"Oh god, my head..." Waking up in chains again, Kaz tried looking around, but moving his head hurt too much, so he continued to look down at the ground.
"You survived your first test run even after killing one of theirs. You're stronger than I give you credit for." Windson could be heard beside him, but Kaz did not want to turn his head to look at him.
"How often do we have to fight?"
"As often as they want us to. Sometimes we get breaks, and some days are better than others, but if this is too much for you, then I can't say you'll survive much longer than the rest."
"The rest?" Kaz asked, a little worried.
"We weren't the first ones here, and we won't be the last. I have seen so many come and go. You have to be strong if you are going to survive this."
Kaz took a deep breath. This was not what he expected to be doing right now. He did not have time to waste here. He needed to hurry up and get across the border. He needed to figure out how to escape.
***
Perish was leading the group. They worked slowly and made sure to avoid anything that might give away their location. She had trained in these woods for years, so it was not hard for her, but Sarah and Peter were village kids. They had very little understanding of tracking and hiding. They did their best, and for now, it seemed to be enough.
The day passed on slowly as the sun beat down on them. They needed to rest, but they could not help but think about what could be happening to Kaz right now. They continued forward drinking from their water bags when they needed it and chewing dried meat instead of settling down for a proper meal.
They wanted to cover as much distance as they could. And by the end of the day, they could make out the faint traces of a campfire. They decided to stop for a moment to catch their breaths. They were within reach of Kaz. Now they just needed to find out where he was being kept.
***
The day became night, and the cell doors opened. The leader of the Soldiers, which Kaz had heard from one of the guards stationed by the cell's name was Stephan, walked in and raised Kaz's head to meet his gaze. "We need entertainment for the night, and you have been chosen." He looks at the two guards posted by the cells and nods to the chains. they quickly unchain Kaz, and the leader draws his sword. "Go out and dance for my companions."
He swings his sword rather cleanly and nicks Kaz in the arm. Fresh blood slowly trickles out, and Kaz grabs his arm. Stephan laughs and waves his sword towards the exit. Kaz leads the way, and when he enters the fighters circle, he sees that everyone is sitting down, drinking, and having fun. A few see him and throw dry chicken bones at him, landing just in front of Kaz.
It reminded him that he had not eaten today, and his stomach was making protests because of it. Stephan called out to his companions. "Well, everyone who wants to see if a Kobold has any good moves." He looks to Kaz and grins. "Well, lizard, start dancing."
Kaz has never danced in his life and did not know what to do. He started waving his arms and nervously smiling while swaying back and forth. Some of the soldiers laughed. Others kept throwing bones at him and yelling to do something cool. Kaz started hopping on one foot while swaying and moving his arms that rewarded him with a few more chuckles, but Stephan was still not laughing. Kaz was not sure what else he could do. He remembered a few moves from school that people did to get laughs and decided he would try that out.
He put one hand behind his neck and stuck his other arm out and started moving his extended arm out, stopping every second as if acting like a sprinkler. That got the soldiers to look at him funny and wonder what he was up to. Kaz then started mimicking starting a lawnmower and hoped that would make them laugh, but he was not aware that the joke is only funny if they understand the context.
Stephan was bored now, so he grabbed a bow and loaded it. Kaz looked very nervously at the man and stopped what he was doing. Stephan waved two fingers, and a few more soldiers grabbed some bows and loaded them. Stephan looked at Kaz and shook his head. "I didn't say to stop."
He shot the bow, and the arrow landed right by Kaz's foot, barely missing him. Kaz yelped and jumped on one foot. The crowd went wild. The other soldiers with bows did not look like they were nearly as sober as Stephan was. They raised their bows and shot at Kaz. He dodged the arrows as best he could, but some nicked his shoulder and side, and a couple barely missed his legs. This was no longer fun and games for these guys. They were too drunk to think about keeping Kaz alive. From this moment forward, it was a dance fo survival.
***
Perish stopped her friends from moving in on Kaz. They saw he was being used to entertain the guards and wanted to get him, but there were too many of them still. They needed to find a way to get him away from all of them. If they could find his ring and give it to him, he might be able to escape that way. But now that meant they needed to find where they kept his stuff.
Perish looked at her two friends. "I am going to try and sneak into the building while they are distracted and look for his stuff. Stay out of sight and keep an eye on Kaz." Peter nodded, and Sarah bit her lip. She was nervous about the idea of leaving Perish on her own. But she knew her friend was more reliable than that, so she slowly nodded as well.
Perish slipped into the bushes without making any noise and was quickly out of sight. Peter and Sarah continued to watch as Kaz continued to dance. Suddenly he stopped dancing, and they wondered why. It was not much longer after that when they say the arrows start flying. Sarah wanted to rush in and save him, but Peter stopped her before she moved too much.
"there going to kill him, Peter!" She whispered with fear drenching her voice.
"We have to wait for Perish to return, or we put them both in danger."
Clenching her fist, Sarah stood there shaking. She did not want to watch as Kaz was shot to death, but she also did not want to alert them of their presence and get Perish caught too. She waited patiently for what seemed like the longest minutes of her life.
***
Kaz could not keep dodging these arrows. There were too many of them. His body was being slowly cut up from all the near misses, and finally, it happened. One struck him right in the stomach. He lurched forward and landed on his hands and feet, grabbing at his wound. Stephan raised his arm in the air, and the volley of arrows stopped. "So you could only entertain us for a few minutes. Well, that's disappointing." He stepped up to Kaz and kicked him back to land on his back. With a thud, Kaz let out a scream, and Stephan grabbed the arrow and yanked it out. Blood was pouring pretty good from the wound now. Kaz was crying in pain, and Stephan looked to one of the soldiers. "Get him a rag and some alcohol. We don't want him dying just yet."
A few soldiers stumbled and grabbed a rag to tie around his stomach and some alcohol to help clean the wound a little. They bandaged him up and threw him back in the cell. Stephan looked at the pathetic monster and laughed. "Sleep on the floor tonight. That will be the only mercy I give you lizard."
Kaz could barely focus on anything other than the pain in his stomach. He held the rag still trying to stem the bleeding, but it would not stop. He looked up at Windson, and all the bat man did was shake his head slowly. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I wish things were different. Just relax now. It will soon be over."
Kaz felt cold. He was terrified of dying again. He thought of Perish and his friends and wondered if they were okay without him. He closed his eyes and began to drift off. But before he could, he heard the faint cries of death as both the soldiers guarding the cell collapsed.