forum Writing dump

Started September 19, 2023 by @Lucky_Coin group

tune

You know what time it is, It's time to die from lack of sleep, as I try to do a 1000 words a day. RIP, lucky coin. NaNoWriMo is up, and I'm working twice as hard on this. Sorry for not posting yesterday, I was procrastinating on whether to actually participate in the writing challenge. So, here's snippet 2!

TW SWEAR WORDS AND BLOOD.

“ON THE LEFT, WE HAVE THE LEAN SPEED MACHINE, THE PACKED PUNCH OF POISON, ITS … .” The commentator made the crowd drum roll for effect. “SCORPION SCORPISKAN!” the crowd booed and screamed their delight and disapproval. A man walked out from one side of the pits, where a pair of double doors had been closed. Striding through the Pit in a confident manner was a man with green daggers and black robes. He blew air kisses to the crowd as he walked to the centre.
“THIS VENOMOUS INSECT IS FAMOUS FOR HIS KNOCKOUT PUNCHES, SO FAST AND SO STRONG YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT HIT YA. BUT WHAT HE’S REALLY FAMOUS FOR, IS THE POISON DAGGERS HE USES TO MAKE THOSE PUNCHES EVEN MORE DEADLY!” When the audience calmed down, he continued,
“ON THE RIGHT, WE HAVE THE UPCOMING STAR, THE BEAST, THE BRICK-BREAKING GLADIATOR. EVERYONE, WELCOME TO THE STAGE. . .” Again he paused.
“BRICKER!”
Again the crowd erupted, but this time with more booing than praise. Bricker dove through his corner and sprinted towards the centre like a charging bull. In his hand was a great hammer that he dragged along the sand. Skan lifted his hands over his face, obviously scared, to stop the coming rampage. But, at the last moment, Bricker swerved off and stopped with a flurry of red sand right next to Skan, who was coughing from the dust particles that now filled the air. Skan hissed.
“Go Bricker,” Blackeye heard PJ whisper.
“BRICKER IS KNOWN FOR HIS MUSCULATURE, SAID TO CRUMBLE BRICKS IN HIS HANDS. HE CARRIES A GREAT HAMMER TO MAKE QUICK WORK OF HIS ENEMIES' SKULLS.” The commentator bellowed.
That’s clever, Blackeye realized. He used his speed to frighten Skan, to make him more skittish, while also making it seem like his battle strategy was simple brute strength. How did he come up with that?
“ALRIGHT EVERYBODY, IT IS THE MOMENT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. It's TIME, FOR THE FIGHT.” The people screamed their hearts out once again.
“GO TO YOUR CORNERS COMPETITORS.” Skan and Bricker obeyed, moving to their respective regions.
“ON MY MARK.” The commentator shouted.
“READY. SET. GO!”
The fight was off.

With a gleaming dagger in each hand, Skan came zigzagging towards Bricker’s square, a malevolent glare plastered on his face from the humiliating entrance a few minutes before.
Bricker widened his stance, feet dug into the ground like hooks, while both hands clutched his great hammer. Even from the bleachers, he could tell the Bricker was nervous. Blackeye knew that this was Bricker’s first minor final, and although it wasn’t as high-paying as a major league fight, the reward was still huge.
Seeing that Bricker wasn’t attacking, Skan quickly changed to a head-on charge, probably to gain enough momentum to get a stab powerful enough to knock him out. This change of tactics seemed to have startled Bricker, but he was soon back to his body-wall position.
Blackeye casts nervous looks at the others. Each of them looked as scared as he did. Those daggers. . . Were powerful.
Come on Bricker! Do something clever, get out of the way!, Blackeye thought. But Bricker did none of those. He just waited and waited for that dagger to cut a deep hole into his skin.
Some of the crowd were worried, perturbed and confused, but the majority were cheering for Bricker’s loss. If this got to Bricker, Blackeye couldn’t tell, for his eyes were just as stone-cold and without emotion as the human wall Bricker had become.
“Come on, Bricker, I’ve got twenty bets on you! That's more than 3 decka’s worth if you win. If you lose, well. . .” PJ said unceremoniously.
“Beat the shit out of that dude, Bricker!” Nosedive hollered.
By some miracle, Bricker heard them. Turning his head slightly, he looked directly into Blackeye’s eyes, a grin spread across his face. Blackeye knew that he saw them. Hopefully, that would give him enough encouragement to win. Bricker went back to looking at Skan.
Like an immovable boulder, he crouched lower and dug his feet deeper into the sand. Skan was gaining momentum. Faster. Faster. And faster.
“Move out of the way, Bricker!” Bits yelled.
“You big idiot!” PJ screamed.
Oh, shit. Blackeye thought. He’s not actually thinking of hitting head-on, is he? Oh, gods.
Skan was moving faster than an arrow, darting left and right like a gel ball. His feet were a furious blur, making a whirl of sand behind him. Blackeye was sure that Bricker would move, or block or. . . something, at least. But he didn’t. He just stood there.
Skan was a foot away from him when he leapt into the air with daggers outstretched, looking like a psychopath. Blackeye braced for the impact, but it never came. In a movement faster than Blackeye could imagine Bricker capable of, he jumped to the left, His hammer outstretched to knock Skan flat. The noise of the crowd muffled the thud that followed, but Blackeye could tell that Bricker connected. Skan fell into the sand head first. The audience screamed in delight.
“Yes!” screamed Nosedive.
“Beat his arse!” Bun yelled.
Quickly, Skan jumped back up, before Bricker could land another blow like the first. Bricker took two steps back and gripped both of his hands tight over his hammer. A furious look went over his face as he turned around, but his frown quickly changed to a grin.
“Why is he smiling?” Nosedive asked agitatedly.
In the blink of an eye, Skan grabbed a fistful of sand from the floor and threw it into Bricker’s face. Bricker sputtered and blinked as he tried to spit out the sand in his mouth. Blackeye knew what was going to happen before it started. His heart dropped to his kidneys.
As the attack distracted Bricker’s attention, Skan leaped forward and planted four lightning fast punches to Bricker’s stomach. Bricker doubled back, and threw up a mouthful of blood as his shoulders sagged. Skan was laughing at the sorry sight of Bricker, who stumbled back and gasped for breath.
How did Skan do that? His punches can’t be strong enough to make Bricker throw up, Blackeye wondered. Looking down again, Blackeye saw that blood had started spewing from Bricker’s stomach in huge jets.
“Shit. He used the daggers. I don’t think Bricker can handle that.” Blackeye said.
Nosedive turned to him, shocked. “THAT'S FUCKING FOUL PLAY, YOU BASTARD!” Nosedive yelled. Around him, Blackeye could see the crowd was equally distressed.
“Please be alive, please stay alive,” PJ whispered, her arms wrapped around her legs. Blackeye noticed she was crying. Bunny buried her face into PJ’s torso. She was crying too.
Come on Bricker. Get back up.
Skan was bowing to the crowd already, like he had already won. A smile was plastered on his face as he bent down on his knees and flicked Bricker’s nose. Using his middle finger, he slowly pushed against Bricker’s nose to push his head back slowly.
He’s taunting him, Blackeye realized.
“FUCK YOU!” Nosedive shouted.
“Come on, Bricker, get up. You can’t let this scumbag win. Stay strong.” Bits said.
Astoundingly, Bricker raised a foot from the ground. He pushed up. On both legs, he looked up to Skan in rage. Skan’s jaw dropped like it weighed a hundred pounds, shocked to the bones. With blood dripping from his lip, Bricker delivered an uppercut to the chin, his great hammer forgotten in the sand. Skan was lifted off his feet from the blow, and went flying into the sand. Skan jumped up in a flash, blood rushing to his head like flies to sweat.
Blackeye sighed in relief. The people in the stand blew up.
They always like the underdogs, Blackeye thought amusedly.
“Oh, thank goodness,” PJ said, then started to comfort Bun.
“Take that you-” Nosedive yelled before Bits cupped his hand to her mouth to stop her from swearing.
“Not in front of the commoners,” Bits muttered, although Blackeye could tell he was just as jubiliant. Nosedive frowned.
Bricker panted for a few seconds, as he relieved himself from the pain, the entire time staring at Skan’s face. A roar exited his mouth as he rushed forward. Skan quickly dodged, then tried the same trick again, throwing sand to land more fast attacks. But Bricker didn’t fall for it a second time. Jumping back five steps, he reached down for his hammer and glaring intently. Skan was ready for this though, and launched forward to start running circles around Bricker. Literally. A blur of a circle started to form, until Blackeye couldn’t distinguish where Skan ended and where he started.
“What’s he doing?” Bunny asked anxiously.
“Skan’s trying to trick Bricker into getting dizzy, so that while he’s disoriented, he can attack.” Blackeye replied. He tried to act confident, but on the inside he had his doubts.
How can Bricker get out of this one? Blackeye worried. Quickly, Blackeye looked back down at the Pit to see if he had got out of the trap that Skan had set.
Bricker was obviously sweating, nervous and coughing as he fought the poison. The scared expression that had encroached his face was gone in an instant as he switched it for a determined one. Moving his grip to the closer end, Bricker started spinning around and around, until his hammer lifted from the sand. Gaining momentum, he started to turn it around as fast Skan was sprinting. Together they looked like they were in the middle of a deadly ballerina recital.
“Yes Bricker! Beat that peice of shit! Kill him!” Nosedive roared.
“Oh, so when Bricker does something ‘bad’ in front of Bun its heroic,” Bits muttered. “but when I do, it’s a bad behaviour.” Blackeye smirked. He knew Bits was jealous.
“Oh don’t be a sour butt, Bits. We don’t treat you as bad all that.” PJ said, looking excited from the exciting battle happening below. Bits grumbled. “Now shut up and cheer Bricker on.”
Suddenly, Skan stopped moving. Standing in place, he threw both of his daggers directly at Bricker’s face.
Fuck. That was his plan all along.

I feel like this chapter has rough edges, so feel free to comment.

Alright, here's version one of the first rough draft for chapter 5!

OKAY.
SO.
I, as you can obviously see, either had the worst case of writer's block in history. Or, I was being lazy, and completely slumped NaNoWriMo. Whichever it was, I haven't updated this in three weeks, and I'm really sorry.
So, Snippet 1 for chapter 6 is out!

Blackeye slumped back into his chair.
Oh, thank gods. A first round knockout, well done Bricker!
“Yes Bricker! You stupid idiot!” Nosedive yelled, Her face redder than a tomato. PJ jumped out of her seat with a leather pouch in her hands.
“Calm down, Hana. You’ll faint from all that screaming.” Bits said condescendingly. There were tears in his eyes.
“Are you crying?” Blackeye said smugly. Bits blushed and covered his face with his shirt.
“No.” Came his muffled reply.
“Ha. My luck pays off once again.” PJ’s voice called out. As she hopped back into her seat, she held out the leather pouch with pride written over her face. The pouch was now stuffed with jingling coins.
Suddenly, the crowd gasped in horror. Blackeye whirled around to see the arena again. There in the pit was Bricker on his back, coughing up blood that seeped into the monotonous red sand. Quickly, three meds jumped out from a trapdoor hidden in the sand, and started taking emergency medicine out of their kits to begin reviving Bricker. A woman in the stands on the left of Blackeye was quickly muttering an incantation, her eyes shut tight in hopeful prayer.
She must be a supporter. I didn’t know he was that popular in The Pits. Gods, Bricker’s in a lot of trouble.
“We need to get him out of there.” PJ said suddenly. Bits shook his head, and stood up on the top of his chair, obviously trying to get a better look.
“Nah, those people are Miredians, or at least partly; see the long ears? Not a more trained healer in the world who could do better than them.” He replied, his eyes still fixed on Bricker’s body. Surely enough, each med had the characteristic long ears and slim, slightly blueish body of the people of Mired.
PJ shook her head furiously. “No, we have to go. It-its the feeling.” She said softly. Her skin turned a pale walnut brown and her legs started shaking like bowstrings. Everyone knew what that meant.

Okay, we have snippet 2!
Enjoy!

“Nosedive, jump over the fence with me. Bits, keep these two safe.” Blackeye ordered. Bits nodded just in time for Blackeye to see him before Nosedive and Blackeye raced down the aisle.
Closer up, the fence was 10 feet tall, with barbed wire at the top. The chances of him and Nosedive reaching Bricker in time were slim, but they had to try. With a running head start, Blackeye lunged for the chicken wire fencing and latched a hold, scaling it as fast as he could. Of course, Nosedive was twice as fast and was already on the other side, racing to get to Bricker.
After climbing the wall, Blackeye took a huge a leap and sprinted towards Bricker as well. Nosedive was in a vivid argument with the three meds, trying to pull Bricker off the ground while screaming at them.
“I’m sorry, young lady, but if you want your friend to stay alive, he must stay with us.”
“I don’t care what you think, he needs to get out of here!” Nosedive shouted, clearly trying to contain her anger.
“Nothing doing, ma’am.” One of the meds said, stubbornly folding her arms.
“Oh, you wanna fight, huh? I’ll give you a fi-” Blackeye stopped Nosedive abruptly with a hand to her mouth.
“Excuse my friend, she acts rashly.” Blackeye apologized. He glanced at Nosedive, who looked like a smoke bomb about to explode, then whispered, “let's just grab him.” Nosedive nodded.
With a swift movement, Nosedive outstretched her leg and tripped all three of them in one fell swoop. Blackeye pulled Bricker up to his feet and pulled him over his back, his feet quivering from exertion.
“Stop toying with them and get over here!” Blackeye yelled to Nosedive behind him, who was laughing as the three meds tried to get back up. Suddenly she stopped.
“Uh, Blackeye? We’ve got some trouble. Five built-like-bulls guards coming straight at us.”
“Well, get a move on, then!” said Blackeye, panting from Bricker’s weight.
“Okay, okay.”
The weight of Bricker’s body became more bearable as Nosedive took the left of Bricker’s body.
“Oy, you. Come back here!” A voice from behind them yelled.
“Run.” Nosedive shouted. With as much speed as they could muster, the two of them sprinted, to the wall.

Also, here's the next snippet!

After climbing the wall, Blackeye took a huge leap and sprinted towards Bricker as well. Nosedive was in a vivid argument with the three meds, trying to pull Bricker off the ground while screaming at them.
“I’m sorry, young lady, but if you want your friend to stay alive, he must stay with us.”
“I don’t care what you think, he needs to get out of here!” Nosedive shouted, clearly trying to contain her anger.
“Nothing doing, ma’am.” One of the meds said, stubbornly folding her arms.
“Oh, you wanna fight, huh? I’ll give you a fi-” Blackeye stopped Nosedive abruptly with a hand to her mouth.
“Excuse my friend, she acts rashly.” Blackeye apologized. He glanced at Nosedive, who looked like a smoke bomb about to explode, then whispered, “let's just grab him.” Nosedive nodded.
With a swift movement, Nosedive outstretched her leg and tripped all three of them in one fell swoop. Blackeye pulled Bricker up to his feet and balanced him over his back, his feet quivering from exertion.
“Stop toying with them and get over here!” Blackeye yelled to Nosedive behind him, who was laughing as the three meds tried to get back up. Suddenly she stopped.
“Uh, Blackeye? We’ve got some trouble. Five built-like-bulls guards coming straight at us.”
“Well, get a move on, then!” said Blackeye, panting from Bricker’s weight.
“Okay, okay.”
The weight of Bricker’s body became more bearable as Nosedive took the left of Bricker’s body.
“Oy, you. Come back here!” A voice from behind them yelled.
“Run!” Nosedive shouted. With as much speed as they could muster, the two of them sprinted to the wall.
“Okay, that’s a bit of a problem,” Nosedive muttered. “No way we’re scaling that with Bricker on our back.”
Now that Blackeye looked at it, the walls they had just jumped down from were almost completely smooth, nearly devoid of all imperfections. Added to that was the angle of the walls, the top jutting outwards to make the wall even harder to climb up.
Almost like they want the contestants to be trapped.
“Alright, you get up the wall first, and then I’ll haul Bricker up after you. Hopefully we’ll be able to clear the fence.”
Nosedive nodded in agreement. With skilful grace, Nosedive did a backflip and landed on the top of the wall. She grinned down at Blackeye.
“Show off.” Blackeye muttered. Blackeye started hearing yelling from behind him. Two of the Mireds, accompanied by ten or so guards, were making a beeline towards Blackeye at top speed.
“Grab his hands!’

Okay, I'm back from break and ready to write! I've been working on a new idea, and this is the first snippet for it. It's kinda long, but that's to cover up for my 4 weeks of absence. Anyway, enjoy!

Hadea was reading under the covers again. The little stump of a candle flickered as a gust of wind sneaked into the blankets. His little cabin in the outskirts of Belborn was not much protection from the cold. As he flipped the page of the book, a painted image was shown of a man holding a great crystal, hand outstretched like a giant glowing torch.
There weren’t many books he liked, but this was the exception. Hadea, like many people in the town, thought of books as dreams, wishes, and fantasies that told them a tale of impossible things, and reminded him all too well of what he could and couldn’t do. Which was exactly why he didn’t like them. Most of them were about mighty heroes who had fought countless foes, of scholars who discovered new things, of alchemists and their fuming potions. Being restricted by reality was never something Hadea and his body were quite agreeable with. Actually, being restricted by anything was never something Hadea agreed with. The problem was that Hadea could never be any of those things. He wanted the wishes and dreams the books talked about to come true. But many things prevented that, the most obvious one being the Townmaster, Thenioch. This nasty bit of vile, as Hadea called him, would never accept Hadea’s absence. He had only one reason for this neverending grudge which the Townmaster said he should listen to. However, since this reason was; ‘ You are not to get sidetracked by the world outside! It will rot your mind’, he also didn’t quite agree with it. The reason for the Townmaster's confinements, he knew, was because he was useful. It was always about how useful he was.
Useful.
Used.
So similar, yet so different.
He sighed. Today was Hadea’s seventeenth cycle. Most people celebrated this special day with gifts and cakes, with imported Pinatãs from Shantelen sea traders. Hosting parties with the neighbours in honour of their special day. But not him. Hadea’s dad was rarely in the quiet town where Hadea grew up, seemingly slipping away from his life like a daydream that fluttered to his mind every now and then, so Rute tried to make it up for Hadea as best as he could. Rute always came back at the end of each cycle. This was the only thing Hadea could count on from his father. And when he returned, Rute would ask Hadea for one thing he wanted to do with him before he left again. It was the only day in the year when he felt in control of his life. Hadea knew exactly what wanted this year. There was only one small problem.
The Townmaster.
Hadea sighed again, this time less resigned and more steely. Every day he had to come to the Townmaster’s hall, just to listen to endless streams of miserable people complaining about the stupidest of things. The conversations between the Townmaster and the villagers often went somewhat like this.
‘Sir, I need your help.’ they would say to the Townmaster in either a threatening or pleading tone, depending on whether they were clever or not.
‘My purse has been stolen!’
At this point, Hadea had heard this complaint a thousand times, and would try unsuccessfully to not roll his eyes. The Townmaster would scowl at him for being so obvious, and reply with:
‘What can I do for you, then?’
‘If you would be so kind as to give me a small amount of money-’
This complaint was the most common of them all. The visitor’s faces betrayed them. All they felt was greed. He sometimes wondered if Thenenioch even needed Hadea for this boring job, as they displayed their horrid feelings so well. Then, Hadea would slump into the musty old chair next to the Townmaster’s side, giving the visual cue for Thenenioch to say:
‘I’m sorry, but I can’t give you that. You may leave now, and close the door on your way out.’
Hadea didn’t mind what the Townmaster did to the liars. What Hadea didn’t like, was that the Townmaster felt the same way as they did. Mine. no one else’s. Hadea hadn’t seen many who had actual sincerity when they posed this question, but when they did, the Townmaster would react in the same way he did to the others. Hadea would never work for him if given the choice, but most, unfortunately, there wasn’t one. Hadean had no choice where he lived, where he worked, who he worked for, or even how he talked. He felt like a puppet in a puppet show.
Used by the Townmaster.
Used by the Shaman.
Used by Rhokharen.
Used by everyone.
The one person who treated him like he was more than just an ignorant, absentminded kid was his father Rute. However, even he couldn’t stop the Shaman’s frail, callused hands from using him in the most conniving of ways.

The book he was reading had a thick brown cover with words smeared on it saying: The Three Beacons. This book was about the great hero, Sonilal. Hadea liked this book because of Sonilal's background. Sonilal was a village boy. The heroes in the rest of the stories were practical royalty, gifted with magical weapons and in favour of the gods. But Sonilal made one of the biggest changes in history, with nothing but three glowing crystals. He still completed his journey. He still had hope. It was his favourite one out of all the old stories. This version told of how Sonilal brought light to the Wilderlands, undertaking Rhamisni’s prophecy. It was less about the battles and more about the journey, and he liked that. Sonilal had control over his life, unlike he did. But tomorrow, Hadea’s life was going to change, and he knew it. Slowly, the little stub of a candlestick burnt out, and Hadea fell asleep.

OKAY. SO. After a month, no, two months of procrastinating, not knowing what to do with my characters, dying of writer's block, and overall bad stuff, I have resurfaced, ready to write again!

Here's another snippet, for the enjoyment of those still looking at my writing. Its a long one, but that's because its finishing chapter 6. Here we go!

Nosedive took Bricker’s hand and heaved with all her might. Even with Blackeye pushing from behind, it was a monumental effort to get Bricker to the top. After Bricker was set on the small ledge, Nosedive reached her hand down to pull Blackeye up as well. Blackeye grabbed and was in the middle of pulling himself up when a gloved hand caught his dangling foot in mid-air.
“Ha! Got you now, you filthy rat!” A guard shouted from behind him. A smug look overtook all his feature as he yanked on Blackeye’s leg. And Nosedive didn’t move an inch.
“Don’t do that.” She said venomously. Dangling between the two of them, Blackeye felt a little smile tug on his face.
“You should listen to her, you know.” Blackeye said over his shoulder. The guard looked at them uncertainly, then yanked even harder than the first time. Nosedive’s hand twitched once, but stayed stuck in place. The guard looked shocked.
“You’re starting to get on her nerves. Now would be a good time to piss off.” The guard started fuming in anger. Just as he was about to pull again, Nosedive flicked her arm down like a whip and sent Blackeye’s foot and the guard’s head into the wall. He was knocked out cold.
“Okay, quick, we need to get out of here fast.”
“Uhh . . . sorry to burst your bubble, but how do you think we’re gonna get up there?” Nosedive asked, pointing up at the giant fence. The guards were now behind them, yelling for them to get down.
Blackeye sighed. “We have to try.”
Nosedive nodded, then started scrambling up the chicken wire until she reached the top. Carefully, she pushed her feet through the holes in the fencing and used her toes like hooks to keep her tethered as she held out her hands to pull Bricker up.
“Get down here, you scoundrels! You cannot kidnap a competitor!”
Blackeye wrapped his arm around Bricker’s waist, then clasped his arm firmly. He reached out on tiptoe for Nosedive to grab Bricker’s wrist, and then did the same for Bricker’s other hand.
At this point, the guards had figured out how to get on top of the wall, and were making a human ladder to get to them.
“Hurry up!”
Once Nosedive held both hands, she started to pull Bricker up. At the same time, Blackeye was pushing from behind, beads of sweat running down his chin. Slowly, they inched his body up across the wiring. With a mighty shove, they managed to get Bricker over the wall. His body fell with a heavy thump, spewing dust from the floor everywhere. Nosedive immediately unattached herself from the fence.
Blackeye started to claw his way up, but the guards were already up the wall. Just before they reached him, loud bells started ringing from all sides of the room.
DONG. DONG. DONG.
Blackeye winced at the sound. So did the guards, which gave him just enough time to hop over the fence.
“Pick him up.”
Blackeye and Nosedive were grabbing Bricker’s legs when the horrible clang of the bells sounded once more.
DONG. DONG. DONG.
“ALL WITNESSES IN THIS ARENA, PLEASE SIT DOWN.”
The voice that had just boomed came from a heavily armoured, well-dressed woman with dark skin and braided black hair. On her left plate of shoulder armour was painted the insignia of the Upper City’s Military, the white and red rose-entangled cross that was the symbol of the Shield-Bearers.
Half of the remaining crowd sat down. The rest started running for the exits.

Hello, I am back from the abyss that is the first year of high school. Please forgive me, I needed a break from writing and couldn't handle the writing dump for a while. But, I am back, and ready to start writing again.

Heres a few more pages from my doc.

Chapter 7
Screams of terror and yelling immediately filled the arena, people running for the exits left, right and centre. Like a stampede, they charged for the doorways, stomping over any who stood in their way Just as people started reaching the doors, guards appeared from behind and closed them shut. Everyone was trapped inside.
“Right. Anyone who tries that again, will be answering to me in the Belvacar. That ought to rot any ideas you had of running.”
Blackeye’s pupils widened an entire inch at the thought of that. The Belvacar was a nightmare of a prison, or at least from what he’d heard. It was situated far away from the city, with harsh restrictions and guards who would rather kill you than show an ounce of pity. The place was reserved for the worst of murderers, con artists, and arsonists. Of course, most of the time only people from the Upper City were locked up in the jail, to preserve the Mainer’s perfect way of life.
Otherwise, Cairnove would already be in there, Blackeye thought. But why are they even threatening us? What are they even doing here?
“Let’s get to the others quickly, before they start searching up the aisles.” Nosedive whispered. Blackeye nodded, turning away from them to look at her. She looked just as confused.
“Why are they here in the first place?” Blackeye asked no one in particular.
“No idea, we just have to get out of here. And fast.” Nosedive answered from behind her back, already hoisting up Bricker’s legs. “Grab an arm, will you?”
Blackeye pulled each of Bricker’s arms onto his own shoulders, and lifted. Slowly they started walking through the crowd to get to their seats. Most people were too shell-shocked or fearful to notice them. But those who did were shooed away by Nosedive. “Piss off! Mind your own business!”
Eventually, they got to the others. Bits was grabbing his hair and pulling it like a maniac, and Bun was curled into a ball in PJ’s lap. PJ was muttering to herself incoherently.
“Guys, this is crapped up.” Bits moaned. “We’re so screwed over now. I mean, the SB never go down to the Lower City, and the day we snag the most money ever, they decide it's time to come and say hello.”
“Oh, calm down, Bits. Don’t act like you’re the victim, here.” Nosedive snapped, patting PJ’s back while facing Bits. Her face softened as she saw him wince. “I’m sorry, it’s just . . . don’t worry. They probably aren't here for us anyway.” The audience was starting to talk again, frantically trying to figure out what was happening.
“Guys, be quiet. The loud one’s speaking.” Blackeye whispered to the others, putting the unconscious Bricker into the dusty grey seat next to him. PJ suddenly stopped rambling. So did the crowd.
The lady in armour opened her mouth and shouted, “WE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE, THAT SOMEONE IN THIS AUDIENCE HAS BEEN SELLING A VARIANT OF THE DRUG CALLED HIDE TO THE UPPER CITY. ANYONE WHO TRIES TO RUN AWAY WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE DECLARED SUSPECT. IF PROVEN GUILTY, THEY WILL BE EXECUTED IN GREYWEN SQUARE.”
“Well, that’s nice,” Blackeye muttered. And of course they’ll probably imprison half of us in the Belvacar anyway.“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.” Bits was whimpering.
“But if we have nothing to hide, why should we worry?” Dustbunny asked through sobs of fear. Tears were streaking down her face. “Because Pit fights are illegal up there, and they aren’t gonna care whether this is in the Mains or not.” Nosedive answered, her eyes searching the surroundings for an exit.
“And of course there’s the fact that they just need a shady face to blame as the hide dealer, and my face isn’t the most bright.” Blackeye muttered.
“But who actually has the guts to sell the Hide to Mainers?” Bits asked nervously, his hair a mess as he increased the speed of his brushing. “Also, I thought there was only one type of the stuff. What do they mean by ‘variant’?”
From behind them, Bricker groaned as he put a hand to his head. Immediately, Blackeye and Nosedive swivelled their heads in his direction, scanning for anything problematic. Bits peered over from his seat at the opposite end, concerned. “Is he alright?” Bunny whispered. PJ started to stroke her head. “I’m sure he’s fine,” She whispered back.
Blackeye put his left ear to Bricker’s chest and checked for a heartbeat. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. It was there. So the poison hadn’t killed him. Yet. “We need to get him to a healer, and quick.” Blackeye said urgently. “I don’t know how long he can last without medicine. Everyone, look for exits.” All of them started to search for a way out, desperately hoping for a trapdoor, or pipe big enough for the to fit through.
“AS THE GENERAL OF THE SHIELD-BEARERS, I, FELVERAN ARKAMENE, CONDEMNS ANYONE WHO LEAVES THIS ROOM A CITIZEN WHO ISN’T SHOULDERING THEIR DUTIES AND A COMMON ENEMY OF THE CITY.” The general shouted again. Of course, everyone decided to run and ask questions later. Complete pandemonium broke out in the stands, and all manner of screaming and shouting erupted from the crowd, as they ran in every direction that got them further from the Shield-Bearers.