Blood on Sand

A SMELL OF DEATH

As they followed the trail, Wojtek felt a burning anger mixed with apprehension. Nothing had been done to try to cover up the tracks. Not that it would've helped, but they could've done something to muddle up the traces. But they'd left Zoe's tail behind, and then the wolverine had gone to the footpath many of the pack members used to and from the arena. It was a bit harder to follow the scent along the path, because every fucker he knew had walked there recently, so recently, in fact, that Wojtek was pretty sure they all were at the arena.

No one said anything. He was sure both Satul and Koray's thoughts were racing as fast as his own, but no one uttered a word. Wojtek stopped by the tree line, looking at the ancient amphitheatre that had provided for the pack through generations. Times would change; humans would come visit. An amphitheatre this size wouldn't remain hidden forever, not when every fucker could see all they wanted to see on Google Maps. Maybe it was time to give up on fighting.

He could clearly hear the hum coming from inside the stadium. Lights shone through the stone arches, just like on a fighting night. There were not as many people, though, and there were no excited cheers, but it still sounded similar to a fighting night.

"Why are they here?" Koray stared wide-eyed at the ancient arena that felt like a second home to them all.

Satul wrung his hands. "I don't think this has anything to do with Zoe."

"But he is here." Or had been. Wojtek couldn't know if he still was, but the scent trail led here.

"Maybe, but if he's still... here—" He had a feeling Satul's first word hadn't been here. If he's still alive. "I think it's because someone wants to lure you here."

"Say someone does, why do you think?"

Satul grimaced and dug his fingers into his forearms. "I don't know, but I don't have a good feeling about it."

No, Wojtek didn't either. But there was only one way of finding out what was going on, and it was not standing there gazing upon the white stone walls.

****

Zoe thought he heard something.

Was someone talking? No, it couldn't be. He stuck his tongue out. Still only sand and blood, no one had come close enough for him to smell them. Was something moving in the dark? What if someone was watching him?

He turned his head, tried to see if anyone was there even though he was completely blinded by the darkness. His heart must've transformed itself into a hummingbird's, it beat so fast. He tried to slow it down, but his shallow breaths kept coming more rapidly. What if he was running out of oxygen? He tried to move, tried to crawl, but the ropes dug in harder, tightened over his chest, made it even harder to breathe. He was dying. He would never be anything but blood on sand.

****

The smell of death still hung in the air from the previous night. For the first time, Wojtek realised how terrifying it must be for the fighters to set foot in the arena. The blinding beams of the spotlights hurt his eyes as he walked toward the middle. Satul and Koray flanked his sides, looking in every direction to see if there was any threat.

The entire pack sat side by side on the first seating row. Everyone was there, every man, woman, and child under his protection stared down at him as his feet touched the sand-covered ground. In that moment, you could've heard a pin drop, but the silence didn't last. Before Wojtek had made it to the middle, people were throwing accusations around, the drone so loud he couldn't separate one complaint from the other.