The caravan found itself a few hours away from the great city of Minotaur. Earlier on the same day, they had ventured into the enormous forest that made up part of the border for the city. Once one had passed through it, they would officially become the property of the War-King. Of course, there are exceptions for some People. Any nobles, or high class citizens were seen as allies, rather than potential slaves. Korvax could be counted among some of the more privileged minotaur who were free to do as they please, as long as it didn't interfere with the King's business. Though Aran would never in his life trust the scheming merchant, he knew he'd be safe from the hunter's guild as long as he stuck close to his employer. The days traveling with the caravan became less miserable by the hour, but most of his colleagues were still terrified of him. Even though if he had food in his stomach, and his body kept warm by the bear poncho, he still found himself feeling agitated because the lack of things for him to do. He had gotten enough sleep for a week’s worth of travel and now, his mind was spinning off in a million directions. Thoughts of Cadence, Applebloom, Luna and Magmar had clouded his mind for hours. In situations like this he would have been having small-talk with Applebloom, but she felt much more secure talking to her new friend, Anzja.
Aran glanced at the two sitting inside the wagon, while he was obligated to sit with one of Korvax's lackies in the front. The only thing he could do was to keep sharpening his axe with a whetstone loaned to him by one of the travelers. Staring into his own reflection whilst sharpening the terrifying axe, Aran's mind drifted once again to shadows of his past.
***
The cold and lonely nights in his cell had made it nigh-impossible to sleep properly. He had no bed, no blanket, nor even a pillow for comfort, the closest simulacrum of comfort he had at night was the, now quite large, pile of hay they kept giving him, thinking he would eat it. The hay provided a thin blanket of warmth, which offered little protection against the cold ground. Aran was slightly on edge from his last encounter with the alicorn. It had been around a week since he had last spoke to her and the food he had been given had left his system. Aside for his hunger, a feeling of anxiousness was present. He wanted to see the pony again. There was no doubt that he now had an immense hatred for ponies, but his ravaged mind desperately craved social interaction. Even though he probably would never meet another human again, almost anything with the ability to speak would be preferred than this constant loneliness.
Suddenly, as if answered by divine providence, a light blue flash flickered in the corner of the dungeon. Aran jumped up from the ground to see if it was her. Sure enough it was. His eyes immediately travelled to the basket of food, but before he could grab it from her through the bars of the cell, the glowing filed that held it suspended in space, moved out of his reach. "That’s not funny." He said in a very unamused tone, glaring at the pony as if she was one of the guards. Though, humor was not on the alicorn’s mind. As she stepped closer to the cell, her face became visible to Aran, showing that something was greatly bothering her.
"Have you been lying to me?" Cadence spoke.
"Lying about what!?" He tried to shouted, only for it to come out as a somewhat raspy whisper, his anger still showing through.
"About who you are and where you come from! I refuse to believe my aunt would do all this to you without having a very valid reason!" She said back to him, anger also showing in her voice.
Aran didn't respond right away, he was confused for a few seconds by what she had said. But it didn't take long for him to assume that Luna or Celestia had most likely painted him as a monster. "Even if I said no, what would make you trust me over what you've already been told?"
Cadence also took a moment to think over her options before responding. "The only way I can be absolutely certain that you are telling me the truth is if I can peek into your mind." The second she mentioned using a mind-spell on him, Aran jumped back from the bars and took a defensive stance, even if he couldn't really stop her from mind-raping him, he wouldn't go down without a fight.
"FUCK THAT!" He shouted out. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to have someone tear through your mind!?"
"If you want me to trust you, if you want me to help you, I need to have no doubts that you are who you say you are." Aran slowly lowered his stance. He needed a few minutes to make a decision, after all, this could be a trick of some sort, he already had very,very little trust for anyone in this miserable world. But the decision was made, long before Cadence had arrived. He needed that food, and in relation, her trust. Taking a very long and drawn out sigh, Aran lowered his arms and stepped forward again. He crossed his legs and waited for the alicorn to begin. Cadence had a few seconds of hesitation. "Just do it. Its going to hurt one way or the other." He said, accepting his fate. Cadence charged her horn with the empowered spell, the very same her aunt had been using on the human. The spell connected with Aran’s head. He sat there, trying to resist the excruciating agony of what could only be described as having someone vigorously grind sandpaper against brain. In the end, though, he could take it no longer and he began to roar through the pain, loud enough to wake up every single guard and royal in the castle.
***
The group of mercenaries finally arrived at the border of the Minotaur planes, past this point, any unauthorized pegasus that attempted to fly over would be stopped by the squad of gryphons who were generously donated by the gryphon emperor himself as a sign of cooperation between the two nations. "We've arrived, Sir!" One of the pegasi announced with a salute to his captain." Without wasting anytime, the group jumped off the chariots and gave their gear a quick check.
"Thank you, you are dismissed now!" Shining Armor replied with a salute back at his subordinate. While their transportation left, the mercenaries formed a circle.
It didn't take long after the pegasi left for the mercenary leader to begin taking charge. "Galia, I want you to check the road ahead and regroup with us in Ten." The crippled gryphon didn't wait a single second before shooting off into the air again. "Locust, did you learn anything valuable about the human, any weak spots?"
"I may, and I may not, this human has organs similar to any pony or minotaur, I am not sure if it can be brought down by my spikes," it spoke with a constant crackling in its throat.
"Keep looking, you'll find something. Dagon, I want you to scout the surrounding area, make sure we don't get blindsided by anything big!" The enormous minotaur started to walk towards the jungle that was nearby. Every step it took, made the ground shake until he had gone out of their sight.
While all of this had been going on, Shining was watching how the merc leader and his comrades were in sync, to Shining, he could see how most of the group had military training. "Its a shame you're a mercenary, you'd make a great drill sergeant." He joked, trying to break the tension from a few hours ago.
The blind pegasus snorted at the captain. "You're right, but this job leaves me with more dignity and money." Shining's attempt was quickly followed by him becoming even more frustrated with the aged pony. He decided he wouldn’t try to get in the mercs’ good graces anymore and just focus on the mission so as to return home as quickly as possible. A few minutes of awkward silence passed by before Dagon returned with his poleaxe bloodied from a recent encounter and Galia's rock hard landing, followed by the resulting dust cloud that covered the area for a short moment.
"I found a village eight hours away by land, I don't doubt that someone in that place would have any information of this human." She spoke, eager to start their march. The merc leader could smell the stench of blood coming from Dagon's axe and knew that he did find something that would pose a problem. Locust's breathing was a dead giveaway that he still hadn't found anything that could prove useful.
"Alright, good job Galia. Dagon, could you please carry Locust while we make our way to the village?" The minotaur picked up the changeling with little effort. This allowed him to look through the pictures and notes of the doctors who had examined Aran while they marched. "Lets move out!"
***
"Thanks for the loan!" Aran said, giving back the razor to the minotaur holding the reins of the wagon. He didn't acknowledge the human keeping his eyes on the road after putting the razor back into his bag. Aran started to stroke his now somewhat smooth face having been unable to feel it through the scruff. Now that they were on their way to Magmar, his beard would be something anyone could grab on to give them an edge. Even though it warmed his face, he wouldn't need it so much now that he had his bear pelt. They were finally getting out of forest as the number of trees started to diminish, a light at the end of the road could be seen, the branches of the trees above them smothering what little leaked through.
"Finally!" Applebloom shouted out, elated that she could finally see the exit. Anzja also peered out of the wagon to witness their arrival. They made it out of the forest to see a long road winding its way towards an enormous mountain. But it wasn't just any simple mountain, the city itself had been carved out of it. Only Aran and Applebloom’s jaws hung open at the large city at the end of the horizon, everyone else had already seen it a few times and weren't so impressed. Aran squinted to see further and began tracing his view from the bottom of the mountain up to the summit. Spread out a bit from the base of the mountain and closer towards it were ramshackle dwellings and slums where the poor lived. As his eyes traveled upward, the housing became more and more extravagant, until his eyes reached the top, where The War-King's castle lied. Aran guessed that it was bigger, if not twice the size of Canterlot. After several minutes spent admiring the city, they finally reached the front gate of the city. Several other caravans were camped outside with their stalls open for business. Weapons, armor, jewelry, spices, furs and more were up for sale. A strange feeling came over Aran, he had been in places very similar to the bazaars in Magmar, on earth a long time ago. He shook his head and pushed down the feeling of nostalgia that had came over him. They travelled through the bazaar, passing the many stands, the merchants in them going about their business, until they arrived at the gate itself, where the city guards were questioning anyone who wanted to pass through. It didn't take long until it was their turn, everything was running smoothly and Korvax's credentials seemed to be checking out, allowing them to pass, however, there was only one problem...
"WHAT IS THAT!?" One of the guards called out as he drew his sword that was shaped like a scimitar. Aran's instincts kicked in and he raised his axe, ready to defend himself with it if needed. Several guards quickly rushed over to the human, flanking him and slowly moving forward. In a few seconds, the city would be in high alert if not for the intervention of Korvax.
"Stand down!" He called out. "He is my personal bodyguard, any act of aggression towards him is an act aggression towards me!" The guards weren't convinced, but they didn't move. One of the officers approached the human.
"Pink skin, as tall as a minotaur, murderous eyes. I know who you are. The hunters guild has a heavy bounty on your head." A dead silence fell on the caravan. But he turned his back and made his way towards Korvax. "I will only let it pass if you agree to take responsibility for any mishaps."
"A merchant always pays his debts." He added with a malicious smirk. The guards quickly went back to their previous positions as everyone in the caravan let out a collectively held breath, glad that Aran hadn’t gone on a killing spree. The wagons started to move through the gate, as the guards kept a watchful eye on the human.
"Whatever, you bastards!" Aran commented as he put his axe down, in between his legs. Applebloom saw how Aran's good mood was quickly ruined by the guards and decided not to bother him, even though she did want to talk to him.
After entering the city, it didn't take long until almost every citizen was staring at the human. It was getting on his nerves, and it was getting harder and harder to keep himself in check. Personally he wanted to gouge out the eyes of anyone who stared at him as if he was a circus attraction. "I already hate this fucking city!" He announced. A half an hour later, Korvax finished parking the caravan outside the merchant's headquarters, where the merchants’ guild would allow anyone to store their wares for a small fee. While everyone jumped off the wagons and began to stretch their hooves, Aran waited for Korvax to finish his business with some of his friends. He still wanted to know what his proposal was, and in all honesty, he was a bit curious. Usually, Korvax would just speak his mind if he had anything to say, but this was special. Applebloom had gone with Anzja to see the rest of the city, along with one of the caretakers of the caravan as an escort. She had taken a quick liking to the mare, almost completely forgetting about him. ´´Maybe...Maybe she would be safe with Anzja...´´ He thought to himself. ´´Maybe she is happier with Anzja...´´ Though Aran didn't like being alone, its not like he would force Applebloom to stay with him. Even if Aran could protect Applebloom, she would be miserable trying to conform to his lifestyle. A little filly, no matter how protected, was never meant to endure what humans could.
After a few minutes of glares from worried workers in the warehouse, Korvax finally stepped away from his associates and approached the impatient human. He didn't say a word and waved for him to come along. Aran did just that and followed the malicious minotour. They went to the company's wine and ale cellar. He was most likely trying to get the human in a good mood before relaying his proposal. Several drinks later, Aran found himself chuckling with a smile on his face. After his bad first impression of Magmar, he was ready to hear what the merchant had to say. "The tension is killing you, isn't it?" He joked.
"I would say it’s my impatience, but thats a good guess too." He took a sip and finished his drink before slamming the mug down on the table. "Alright then, what the fuck is this proposal that has you acting like a suck up bitch?"
"Do you like this lifestyle? Drinking, eating and sleeping however much you want? From what you told me, your world is ahead of ours in living qualities, however, what would you say if you never had to pick up your axe again to do someone else's dirty work or kill to eat?"
A dead silence fell in the room as Korvax was waiting for his words to settle in. "Go on..." He said, leaning slightly closer to the minotaur with his ear perked and curiosity piqued.
"My company has thought of expanding from the simple selling of wares to something much more profitable..."
"And that is...?"
"The Arena!"
***
The band of mercenaries and the captain had been marching since dawn. Though the captain was no stranger to long marches as he had gone through this in his years of service, more the issue was that they had to walk at a slightly slower pace due to Dagon falling behind. The white-furred minotaur wasn't used to walking fast, due to the amount of snow in his homeland. If you weren't running, there was no point in taking big and clumsy steps that could lead you to losing your balance and falling head first into the snow, but even without the snow, if he wasn't running, his size made it hard to keep up with his smaller comrades. It was very visible that the gryphon warrior was becoming frustrated with their lack of haste. Though, after years of working together with her comrades, she had gotten used to it. After a few minutes, the group could finally spot a town at the end of the path, which which seemed to function as a crossroad to other towns, villages, or even the road to Magmar. "Finally!" Galia sighed. From her comment, the veteran pegasus knew they had arrived at a safe haven to restfor the night.
They walked along the path until they stood in front of the heart of the town, which was a fairly big inn where travelers could enter, rest their hooves or claws, and have a warm meal. "Lets see if we can get any leads on the human." The leader of the group spoke as he entered the building. From the sound of it and the smell, the tavern was mostly empty, only the smell of a Gryphon and a Minotaur wafted through his nostrils, who seemed to be seated in the back, the scent of the innkeeper himself seemed to be directly atop the counter, and judging by the snores, asleep. There was also traces of barmaids who had been here, but had left around an hour ago. The moment his group approached the counter, the snoring innkeeper shot up. He was also surprised to see this motley crew in front of him. Thankfully, in this part of the world, almost everyone looks suspicious or up to no good, so it was not something out of the ordinary, no matter how odd his clients were. "Welcome to the iron mug inn, what can I get for you?" Volkar asked, anxious to kill his boredom and make some coin for the day.
"We need three rooms for the night, and as much food as we can get for my big friend here." He tilted his head back at Dagon who towered over Volkar. "Of course..." He spoke, slightly nervous seeing an actual tundra walker. "Anything else?" He asked slightly calmer, trying to regain his cool.
"Yes, we are in need of information about a creature who has the shape of a Minotaur, but the skin of a pig, have you heard of anything like that in these parts?" He asked, leaning slightly forward with his ear perked.
Volkar took a second to think before he could answer the question. He obviously knew where Aran was going and that by now had already arrived, however, this group practically screamed trouble. "Yes I have heard of something like that."
"Terrific, please proceed." He spoke charismatically.
"I remember reading a wanted poster from the Hunters’ guild of a hideous creature living in the Everfree forest with that exact description. My best guess is that you can find it there. Other than that, I can't help."
"Thank you, you have been most helpful." He said with a confident smile. The group started to make their way towards the table to sit down and rest their limbs. While they got comfortable, Volkar walked into the kitchen, until the sound of a pan hitting the ground caught the attention of everyone. Nobody could see what was going on, until Volkar came out and pointed at one of the gryphons who had been sitting by himself. "Prom, can you help me out in the kitchen?" The gryphon didn't complain or whine, he quickly stood up and went inside, out of everyone's sight.
The moment, he was in the deepest part, Volkar waved for him to come closer. "We got a problem. I need you to report to Korvax immediately. Tell him that a group of nasty rats are after the human!" He whispered as quietly he could under his breath.
"I'll fly immediately!" He replied, making his way through the back door, and taking to the sky. Seeing his messenger leave, eased Volkar. He went back to preparing the food for the tundra walker and his companions. After a few minutes, he came out of the kitchen bearing a huge tray of different kinds of cabbage, hay and fruit. However, instead of seeing hungry faces eagerly awaiting sustenance, he saw a wingless Gryphon, eyes wide with horror, frozen in his last moments his wings at opposite sides of the room, bloody furred stumps twitching spastically. Along with one of his clients lying dead on the table, his head snapped all the way to the back, bone protruding out from the side of his throat. The culprits (except the unicorn) stood waiting for him. The unicorn had its mouth held agape in terror.
"WHAT IS THIS!?" He called out in shock. Before he could answer he felt, a small, but noticeable sting his shoulder. However, he couldn't move his body to put pressure on the sore spot, it was at that moment he realized that he was completely paralyzed. "What...What's wrong with me!?" He spoke, trying to fighting against his paralysis.
"Sorry for the mess, Galia and Dagon always go overboard. Thankfully, Locust knows how to dispose of anyone without a single drop of blood." He spoke, slowly moving closer to the innkeeper. The needle that had pierced a nerve in Volkar's body flew back to its owner, quickly giving him back control of his body. "I'm betting you are wondering why we...Grounded your friend here. Well you see, I am quite the listener, and I couldn't help but overhear your little panic attack in the kitchen."
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" He cried out, not understanding what he exactly meant.
"Your heart, you moron. I could hear you lying to me through your own pulse. Quite the neat trick I picked up over the years. But in any case, now that we had to use pervasive methods to get you to tell the truth, I want you to tell me everything you know about the human.
"What the point!? You're going to kill me anyways!" He spat back as a final act of defiance.
"True, but the difference is that in one hoof I'll have Dagon snap your neck so you won't feel a thing, and on the other, if you choose to be a pain in mine, I'll let locust study your nervous system while you're completely awake to feel every moment of it until you give us the information." There was a long silence. Volkar knew he was beaten. A malicious smile crept on the Merc leader's face. "Now then, shall we proceed?"