And he did. He fought everyone, as commanded, reaching for me when all of his opponents had been defeated. But as had happened every day since, I was taken away. And then … then …
I didn’t know.
As my vision cleared, I whispered, “I have seen this before. I’ve been here before.”
Master stiffened beside me, then asked, “What?”
My heart raced with the fear. I shouldn’t have spoken of my own accord. Swallowing back my nerves, I repeated, “I said, I think I have been here before.” I frowned, struggling to remember. Master’s dark eyes narrowed. Straightening my shoulders, I continued, “But I do not remember how, why, or when. Surely I must be mistaken?”
Master did not move for several seconds, nor did his expression change. Eventually, he moved to stand before me, blocking out the view of hundreds of males fighting. His hands reached up to cup my cheeks, and he smiled. “You were raised here, 152. You have spent many days here as a child and as a teen, one of our most stand-out monebi.” Suddenly, his face frosted over as he unleashed his anger. “If I had known you before, you would have been with me from a young age. But my sister found you first. And now, you are home…”
He stepped back and linked my arm through his again. “… To my empire,” he added. My attention was immediately drawn to his face. I studied his expression and saw the happiness radiating through. “I am the only male on the planet who has this as his kingdom.” He gestured with a sweep of his arm, then continued, “A Caesar for the modern age. An empire built on strength and skill. A gladiatorial Rome right here in Georgia. An arena where we root out the gods from the men. The arena where my word is law, where lives are saved or taken by the simple flick of my wrist.”
In a split second, Master dropped his exuberant, insane excitement and assumed a neutral air of composure. My head ached with his constant change of moods. But more than anything, my fear of him grew minute by minute. In the short time I had spent with him, he had shown many versions of himself—none of which I liked. All of which were terrifying.
Master patted my hand and pulled me forward along a path that ran around the edge of the sunken pits. From our vantage point we could see every strain of bare muscle, every drop of sweat glistening over scarred skin, and we could hear every grunt of exertion. Such energies generated a highly charged static, which hovered in the musty air. This place stank of violence and death. The male beside me, the male who had just taken me, was truly the master of all he surveyed and king of these slaves.
Master pointed out certain pits as we passed. “New fighters, they’ll be first-round fighters only,” he explained without feeling, casually talking about the group of males in training as though their days were numbered. He pointed to a pit farther across the room. It was a larger ring filled with larger men. “New transfers from our gulags in Western Europe. We’re still determining their capabilities.” As my eyes focused on the males in training, one looked up and blatantly stared my way. Master tensed beside me. Then I cried out when his opponent swung his ax and buried its blade straight into the chest of the staring male. The male dropped to his knees. I stopped. Yet I didn’t react. My nerves were altogether too calm, my demeanor too collected. I instinctively knew that I had seen death before. Death just like this: quick, brutal, violent, senseless.
Many deaths.
Master continued my tour as though a male had not just lost his life. Glancing back, I stared at the number on his chest, 129. I repeated the number in my head. I silently mouthed the number on my lips. I did it because I knew, without thought, that no one else would ever remember the male who had just died here in the pits.
Merely one of many nameless to needlessly perish.
I frowned at this flicker of knowledge. Then Master pointed out other groups to me as we slowly circled his enterprise—paired fighters, group fighters, veterans, those brought in from gulags from all areas of the world. I listened enough to show I was attentive and nodded in all of the right places, and I offered a “Yes, Master” or “No, Master” response when it was expected.
Then we stopped. We stopped at a secluded pit in the far rear of the training space. As I glanced into the sunken pit below, I saw the biggest male I had ever seen, dressed only in black pants, menacingly circling another male.
“And here is the most important pit of all,” Master explained. I looked to his face and watched as a smile, a maniacal smile, spread on his lips. But he didn’t look to me; instead his attention was fixed on the male in the pit. I followed his gaze. Just then, the male turned, his large chest facing us. His identity number was showcased for all to see: 901.
As if feeling my stare, 901 glanced up. Blue eyes met mine. But these were not kind blue eyes. They were cold and devoid of life. No warmth lived in that stare. No, all that glared up at me from this pit were the eyes of a killer. A brutal, and what appeared to be the most successful, killer under Master’s command.
Master squeezed my hand and announced, “901 is my prized champion. The undefeated ‘Pit Bull’ of the Arziani pits. No one can touch him. He’s infallible.” Master stopped abruptly, his jaw tensed. “Or so he tells me,” he added. I noted a hint of venom in his voice. Master dropped his head to the side as he stared at his champion, and he said, almost to himself, “But he has a weakness. I just need to find it.”
Then Master appeared to freeze. When I looked down into the pit, trying to fathom what held him so captivated, I once again found the cold, hard stare of 901. He was still looking at me.
My heart pounded under 901’s scrutiny. I ducked my head to the side, edging closer to Master. He did not make me feel much safer, but 901’s rawness and harsh attention seemed the greater threat to me right now.
Then Master glanced to me. His eyes watched me and his lips curled in anger. Before I could understand what had triggered his rage, he called, “901, come here.”
Master’s loud command caused me to flinch, and I almost whimpered aloud as his grip on my arm became unyielding, to the point of pain. I kept my eyes down but heard the heavy thud of footsteps crunching on sand, approaching our vantage point.
A fresh scent washed over me, then I saw two large bare feet stop in my line of sight. Master eventually slackened his grip on me to guide my head up with a finger under my chin. I obeyed this silent order and lifted my head. But Master wasn’t watching me. His attention was on the male standing a mere foot in front of us.