Forged Destiny [Book 7: Ch. 12]

Bleeding from both my leg and my side, I looked up to Raven. "Now what?"

She turned away from me, towards Vernal. "Give him some bandages and put him back in a cage. Feed them both." Her crimson eyes flicked back towards me and she smiled cruelly. "We'll try this again tomorrow and see if anything changes."

I didn't have the strength left to fight Vernal off as she leapt down. I needed the bandages and the rest if I wanted a chance of getting out of this alive. So, as much as it galled me, as much as her smirk enraged me, I let her take the knife from me and lash my hands together.

"Good dog." she said.

I seethed in silence.

/-/

The night was cold and fevered. We'd been left in our cages again, with two guards watching us. They were thankfully close enough that Lisa could help wrap the bandages we'd been given around the wounds in my side, though even then it was a makeshift treatment without thread and needle to stitch it. When she asked Vernal for some, the Rogue simply laughed and said, "She won't let him die from this."

With little more than that and some more seafood and bread, we were left to curl up in the warm straw and try to sleep.

The next morning, I was awoken by a knife banging between two bars of my cage.

"Rise and shine," Vernal said, grinning down on me. "Hope you got some rest, Blacksmith. You're for the arena again."

Already?

"He can't," Lisa said. "He's still injured."

"More his problem than mine. Maybe it'll give someone the edge they need." She turned away with a laugh. "You four get the cages. Toss some bread inside. Might as well have something to snack on before the big fight."

Stale bread was thrown into my cage but rolled out the back before I could think to catch it. No one bothered to pick it up and pass it back, and I was soon being carted through the halls once more. Much of it was a blur, my eyesight hazy from fatigue and what felt like an infection. I was covered in sweat and struggling to draw breath.

"He's sick!"

—Forged Destiny [Book 7: Ch. 12]