The rain stopped by the time night came. Dolion and his siblings were brought out of the tent and forced to kneel before the leader. He couldn’t help but want to say something snarky to him. “Sir, we could’ve done this in private.”

The leader sneered at him. “You make a good offer, but I wanna see that little black-haired beauty on his knees in front of me.” He walked over to Kara and lifted her chin. “Tell me what that orb is.”

Kara gulped. “I-It’s called the Eye of Avi. I-I don’t know anything more t-than that. W-We were t-taking it t-to a s-scholar.”

“You expect us to believe that’s all you know?” one of the bandits shouted at her. “Your damn orb blinded one of our men!”

“Maybe we should trade her and that orb for some gold,” another commented.

Kara’s heart dropped, and her eyes widened. Would they really sell her? What would happen to her if that happened?

“I wouldn’t do anything to her if I were you…,” Dolion suggested.

“Oh? Why not?” the leader questioned. “She would fetch a good price.”

“You really wanna take that chance with one of Memoria’s priestesses?” Dolion snapped back. “She wears the pendant. Do anything to her and you’ll have an angry goddess after you and your group.”

“The Incarnates don’t care about us mortals,” one of the bandits sneered.

“Perhaps not,” Sal spoke up. “But our sister is one of Memoria’s most devoted priestesses, and we know the Incarnates favor them, especially those who wear the pendant.”

“It’s almost sickening how blindly devoted she is,” Dolion commented. He hoped the leader would take the bait. They weren’t saying this just to talk, but hoping he would spare their sister.

The leader looked at her for a few seconds before growling and walking away. “We’ll leave her alone for now. Last thing we need is some wrathful Incarnate after us because she likes one of her priestesses more than her followers.”

Kara didn’t know if she should feel relieved or more scared. She wasn’t blind to the looks some of the men were giving her. And just because she was safe for now didn’t mean her brothers were safe. What would happen to them?

“Bring the little beauty out,” the leader shouted to the women standing outside his tent. Both of them bowed and went in to get Len. Dolion’s heart stopped when he saw the younger man step out.

Len’s naturally wavy hair was curlier than normal and pinned back with some ringlets framing his face that made it look softer. Even in the dark, Dolion could see that some rouge had been lightly applied to his cheeks and lips, making them look more flushed. His burgundy eyes had been lined with black kohl that made the stars in his eyes look brighter. He’d been changed into a flowy, dusty lavender halter dress. A thin leather strap had been tied around his waist to give it more shape. Matching silver bracelets were on both wrists, along with a matching silver choker around his neck. 

Dolion smelled the scent of disgust under the heavy flowery perfume that the servants covered him in. As much as he wanted to continue admiring the younger man’s beauty, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He could smell the lust coming from the leader and see the hungry look in the man’s dull gold eyes.

Len reluctantly walked to the leader. He saw Dolion and the others kneeling not too far from him. Some of the bandits pointed their weapons at them. His body shuddered when the leader grabbed his wrist and pulled him close. It took everything in him not to pull away, but he knew he had to play along for now.

“Well well,” the leader purred. “You look ravishing.”

Dolion bit back a growl and resisted transforming. He wanted to rip the man’s throat out when he saw him rubbing the younger man’s bottom. 

The leader grinned at him. “Jealous, little fox? I’ll show this boy what it’s like to be with a real man.”

Len’s left eye twitched at that. He wanted to curse at him. He swallowed the bile rising in his throat when the man gave his bottom a firm squeeze. It wasn’t the first time he’d been groped like this, but this was the first time he was truly helpless to fight back. If he did or said anything out of line, the leader would order his men to kill Dolion and the others. The image of Ilys’ dead body reminded him of her sacrifice. The least he could do was put up with this until he could find a way to get her siblings out safely.

“What should we do with these three?” one of the bandits asked.

The leader looked at them for a few seconds before answering. “We’ll leave the woman alone. As for the two men…” He stood up and clapped loudly. “I think they should earn their right to leave…”

All of the bandits started hollering and cheering. Len felt uneasy about what the leader meant and knew it couldn’t be good. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone doing anything to Kara. That orb and being a priestess would keep most of them away from her.

“Take them to the fighting pit!” the leader commanded. He grabbed Len’s arm and started walking away from the camp. 

The fighting pit wasn’t too far and looked simple in its design. The pit itself was deep enough that spectators could look over the wooden fence surrounding it. Len was surprised by how large it was since it was far too spacious for just two combatants.

The leader chuckled next to him. “It’s not just for two people. When we have them, we let wild animals into the pit. Luckily for your friends, the bear we had ran away a week ago. Haven’t been able to trick one or wolves into the pit.”

Len felt sick when he saw the bones of past victims scattered throughout the arena. Some skulls and other bones were half-buried in the dirt. Ribs barely hanging onto spines. Some skeletons with missing limbs. He saw one with a missing arm and leg holding onto the handle of a sword. His heart broke at the thought of these people fighting against wild animals or other people for the sick amusement of the bandits.

“I’ll let you and the priestess say your goodbyes,” the leader said with a wicked smile. Before Len could react, the man leaned down and licked from his neck to his ear. “Something to irritate the fox boy.”

The black-haired man glared at him and wiped where he licked as he walked over to Dolion and Sal. He looked up at the Vulpkith in concern. “What are you going to do?”

Dolion shrugged. “Fight whoever they want us to fight and hope they let us go after amusing them.”

“Be serious about this, Dol!” Kara snapped.

He shrugged and stuck his tongue out at her. “Kara, it’s not the first life-or-death situation we’ve been in.”

She looked up at him and Sal with tear-filled eyes. “But Ilys…”

Dolion and Sal looked at her with sad eyes. “We know, Kara,” Sal murmured. “We miss her too.”

Len jumped in surprise when Dolion loosely wrapped his scarf around his shoulders and winked at him. “That should keep you warm and cover that flowery perfume they drenched you in. But I think it clashes with your dress.”

The smaller man couldn’t help but laugh despite their grim situation. He smelled the clove and orange scents coming from the scarf and felt a little comfort with it around him. “It adds a nice pop of color.” He looked up at him and bit his lower lip nervously. Before he could stop himself, he stood on his toes and kissed Dolion’s cheek. Len’s cheeks heated up when he realized what he’d done, but he didn’t look away.

Dolion and the others looked at him in surprise. “Wha…?” Dolion couldn’t wrap his mind around what just happened. His mind couldn't form any coherent thoughts and kept thinking about the feel of those soft lips touching his cheek. The only thought he could focus on was the agreement they made. “…How can I be of service to you?”

“Your job is to come back in one piece,” Len ordered softly, feeling his cheeks heat up even more. “Do that and you’ll receive the payment I promised back in Ebonwood.”

The Vulpkith smirked and nodded. “Understood. I promise to return to you in one piece.”

“Alright! That’s enough!” the leader yelled angrily. “Put them in the pit!”

Len yelped when he was yanked back and watched the other bandits push Dol and Sal into the arena. He wrapped Dolion’s scarf tighter around himself and ignored the growl coming from the leader.

“So, who are we fighting?” Dolion asked the leader. “A group of your lackeys? You, perhaps?”

The leader laughed at that. “Like I would get my hands dirty for a mongrel like you.” He pulled Len close to him and looked Dolion in the eye. “You’ll be fighting each other. Let’s see which brother is stronger…”

“Are you sure her body was here?”

A human man with fair skin and ash-brown hair glared at his comrade. “I know it was here. The road is damaged from when that blast hit her. She hit that tree and landed in front of it. She was here.”

The other man, a Water Elf with midnight blue hair and royal blue eyes that stood out against his warm beige skin, huffed. “Well, she didn’t just get up and walk away. That woman was dead when I checked.” He looked around to see if there were any clues to where the body was.

“She couldn’t have gotten far…,” the human mumbled.

The Water Elf nodded. “Even if she’s alive, her injuries are serious enough that she needs help. Split up and look around.” He walked further up the path.

The human man sighed and looked around. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary other than the missing body. “Boss is gonna kill us if we don’t find her.” He walked down the opposite side of the path. A few minutes later, he saw a body lying face down in the middle of it. “Well, that was easy.”

He jogged over to the body, seeing that it was the woman they were looking for. When he turned her over, he jerked when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and saw a dagger in the woman’s hand.

Ilys pulled the blade out and watched the man fall down next to her. He struggled to breathe and put his chest over his chest in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. She looked over at him and watched his breathing slow down before it stopped after a few more seconds. Looking up at the night sky, she let out a weary breath.

“One down. One to go.”