The Red Kingdom Ch 9: Four Remaining, Enter Kaelen!

I sat in the dirt with blood still drying on my skin, and I watched them die.

I didn't want to. Gods, I didn't want to.

But I didn't look away.

One after another, the men who'd stood beside me in that cage were dragged out, pushed forward, and sent to their deaths like cattle.

They screamed. They bled. They begged. Some fought hard. Some barely moved before the beasts tore into them.

And me? I sat there... clutching my side, shoulder burning, watching the red puddles grow larger with every passing minute.

I didn't even know their names.

We all crossed that wall together, silent strangers in the dark. Now half of them were gone. Then more.

By the time the last man was pulled beneath the dirt by the jaws of another damn Vurlak—screaming as he went—there were only four of us left.

Just four. Out of ten.

I didn't even know when I started shaking. But my fingers wouldn't stop twitching. Maybe from pain. Maybe from the cold sweat clinging to my back. Maybe from the sheer damn madness of it all.

Senaka stood above us, hands on her hips. Her expression was blank—cold, unreadable.

What was she thinking?

Did she care? Did she ever? Or were we all just broken toys waiting to see which ones still worked?

She finally spoke.

"Pathetic."

Her voice hit like a slap.

She looked down at the last man, the one who hadn't even screamed—just fell to his knees and accepted it when the Vurlak tore into him. She watched the blood-soaked dirt where he disappeared, her brow raised slightly.

"Only four, huh?" she said, more to herself than to us.

Then she crouched—massive knees bending, armor clanking—and leaned down over us like we were insects she was studying.

Without another word, she reached out, grabbed each of us—one by one—and dropped us back into the wooden cage like we were fruit in a basket.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Me, last.

I winced as my shoulder hit the floor again, fresh pain shooting down my back.

The cage creaked as she lifted it up with ease, her footsteps shaking the world as she walked deeper into the forest.

None of us spoke.

I glanced at the other three—what was left of us.

One guy had a bite mark on his arm and couldn't stop trembling. Another was holding his stomach like he was trying to keep his insides from spilling out. The third just stared into space, unmoving, like his soul was still back in the pit with the Vurlak.

I wasn't much better.

I looked down at my leg—still bleeding, though it had slowed. My shoulder was ripped raw. My shirt was more red than cloth now.

I'd thought maybe... maybe that monster of a woman would offer something. A cloth. A poultice. A few drops of water that didn't come from her spit.

Something. Anything.

But no.

To her, we were still alive. That was enough.

I leaned my head back against the cage bars and stared up at the towering trees above us, barely visible past her swaying bronze armor and the shifting green canopy.

This wasn't survival.

This wasn't glory.

This was a sick game.

And I wasn't even sure what the prize was anymore.

I tried to sleep.

Gods, I tried.

My body was screaming, my blood felt thick in my veins, and every scratch itched like I was already rotting alive. The cage swayed gently with each of Senaka's steps, creaking like an old boat cutting through a sea of trees.

I had just about drifted off when—

"Hey... hey, can we talk?"

A whisper, low and close.

I cracked one eye open.

One of the men was sitting beside me on his knees, his face lit by the soft orange glow of the giant's fire still burning on the horizon behind us. He was young—not quite as young as the boy who died, but not far off. He had shaggy black hair, a short beard, and dirt smeared across one cheek.

His eyes weren't scared, though. Just... tired. Like mine.

"W-what do you want?" I muttered.

He gave a half-shrug. "Just thought it was worth saying. What you did back there? That was something."

I stared at him. For a second, I didn't say anything. My brain was too tired to process compliments.

Something.

Something.

I closed my eyes again, just for a breath, and all I saw was the boy's chest ripped open, blood spilling into the dirt, his wide terrified eyes fading.

"Yeah?" I said. "For all the good it did."

The guy shifted his weight a little, like he wanted to say more but wasn't sure how.

"You did something most of us were too scared to do," he said. "You didn't let him die alone."

I looked at him again. There wasn't any smugness in his tone. No judgment. Just honesty.

"And with that rock? That was insane," he added with a faint grin. "In a good way, I mean."

I let out something between a scoff and a sigh. "Yeah. Me and the rock, we're best friends now."

He chuckled, then leaned forward a little.

"Name's Kaelen," he said. "Figured if we're gonna be in the same cage possibly being chewed on by oversized rats again, might as well know who's sitting next to me."

"Throne," I said, after a pause. I reached out, gave his hand a quick shake. His grip was warm, firm.

"Nice to meet you, Throne," Kaelen said.

He stood, stretching a bit as he looked at the others.

"I'll leave you be. Try and get some rest. I'm gonna go see if that guy in the corner speaks more than grunts."

I watched him go, watched him kneel down next to one of the other men who hadn't said a word since this madness began. Kaelen leaned in, talking low, probably giving him the same quiet kindness he gave me.

I leaned back again, head resting on the splintered wood, the forest still humming around us like some living thing.

Kaelen was right.

In times like these, the least we could do... was try to look out for each other.

I closed my eyes and let the weariness pull me under, unsure of what kind of nightmare tomorrow had in store.

But for now, I rested.