The early morning sun casts warmth onto the pink and orange dunes of the West Nihilian desert. D'aliah and Kalan were woken up at the break of dawn by Kar'ver when they found themselves buried beneath the sands by the evening gusts of wind. The sleeping bags kept D'aliah much warmer than she'd expected. Killing Kar'ver might not be a great idea if tricks like this are needed to survive out here, but how much further can they get like this? Enslaved.

At least the serum could be in the West. They're getting a free ride so it may work out after all- she can't shake this anxiety, though. Leaders who gamble? She feels like she's being taken to the infernal. Is it worth it? She wonders.

The void in her memories cannot remain. It won't. The rationale for escaping doesn't compare to this feeling. A part of her is missing and it gnaws at her daily, she knows too much to keep ignoring it.

She raises her hand to shield her eyes from the glistening sun as it finally rises above the dunes. She now sees the path ahead, waves in the sand expanding all around them, connecting to the purple skies at the horizon. The last orbs in the fading darkness behind them dwindle as the atmosphere brightens.

Her eyes notice a circle of black amongst the now-lit desert. The light slowly bleeds into it as faint glows of light within this craterous hole dissipate and reveals its walls.

Levels and levels of pillars and walkways spiral around the sides of this colossal cavern, down into the depths beyond its edge. It only looms larger as they approach- Like an error in Luná's design, the hole rips to the depths.

Reaching for their world's centre.

"Is that-" Kalan stutters as the vehicle zips through the sand towards the massive cavity. "A city?"

"The first city of the West," Kar'ver responds.

"How could this have been constructed?" D'aliah whispers in awe, barely breathing out her words.

"If you ever come to find the answer to your question, you will become a rich woman," Kar'ver laughs.

As they draw near, the cheers of thousands upon thousands of voices begin to ring throughout the silence of the desert. They are near the edge of this seemingly infinite pit, peering to the bottom of it as Kar'ver steers the vehicle towards an entryway.

As D'aliah looks over the edge of the city, she sees a large arena of sand at the bottom encircled by the owners of the cheering voices. All seated around this field of sand at its bottom.

"A stadium," D'aliah says, finally piecing it all together. "The entire town is for gambling on games,"

Her body shivers as she keeps following the thread in her mind. The highborn, Ms Shay'an, the gambling and Kar'ver's awareness of D'aliah and Kalan's fighting prowess.

It all makes sense now.

They're here to fight. Chips to be gambled.

With concerned eyes, she whips her attention to Kalan, who's also staring down the depths of this colossal city in a hole. He has a stern look on his face- One she hasn't seen since they were training on the boat.

"If we refuse to fight?" Kalan asks.

"It's much too late for that," Kar'ver responds as the vehicle enters a tunnel hidden away by a dune at the city's edge.

They swiftly descend the tunnel, arriving at a large, dimly lit bay, filled with sand gliding vehicles similar to this one- All varying in size and design. The bay runs in all directions, seemingly infinite, there are vehicles as far as her eyes can see.

The moment Kar'ver brings the vehicle to a halt, a large group of two dozen or so surround the vehicle. This time the group is dressed in rags and boots. Each of them has small pieces of Armor placed at varying parts of their body. They're all dirty, some of them are wrapped with blood-stained bandages that appear recent.

"Tie 'em up and get 'em ready for Ms Shay'an," Kar'ver orders the group of thugs.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

D'aliah reaches for the blade by her waist but stops when she notices the intense stare radiating from over her shoulder. It's Kar'ver, glaring at her with one eye as he waits to see what her move will be. She lowers her hand, knowing she's been caught out before looking back at the encroaching strangers.

"Keep an eye on the girl, she be schemin' too often," Kar'ver adds.

One of the men grabs her blade from her hip, before another disarms Kalan as well. Her hands are forced behind her back, as an itch wraps around her wrists before tightening. Squeezing both her hands together.

She'd mentally prepared for their situation to get worse, but she hadn't imagined it would turn out like this- Captured, and taken to a lawless city built on gambling against the wild victims the highborns enslave.

But, the serum could be here. As still, the rationalities of her mind fail to deter her need for this pursuit.

"My studies of West Nihilian architecture have led me to believe that the nation's cities were constructed long before the era of Old Dantas- Before the fall of Yanahar."

- Prophet Bou'eel

Now dressed in the same, sand-coloured rags as the other thugs that surrounded them, D'aliah and Kalan are still subdued with their hands tied behind their backs as they led through the city, to Ms. Shay'an.

The city doesn't just expand thirty levels downwards but into the sands around- Hiding away most of it. Large hallways tunnel in all directions around its centre- At the bottom of the centre, is the stage, surrounded by stands that seat hundreds of thousands of viewers who cheer as they look down towards the games. Even up here, far above the theatre, people lean over the centre railing, down to the pit. Cheering and screaming along with the audience to join the atmosphere of entertainment.

Many, many homes and stores fill the tunnels of each level as if it were the largest of hotels. Each floor carries a marketplace of its own that is filled with thousands of shoppers and hundreds of stores and stands. She can see across the centre, a marketplace equally as packed as this one sits on the floor below.

It is all underground, fashioned out of a smooth, white sandstone that organically expands throughout the city like a single piece. Arching high over their heads, the sun entering the top passes through all of the levels, but gradually gets darker towards the bottom as unnatural light aids the abyssal lower levels.

They arrive at a large door on the twenty-fourth level, it is the only entryway to the entire floor. As she looked over the railing on the way down the pulley-based elevator, she noticed that four or five of the floors are completely inaccessible unless entered through their main doors. The rest of the floor is completely sealed by the white sandstone, hiding everything inside.

The door booms open, loudly creaking as the wood drags along the floor. Her heart sinks, just for a moment, and a long passageway extends before her. This entire floor is open, with far fewer tunnels and rooms than the other floors. The

highborn must have a floor to themselves. Of course they would, they value wealth above any form of principle. It's no wonder they were brought here as if they have no say in the matter. These highborn are the epitome of wealth and inequality.

There's nothing a highborn cannot have.

At the end of the hall is a table designed to sit over thirty guests, but only one is seated. A lady with long, blonde hair wrapping over her shoulders sits in her pink sand-coloured robes. She isn't dressed very much like a highborn, her clothes are that of exploring the desert, as if she has just arrived from the sands above. Her skin is fair but tanned by the Nihilian sun.

She turns her head towards them as they enter, her curvy figure becomes apparent once she stands to her feet and opens her arms with excitement.

"My new toys 'ave arrived," She exclaims with a grin stretching from cheek to cheek. "Well done, Kar'ver,"

"Thank you, Ms," He responds standing beside the table, subtly bowing his head to express gratitude.

Ms Shay'an steps right over to D'aliah, looking deeply with her grey, emotionless eyes. She grabs D'aliahs face, prying her finger into her cheeks as she turns D'aliahs head to inspect it.

"The ocean eyes are a gift of the Ab'solut," She says as she moves D'aliahs hair behind her ears, running her finger along the extension of it.

"Good ears too," She says, turning D'aliahs head to view the other one. "These ones will go well with the collection,"

"What do you know of a serum that restores memories?" D'aliah asks, but all she is met with is the sudden enraged glare of the lady's greyed pupils before she feels a sharp slap across her face.

"Hey!" Kalan yells before he's held at bay by the thugs.

D'aliah places her hand on her now stinging cheek. Shocked and infuriated she screams in the lady's face, "HOW DARE YOU SLA-"

She met with another agonizing slap to the same cheek before Ms. Shay'an grabs her face again, clutching onto D'aliahs cheeks as she brings her face up close. Filling D'aliah's field of view with the details of her moderate wrinkles and matured face.

"From now on, girl. You will only speak when spoken to," Ms Shay'an orders with a stern tone in her voice, no anger, or resentment.

Just the truth.

"Death is a debt we all must pay." - One of the mantra of the Khu