Stacey sat and watched as the pale glow on the horizon turned into a warm and bright one. The sunlight warmed her body while she stretched and warmed up.
The sound of footsteps scuffing the ground and the crunch of gravelly sand alerted her. Grabbing the nearest weapon she saw, Stacey whirled into a defensive posture, watching the evil man approaching her. The morning sun made his handsome face glow brightly and other people might have been smitten by his beauty, but not her. She knew how much of a demonic bastard he really was. He'd make gestures to make himself seem friendly and then strike when she was least expecting it.
"Drop that rock," the man ordered her, stopping at the edge of the small training yard. "Come here and have your breakfast."
Stacey glared at him warily, feeling reluctant to drop the rock that she wanted to use to bash his head in with until his brains came flowing out in a mash of blood and grey goo. Without brains, there was no way he'd survive.
A whip was removed from the man's belt and cracked at her. The tip just missed her wrist. Stacey took a step back and snarled. Throwing the rock down at the side of the training yard, she stalked over to where he had placed the bread roll and cup of milk down on a tree stump. He backed away a few steps and folded his arms across his chest with the whip.
"Today's the day of the battle," he told her. "Take a good rest after breakfast. Then I'll take you to the agreed battlefield. You can only start fighting when the signal has been given, understand? You'll see that big balled centaur. Yes, the one that wants to carry you away and turn you into a baby making machine until you forget who you are. That one. You can kill him and anyone who attacks you today. You can't attack or kill any humans though. Only the beastmen. Understand?"
Stacey grunted while she wolfed down her food.
"There are going to be cameramen on the battlefield. They're off limits for everybody. Accidents happen but you aren't allowed to touch or injure a cameraman."
Stacey grunted her understanding again.
"You're going to be on camera again. You have to take a shower and get dressed. Allow other people to touch you and put some makeup on. I'll only give you your weapon when we get to the battlefield. If you mess around or hurt anyone, I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget."
Stacey grunted her assent and stood up, ready to follow him. The moment he had his guard down, she'd attack.
"This way," the man said, smacking her with the whip handle when she tried to punch him. He wrestled her down to the ground and held her down. "I don't want to hit or hurt you today. You have to fight the battle. You can only try to kill me after you've killed that centaur. This is your only chance to kill that beastman. If he succeeds in kidnapping you, you'll belong to the Ancients and beastmen unless you kill him. You have to make sure you kill him first before you can come after me. Get your priorities straight."
"Fine," Stacey said through gritted teeth, slapping the ground three times as a sign of surrender.
A group of people surrounded her with excitement and then backed away when she glared at them.
"Lord Huo, what's wrong with her? What've you done to turn her into this feral child? Where've you been keeping her?"
"Just take her to have a shower and get dressed in clean clothes," Mr Huo said, waving his whip warningly at Stacey. "Let them do their jobs and help you, or I'll take a piece of meat out of you," he threatened her.
"Big Boss, why are you being so mean? Look at her."
"She's not in her right mind," the man told them. "Be very careful. She'll probably need help in the shower. Try and be quick. We don't have much time."
Stacey lunged at him. He wasn't in his right mind. He was the one, not her. She was perfectly fine. Perfectly sane.
Sharp pain from the whip drove her back into obedience again.
"Stop that," the man stood over her with a frown. "Are you going to behave or shall I just give you directly to the beastmen?"
"Lord Huo!"
"Big Boss!" people protested.
Stacey shrank back down.
"I'll be good," Stacey cringed. "Behave."
"You'd better," the hateful man said in a dark tone. He gestured to the crowd of people. "Take her away."
"Stacey, come this way, darling. This way. The showers are over here."
People blocked Stacey's view of the evil man and ushered her away. They were nice and treated her well. Why did they seem to know her? She couldn't recognise any of them.
She was coaxed into a bathroom and two women persuaded her out of her clothes, leading her into the shower. Stacey stared at the shower with mild confusion at first until the warm water showered down. They tsked and tutted at the sight of all the cuts and bruises on her body.
The water and soap stung, bringing tears to Stacey's eyes. She hissed and swiped at one of the women who accidentally touched one of the more painful bruises.
"There, there," the woman jumped back, parrying her in reflex. "It's ok. We'll get you dry and put some medicine on those injuries, ok? It's alright. We've got fresh, clean clothes here for you. Come and towel yourself dry. You'll feel better after getting dressed."
Stacey was reluctant but submitted to allowing these fussy women to help her. If she hurt them, she guessed she'd get whipped again. The clothes were unfamiliar. She hadn't seen these types of clothes before and didn't know how to wear them.
The clothes she was helped into were soft against the skin and contoured. They were quite thick and padded in certain areas. It felt strange and yet comfortable. Much better than those padded practice clothes she had been wearing for the last few days. Leather armour was buckled into place over the padded inside clothes. Over that, a top layer of armour was buckled into place with thick scales made of layered paper. A helmet was clipped tightly under Stacey's chin.
"Don't take it off, dear. It's to protect your head."
"What did he do to her to make her like this? No wonder he refused to let us film any new recordings of her. What's he done?"
Stacey growled at the thought of the evil, demonic bastard and how she was going to kill him. The crack of a whip broke through her imagination. The man was back.
"Thank you, ladies," he said to the other women. "I hope she wasn't too much trouble and didn't hurt any of you?"
"No, no. Not at all," the women waved their hands. "She was fine. Just covered in bruises. Barely responded to us. What have you done to her?"
"Good. You," he poked Stacey roughly, ignoring their question, "come with me."
Stacey felt him prodding and nudging her with his whip handle, leading her through the town and past the ring road to an open plain beyond. A group of beastmen were arriving from a distance to gather in the same plain, facing the humans. From the town, men and women of various ages were lining up. They were all wearing different kinds of armour and carrying weapons. The man led Stacey through the ranks of humans to stand in a place of her own in front of the front row of humans.
Stacey's eyes fell upon the big centaur at the front of the army of beastmen.
Him. It was him. He was the one she was meant to kill. If she wanted to kill the evil man, she had to kill that monster first.
"Easy there," the evil man held her back. "You stand here until you hear the starting gun. Understand? You can't start fighting until the starting gun has been fired. Here's your knife. I'm clipping it to your belt. You've got your knife for emergencies in your hair." He stuck the pen-like sheathed knife in Stacey's hair beneath her helmet. "Try not to lose it. Here is your weapon."
The man pushed the leather grip handle of a long knife into Stacey's right hand and leaped out of her reach when she swiped at him. He laughed.
"Wait," he told her. "Wait for the starting gun. After the starting gun, you can kill any of the beastmen within reach, remember, but no other humans. Don't hurt the cameramen. Look, your cameraman, Loafer, is here next to you. Don't get him in danger. You can only come after me after the centaur is dead."
"I remember," Stacey said shortly and fixed her eyes back on the centaur.
"Be careful," the man said and walked away. "Make sure you survive the battle."
Stacey wasn't sure whether he was talking to her or to the cameraman. It didn't matter. Her eyes were on the centaur. He was her first target. The centaur would die.