Taken: The Life of Uktesh Book 3 (3 page)

Cavavos said nothing and Uktesh took the opportunity to say, “He really hasn’t told us much, just how much longer it will be until we get to your homeland.”

The overweight man said, “That’s it?”

Uktesh guessed, “Yup. Just another twenty some days unless the weather changes that.”

The man laughed and said, “That’s optimistic. It took us twice that long, but we did hit two different storms, so maybe.”

Uktesh nodded like he knew that and said, “Back home I’m pretty good at fighting, but all of you seem to be as good as I am.  Lord Astiau was even better than I am, and it sounds like his brother is even better.”

The man puffed out his chest, which as puffed out his stomach, and said, “Yup. Lord Neftalix is a Dungeon master.”

Uktesh tried not to seem too eager when he said, “Yeah. Even in our small corner of the world we’ve heard of Neftalix and his mastery of a Dungeon,” he said, not sure if he was using the right wording.  He decided it didn’t matter and continued, “We obviously have Dungeons where we come from, like you guys, but until we heard about him, we didn’t know they could be mastered.”

The man was going to say something when Cavavos said, “You realize he’s pumping you for information, right?”

The man’s jaw dropped and he said, “You tricked me?”

Uktesh shrugged and said, “You didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know or isn’t common knowledge, so don’t worry about it.”

The man looked doubtful, but nodded.  One of the other men, who also had a bronze lip ring, slapped him on the back of his head, “Idiot, just don’t talk to them at all.”

The overweight man shot Uktesh an angry glance before he started making up a bed in the now extremely crowded space.  Uktesh said, “One thing Cavavos didn’t tell me was why you guys drew the short straw and have to sleep down here with us.”

The overweight man said, “Short straw? We won. The rest have to freeze their asses off up on the deck.  I would have stayed behind if I had been one of them.”

Cavavos said, “Shut up and go to bed.”

Uktesh felt like grinning as he waited a few minutes before asking, “I guess I’m going to become a gladiator. We don’t have those in the Five Kingdoms. Any advice?”

Uktesh was sure no one was going to answer, but surprisingly it was Cavavos who did, “If you win one hundred times you go free.  To do this you will need to sacrifice friends. Once you step into the ring either you both fight and one lives or you both die. It truly doesn’t matter to the crowds.  If you can make the crowds love you, you might be saved from death once, but never twice, and never ever enter the Ultimate Rumble.”

The fat man’s voice rose from out of the dark, “I’d listen to Cavavos.  He’s one of only two people to ever be released from the games from the Storm ludis.  You boy, will have the honor of fighting and dying for the greatest House in the Empire.  House Storm!” 

The men shouted, “Hoo!”

Someone shouted from outside the prison, “Stop gabbing like a buncha girls and get to sleep, ‘fore I decide some of these shivering people deserve your spot more.”

Uktesh didn’t ask any more questions that night; he had much to think about.  As the days turned to weeks and the weeks to a month Uktesh learned as much as he could, whenever he could.  That included when the crew was sick, there was a storm, or if someone got injured. He didn’t waste any opportunities.  He still didn’t know what a Dungeon was, but he now knew that Houses would sponsor people who would fight in them to get magical items.  The House kept thirty percent of what you earned and if you got a magical armor piece or weapon the Dungeon Diver would get the option to buy the thirty percent the House owned.  Most chose to sell it to the House and live for the rest of their lives on the earnings.  Uktesh just wished he knew what they fought that would result in receiving magical items.

It was on the thirty-fifth day that he heard someone shout, “Land ho!”

1. A New Land in the Life of
   

A month and a week apart from Laurilli

Lord Astiau deemed it acceptable that for the first time since he’d been captured Uktesh was to be allowed on the deck of the ship.  Uktesh needed to blink back tears as his eyes adjusted to the stark blinding brightness of the rising sun. Once his vision cleared he saw details again he felt his jaw drop.  The port town of Jubay had seemed impressive, if worn down, to him when he’d first visited.  This port town was nothing like the declining town back in the Five Kingdoms. 

The first thing he noticed were the ten or twelve giant ships that made even the one he was currently on seem small in comparison.  Besides the twelve massive ships Uktesh noticed dozens of smaller ships that seemed to be about the size of the one carrying him. 

The buildings in the town were quite different from the buildings in the Five Kingdoms.  By the docks there were the type Uktesh had expected small wooden, or stone buildings that were square or rectangular in shape.  Further away from the docks were three massive cylindrical buildings that seemed to reach toward the sky, and one equally massive triangular building beyond them.  Each of the four massive buildings seemed to be at least four hundred feet tall.  Uktesh could only guess how big around they were, but thought they were probably another four hundred feet in diameter.

What captured and held his attention most were the giant,
creatures, monsters, what would I even call them?
That were travelling through the town.  As they traveled closer to the shore Uktesh began to be able to make out details. The creatures were scaly like lizards,
or less armored dragons!  Does this land have dragons?
  Uktesh could see two on the road by the dock from head to tail, and while one was bigger it wasn’t by much.  Both had to be nearly sixty feet tall and twice that from tail to head.  They each had long necks and long tails. Both were a graying brown color and had white snouts.  Uktesh could see twelve of the other creatures’ heads rising above the buildings. All the creatures had white snouts, even though some were a darker brown and others were greenish.  Uktesh could see people riding on top of the lizards in boxlike seats. Sometimes they were just plain wooden seats, but most of the time they were elaborate tarp-covered, windowed, wheel-less carriages. 
What are those?

Uktesh was startled by Lord Astiau’s answer.  “Those are dinosaurs.”  Uktesh hadn’t realized he’d spoken out loud. 

Uktesh shook his head, “Why don’t they try to escape?”

Astiau laughed mockingly at Uktesh’s question, “They have learned their place, as you will as well.  We raise them from birth to understand that disobedience is not tolerated.”  Uktesh suddenly realized that the white on each of the massive creatures snouts wasn’t a genetic coloring, it was scaring left over from youthful disobedience.  “Just wait. If you think those are impressive, you’re going to love the ones with teeth and claws.”

Uktesh asked, “Those don’t have teeth?  How do they eat?”

Astiau looked annoyed at the question, but he answered with a huff, “Sharp teeth and sharp claws, they both have teeth and technically both have claws, but like dogs, they’re more like fingernails.” 

Uktesh asked, “Is this where I will be fighting?”

Astiau said, “Do you see a coliseum?  Our fighters are too good for a fighting pit.”  He spat out the word, “Don’t get me wrong, they have their place, but a pit champion wouldn’t stand a chance against our fighters, much less our champion.”  He grinned and gave Uktesh a sidelong glance, “You’ll like him.  Like you, he didn’t know his limits.  Though he’s now earned his place at the head of the ludis he needed to be broken first.” 

Uktesh didn’t know what that meant, but figured he’d find out, so he didn’t give Astiau the satisfaction of asking what he meant.  Instead Uktesh asked, “Why do you have normal buildings by the docks, but only massive buildings further away?”

Astiau said, “Those buildings on the docks are shops and an inn or two.  The towers are our homes and our stores.”

Uktesh asked, “Why would anyone want to live at the top?” 
All those stairs!

Astiau said, “My family lives at the top of the Notxir pyramid in Enixidem, our capitol.  It is a great honor. All those below us must come to us if they wish to have business with us.”

Uktesh thought it unpractical and asked, “But what about food?  You’d have to travel down for minutes, if not hours, to get to the market.”

Astiau shook his head, clearly confused, and said, “The slaves bring our food.”

Uktesh tried another tact, “What if the whole building was falling, with enough warning to get out, but because you were on the top you couldn’t because you had to travel so far down before you could get away?”

Astiau said, “That’s stupid, the towers can’t fall, but even if they would, we’d just ride a coatlus down.”

Uktesh couldn’t help himself when he asked, “What’s a coatlus?”

Astiau glared at Uktesh with his remaining eye and then walked away.  Uktesh watched him go in confusion.  “Quetzalcoatlus, coatlus for short, are flying dinosaurs that are big enough to carry people. The biggest can carry five average sized adult males.  Most, though are used for personal flying.”  Uktesh turned to see Cavavos leaning against the railing. 

Uktesh couldn’t think of any more questions so he asked, “Why now?  You only answered my questions about being a gladiator for over a month, but now you answer a non-gladiatorial question?”

Cavavos too walked a short distance away, but not before he asked, “What makes you think I’m not informing you about the Games?”

Uktesh continued to stare as the ship docked.  When it had settled he didn’t try to run. He knew he was being watched, and knew he wouldn’t get far. 
Maybe Astiau is waiting for me to try so he can pay me back for his eye.
  Uktesh watched as the other three ships started to offload their cargo--the other dragons.  They shuffled in a line, chained at both the wrists and ankles with a third chain linking the wrists and ankle chains, and a fourth chain connected to the belt of the person in front of them.  Royn was brought out and chained to the back of the line. 

Uktesh had gotten so used to the armored clothing that the soldiers wore that he had expected all the people of the Empire to wear something similar, but most of the people he saw wore form fitting clothes that revealed everything they covered.  Uktesh saw one of the dock workers had a circular hole on the backside of his pants.  Uktesh was about to laugh and comment when he saw two other men had holes as well. 
They look to be done on purpose!
 

Uktesh couldn’t figure why anyone would want to wear clothes that revealed part of their butt, until one of the dock workers yelled to another to hurry back to their storehouse and get a fifth wagon.  The man who’d been yelled at fell forward and as he did he seemed to expand until where the man had been a tiger stood!  It jumped the twelve feet between piers and took off running through the crowd.  The people didn’t even react to the dangerous creature running through their midst.  It was then that Uktesh saw most of the “pets” he’d seen on the pier were also dressed in the form fitting clothes.  He saw one of the horses shrink into a man with broad shoulders.  His rider, a young boy, laughed as he went from riding a horse to holding onto the back of the man, who lifted the boy until he was sitting on his shoulders as they went into a store.

Uktesh wanted to comment on this, but he was led past the dragons as they shuffled away. He didn’t like where his mind led him to when he thought about why he was being separated. 
It’ll either be to show me off, in which case I’ll be tested, or it’s to kill me.
Although he thought that unlikely, his mind spun a tale where Astiau made it possible. 
Or it’s to let me go,
the optimistic part of his mind thought, but that seemed even less likely than death.  Uktesh knew he’d get his answer soon enough as Cavavos chained his hands and led him away. 

As they walked through the city they passed where the rest of the dragons were being tied to the back of a wagon at the end of a long line of creatures and wagons.  Uktesh saw that at least the chains around their feet were being removed, but didn’t understand why they were being chained to a bar between two wagons.  Uktesh saw another type of dinosaur. This one was small, comparatively, though it was still several times bigger than Uktesh.  It looked like an armored giant turtle with a mace tail.  Uktesh saw Cavavos loop then lock Uktesh’s chain around the tail so that Uktesh would follow the creature.  He wondered why all the dragons and he were at the end of the train of dinosaurs and wagons with only three guards on each side.

Uktesh quickly found out that being tied to a dinosaur’s tail was not the best thing for a peaceful walk when it jerked him off his feet and to the ground.  He lay stunned for a few seconds before the beast dragged him over the ground as it swished its tail the other direction.  It kept swishing its tail back and forth and Uktesh had to move so that he wouldn’t fall again.  While Uktesh was zig-zagging behind it waiting for it to start moving, it let out an explosive fart.  Although Uktesh held his breath for as long as he could, the horrendous smell continued to linger. Uktesh couldn’t blink back the tears as he tried to breathe shallowly.