The caravan of slaves traveled for another hour or two. With the midday heat beating down on them as they moved, there was a constant buzz of grumbling from the men.
"How much longer are we going to be traveling for?"
"What is with this heat today?"
"Can't we rest yet?"
"How lucky those slaves are. At least they get to sit comfortably and get pulled along. Unlike us, who have to walk in this damn heat. I feel like I'm about to drown in my sweat."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
[Yes, we're sooo lucky. We've been captured, taken away from family, and forced to barely survive on the meager 'food' you give us. But poor you, having to walk in the heat.]
I closed my eyes and did my best to filter out their complaints. I don't know how long it will take until we reach Black Wolf, but I hope it's soon since their complaints were becoming extremely annoying.
Another hour seemed to pass when the men's grumblings changed into whispers of hushed excitement. The change in tone woke me up from the nap I unintentionally took, trying to ignore their previous complaints. As my head became clear from the sleepy haze, I strained my ears to try to hear what they were saying.
"Finally, we're almost there!"
"Look, you can see the walls from here!"
"Ahhh, to have a nice rest in a bed instead of the ground. They even might have a girl or two we can share."
The last comment I heard was followed by the laughter of those who heard it with some sounds of agreement.
[How crude. Though what can you expect from men like them?]
Unable to suppress my curiosity, I opened my eyes and turned to the front of the caravan group. The trees in front were beginning to thin, and through the gaps, you could make out the wooden walls of Black Wolf. Soon, the trees cleared away, and in front of us was the Caravanserai in all its glory. Or at least the walls of it. Large wooden walls surrounded the structure. The tops of the buildings inside the walls peeked over, with only the top windows being shown. Two large gates with four guards stood open in front of us.
When we finally reached the gates, the Slavers' Leader approached the guards and started talking to who I could only assume was the leader of the four. Unfortunately, I was too far away to hear anything, but both sides seemed a little tense. The guards closer to the gates stared fixedly at the two men talking with their hands resting on the handles of their swords hanging on their waste. After a few minutes, both leaders seemed to come to an agreement, with the Slavers' Leader handing something over to the Guard's Leader before turning around and sending a signal to the rest of the group. We then began to move inside. As we passed the guards, they eyed all the slavers with what seemed to be disgust and backed away slightly as though trying to avoid something foul.
[How interesting. I wonder what they had talked about. They must have needed to bribe them to let us in. I wonder if it was money that they gave?]
As we passed through the gate, I could finally see the inside. The buildings inside formed a square shape, with the center being an open courtyard used as a community area. Arches connected the buildings on the second floor and served as walkways between them, which some guards could be seen using to walk between the buildings. Balconies wrapped around each building's second floor, doubling as a makeshift guard tower and walkways.
Our group slowly made our way through the arches to the courtyard in the middle of the buildings, where we were parked in a corner near the stables. Luckily, the area they put us in had trees that could shade us from the blazing sun. Looking around, I could see seats scattered throughout the area.
One of the buildings had a back wall removed from the lower floor showing an area serving food and alcohol. Quite a few people milled about inside, eating, drinking, and talking. Seeing that, the slavers all began to get excited and talk amongst themselves.
"Quiet! Quiet! Settle down!" yelled the slavers' Leader. It was my first time hearing his voice, and I was surprised by how young it sounded compared to his rough and old-looking face. "Group 2 is on watch for the rest of the day. Group 3 will take over for the night watch. We leave tomorrow morning." His orders were short and concise, leaving no room for questions or discussions.
Hearing when we were leaving, my eyes began to scan the other people in the area. I could see most of the guards were Beastkin, and many of the patrons milling about had their faces covered somehow. They wore plain clothes that didn't show any particular markings of rank, jobs, or affiliations.
"This sucks," I muttered to myself.
"What does?" said Syfin next to me.
I gritted my teeth as I turned to look at him. "Can't you make some sort of noise when you come up beside me?"
[If he keeps scaring me like this, I'll probably have a heart attack.]
Syfin held his hands up in a surrendering gesture and gave a placating smile, "Sorry, sorry. I'll try not to scare you next time. "
"I wasn't scared." I quickly defended myself, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Yes, yes, yes. You weren't scared." He quickly agreed.
"You…"
"So, what sucks?" He interrupted, quickly changing the topic back to before.
I stared at him for a few seconds before I looked away, slightly annoyed. "It's this place." I finally answered, lowering my voice so only the two of us could hear. "If it was a normal place, then we could try to escape or get someone to help us. However, I don't think it would be possible anymore."
"Why not?"
"Take a look," I said, gesturing to the other people besides the slavers. "This place is mostly run by Beastkin, who don't think slavery is illegal. The other people staying here hide their identities or seem to have similar roots to the slavers. Not to mention, when we got here, they bribed the guards. Most likely, this is a place where criminals can relax without worrying too much about the law."
He seemed to quietly mull over what I said as he looked around. I opened my mouth to say more when suddenly the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I felt an intense gaze on me as I quickly turned my attention back to the bar area. Scanning the people sitting around, I quickly met someone else's gaze. The person was wrapped up from head to toe. With a hood hiding their face in shadow, not an inch of skin showing. Little cyan lights, similar to the ones that showed up around Syfin, were brightly dancing around their body. They stared at me for a bit longer, then turned away, returning their attention to their companions, who were as covered up as they were. That person glanced back at me several times before eventually getting up and leaving with their group.
[Oh no, don't tell me that I caught their interest. (T^T) Stranger, I promise, I won't make a good personal slave~]