A few years ago, a man arrived in our city, half-dead.
Imposing, his built-up, scarred body told the story of a thousand battles. He intrigued me. He was a mercenary. Always on his guard, even towards my father who had welcomed him, he wouldn't let anyone approach him. Yet he was strong, incredibly strong. His talents far surpassed those of ordinary soldiers.
My father, impressed, offered him a place in the army. He refused.
I didn't understand. It didn't make sense to me. Why refuse such an opportunity? So one day, driven by curiosity, I followed him to the meadow where he was training in secret.
I asked him the question.
His answer, at the time, troubled me more than I cared to admit.
He had looked at me with a melancholy expression and, with a smile filled with understanding, he said:
"The world is vast, young lord. Vast and magnificent. And in this world, there are so many things to discover, so many people to meet. That's why I can't stay. I want to see more of this vast world."
At that moment, his eyes shone with such intensity, filled with life and conviction, that mine began to dream too.
I wish I could discover the world too, I thought then.
But today, my eyes must have been empty, cold. I'd lost everything, after all.
The place I was in was dark and cramped. The floor was hard, and a kind of slippery blanket enveloped me.
My hands and feet were tied, and a gag prevented me from speaking.
The situation was bad, but judging by the state of my body after the "fight", they had given me some care. Otherwise, I'd already be writhing in pain. A small relief.
I began to analyze my surroundings.
We were on the move. I was sure of it. The shaking of the ground, the unevenness of the terrain... A vehicle. The loud engine pierced my eardrums, and the smell of steel, blood and fuel saturated the air, making it difficult to breathe.
I was in a car. Or at least, a motorized one.
Amidst the din of the engine, I heard something. A fainter sound, drowned out by the noise... Crying.
Someone else is here.
A shiver ran through me. Sadness, relief, guilt...
They must be residents of my city, perhaps even members of my family.
I struggled, pulling at my bonds with all my might. The rope dug into my burnt skin like an invisible whip lacerating my flesh.
I knew it was no use. My bonds were too strong. But I just wanted to... escape this helplessness. This gnawing weakness.
Tears slid down my face, but my mouth refused to utter the slightest moan. My features remained frozen.
I felt... empty.
I retched, an oppressive disgust. I couldn't hold it in. I vomited through my gag.
The hot liquid seeped through the fabric, preventing me from catching my breath properly. The acrid smell of bile made me dizzy.
I was suffocating.
Then everything went black.
I woke with a start, awakened by a shrill scream.
"-- Again?!" exclaimed a female voice, imbued with undisguised frustration.
"I-it's vomit, Lady Vanneli..." a male voice replied timidly.
"Who's it from?"
Without waiting for an answer, she advanced towards me, her heels clicking on the metal of the vehicle.
With a violent kick to the abdomen, she threw me against the wall of the vehicle.
Pain exploded inside me. The air left my lungs in a muffled groan.
"Take him with the others. I'll see them later."
Without warning, the bag I was in was lifted and carried to an unknown destination.
*************************************************
After a few minutes of being dragged along, the sound of creaking steel shook me out of the prison of thoughts in which I'd been hiding from the pain.
The air was heavy, saturated with the smell of sweat and dried blood.
The shock of the impact had taken my breath away, and a taste of iron filled my mouth. My muscles, numb, refused to respond immediately. The bag enveloping me was brutally ripped open and I fell to the cold, rough ground.
Around me, indistinct silhouettes barely moved. Broken moans, hoarse breaths... The room was plunged into semi-darkness, lit only by a thin trickle of light seeping in under a metal door.
I tried to sit up, but a stabbing pain shot through my back and ribs. I suffocated, trying to calm the involuntary tremors that ran through my body.
A murmur rose, faint, like an interspersed breath:
"Are you alive?"
I turned my head with difficulty. Someone had approached, a dirty-skinned teenager, his eyes hollowed out by fatigue and hunger. He stared at me with no real emotion, as if he'd already seen too many newcomers to care.
"What the..." I managed to articulate in a hoarse voice.
"It's the cage." His voice was almost detached, as if he were stating a banal fact.
"If you're here, you've been lucky. For now."
Lucky? I almost wanted to burst out laughing, at what point could I have been lucky, if we had been we wouldn't be here in the first place.
I wanted to scream these words along with my hatred but I held back and let him continue my monolthe.
A sound echoed through the corridor, metallic and resonant. Instinctively, all the prisoners froze. No one spoke, no one moved.
Heavy footsteps approached.
My heart pounded in my chest as anguish seeped into me, an icy poison paralyzing my limbs.
The door opened with a shrill creak. A stronger glow briefly flooded the room, revealing emaciated faces, bodies weakened by days, perhaps weeks, of captivity.
A figure entered.
"You two, stand up."
Two prisoners were ruthlessly seized. They did not resist; they had neither the strength nor the courage. One of them, an young man, was trembling violently. Like a leaf struck by the wind.
"No... no... please..." he stammered.
A brutal blow silenced him. Then they were dragged from the room. The door closed with a thud.
Silence returned.
I took a shaky breath.
The boy next to me sighed and lay back against the wall.
"Don't worry, it'll soon be your turn. Everyone have to go through it."