Characters: Siarra, Malkav, Adam, Grandpa, Aisha, Kendira, Rachelle, Kim, Quentin, Mundo, Isaac, Robin Hobb, Little John
Kendira led her companions through the many aisles of the stadium until they found a place where they could be alone. There were no individual seats to sit in, but rather long rows of stone benches that wrapped around the entire arena. Underneath the benches, there were barred cages that were perfect for holding men. The cages were connected, just like the seats, but they had metal walls separating them every twenty feet or so to keep men from straying too far.
“We’re not going to have to go in one of those, are we?” Malkav asked.
“We have to keep from attracting suspicion,” Kendira said, coming to a halt when they reached the first row. “Men aren’t supposed to be free to wander anyway. I’m sorry.”
With that said, Siarra opened the cage under their seats, and ushered all the men—Malkav, Adam, Grandpa, Quentin, Mundo, Isaac, Robin Hobb, and Little John—into the cage. Some went more quietly than the others. Then she bolted the door shut.
“Alright, now have a seat and try to remain inconspicuous,” Kendira said, plopping down on the bench. Siarra, Aisha, Rachelle, and Kim did the same, their long legs acting as secondary bars to the cages of the men below.
“Why do we have to be so secretive about this?” Kim asked. “It’s a public event. It’s not like we’re banned from coming here.”
“I know, but if Gena and her friend are around, we don’t want to scare them off.”
“Somehow,” Kim said dryly, “I don’t think we have to worry about scaring them.”
“Regardless, we can’t risk losing their trail. It’s all we have to go from.” Then she turned to Siarra and Aisha. “Did you manage to find the Scarab of Earth?”
“Yes,” Siarra answered. “Malkav has it.”
“Good. Master Luna will know where the other three are kept.”
“When are we going to meet her anyway?”
“Don’t worry. She always shows up for these tournaments. All we have to do is wait and enjoy the show.”
Aisha fidgeted with her torn skirt, twirling a loose strand around her finger. “I really don’t want to watch. I know what happens in these things.”
“At least we’re not on revival duty this time,” Rachelle laughed. “Remember last year?”
“Ugh, I’m still trying to repress those memories.”
“What happened?” Kim asked.
“The same thing that happens every year,” Aisha said with a kind of sadness in her voice that could not be mistaken. “People die.”
But Rachelle was a little more upbeat, almost cheerful, about it. “Well, not really people. Just Men. Most of the time we’re able to revive any Women that get injured.”
“…And the Men?” Kim asked, but she regretted mentioning it because Rachelle just laughed, like it was some sort of game. Like she really didn’t care.
Meanwhile, in the cages below them, the guys were discussing something completely different.
“We’re not sticking around here,” Adam said. “We need to find Narsis. If anybody can figure out a way to contact the real world, he can.”
Robin Hobb blinked. “Eh? What real world?”
“There’s no time to explain! Come on, everybody, look for a way to escape.”
“Forget it, man,” Isaac spat, shaking the steel bars. “Even if we could get out of here, there’s nowhere to run. We don’t even know where your geeky friend is.”
“We know he’s with Gena. We can start by finding the Queen, who will help us catch Gena, who will hand over Narsis, who can get us home. It’s simple.”
“Wouldn’t it be simpler if we just ask one of the girls to do that?”
“Do you honestly think any of them will listen to us?”
Isaac looked at Robin Hobb and suddenly his words came echoing back. The girls couldn’t be trusted. They weren’t the same. Real or fantasy, Men or Women—nothing was the same anymore. In another time, in another life perhaps, the girls would listen to them, the Men of the world. But not here. Not now. Not again. They were nothing. The Men had no say, no hope, nothing to keep them from ending up as a stain or a snack or worse at the mercy of their mistresses. It was every Man for himself. The realization was all too clear.
“…You’re right,” Isaac said at last. “Let’s do it.”
They spread out to search the cage, but there wasn’t much to look for. The bench above them made climbing over the walls impossible and the cage bars were too tight to squeeze through. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the floor was a hopeless slab of cement, littered in sticky bits of food and nasty puddles of gunk that reeked of bad hygiene.
“Mmm, dinner!” Quentin said, picking up a half-eaten kernel of popcorn. He almost bit into it and then he saw something that made his stomach churn. There was a limb—a bloody limb with no body to call master—that fell from the kernel and landed at his feet. “That…can’t be good.” He checked his arms to make sure they were both intact.
Mundo picked up the limb and turned it over, examining the gnawed marrow across it. “What the hell…? That’s a human arm!”
“Of course it is,” Robin Hobb said. “Girls eat Men with their snacks all the time. Especially at festivals like this. But by the looks in your faces, you’d think you guys didn’t know that.”
They were stunned, but a sudden female voice broke them for their trance. It went something like this: “Popcorn! Popcorn! Get your fresh popcorn here!”
Then two of the slender legs in front of the cage extended to full height, with the sandals on the end crunching against some leftover crumbs on the floor.
“I’ll take one!” Rachelle called out.
The men just stared at each other.
“…We’re getting the hell out of here,” Malkav whispered. He took out his dagger. “Look, I’m a Rogue. I bet I can pick the lock if you give me time.”
“Time’s the only thing we don’t have!” Isaac said.
But wise old Grandpa knew best. He leaned back against the corner of the cage, slowly smoking his pipe, with one eye closed and the other studying Malkav. “Let the boy work. Do not be so impatient. As long as we’re trapped in here, we have all the time in the world.” He nodded dreamily, almost to himself, and repeated his words. “All the time in the world.”
“I can do it,” Malkav said, now that all eyes and hope had fallen on him. “I know I can. I promise you guys that we’ll get out of here.”
He reached the cage door just as Rachelle was sitting back down. He stared up her long legs to the bucket of popcorn in her lap and then touched the tip of his dagger to the lock. Carefully, tentatively, he slid the blade into the lock, wriggling it around to find the spring.
“Tastes like chicken!” Rachelle’s voice boomed from above.
Siarra cocked her head to the side. “How can popcorn taste like chicken?”
“You wanna try some?”
“Um, sure…”
Malkav’s wandering eyes drifted upward to his girlfriend as she reached into the bucket of popcorn. He watched her grab a handful of bright white kernels and then withdrew her arm. Everything was silent for a second.
“Oh, I see,” came Siarra’s voice, followed by a laugh and then the unmistakable sound of grinding teeth.
Malkav’s hands worked faster.
Giantess World
