Page 105 of A Darkness So Sweet

So there wasn’t a choice after all. He looked around at the trolls with him, then at his brother. Gunnar was already looking rather pale. They had to eat. They had to stay healthy if they were going to get through this.

Ragnar was the first to stand. He cracked his back, taking his time so the humans didn’t think they could just order him around. Because they couldn’t. He made this choice for himself and for his people. No other reason.

He was the first to exit the room and start walking down the long stone hallway. Unfortunately, that also meant he was the first to see the mess that awaited them.

The floor was stained with old blood that made the air metallic. He could almost taste it on his tongue. No one had cleaned in ages, so he wasn’t sure if the floor was dirt or if it was just months on end of people bleeding as they walked this same path. But then he stepped through a door into what appeared to be a well lit room.

Bars still stood between him and a crowd of people who were all drinking wine out of goblets, eating from plates that filled the air with delicious notes of meat and cheese. Humans, all of them in clothing that was far too fine for them to be anyone other than nobility. Each of them wore masks, but they stared at him with hungry gazes.

“Look at that one!” a woman said, stepping dangerously close to the bars. The mask on her face was of a raven, with feathers sweeping out over her cheeks and hiding her features. “I’d like to place a bet on him. He’s so big.”

“You think he’ll defeat the Bull?” The man beside her snorted, before taking a bite from the overflowing plate he held. He had a mask that looked like a pig. Hilariously, it seemed to fit, considering his figure.

“I think he could fight the Bull.”

“I don’t think anyone can win against the Bull. That’s what I’m saying, darling.”

She reached for his plate and grabbed the massive turkey leg balanced on top. She dangled the food close enough to the bars that he could grab it if he reached quickly enough. “You’ll win for me. Won’t you, beast? I have a lot of money on you.”

He bet she did. Growling low in his chest, he was about to lunge for her when he felt Gunnar step up behind him.

“Leave it,” Gunnar said in the black tongue. “They’re not worth it, brother.”

The woman flinched away from them, pressing her hand against her chest. “By the gods. Did you hear that one? He speaks like a wizard!”

“Warlock, darling.”

“Either! Do you think he was trying to cast a spell on us?”

Gunnar snorted. “Ridiculous humans.”

“We’ll speak in the black tongue from now on,” Ragnar said. “And we’ll get out of here as soon as we can.”

He continued walking down the halls, heading toward the end without knowing what he would get to see. The Bull? He wasn’t sure who that could be, but he was certain it was one of the missing trolls.

Gunnar muttered behind him a quickly laid plan. “We aren’t likely to get out of here soon. They won’t let us fight together. That wouldn’t be much of a show for them to watch. Win your battle, brother. And quickly. Once we figure out what to do, we’ll stop killing our own. But you have to know that is the direction we’re heading. They aren’t giving us a choice.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve killed another troll.”

It was a rarity. Sometimes there were trolls who left the mountain. Ones that went rogue and decided to take whatever they wanted. Their king would send them out to hunt down the deviant troll who needed to be ended. Ragnar had only gone on one of those war bands. It was infinitely harder to kill his own kind than it was to kill humans.

“I feel the same,” Gunnar muttered. “But we have no choice.”

Finally, they reached the end of the room, and it opened up into a massive arena. There were countless doors, all of them leading into more hallways, it seemed. Movement at the top of all those walls caught his attention.

There were seats up there. Stands that were now filling up with humans. The same people he had seen in that room, all of them still carrying food and wine as they meandered to their seats, still talking and gesturing as though a bloodbath wasn’t about to unfold before them.

The king himself walked out into the stands and every single troll around him started to growl. The sound of their anger filled the room, and the human king seemed to only revel in the power that he had over their emotions.

“Trolls!” the king shouted. “Welcome to my labyrinth. There are no rules here, only that you are to try to live. Fight until the end, and I will reward you.”

A band of women walked out onto the stands beside him. All of them were dirty, trembling, terrified creatures. But from somewhere deeper in that labyrinth, he heard the thrilled shouts of human men. Men who likely knew that these women were to be their prize if they managed to beat a troll.

“Now, I know the humans in this labyrinth have been fighting hard,” the king continued. “Today, you may hunt in packs! I have many new trolls in this arena, and I want to see who fights the best. If you wish to share your prize among five men... well, that is up to you.”

More shouts.

More pleased cries that were so dastardly, so wrong, it made Ragnar’s head spin.

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