Chapter 7

Helios

When I woke, I was in darkness, vague memories of movement swimming through my head. I could hear the murmur of voices around me, but they all seemed very far away. I tried to sit up, but my body felt oddly leaden. Drugged. The bastards had used some kind of drug on me. Not exactly unexpected, coming from the Alexandrians. I was just surprised they had found something that worked on a Soma. Our metabolism tended to run high, and most drugs burned out of our system quickly.

I forced my eyes open a bit wider and was finally able to spy a sliver of light from the side. I was in some kind of container. Wooden, maybe? From the smell, I'd guess it was black pine. It looked like there was a spot above where the wood didn't join quite properly. I almost snorted. I'd be ashamed of that workmanship if it were mine.

As part of the war effort I had trained as a physician, but my favorite hobby had always been woodworking. I'd mostly abandoned it in favor of fighting the Alexandrians after my family had been killed.

I'd been thirteen when my parents and my older brother, Con, had been killed by the Alexandrians. My mother had been an unbonded Soma, a physician. My father was a human medic. My brother would have been either human or Mageian, we weren't sure, but he had been with them when their convoy was ambushed coming back from the evacuation of a small town near the border.

I'd been staying with Ri's family, and they had taken me in and raised me, helping me study medicine. Ri had been as much a brother to me as Con had. More, even, as I'd known him longer. Thoughts of Ri summoned the normal ache in my chest, but I didn't have time to focus on it now.

I calmed my thoughts and initiated the biological process that would allow me to burn the drug from my system more quickly. I felt my heart speed up and my breathing quicken. I might pay the price in hunger and lose energy in the days to come, but it would be worth it if I could be ready to act when my captors didn't expect it.

As I meditated, I felt my senses expand. We were in some kind of vehicle. I could hear the shuffling of boots around me, the sound of a Fire driven motor. Some kind of troop transport? The Elusians were still using Fire Mageia to power their transports. There must be one here running the engine.

It simply astounded me that the Alexandrians had such a surfeit of magical power that they used Mageians to power their transports and air vehicles. The rest of the world made do with electrical energy, gas powered engines, or animals.

I heard the Elusian I'd fought earlier somewhere up ahead, probably near the driver. I focused on his voice as he spoke to someone, probably on a cell phone.

"Yes, sir. We are approaching now. Affirmative. The beasts are still unconscious. We'll be depositing them in the arena shortly. No, sir. I don't think there will be any problems. I also found that extra something you requested…"

Since he referred to me as a beast before, I assumed he was talking about me. But he made it sound like there were more of us? The thought that he might have kidnapped more of my people made my blood boil, helping burn off the last remnants of the drug.

I listened more closely, forcing myself to focus on my breathing, going deeper and deeper until all the extraneous sounds fell away. Then I heard it: the click of a claw on metal. A rumble and hiss of a large cat. The throaty growl of some other creature. Apparently, I wasn't the only "beast" they had captured. He may have been more literal than I thought.

I flexed my fingers, glad that the drug seemed to be burning away quickly. I couldn't grow claws yet, but I was at least able to move. Cautiously I was able to bring my hand up to feel along the edge of the box. My arms weren't bound, and it didn't feel very sturdy. Given a little time, I'd be able to escape, even if the drug had still been in my system.

After a few more minutes of travel, I felt the vehicle stop. I heard movement, the sounds of soldiers moving containers. Eventually I felt my own container shift. The light entering the box became more intense as the soldiers moved me out of the transport.

I could spy glimpses of greenery, blue sky, and what looked to be some buildings nearby.

The box shuddered as the soldiers dropped it to the ground and I saw more cracks appear around me. Poor craftsmanship indeed.

Then I heard some beeping sounds, and the noise of the soldiers getting back in the transport.

Surely, they weren't just leaving me somewhere. That made no sense. Why do that when they went to all the trouble to capture me? Of course, it made no sense that they had captured me instead of killing me, either.

I heard the Elusian speaking to one of the soldiers.

"Are the timers set?" he asked.

"Yes, My Lord," the soldier responded. "They will release the beasts once you give the signal."

"Good," I heard the Elusian say, then heard him rap on the box enclosing me and speak. "You should be awake by now, Illyrian. I'd get moving if I were you. The hunters will be here soon, and they'd love to add your head to their trophies."

I heard his footsteps fade as he walked away.

"Let's get out of here," the Elusian said.

I heard the last of the soldiers load up inside the transport, the motor rumbling as they drove away.

I waited until the sound of the vehicle faded past even my hearing before I began working on getting out of the box. A few well-placed blows against the cracked wood and I could see large chunks of sky. A few more and I was able to worm my way out of the box.

From the outside, the box looked more like a coffin than anything else. Around me in a circle were at least a dozen cages, metal floors with a door on the front. Each cage had a metal box attached to a door hinge with a blinking red light.

I approached one of the cages cautiously. I heard a hiss and growl a second before a golden creature slammed into the side of the cage, rocking it. A leopard. I looked around at each of the other cages and realized there was a creature inside each: a leopard, a lion, a jackal, wolves, and other creatures I didn't know the names of. Some were still sleeping, others seemed awake, but groggy. Kind of like me. Each of them had a collar around their neck from which hung a round medallion.

The sight made my hand fly to my own neck. My fingers found smooth metal surrounding my throat with a small round medallion hanging from it, just like the animals were wearing. Fuckers.

We'd see about that.