By the time they got back to the cages changes had already been made. Each cage had been swept clear of straw and had low pallet beds with blankets and cushions placed in them. A bowl of stew and a large chunk of bread was also waiting for them.

"What is going on?" Danat asked as Alam inhaled the stew.

"We are being fattened up for slaughter," answered Alam through a mouthful of meat.

"What do you mean?"

"Kirill intends to use us as entertainment at Clan Meet. We will be fighting to our death."

"Against each other?"

"No. We are a team. He will not say who we will fight."

"A word of advice then," Danat moved closer to the bars and lowered his voice.

"Yes?"

"You must look to your friend. Something has damaged his spirits. He looks like a broken man. Is he weak willed?"

Alam glanced over his shoulder. Tajar was laying on his back on the pallet bed. His food was untouched. Alam lowered his voice in response.

"I didn't think so before yesterday. He's usually so full of life that everyone around him seems dull. Being dunked in the river has affected him badly."

"You will need him if you are going to survive. I can see that you are strong - no one has ever beaten a cage door open like you did - but it will not be enough. Make no mistake, Kirill wants you dead. Prall was once a great warrior, but his body has gone soft in this prison just as his mind has. The woman," he indicated Frost with a slight flick of his head, "is very skilled, but do not turn your back on her or you will regret it."

"Please, tell me what you know of her," Alam whispered.

"But," continued Danat, "surely you can tell what she is."

"Do you mean 'who' she is?"

Danat smiled at him. "I think your time would be better spent worrying about your friend than about trying to figure out who, or what, she is."

"What" she is...

"Is she some kind of demon in human form?" he whispered. "She talks strange and I have heard that demons use strange words." Danat simply laughed and walked away.

Not a demon then. Well, she doesn't have red eyes for a start. In the stories demons have red eyes that glow.

Alam looked carefully at the white-haired woman.

No, she's both too pretty to be a demon, and not pretty enough to be one at the same time.

***

"If they give us weapons to train with it is going to be hard for me to stop myself from killing that pig Tolegan," Tajar murmured as they were being led outside to train that afternoon.

"Not if I get to him first," said Alam. He was pleased to hear a little of Tajar's spirit back in his voice.

They were taken to the same barren patch of ground where Alam and Tajar had been tied up to poles and left in the sun. A pile of sticks lay on the ground. Some were the length of spears while others were the size of swords. There were also two bows and a quiver full of arrows without arrowheads. The guards attending them fanned out around them to give them space but also make sure that they did not think about trying to escape.

For a long time Prall simply stood blinking in the sun breathing deeply. Frost had turned her face so that the rays from the sun were beaming down on her.

"When was the last time you saw the sun?" Alam asked her.

"Sixty days," she replied.

"Free! We are free!" shouted Prall with outstretched arms. He started walking away towards the river.

"Stop, Prall, or you die!" shouted Bignose.

All of the guards had their bows drawn. The strings were tight.

"I have walked through ice and fire. You can not hurt me now," Prall replied. He waved his hands at the guards, shooing them away like flies.

"Prall, stop!" shouted Alam. He didn't.

"Five!" shouted Bignose.

"I am the Bear of Khashbal..." Prall exclaimed.

"Four..."

"Barbs from bees do not sting me."

Alam was sprinting.

"Three..."

"Prall, stop!" Alam shouted again.

"Two..."

Alam threw himself on Prall, knocking him roughly to the ground. He heard the air forced out of the crazed man's lungs. Alam quickly sat on him and raised his arms outwards towards Bignose.

"Don't shoot!"

Below him Prall had recovered from the jolt of being knocked to the ground.

"Get off me!" he squirmed.

"Tajar! Frost! Help me restrain him!"

A flood of abuse came streaming from Prall's mouth.

Tajar was by his side holding an arm down within moments. Frost did nothing. It was hard work. Although Prall was older and weakened by his time in captivity the power he put into trying to break their grip was impressive. Alam was worried he would hurt himself but more worried that he would get himself killed if he was allowed to get up. It took a number of minutes but eventually the big man stopped struggling and began crying instead.

"My wife... my wife... I saw her by the river. She had our girl in her arms. Maybe she is still waiting for me there..."

Alam and Tajar looked at each other in horror.

"Just let me up so I can go to her. They will need me."

"There is no-one there," said Tajar gently.

"We are not free yet," said Alam. "Kirill is going to put some men in front of us at the Clan Meet and if we survive you will be free. Then you can find your wife."

"It has been a long time..."

"Come on," Alam got off of him and helped him to his feet. "First we train, then in the new moon we fight, then we are free."

Prall nodded his head. "Then we are free," he repeated.

Alam picked up a couple of sword length sticks and threw one to Tajar. They slowly began practicing the drills that Serik had taught them. Alam's spirits lifted quickly as Tajar seemed to throw off the hopeless lethargy of the previous day. Suddenly the day seemed brighter: the sun was out, his friend seemed to be coming back to his old self, and they were practicing drills that he enjoyed. Alam was happy for the first time in days. He was even able to ignore the fact that he was a prisoner.

While their sticks beat the rhythm of the drills, Prall picked up his own and used it to smack the posts that just one day earlier Alam and Tajar had been tormented on. His hands seemed to know instinctively how to hold them as weapons and his body naturally took the stance of someone who had lived a warrior's life from youth, but there seemed no reason behind the random slices and jabs he did. Through it all Frost just walked around the three of them. She would watch them for a while, and then would turn her face to the sun and breathe deeply as if the fresh air was a rare perfume.

When the training was finished Alam grabbed Tajar's shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course I am," Tajar smiled half-heartedly.

"I've been worried about you."

"You don't have to be. I've just realised I'm not invincible, that's all."

"Yesterday was a terrible day."

Tajar nodded and looked away. "Do you think they're going to kill us?"

"I think they are going to try."

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-Y. V. Qualls