บท 209: Despair of A Soul

Bam!

The Orc roared and punched him in the chest without a second thought. Warren folded in half as all air left his lungs, and he collapsed in excruciating pain.

He suddenly felt himself be picked up like a rag doll and dragged back to where he came from. Soon he was tossed back into his cell just like the night before. The Orc then kicked him once more for a good measure and roared and growled for a while before slamming the door and left.

Warren couldn't decipher the monster's growls and roars, but he understood one thing: He was not leaving the cave alive.

***

The sense of time was lost to him in the dark. The only thing he knew was that screams traveled to his cell every once in a while. They could have been human screams or from some dying animal, he didn't know anymore.

His cellmate was brought back some time ago. From what he could find out, the man was badly wounded and in pain. He was releasing painful moans occasionally, however, they were getting increasingly quieter and weak.

Warren himself was not in a good state either. The punch and a kick from the Orc guard broke a few of his ribs, and every breath taken was full of pain and discomfort. There was also no food or drink to be had. He could only get occasional drops of water falling from the ceiling, however, that was far from enough.

The blood loss and internal wounds from blunt trauma also didn't help his situation, and Warren felt his strength slowly decline.

The following day, or at least that's what he figured it was, based on the screams that happened at regular intervals, Warren and his nameless cellmate were dragged out of the cell by an Orc.

"No…please…no more," the man suddenly cried as the Orc entered the cell and gestured for him to stand up.

Warren could now see the man for the first time under the light of the torch. The man's face was pale and disfigured, almost as if some wild animal clawed at him, and his clothes were soaked in blood.

One of his hands dangled limply by his side and a piece of bone was sticking out of it just above the elbow. Through the thorn cloth, Warren could see numerous wounds across the man's body, and although shallow, they were enough to kill any normal man.

And indeed, the man appeared to be on his last legs.

"Please…sob…just…kill…me…" He didn't even have the strength to speak properly, much less to stand and walk.

The Orc grunted in displeasure and grabbed the man by his belt and lifted him up like some sort of a suitcase.

"No…please…sob…"

The Orc grumbled something while pointing at Warren and then aggressively pointed towards the door with the torch.

Although he didn't understand at first, after the Orc repeated his speech and hand motions more aggressively, Warren understood and quickly ran out of the cell. He was then shoved along a narrow stone corridor past many similar-looking stone rooms.

He could hear quiet sobbing in some and hushed speech in others, the atmosphere giving him the chills and making his heart race in fear.

"Be brave and be strong… Be brave and be strong," he endlessly whispered to himself, all while trembling in fear and fighting the urge to vomit from stress.

Soon the hallway expanded into a cavern hall of sorts and a few rays of sunshine shone through the cracks in the ceiling. The freedom appeared so close, yet it was also absolutely unreachable, being around twenty meters high.

It was then, that he saw it.

An arena. A place of eternal carnage. A circle made of meter-tall stalagmites was all that indicated the fighting space. The rest of the natural stone formation was evidently cleared out to form this ring. The ring of blood.

There was currently a Hobgoblin inside, or maybe it was a young Orc? Anyway, the monster was currently 'battling' a human.

It was actually more of a one-sided pummeling, and with each fist that landed, blood sprayed out. The Orcs, Hobgoblins, and Goblins roared and cheered on the outside, while the human prisoners shuddered in fear.

It was only a question of time when their turn would come.

Warren's cellmate was tossed forward and a stinky beast came to inspect him. Even after lifting him up to stand, he still collapsed powerlessly like an empty sack.

The Orc, clearly displeased, roared, before grabbing the man and viciously chomping down on his neck. His esophagus was torn out, together with the artery running through the neck. Needless to say that the blood gushed out like a fountain, accompanied by loud cheers from the hairy monsters.

They were having fun!

The beasts were having fun torturing them!

"Be brave and be strong, be brave and be strong…" Warren repeated these words with closed eyes and covered ears. He was just a normal man, not a warrior. The screams of horror were too much to him and he was already on the edge of a mental collapse.

Then suddenly… A strong hand landed on his shoulder.

Warren's body froze at that moment.

It was his turn.