Evrin and his sister, Evris, had finished gathering enough firewood for their masters.
Now they sat near the edge of camp, eating the small scraps they had been given. It wasn't nearly enough. Their stomachs still ached with hunger, and fear lingered like a shadow that refused to leave.
Evris looked exhausted.
Evrin, however, felt something else growing inside him.
Hatred.
He had decided.
He would kill them.
Every last one.
Then he and his sister would run. Somewhere far away. Somewhere safe—perhaps a city near the edge of Dome Five. Even though Dome Five was gargantuan and the dangers only grew worse the closer one traveled inward toward Inner Dome Fives gate.
Still, it was better than this.
Evrin muttered quietly to his sister while they sat beside a small boulder, their backs turned away from the campfire. The heavy chain linking their ankle shackles still ran upward into the metal ball held lazily by the towering chitin humanoid a few feet away.
"We have to get out of here, Evris," he whispered. "We need to escape before these bastards kill us… or worse."
Evris chewed the last of her food before answering.
"But how…?" she asked quietly. "Our masters are just smart enough to notice if we try anything. And there's the chain ball being held by that big shield-skull freak over there…"
Evrin frowned, frustration creeping across his face.
"We're still some distance away from the batch's hideout," he said after a moment. "I'll figure something out. In the meantime, eat the rest of your food. We'll need our strength if we're going to escape those bastards."
A short while later
Watching the darkness around the camp, the Flufftar scanned the night with eyes that could see faintly in the dark.
Something moved.
A shadow.
"Hey—uh—boss… boss!"
The human leader stirred, eyes snapping open as he instinctively tightened his grip on the precious object in his arms.
"Ugh… what is it, Kestin?"
"There's something out there, boss," the Flufftar said nervously. "Something big."
The leader frowned.
"You sure it's big and not just some verns?"
"No way," Kestin the Flufftar, replied quickly. "I know what I saw. It's big… and it's fast."
Not far beyond the circle of firelight, something moved silently through the darkness.
It had finally caught up to the creatures who had taken its most cherished and carefully nourished prize.
The beast circled the camp slowly, watching.
Waiting.
But it hesitated when its gaze settled on the absurdly tall chitin creature standing among them.
It had never fought this one before.
But it had fought others like it.
Once… perhaps twice.
Both times had nearly ended in death.
So the beast kept its distance, circling the camp in the darkness, waiting for a moment when the towering creature would look away.