It was hot and the shade from the foxhole wasn't helping.The heat kept him awake, and his mind couldn't help but worry about Audrey. He starts to think about the conversation Belle showed him.  Holder becomes more and more upset as he replays the conversation in his mind. Impatient. Impulsive. He ran through the insults. But most importantly they said he was incapable of stealth. He's  a runaway. Stealth is his new lifestyle. Holder hushed his thoughts as a whisper crept into his mind.

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A caravan in the distance; 2 trucks and a larger truck with 9 wheels on each side in between.The cargo was children. It's far. But they’re just kids. Holder sighed deeply as he reasoned a justification for his next impulsive action. Audrey will be fine. In a cloud of ash he erupted from the foxhole and sped towards the caravan. He aimed for the first trucks’ drivers side but veered off course at the last second. The smokescreen of ash caused the driver to stop. Stealth. Holder whispered to himself as he snuck into the back of the largest truck. Once inside, the caravan continued its journey through the wastes. Inside the truck was dark and quiet. Holder poked holes into the canopy above to shed some light. There were 4 kids; each older than the last with the youngest locked inside a cage. The 5 or 6 year old child was doubly bound to prevent contact with the other children. The oldest spoke, “Yessir?”.

Holder scoffed, “Not sir; Holder. And we’re leaving”. Holder pulled down his cloak to reveal his runner’s scar.The middle children hopped in joy as the oldest gasped at the shocking statement. She was young, but wasn't much younger than Audrey, possibly 18. They all looked related, except for the youngest. As Holder approached, the other 3 children gathered behind him. “ No mister”, the second oldest child warned. 

Holder stopped. The child explained his warning carefully, “ If you touch him you’ll die”.

Holder scoffed once more; “who told you that?”. The child pointed towards the cab of the truck. 

Holder kneeled to meet the child’s eyes, “Don’t you know? Never trust one of them.”  Holder opened the cage and released the excessive shackles off the youngest child. As soon as the child was free, he showed gratitude with an endearing hug. Holder stiffened at the display of affection, but not in disgust. He felt strange. His brain felt like it was boiling.The pressure kept building. Everything went black.

The black car stopped in front of the Windhelm manor and the driver hopped out of the vehicle to let out Miss Durwood. “Welcome, welcome.” William Windhelm the IV rushed outside to greet her. Belled bowed and ducked behind Audrey.  Audrey stiffend her arm to prevent Will from making a full embrace. Will ignored the resistance and forced a hug before welcoming his guest into his manor. Audrey cut the tour short by requesting a view of the stables. William reasoned that the stables are off limits until a shipment arrives from Stillwater. Audrey didn't know the name but it seemed familiar to Belle. She shuddered while standing behind Audrey.

“But, if you want to see some of our slaves then follow me!” William took Audrey by the hand and rushed out the backdoor of the manor. They arrive at a short building with only a stairwell inside. Belle followed along quietly as they entered the depths of the Windhelm arena. Audrey heard of the savagery conducted here, but dare not witness it herself. Will finally let go when they arrived inside his private viewing area. Audrey sat down, and snapped her head towards Belle. “Sit outside unless I need you for something.” Belled obeyed and left the room, returning the wink Audrey gave her. Audrey grimaced as the fight below was nearing an end. A worker entered the ring to check the status of the fighter who lost.

“He’s alive!”

“Be quiet, they could hear us!”

“Sorry…”

“Hush”

Holder slowly awoke to the sounds of voices and sobbing. The youngest child was crying inside of the cage while the other 3 were crowding overhead. 

“We thought you were dead”, the oldest helped Holder to stand.

“Not yet”, Holder got to his feet and pulled off his cloak. He approached the youngest child slowly and draped the cloak carefully so as to not make skin contact. He then turned to the others in a stern face, “let’s go”.

The driver of the truck slammed on the breaks after three loud bangs went off in the cargo bed. The caravan halted to inspect the back of the largest truck. 2 men entered and were sent flying through the canopy in seconds. Just then the three children ran towards the truck leading the caravan. They piled in and the oldest pulled around to pick up Holder. The runaway was about to finish another one of the slavers before he heard an all too familiar beeping sound. The youngest child started to shake. A slaver activated the collar, with a finger hovering over the kill switch command. Holder raised his arms in surrender and glared at the oldest of the children.

Go to the south, find the mountains of metal.

The oldest obeyed and drove off as Holder was collared and beaten by the remaining slavers.

The caravan was reduced to a single truck as the slavers huddled around Holder under the torn canopy. The driver sped off after the last worker boarded. The last man inside shouted to the driver, “Secure back here. Get us over to Windhelm”.

As soon as Belle was out of sight, she headed straight to the stables. Her destination was clear across the compound, but Belle was confident that her powers would help her save her baby. Belles’ ability allowed her to manipulate sound and aerial vibration. She silenced her footsteps as she raced through the shadows along the compound. If a stray worker spotted her; she would vibrate their eardrum to induce sleep. When she finally reached the stable doors, she removed the lock by vibrating the mechanisms within. Belle snuck inside and glared as a Stillwater truck arrived. The driver got out and was met by a scientist. Belle got close enough to listen to their conversation.

The truck driver stared at his own feet while he spoke, “Got hit on the way over”.

“And the cargo?”The scientist adjusted his glasses.

“Gone. Except for one.”,the driver was becoming nervous.

 The glasses nearly fell off of his face as his voice snapped, “Tell me which one!”

The scientist sighed in relief as the guard read off a collar registration number. “ Good, that is our most valuable subject”.

“Got this one too” a guard pointed inside the canopy but Belle couldn't see from her angle.

“Oh, just toss that one in the arena. I have what I need.” Belle watched as the scientists walked away. Workers boarded the truck in pairs and carried out an unconscious slave and a cage. The cage . There was no mistaking it, Belle had found her son. She followed the worker carefully until they put the child into the stable nursery with the rest of the children. She watched patiently as the scientist conducted a series of tests on the children. There were too many people around to make a move, so she waited for her opportunity.  Belle was so focused that she didn't realize that Holder was the other person taken out of the truck.

The workers dragged the body into the arena and dropped him into the blood soaked ash. Audrey couldn't help herself when she realized who the next fighter was. “Holder!”. She scrambled to cover her mouth. Audrey glanced over at William; but he was still cheering from the last gruesome fight. William turned before she could avert her eyes. “Hey, where's your slave? Tell her to bring us some drinks”.

Audrey knew that Belle could not have returned so quickly; so she distracted Will with idle chatter. “Ooooh what's happening next?”, Audrey feigned excitement while pointing down into the arena. William cleared his throat as he explained every nuance of arena fighting. Audrey hid her worry for Holder as she watched the fight; but was sure to interject every so often with a “oh ok” or “really?” everytime Will paused to take a breath. 

Holder got up and dusted the ash off of his clothes. He stared up the crowd of onlookers jeering in the stands.It didn't take long for him to realize what was going on. He had fought in places like this before, albeit much smaller. But he was sure that the goal was the same. Survive. Holder prepared for the worst until he noticed Audrey in the stands. Audrey remembered that even though she could not hear Holder’s thoughts, he should be able to hear hers. She covered her mouth and thought as hard as she could. Holder, are you ok? What the heck happened? Nevermind I can't hear you. Just listen. Can you hear me?

Holder was staring back at Audrey to confirm he heard her thoughts. Audrey took a mental breath before continuing. Belle isn't back yet, so you have to play along until we can escape together. Holder nodded. Just then, a slave joined Holder on the arena floor; and without warning started to attack. Holder went on the defensive and dodged the wild swings. He was able to skillfully evade or block each attack, but when the opportunity to counterattack was presented Holder would create distance by leaping back across the arena. The crowd above was growing restless. They wanted blood and called Holder a coward for not fighting back. Holder got frustrated from the jeering and lost his footing. The slave landed a clean hit to Holder's jaw. Holder feigned an injury and refused to stand back up. By then the crowd was throwing things into the arena. Will was getting embarrassed and decided to take control. “What do you say folks? Do we spice things up by turning off the collars?”

The unanimous cheers for death swept throughout the stands. After deactivating the power damping fields Will returned to his seat and continued his one sided dialogue with Audrey.

Holder got back to his feet but  was knocked down yet again by an unseen force. An enormous amount of pressure was crushing him from above every time the slave stomped his feet. Holder quickly put up a barrier with his power. In all of his previous fights he had never used his abilities against his fellow man. Holder still refused to attack and remained on the defensive while the slave continued his barrage. Before long, Holder was pinned down, feet sunken into the ash. Just as the slave reared back to deliver a finishing blow, Holder rushed his legs. They scramble and kick up ash. When the dust settles, Holder has a firm headlock around his opponent. The crowd was now completely enraged. Some of the onlookers turned their rage towards Will. Feeling even more embarrassed; Will stood up with an outstretched fist. He then pointed his thumb horizontally. A death chant began to grow in the stands. The thumb titled until it was pointing down. With a flick of his wrist, Will had activated both collars for detonation. Will began to sing, “eeny, meeny, miney, moe…”. In a flash, Holder was covered in his opponents’ blood. Audrey was just as stunned as Holder as the fight was concluded. Will returned to his seat triumphantly and continued the conversation where he left off.  His voice had faded into the background while Audrey examined Holder for damage until he said something to catch Audrey’s attention. “When it comes to breeding, sometimes you can get promising results from cross-breeding”.

“Cross-breeding?”Audrey turned her full attention to Will.

Will smiled, “You know, when you mix a nomad slave with a worker slave”.

“Oh…”, Audrey was unaware of what went on inside the stables. The realization caught her off guard. Will kept on explaining as Audrey began to lose interest and turn back to the arena.

“It's 50/50 really, Sometimes they get nothing at all, not even the physical strength. Hell, without the collar you couldn't even tell they were a slave! He laughed hardily.

“ But on the other end, you could get one with unheard of power. I’ve even seen one keep fighting with half a brain left!”

The worker in the arena signaled that another fight was starting. But Holder refused to leave the arena. The worker quickly threatened to kill Holder for his disobedience but Will interjected. “If he wants to fight then let him fight. But remember, I’m not saving you like I did last time boy”. Holder stood his ground as the next challenger was being announced. Audrey had seen more than enough, but had to endure the facade so that Belle could find her child.

Now. Belle made her move just as the scientist left the room. She rushed in without a sound and took hold of her child. They embraced, careful not to touch skin directly. “Link”, Belle sobbed as she squeezed harder and harder. Link endured the hug, he was just as excited to be reunited. Afterwards, Belle recognized the cloak that Link was wearing. Before she could ask her son how he came across a raiders cloak, the bright lights inside the stable flickered then went off.  Belle stood up just as the lights partially returned. The stable had darkened, but areas of importance were still illuminated with dim light. She stared down at Link who was stricken with terror. The caring mother assumed that her child was frightened by the brief moment of darkness.

 “It's ok now, I’m here to save you”. But her comforting words fell on ears deafened by fear. Link stared up at his mother, trembling and unable to speak. All the child could do was point at the hideous figure standing behind his mother. Belle was now confused, she would have sensed if the scientists or anyone else was coming back into the pen. She turned and was met by a tall black slender frame. On top of the skeletal machine was the face of a man. The face appeared to be a distorted mask, but Belle could tell that it was once skin by the slight smell of rotting flesh. A voice crept out from the unmoving lips, “You aint saving nobody slave”. The loud bang of a gun drowned out the screams that filled the nursery.