all came at the right time; I'm in need of a new attraction since my headliner got bought out. However, this girl, while being a half-demon, seems a little on the younger side. I can't imagine her being able to hold her own in a fight."
"You could train her and get her ready..." Ortega suggested.
"I'm not fond of giving my fighters any unfair advantages; everyone under my employment is only gifted with the fighting prowess they step into my office with."
Roderick sighed and shook his head.
"So how much would you be willing to offer for her?"
"I was thinking around 10 gold coins. While you did bring me a rare half-demon, she's young, and she might not last very long in a fight."
"10! Are you kidding me!" Ortega yelled at him.
"Shut up, I know what I'm doing," Roderick said annoyed.
"Fine, 10 it is. Let's just get this transaction over with. We're ready to get rid of her." Ortega agreed.
Roderick reached into his pocket and removed a sack filled with gold coins.
"Here's 10 gold. Have a nice day."
Ortega snatched the pouch, opened it up, counted the money, and they all left.
He leaned down and looked at me. "Hello, my name's Roderick. What's yours?"
I didn't look at him; this man just bought me, and he's going to throw me to the wolves, both metaphorically and maybe literally depending on the circumstances.
"I understand your hesitance to address me, and you will undoubtedly come to hate me. However, since you are my property now, I will be taking precautions against you trying to escape. Whether you're fine with that is irrelevant to me. While this may sound harsh to you, I am a man who strives to put on the best shows in the colosseum as possible, and we'll get along just fine if you're able to make that a reality. Your life is this colosseum now."
