The sun dipped below the horizon just as Titania had feared. She had been unconscious for almost an entire day. The lack of water and food was starting to get to her, the drowsiness of sleep having worn off. Her stomach rumbled in protest with each step she took, the sand dune she was climbing making it only harder. She ignored it as best she could.
There were more pressing problems that concerned her. Although the scorching heat would not be a problem for a few hours, the monsters that lurked in the sand and only came out at night were.
A shift in the sands caused her to jump at the noise. She turned around, yet there was nothing there. The sand was unperturbed save for her footsteps.
“My, oh my. What is a pretty little flower like you doing all the way out here?”
Titania froze and slowly looked up to find a man covered in a black garb staring down at her. Though she could not see his mouth, his eyes were crinkled in a smile.
Titania swallowed. Her dry throat made her tongue feel thick and she struggled to find her voice. “W-Who are you?”
“Me? I’m just a humble scout for my good ol’ caravan.” He showed his open palms and did a light twirl to show his lack of weapons.
“You work for a caravan?” Titania asked, hope blooming in her chest.
“I sure do. And what about you? Are you—” his eyes trailed across her body hungrily, “Traveling with anyone?”
Titania took a nervous step back. “What’s the name of your caravan?”
“Oh, I’m sure someone as pretty and well-dressed as you wouldn’t have heard about us.”
Titania took a shallow breath and tried her best to summon mana into her hand. Her heart thrummed in her ears and she could feel her body trembling. She needed to focus. Slowly, orange mana trickled into her fingertips. “Who is your trade charter’s patron?”
“Charter?” He shook his head and laughed. “You misunderstand. My caravan does not deal with Houses and their charters. We operate outside the nobles’ stuffy constraints.”
There was only one kind of caravan that wouldn’t bother obtaining a trade charter. Titania licked her dry lips and tried to steady her shaking. “You’re slavers.”
“Indeed.” The robed man clicked his tongue and winked at her.
“Stay back!” Titania threw her arm out and aimed at him. A plume of flame three meters wide spewed out from her hand. Or at least, that was the spell she had tried to cast. Instead, only a flicker of flame spewed from her fingertips, followed by a puff of smoke. Titania stared at her failed spell in mute surprise.
All those hours of training with her teachers came back to her. Their warnings of why one needed to meditate and train their magic over and over. She had always complained about why they had made her repeat the same simple spells she had already mastered. But her teachers had insisted that it was easy to cast a spell in the comfort of one’s own home. It was entirely different trying to cast in the heat of battle.
The robed man whistled. “The pretty flower is a budding mage? My, you are just perfect, aren’t you? I’m sure a little thing like you would sell very well at the black markets.”
“I… Stay away from me!” Titania yelled and stumbled back.
The robed man placed a hand over his chest and gasped. “That you would think I would ever lay a hand on a pretty flower such as yourself. I’m hurt. I told you, I am but a humble scout. You have nothing to fear from me.” He shrugged, “As for my partner, well, that’s a different story. He’s the muscle.”
The sand once more shifted behind Titania. She turned in time to see a club falling down on her. A sharp pain split the side of her head and her vision went black.
~~~
“Wake up, Titania.” The voice was familiar yet otherworldly, as if the wind itself were speaking to Titania. “Wake up!” the voice boomed like thunder.
Titania opened her eyes blearily and looked around. Where was she? What had happened? Slowly, her memories came back to her.
Titania glanced around. She was lying down on a hard wooden floor, surrounded by metal bars. A cage. She was in a cage so small she couldn’t even stand. Three figures were speaking a few paces away. It was dark and she struggled to make out their features, but she did recognize the slaver scout.
“Why was she bleeding?” demanded a gravelly voice.
“Apologies, Warden. My partner was a little too hasty,” said the scout.
“Hasty? Is that what you call damaging prime merchandise?” the warden snapped.
“We didn’t want her to get away. She’s a mage,” said a third man. This one was broad-shouldered and almost as tall as the warden.
“A mage?” the warden asked.
The scout nodded excitedly. “Yes. I told you, you would like her. She’ll make us a fortune.”
“You mean she’ll make me a fortune,” the warden corrected.
“Yes, of course,” the scout said.
“Hm. Is she a threat?” the warden asked.
“No. She could hardly make a flame the size of a candle. She’s harmless,” the scout said.
“An Orange? Hm. We don’t want her to get any ideas. It wouldn’t be the first time a mage tried to burn down their own cage and instead burned to death in their own fires,” the warden said.
“Really?” the third man asked, surprised.
“The wood of those cages is sturdy, but dry wood burns easily. Anyone inside those cages will burn to ash long before the wood cracks. Is that clear, lass?” The warden craned his neck and looked straight at Titania. He only had one eye and it was blood-red.
Titania shivered and pulled back into the corner of her cage.
“She’s awake?” the scout asked.
“For some time now, yes,” the warden noted. “She thinks she’s smart. But she’ll soon realize that not even the infamous Tribe Slayer can escape once caught.” As if to illustrate his point, he kicked the cage to Titania’s right.
A man hung from the cage, his arms stretched apart with shackles and chains. Even his feet were manacled. Even in the dark, Titania could make out his yellow, almost golden brown skin. His head hung, chin resting against his chest, whether from sleep or unconsciousness, Titania could not tell. His hair was pitch-black, but there were no horns.
How could there be?
It was clear from his yellow complexion that the man was a Rulus. Yet, there was not a single tattoo inked across his body, no matter where she looked. All she found were lacerations and bruises.
“Don’t worry. So long as you behave, you won’t end up like him. Or her,” the warden threw a thumb back at the cage to Titania’s left. A small woman huddled in the corner. “Understood?”
Titania gave a wary nod.
“Good girl.” The warden smiled, but it was more hideous than anything. “Paul, get her something to eat,” the warden called out to a fourth figure Titania hadn’t noticed lurking in the shadows.
“Aye, warden,” Paul said.
“You two, with me.” The warden gestured for the other two to follow him. The three men disappeared into the darkness, leaving Titania surrounded by cages, wagons, tents, and one of the tallest Sune men she had ever seen.
“My name’s Paul,” he introduced himself after a moment. “What’s your name?”
She stared at him but made no move to respond.
He sighed and scratched one of two massive horns curling out from his forehead. “Look. I am going to open your cage and hand you some food. Now, you can try and resist like the woman next to you, but it won’t end well. And I’d rather not explain to the boss why his new precious merchandise has a broken jaw. So, I give you food and you eat. Understood?”
Titania nodded slowly.
“Good.” Paul pulled out a simple iron key from his pocket and unlocked the cage door. Titania scurried backwards, wary of his touch. Paul kept his eye on her and carefully placed a wooden bowl on the ground. He stepped back, closed the cage, and locked it. “Stew tonight. It’s not bad. Not great, but not bad.”
He walked back to his station, which amounted to a crate that served as his chair. He lit his lantern and resumed reading a book with a title Titania could not make out. Titania stared at the bowl of stew, the scent wafting into her nose. The man was right, it didn’t smell bad. Her starving stomach growled in response and her mouth watered. She wanted to eat so badly, but she couldn’t.
Naomi had warned her of eating food from strangers. Titania was no longer in her family’s palace. Her mother had always had a food taster in case of poison. Titania had no such luxury here. She couldn’t afford to eat poisoned food. She needed her mind sharp for when Naomi came to rescue her.
Titania glanced at the guard, he was busy reading his book. She turned to the hanging prisoner. “Hello…?”
The prisoner made no response. He was unconscious, as she had thought. Titania turned to the opposite side of her cage and called out softly to the woman curled in the corner. “Hello…?”
The woman looked up, but did not come closer. Her cheek was swollen and purple, and her lip was split from where Paul had clearly struck her. Even worse, one of her horns had been broken and judging from the dried blood on the ridges, it had happened only a few hours ago.
Titania grimaced at the thought of losing one of her horns, especially in such a horrid manner. “Um, I’m Titania. What’s your name?”
The woman ignored her and stared at the bowl of stew.
“Do you want it?” Titania offered the bowl. Part of her grimaced at the idea of giving up her meal, but the more sensible part of her told her that she didn’t even know if the food was safe.
The woman scrambled over, reached her arms through the bars of both cages and grabbed the bowl. She had to tilt the bowl to get it through the bars, spilling some of the stew, but she didn’t seem to care. She scarfed down the food as if her life depended on it.
Titania couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. “Do they not feed you?”
“...Only sometimes.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
The woman shrugged.
“What’s your name?”
“...I’m Vela.”
She smiled and reached her hand through the bars. “Nice to meet you, I’m Titania.”
The woman stared at her pristine olive skin, touched with a hint of red and yellow-gold. “You’re a noblewoman, aren’t you?
“N-No.” Titania stammered. If the slavers knew she was a noble, they would probably put even more guards around her; it would only make Naomi’s job more difficult. If Naomi didn’t come to rescue her soon, then perhaps it was best to reveal her nobility, but until then she would keep it to herself.
Vela clearly didn’t believe her but nodded nonetheless. “Right. Nice to meet you, too.”
“How long have you been here?”
“...About a week.”
“How long have I been here?” Titania hoped a whole day hadn’t passed again.
“They brought you in about an hour ago.”
Titania sighed in relief. “Good. It’s not too late.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well. I was separated from my caravan and guardian after this big explosion and—”
“You mean the midnight sun?” Vela sat up.
Titania blinked. It couldn’t be. “You know what that strange light was?”
“No. But everyone’s been talking about it. They’re calling it the midnight sun. Lots of people were hurt. It destroyed Red Pond and ruined the surrounding travel routes, along with every nearby caravan. I guess we were lucky we weren’t too close, if you can count living like this as lucky,” she laughed bitterly. “Still, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the warden scared before that night.”
“Was it that bad…?” Titania muttered to herself. Were Naomi and the others okay? She recalled the ruined state of the enchanted vault. A pit of worry formed in her stomach. Maybe Naomi wasn’t coming for her after all. “I need to get out of here.”
Vela scoffed. “Good luck with that. I tried. It didn’t end well.”
“My friends are looking for me. It’s been a whole day since that—midnight sun. They’ll find me soon.”
Vela furrowed her brow. “A day? The midnight sun happened three nights ago.”
“What?” Titania’s face grew pale. She hadn’t been asleep in that vault for a day, but three.
“I don’t think anyone’s coming for you or any of us.” Vela licked the last bit of stew off her bowl and handed it back. “Thanks again for the food.” She turned and headed back to the corner of her cage.
“Wait. Please,” Titania said desperately.
“What?”
She looked around before answering in a quiet whisper. “I can try and break us out.”
“How?” Vela cocked an eyebrow.