Nihe was bored, not that this was anything new when they were on the road. He always had hated the days spent between towns for a number of reasons but chief among them was that he was stuck in a small barred cage the whole time. Even the other gladiators got to stretch the legs sometimes but not for him, not for Menas' most valuable possession, he could only be envious of the men who walked beside the carriages. Donto told him that most would be envious of his ability to relax the whole way however Nihe didn’t understand. He couldn’t think of anything better than walking and running free in the outside world.

Nihe lay back onto the cage floor immersing himself in the sounds that floated to him from the travelling convoy. The incessant creaking of the small cart that his cage was loaded onto remained unfortunately loud. Stopping him from sleeping through the days of travel. But the sounds he was listening to came in the gaps when the cartwheels found more stable ground or those that were loud enough to reach him regardless. The prior consisted of mostly animal calls or the distant conversations of the servants and gladiators. The latter were rarer but most of the time it was either the sound of Menas’ laughter from his luxury carriage or the crack of a horsewhip.

The convoy itself was made up of 6 waggons and 12 horses and 12 pack mules. The horses were ridden by guards and the mules were either lead by some of the workers or tied to the back of waggons. Nihe would have liked it if a mule was tied behind his cart, at least he would have had someone to talk to. Nihes cart brought up the rear of the convoy allowing all the workers who walked beside the waggons to avoid him. The driver of Nihe’s cart was death so even he didn’t speak to the boy. Nihe wished that Donto could have driven his cart but Menas made sure Donto was always busy so that he couldn’t talk to him. Menas said that he didn’t want his prize beast becoming domesticated by spending too much time with people.

Nihe rolled over on the floor of his cage. A sound from behind him caused him to look up. The sound was loud enough to get to him over the carts groaning and what he saw made it obvious why. A troop of about 30 mounted men were riding up behind the convoy. Nihes first thought was bandits they had attacked the convoy before but a group of gladiators were well equipped to kill some common bandits. Nihe quickly realised his mistake when he saw that the men all wore the same armour and colours and had a flag flying above them. Nihe had seen men like them at every big town or city they visited, Donto had called them soldiers when He had asked about them. They rode past the convoy before drawing to a stop in front of the Luxury waggon that Menas spent his days in. NIhe pressed his head against the bars of his cage but he couldn’t get a good look at what was happening. It was a good thing then, that the convoy had stopped and he could now hear what was going on at the front even if he couldn’t see it.

The first sound that came to Nihe was the slamming of the carriage door and he imagined the round man, red in the face, as he heard his feet marching across the rough ground, no doubt so he could get right in the face of the soldiers before he complained. Sure enough the next thing Nihe herd was Menas’ pompous outrage. “What exactly is the meaning of blocking my convoy?” He continued long before anyone one of the soldiers could offer a response. “Do you not know who I am? Who is your Lord? A single word from me and all of you will find yourselves out of the job!”

In the gap created by Menas taking an exaggerated breath, A voice rose to meet his outraged rant of questions. The voice was calm in the face of Menas’ anger and it’s tone made NIhe imagine a snake looking down on a field mouse as it struggled in its grip. “To answer your second question first. I believe you to be Menas, the Gladiator owner.”

Menas clearly wasn’t expecting the soldier to know who he was and when he did it left Menas without a leg to stand on. The voice continued the momentum now with them. “To answer your third question second. My lord's name is Duke Ansted.”

Menas still did not respond but Nihe heard many of the convoy workers muttering though they were too quiet for him to make out much. He only heard a few hushed words.

“Ansted… Duke of Arenas…”

“... Largest collection of gladiators…”

“... invite… royal festival…”

Nihe felt his pride surge as he recognised words that Donto had taught him less than a week ago. He now knew that a Duke was second only to the king and his family. And because he was aware that the king’s family were called the royal family he understood why the royal festival would be a big event. Nihe couldn’t imagine how amazing a festival held by a king, a Man better than all men, would be but from what he was hearing this Duke Ansted had something to do with it.

Menas finally gathered his wits around him and managed to reply. His manner and tone had changed completely from a spitting fury to a wobbling grovel and Nihe almost thought that it wasn’t Menas who had spoken. “My apologies good sir, hard travel on the roads has made me irritable I hope I did not offend.” Nihe herd the workers snigger a little at Menas' change in attitude. “Pray tell, what could the high and mighty Duke want from a poor man such as myself?”

During Menas’ verbal prostrating the soldier had stayed silent but NIhe had her the noises of several men dismounting and the ensuing footsteps suggested that Menas and the lead Soldier with a snake like tone were now opposite one another. The lead soldier didn’t lower his voice, however, and loudly stated. “To answer both your first and fourth question. We have come, to arrest you!”

NIhe heard Menas yelp sounding like he was struggling against a tight grip and saw the hands of convoy guards, still in his view, grab for their sword handle but before they could unsheathe the blades. “Wait! I have here an official warrant for the arrest of this man. His crimes are multiple counts of serious fraud against my duke.”

Nihe didn’t understand all the words he used he knew that crimes were bad but didn’t get what the words warrant or arrest ment but, the guards didn’t draw their swords and instead one called out “May I see that?”

“Of course” After a quick response, NIhe heard footsteps and a rustle of paper and then.

“It’s real.” At that, the workers and guards started to whisper but before NIhe could listen in that now familiar snake like tone rose above the whispers.

“Of course his possessions are now my dukes property as per the law…”

From behind, Nihe heard a familiar voice whisper “Boy.” He jumped as he realised that he'd been so focused on the conversation he hadn’t heard the man sneak up on him.

“Donto you scared me.” Nihe turned around. What he saw confused him Donto was fiddling with the lock on his cage and over one shoulder was a small bag with one of Nihe's spears tied to it. “What’s going on Donto?”

Donto managed to force the old key to turn and the lock sprang open. He cursed at the noise as he swung the cage door open. Nihe didn’t need a reason to leave his confinement and hoped down but before he could reiterate his earlier question Donto shoved the pack and the spear into Nihe arms looking over the boy's shoulder back towards the front of the convoy.

“Donto?”

“Ah… Boy, there isn’t enough time to explain but just accept it when I say that those men are here for you, not Menas.”

“But?”

“No Boy, there is no time right now you just have to listen to me.” Nihe closed his opening mouth, due in equal parts to Donto’s words and the rare look of worry in his eyes.

“Boy, in that pack I shoved some food and coin. You are gonna take this and run away from this convoy as fast as you can. Menas was hardly a saint but if half the stories about Duke Ansted are true, well... he's worse. Look I know you probably won't get why but try and find a town once you get away and get directions to the druids that keep you safe from the duke and they should help you with a different problem.” Donto paused glancing up and Nihe heard raised voices coming towards them. Donto reached into a pocket before pulling out a small thin book. “Listen you must not lose this book. I know you can’t read but if you get to the druids you will need it so they can help you.” he pushed the book into the pack in Nihe’s arms. “Now get going into the woods they will chase you but you should be able to handle a few of them.”

There were so many questions Nihe wanted to ask but as Donto pushed him towards the trees the only one that seemed important was “Donto when will I see you again?”

The question made Donto stop for a second. “Probably not for a long time boy and once you can read that book you might not want to see me again.” He gave a final push and turned back before muttering something that Nihe had to strain his ears to hear. “Or maybe you will want to see me again, but not for a happy reunion.”

Nihe stared at the back of the only man who had shown him kindness in his life, confused and only now noticing that leaving would mean he might never feel that kindness again. Nihe turned away and stepped forward and in that instant his scrambling mind through up and odd thought. Didn’t this mean he was free? Free to run walk and see the world. maybe it was this thought that propelled Nihe forward into the trees.

With every step that feeling grew and Nihe quickly found himself running through the trees. His doubts and worries about what Donto had said quickly faded beneath his newfound euphoria. His head quickly cleared when the sound of shouting men reached him from behind. “Right, running away.” NIhe spoke almost to remind himself, he reached into his body to the blood in his veins and did something that would have left a certain “dead prince” astonished as he instantly drew power to his muscles.

Nihe used his reinforced muscles to put on a burst of inhuman speed and... ran straight into a low hanging branch. The impact sent Nihe tumbling to the ground. Pain shot through him “Owwwww” NIhe moaned and rolled trying to get back to his feet. By the time he managed to do so the shouts had gotten much closer. Nihe set off again with much more apprehension this time. Nihe had grown up in cages and closed off arenas, neither of which were much like a forest and the change was a difficult one to get used to. There were several times where Nihe tripped over a hidden tree root or fell into thorn bushes but eventually his trained body and mind started to get used to it and Nihe found he enjoyed running through the ever changing trees and was looking forward to the next challenge they would through his way.

After running for what felt like only a few minutes to Nihe but what the setting sun proved had been several hours he realised he could hear no shouts coming from behind him. Nihe had thankfully lost his pursuers, even for a body cultivator like him running for several hours had left him bone tired. The run had also left Nihe with something else as he stood beneath a large tree and stared at the setting sun as if he had only just realised how beautiful it was. Nihe realised that he had probably just covered more ground in that run than he could in running 1000 times around an arena and it had all been different unique. Nihe, was free, for the first time in his life and years from now, he would still remember how he felt right now and would realise how much this feeling of freedom shaped who he would become.