Page 44 of Trapped to Tame
‘I see nothing.’
‘Hold your amulet,’ he said.
Eve put it in her hand and gasped as it appeared in her vision; a hole with a bright circle around it like the sun looked during an eclipse in the Light Realm.
‘Is it open?’ she breathed.
‘Aye, this one's always open. That’s why it’s not hurling lightning at us like the other one did. Its power is a trickling constant.’ He looked back at her, grasping her arm. ‘Keep hold of me, female, and do not fear. It’s no different than walking down a path.’
She went with Priest, gripping onto him as they walked to the tunnel before them. She was still afraid of him, but she feared all these unknowns more. She clenched her eyes shut when they stepped through, but she felt nothing but a slight charge in the air, a rush of warmth like a breeze rustling in the trees.
She finally worked up the courage to open her eyes and found herself in the middle of a bustling town. A market. There were no humans at all as far as she could see. There were groups of men, but they weren't Light Realmmen. Some had horns tipped in shining metal. Others were covered in black scales. There were females too, many tall and strong. Some were dressed in battle armor with weapons hanging from their sides or slung over their shoulders, but most had on long gowns that looked similar to what the women wore where she was from.
There was a great beast tethered by what appeared to be a tavern; it was a working animal of burden like a horse or a pony, except that it was five times the size, with great big teeth and eyes that followed everything that moved around it.
She was hustled forward by Priest.
‘Stay calm,’ he warned, and she nodded, practically grasping at his cloak, so afraid was she that she might get lost in this place.
‘Don't speak to anyone, even if they speak to you,’ he advised quietly, and Eve nodded again.
She knew when to keep her mouth shut.
‘Stay behind me,’ he said. ‘Close by, but still within arm's reach.’
Falling behind, she trailed after him as they walked around the market full of trinkets she'd never seen before, food she'd never eaten, cloth that shimmered in the light, artifacts that glowed with magick … and a slavers block where humans sat in cages. Some looked bored, some afraid.
‘Hood up.’
She did as Priest commanded immediately so that the only her face showed.
‘If only you weren’t so short,’ he muttered as they walked by the raised platform, and Eve’s eyes were drawn to a woman. She was visibly shaking.
‘Probably snatched from the Light Realm only a day or so ago,’ Priest said as he saw the direction of her gaze. ‘There’s nothing I can do even if I wanted to, which I don’t. Stop looking at her.’
He gestured to the crowd that was gathering. ‘Any and all these folk would strike us both down before we’d got five steps. This is the grim reality of all the realms. Humans are chattel to be bought and sold … even within your own world. Though since the wards were destroyed, they're being brought here by the dozens to be sold.’
‘Does no one notice the disappearances in the Light Realm?’ she asked.
‘Even if they did, what would they do about it?’ Priest shrugged. ‘Most aren’t noticed anyway. They go missing in the towns or from peasant houses. No one gives a fuck about them.’
What he said was true, she thought. How many people had she seen killed in the streets while soldiers looked on? How many more had simply gone missing, and no one cared enough to even try to find them?
Priest gestured to a female and a man who were locked together by chains on their ankles. ‘Those ones are sold as a breeding pair.’
Eve's eyes widened. She looked at him and he nodded. ‘But what if they don't want to …’
The look on Priest’s face was enough to stay her words, then he actually chuckled. ‘The male will be willing enough; they won't have let him rut for weeks.’
Eve saw that Priest was right. The man was staring at the woman by his side, hands twitching, clearly just waiting for the order to get her with child. Her lips turned up in disgust. She hadn’t thought the Light and Dark Realms would be so similar.
‘And them?’ she asked, looking at another cage full of men and women who did not look afraid at all.
‘Those ones have been here a while,’ he said. ‘Note the scars of the lash, the rags they wear, their hardened expressions. It’s not their first times here on one of the blocks.’ He pointed at the last cage full of massive men, all of whom looked angry. ‘They are for the Horde.’
‘The Horde?’
‘The Dark Realm army. They move even now, fighting wars on multiple fronts. They always need fodder for the frontlines. Once those fine specimens are sold, their minds will be altered so they’ll do as they're instructed. They'll fight until the death and then others will take their places.’
