Escana (53 page)

The prisoner smiled back
genially. 'Yeah, I am.'

The next thing Jimmy knew the man
lunged forward and pinned the prisoner to the ground, striking him
repeatedly with his fist until his target was limp and bloody.

'I didn't give you fucking
permission to talk to me you worthless son of a bitch,' he screeched
at him between breaths. 'I don't give a fuck if you want to know how
to escape this shithole.'

He finally got up off the
twitching form of the prisoner, straightening his shirt out in
distaste and giving the man a final boot to the ribs. He looked along
the line with that same smile as before plastered over his face. 'Any
other questions?'

Silence.

'Good.' He resumed pacing up and
down the line as if nothing had happened. 'The way we work things
here is there's three groups of people. A-Company, B-Company and
C-Company. Your owner was a military man so he likes his slaves
organised as such.'

He swept his gaze over them a
final time and stopped pacing. 'Ordinarily I'd be deciding who to let
live and who to die at this point, but I've got orders to let you all
live since we're running short of men. If you fail to show your worth
to me I will kill you like that.' He snapped his fingers at them,
knowing that his previous demonstration was more than enough.

'I've been told by the guard
commander that we have ourselves someone here in A-Company already.'
He pointed at Hermit. 'You, what's your name?'

Jimmy didn't like where this was
going, the silence could easily be taken as an affront by this
hideous man. 'He's known as The Hermit, sir.' Jimmy's stuttering
voice called out. 'He doesn't speak.'

The man approached him, pushing
himself up nose to nose with Jimmy. He could feel the stench of his
hot breath across his face and tried not to gag. 'Did I say you could
speak, boy?'

The Hermit was there. The man
looked at him suspiciously. 'Is what the boy said true then?' he
asked him. The Hermit nodded in response and took a step closer. The
guards pushed up a little closer in response, escalating the tension
Jimmy felt.

The man laughed and raised his
hands, Jimmy flinched but no blow landed. He opened his eyes again
and the man had his palms outward, walking back from him.

'Alright then Hermit, through the
door on your first right and on down the corridor. Make yourself at
home, you'll be fighting soon enough.'

He swung round and buried a fist
in Jimmy's sternum, causing the boy to wretch and curl up on the
ground. 'That's what you get for answering a question you weren't
asked, boy.' He kicked sand in his eyes. 'C-Company for you.'

He looked at the rest of them
then. 'All of you start of in B-Company, those who can't fight for
shit end up in C, the very best of you may make it to A.'

Jimmy may have been blinded and
coughing but he didn't fail to pick up on the horrible import of what
the man had said.

He was going to separated from
both The Hermit and Jakob. He was on his own.

T
he gruel
they had been given was better than what they had been forced to eat
in the cage, even if they had less time to eat it in. He felt
slightly stronger than he had previously but still had no idea what
to expect of this creature that called itself 'Tub'.

He had been separated from Jimmy
shortly after the boy had been floored. A great sense of trepidation
had welled up in him then, the boy didn't strike him as the fighting
type in spite of his previous association with the Black Quail. Could
the boy really have learnt enough to survive in the short time he
himself had been unconscious in Urial? He doubted it.

They were led out another archway
into a winding tunnel full of smouldering torches. They surfaced
after climbing up a flight of roughly hewn steps into the belly of
the arena.

The high walls surrounding the
sandy basin were simultaneously depressing and foreboding. There were
a handful of people dotted around the area watching this particular
exercise, Jakob couldn't tell if The Hermit was among them.

They formed rank again at the
urging of the guards and noticed a single figure standing in the
centre.

'This man is known as Yalem. The
greatest fighter this arena has ever seen,' Tub said as way of
introduction. 'He is my superior and second only to Corporal Dyson
himself, each of you will now attempt to strike him, those who aren't
crippled will be rewarded.'

Jakob did a double-take. Was this
some kind of test? If they bested this Yalem would they be afforded a
position in A-Company? Why would someone so high-ranking indulge in
dangerous exercises with unknown prisoners?

He watched as the first prisoner
in the line cautiously approached the centre of the arena. It must
have felt like a very long walk with Yalem's reputation fresh in the
man's mind.

The prisoner was a burly one and
Jakob had seen him fight before in the cage, he still had nightmares
about the satisfying roar the man gave as he tore a smaller foe limb
from limb and feasted upon him to the sound of cheering guards and
the exchanging of coin.

He circled Yalem warily, the man
didn't even watch the prisoner's movements.

Eventually the man struck out at
him and there was a snapping sound. Jakob hadn't seen what had
happened but the man was now face-first on the ground surrounded by a
billowing cloud of sand.

The muffled howl of pain surfaced
as the prisoner pulled his head up from the arena floor, covered in
blood from the landing. He clutched his arm which dangled limply by
his side and anger took hold of him.

Yalem planted a knee to the man's
temple and there was a cracking noise, the man fell to the floor
again and this time didn't get up. There was the occasional twitch
from his body as the rest of the prisoners watched on in fear.

'Next!' Tub bellowed, causing a
number of them to jump.

A trickle of brown liquid snaked
down the next prisoner's leg as he shuffled his way forward shakily
toward Yalem. At the last moment he broke out into a sprint and
Yalem's gauntlet backhanded him nonchalantly, tossing his unconscious
body through the air to land motionless upon the arena floor.

Jakob looked to his left once
more and with a sinking feeling realised that only Tub was to his
left, he was...

'Next!'

The world went white.

Listen

He strained his ears but heard
nothing in particular.

Listen
harder.

He focused more intently then, as
if it was second nature. Another voice seemed to fill the space left
by the first. Initially it was muffled but as he concentrated the
clarity grew.

'Fucking kid is going to get his
face mashed by Yalem. Why does Dyson let him come down here to play
his games? Can't he see it's just making the search harder? What if
one of those recruits he killed had the power to overcome the beast?
Ah fuck it, who am I trying to kid? The beast would have snapped them
in half just as easily.'

Plant
a thought.

Jakob had no idea what the voice
meant. Then a gentle coercion stole over him, it was if his own mind
had been taken from him and shown what to do.

Plant
a thought.

He knew exactly the thought that
needed to be planted.

'I am from A-Company,' Jakob said
firmly.

'Fucking kid doesn't stand a
chance, gonna get his head caved in if he keeps staggering forward
like that, what's he trying to pull?'

Again,
concentrate.

I
am
from
A-Company.
Jakob
projected
outward.

He came to a standstill, he was
back in the arena again, the whiteness clearing the edges of his
vision and the ringing in his ears replaced by someone calling at
him.

'Hey, you,' Tub shouted at him.

He turned, half in hope and half
in fear.

'What are you doing out here?
Weren't you meant to report with that Hermit man to A-Company?'

He looked at Tub briefly, then
back at Yalem whose eyebrow was arched appraisingly.

Without
further
comment,
Jakob
walked
past
the
slightly
dazed-looking
T
ub
and
went
in
search
of
A-Company.

T
he morning
sun streamed in through the archway, waking her from a pleasantly
dreamless slumber. She searched the room but found no sign of
El-Vador.

A few days ago she would have
considered dashing out that archway and into the glow beyond to try
and escape her captor but the futility of such an idea grew
increasingly apparent with every gesture of power he displayed.

She stretched out under the
covers and paused mid-stretch when no pain presented itself. She had
been in such a haggard and miserable state throughout her journey
from Escana that she had grown accustomed to the pain, in fact she
had assumed that she was permanently damaged.

She sat up as a shadow crossed
her bedside, El-Vador had returned through the archway with a
familiar assortment of food on a platter and a fresh set of clothes.

He lay the platter down by the
side of the bed but didn't partake in any of it, instead seating
himself at the foot of the bed and watching her silently as she ate.

'Would you like to see the city
today?' he finally asked her as she finished.

She looked out the archway
longingly, she still had no idea what was beyond and a sudden surge
of curiosity gripped her. As comfortable as the bed had been there
was only so much she could take of staying in the same room.

'I would like that,' she said,
trying to hide the enthusiasm in her voice but knowing it was plain
on her face for him to see.

He leapt off the bed and swept up
the platter with the remaining food upon it. 'Follow me then, you're
going to find this very interesting.'

He stood on the threshold of the
archway, allowing her time to change into the pure white garments he
had brought her. She pondered at how similar his archaic gesture was
to Jakob's which seemed like a lifetime ago. A sudden stab of regret
hit her, she found herself missing him.

As soon as El-Vador heard her
footsteps they entered the light of the archway for the first time.

The sun was dazzling, she
couldn't ever remember it being so hot either, fortunately the
clothes she had been given were airy and light. The smooth marble
floor felt pleasantly warm on her bare feet, she had wondered why he
hadn't brought her appropriate footwear, was all of Levanin so kind
to traverse?

They emerged in a small walkway
with high white walls that blazed brightly in the heat. A set of
steps made from the same marble that appeared to be used in
everything led down into the city beyond. The sky was a pale blue and
lacked any clouds, it was a place entirely alien to Ella's country
eyes.

'Your people built all of this?'
she asked him as they came to the foot of the stairs and proceeded
out onto a perfectly flat courtyard. An aged man in thin white robs
nodded at them as he passed.

'Yes, through careful maintenance
Upper Levanin has been maintained in near-pristine condition. What
you're looking at now is almost identical to how things were upon its
construction.'

This gave her pause for thought.
'Did your people construct Lower Levanin?'.

He stopped walking abruptly. 'No,
we did not. Lower Levanin was a human construct. What exists of it
today.'

She looked at him then, trying to
figure out why such an innocuous question had given him pause. She
didn't forget that she was still walking on eggshells. 'Have I
offended you in some way?'

He waved it off. 'It's nothing.
Simply that my memories of Lower Levanin are... unpleasant.'

Ella decided not to press him any
further on the matter and continued to follow him onto the main
concourse.

The outer walls of the courtyard
gave way to a wide open space that featured a large fountain and
several benches dotted about the area. A number of older men and
women sat discussing something that was seemingly of great
importance. Again Ella noticed that they all wore white. She couldn't
tell if this was a fashion or some kind of official uniform. She
didn't want to ask El-Vador until he felt like talking again.

'The first thing new visitors to
upper Levanin notice are the views. Cast your eyes out upon the scene
before you and tell me what you see.'

She looked out at the world she
had walked into, watching an old man waving his hands vigorously,
taking time to appreciate the water glistening in the intricately
designed fountain, admiring the strange domed architecture of the
buildings in the distance.