Red's throat burned from all the running, breathing, and recently crying, she had done. The slavers had fitted her with a fat iron collar, something that weighed on her shoulders as well as neck, and cuffed her wrists and ankles. She was bound by chains to Sarel in front of her. Sarel seemed defiant still, in her eyes, but she hadn't said anything since they'd been captured. Half a dozen men were leading them through the streets of Ardmach. Buildings that had seemed intimidating in the daylight were now horrifying, twisted monstrosities to Red's eyes. Even the witch, as far as Red could remember, hadn't put this much fear into her. How the kobolds who lived in the slums of this very city put up with this was beyond her understanding. It was hateful, evil, a lurking torment that she hadn't been aware of until now but, now that she was, the only thing she wanted was to be free. Not only from the chains but from the fear that lurked inside of her now. Tears filled her eyes again as she wondered if she could ever feel safe again.
Next would be a cold cell, and there was nothing Merdon or Skyeyes could do for them then, Red was certain. There was no escape from well-armed, fortified, slavers. Even if they did, then they would have to escape the city itself. They would be on the run, Merdon's life as a citizen would be over. No kobold was worth risking freedom over. Red, as a kobold herself, believed that. He would move on, perhaps without a group of kobolds at his back the witch would believe he had no magic power and let him go. After all, the only reason she wanted him was because he was collecting kobolds. Without them, Merdon himself was unimportant to her. This solved his problem, even if it left her and Sarel in a dire predicament.
Assuming he didn't rescue them, they were bound for owners. Sold on the market like meat. Red had been a slave once. She could go back to it, easily, at least she thought so. All it took was a little change in perspective. Her freedom had been enjoyable, fun, and she didn't want it to end, but she wasn't being given a choice as they approached the building the slavers did their business from. No sign hung outside that Red could see, and that was probably how they liked it. It made them harder to track down if they didn't advertise themselves. Harder for the kobolds, who knew very little about the city outside of the slums, to mount a rescue. Meanwhile, the humans could find the place easily enough. Maybe the slavers even delivered. Taken right to their new home, and owner, like pets.
Red sniffled, and a slaver promptly yanked on her chain, which tugged Sarel as well, and told her to shut up. Chastised for a sound she couldn't help but make. This was her new life. She tried not to let it set in as they pulled her and Sarel into the building and removed the chain between them. Her eyes darted curiously, wondering if there was a chance now to escape, but instead, a pair of hands grabbed her and dragged her off in one direction, while another two grabbed Sarel and went elsewhere. Both of them struggled, just a little bit, mostly opposed to being hauled like luggage.
Things moved quickly then, too quickly for Red to get much of an idea about where she was being held. It was all stone, like almost everything in Ardmach, and parts of it smelled rancid like something was rotting, but she couldn't tell from where. As little as she believed in the goddess Skyeyes worshiped, she silently prayed the smell wasn't dead kobold. Of course, they didn't give her much time to dwell on that thought as she was tossed into a small room with a drain in the floor.
Before she could even stand up herself, a slaver grabbed her robe and virtually tore it off of her. Red shouted in protest and reached for it, only to be elbowed into the wall behind her. It was a simple blow, one that would have only nudged another human, but Red's size was her disadvantage there. Her head bumped against the stone and her eyes swam as she reoriented herself on her feet. While it seemed everything was moving, the humans in the doorway seemed bigger than before. On her knees, they looked like giants, on her feet they looked no better.
“I dunno where a monster like you got this, but it's too good for you,” the man said, holding a torch to the robe. After several moments, it failed to so much as scorch. Red gave him a smirk until he put the fire back on the wall and pulled out a knife.
“Cocky bitch,” he spat, suddenly shredding the robe with his blade. “How do you like that?” He made sure it was in irreparable ribbons before tossing it on the floor.
Red started to cry again. How could she not after seeing her only possession destroyed? But her tears, as usual, were unheeded. Instead, a bucket of ice-cold water was tossed on her, making her jump and shudder. The shaking went all the way down her tail even as another bucket was dumped on her. They were cleaning her off, minimally. Until someone stepped into the room with a bar of soap and pinned her to the wall. His motions were rough, uncaring, brutal, and he made sure his soapy hands went everywhere. She held her mouth shut tight as he grabbed her breasts and soaped up other sensitive areas. When he was done, another bucket of water was thrown on her, only rinsing her body off.
Ever since they had parted her from Sarel, the red kobold had tried to conjure her flames, but nothing was happening. She didn't know why, but she was completely useless like this. Perhaps it had to do with the collars or chains, or maybe there was some kind of magic field around the office that prevented her from doing anything. Whatever the case, Red had no magic, no way to fight, and was feeling worse than ever before. No memory of the witch was this bad. It made her wonder if the woman in the tower was truly evil, or if her claim to love kobolds rang true. At the very least, she didn't subject them to this kind of torment. However much that was good for.
Shivering and soaked to the bone, one of the slavers stepped in and grabbed Red's arm. He tugged her out of the room and started leading her down the hall. Escaping one man might have been possible, but the much larger man holding a club behind her made Red change her mind about slipping away. The pair took her into another room where what amounted to a sack was tossed at her as hard as possible, and the man that did the tossing ordered, “Put that on, now.” Red complied, having no real will to fight anymore. No magic, tired, hungry, thirsty, wet, cold, and all within the last hour, had driven her down into the ground. All she wanted now was for them to leave her alone.
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Unfortunately, it wasn't so easy. Once she was half-dressed, which was as dressed as one got in a sack, another man came in and examined her. She stood for several long, tedious minutes as he checked various areas of her, and conversed among his fellow slave traders. They told him they'd seen nothing out of place on her naked form, and the man wielding the club said he hadn't felt anything unusual. He must have been the human that groped her with the soap, and it made her scowl thinking about him following her around. All of these things were recorded, a bill of health for whoever bought her, and not a single question posed to her. It was clinical but like a parent telling the doctor everything, as if the child was too stupid to know what was wrong with themselves. Red just stood there and let it happen. Sleep was the only thing on her mind now, even if it was going to be in a cold cell with no bed. Exhaustion had taken her, and the humes noticed it.
“Little pup's tired now,” the big guy with a club said, chuckling. “Throw her in with her friend. I want the spunky one to see what's waiting for her on the other side of our training regimen.”
One guy grabbed Red by the arm and started leading her, but the other questioned the one that seemed to be their leader. “You don't think if we put them together they'll plan something?”
The boss laughed. “Plan what? These stupid lizards couldn't plot their way out of a bathtub, and even if they could, look at this one. She's given up already. Prime material. She'll sell fast, but not fast enough.” His last sentence sent a chill down Red's spine, but she was powerless to do anything about it now. It was a worry for another time, tomorrow perhaps.
The man tugging on her arm led her around the complex, a confusing and repetitive layout of halls with thick steel doors lit by torches, and not at all warm. It was a cold place in more ways than one, but that didn't bother Red anymore. She would get to see Sarel, at least one more time, and they would finally leave her alone. For how long she didn't know. Time alone was what she wanted right now though, and to see a familiar face. As their boss had suspected, Red had no plans for escape, no ideas, no hopes. Her body didn't even support her weight as the man opened a door, then suddenly grabbed her by one of her backward protruding horns and threw her face-first into the cell.
Red landed on her face, rolled, and came to a stop on her side. She didn't cry; her eyes were empty. In fact, her whole body might have been empty. Thirst returned to her once she wasn't being assaulted from all angles. With all that had happened, she just laid on the ground for a while, staring at nothing. It wasn't until Sarel came over and helped her sit up that Red finally reacted.
She put her arms around Sarel and sobbed, a dry sob devoid of tears and full of pure frustration and desperation. For what it was worth, Sarel rubbed her friend's back and tried her best to comfort the red kobold. Sarel shushed her quietly and held her close. They seemed to be the only two in the cell, which was both good and bad to the thief. It was good because they had privacy, for now. The bad was that no two kobolds were placed into isolation together unless the slavers had some sick plan cooked up. Eventually, the blue kobold had to get something more useful out of her friend than dry crying and shaking fear. Information was paramount and Sarel was fresh out.
“What happened?” she asked first, cautiously. Red recounted her tale in response, slowly, and Sarel nodded along. “They're monsters,” the blue kobold assured her, “But they will not get away with this.”
“What can we do?” Red whimpered. “My magic doesn't work, and you don't have a weapon. There's too many of them.”
Sarel shook her head. “Not us, Merdon. He will come for us.”
Red frowned and looked at Sarel seriously before letting out a short, hoarse laugh. “Merdon will not come for us,” she told the blue kobold, who looked rather surprised at the statement. “We're just kobolds, Quickclaw. He wouldn't throw his life away to fight them, and he doesn't have the coin to pay for us. Assuming Skyeyes can find him at all.”
Quickclaw put her hand on the red kobold but found it quickly slapped away. “Merdon will come for us,” she stated again, despite being shot down.
“Not even the witch was this horrible, Sarel,” Red told her flatly, using her friend's real name to great effect. “She was creepy, rude, but she would never … do what they did to me. The loss of our names is nothing compared to that.”
Sarel frowned in response. “No slavery is better than another,” she insisted while crossing her arms. “This is bad, but it is temporary.”
“Because Merdon saved you once before?” Red retorted. “What if he hadn't? Have you ever thought of that.”
“This isn't helping,” Sarel told her, looking away pointedly. She didn't exactly want to consider the notion either, though she was positive she could escape she couldn't say the same thing about Red or anyone else.
Red's eyes widened as she shouted as loudly as possible, “Then what would help!? We're trapped, Sarel. There's nothing we can do. Nothing. Merdon isn't coming, Skyeyes is lucky to be free, there's nowhere we can go. I was better off scrubbing the floors in that tower.” With her explosion over, Red fell back and sighed. She was weak now, tired, drained, her eyelids heavy and her eyes unfocused.
Sarel, finally realizing the girl's state, moved closer and rubbed her shoulder. “Sleep, Red. Things will seem better in the morning.”
Red didn't believe anything could improve; she found it sickening to be lied to. There was nothing else she could do though. Quietly, weakly, she laid on her side and curled up. Sarel sat close by, her tail around her friend, and rubbed the red one's side until sleep took her. It didn't take very long with all that had happened. Her slumber was deep, and her body went limp as she exited consciousness. Even her subconscious couldn't keep her wound as tight as she was when she was awake.
Alone, Sarel looked at the ceiling and sighed. Merdon would come, she was sure of that. Whether he would succeed, Red had cast doubt over the blue one's mind. If he did, she had raised more questions. Breaking them out would require a whole assault, something Merdon could not afford to do, yet it was the most likely thing he would do. Sarel hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. They would be free, Merdon would come, but what would the price be for their freedom? Not coin, that was for sure.