Episode 14

"And what do you propose we do with her after you've had your blood?" one of the robed men asked the woman.

"Give her body to the people!" she shouted. Her suggestion was met by a roar from the crowd.

Scarlet could hear a number of people shouting out, "Eat her! Eat her!"

She could feel her heart beating wildly within her. Without warning, the man who had her chain turned and unzipped her jacket, ripping it down her. Revealing the spreading red veins that had climbed up to her neck and out to her arms. Starting at her chest wound, a rough scabbing had begun to grow over her skin.

"No one is eating this woman!" he then shouted out over the crowd. Several gasps could be heard as the people began to see Scarlet.

Just then, she heard someone shout, "Her meat's been tainted!" With that, the crowd broke out into a roar again.

"Silence, silence!" the robed men called out, and after a moment, the people did settle.

"I also make a claim on this woman," the man holding her chain then said.

"And what is your claim?" a robed man asked.

"I claim the right to breed with her."

Scarlet was dumbfounded. 'You've got to be shitting me…'

The crowd started into an even bigger roar. Without a word, the man she guessed was the Archon, stood to his feet. The whole area was overcome by a dead silence. He slowly made his way down to Scarlet, looking her over carefully. He then looked at the man who'd made the claim.

"Even in her condition, you make this claim?" the elderly man asked lightly.

"Yes."

The Archon looked at her a moment more. "Does anyone else make a claim on this woman before I pass judgment?" he uttered lowly.

Scarlet took in a deep breath. No one said a word. She pressed her lips together. "I do," she then said, to the shock of everyone. "I make a claim for myself."

The Archon looked Scarlet in the eyes. "And what is your claim, girl?"

A look of resolve settled over her face. "I make a claim for my freedom."

The Archon smiled for the first time. He turned and walked back up to his throne. Everyone waited in anticipation for his decision. Scarlet's eyes had locked onto the older man. A bubble of molten popped from below, its heat rising like a steady wave.

The sheer heat coming from below them caused a hot sweaty breeze to catch strands of Scarlet's crimson hair, which looked completely ablaze in her surroundings. She was successfully covered in a layer of sweat, causing her clothes to stick to her. Her chest rose and fell in dramatic breaths as the heat had made it near impossible for her lungs to get enough oxygen. The wall behind the throne continued to glow a burnt orange. And in that lingering moment, Scarlet wondered how all these people could stand to wear all their thick leathers. As the Archon sat, she hoped against hope that she had made the right move.

"You shall not get your claim of blood, woman. Go and find peace another way," he finally said in a bellowing voice that took Scarlet by surprise.

The woman who had wanted to kill her bulled up, clenching her fists. Scarlet could tell that it took everything within the woman to not burst out into a rage. She turned and stormed from the area.

"Her meat shall not be given to the people. I do not know what ails you, girl. But should it be contagious, I do not want it infecting my people."

No one seemed to have any issues with that ruling.

"As for the claim to breed, I understand that we typically can not pass up the opportunity to make use of a woman in such ways, but again, I do not know what ails her. And I am not willing to risk my people by allowing it. So, you shall not receive your claim to breed with her."

The man simply nodded. He took his ruling much better than the woman.

'Now there's just my claim,' Scarlet thought. She could feel herself daring to hope.

"As for your claim, girl, you shall not receive it either." Scarlet felt her heart sink. "It's too bad. I think you would have done quite well with us here." He paused. "I will not allow this infection in you to persist. You shall be offered to the molten. Make your peace." Scarlet felt two men grab hold of her. She instantly thrashed her body, fighting against them.

"No!" she screamed out as they began dragging her closer to the edge.

She headbutted one man, causing his nose to explode into a shower of blood. More men were on her in an instant.

"I'm not infected!" she cried out, but no one was listening. Suddenly, she was overcome by a strength that was beyond her own, throwing all the men from her. "I'm not infected!" she repeated.

Her body began to convulse as the scabbing on her chest grew. She gave out a shrill of agony. The red veins winded down her arms and up onto her face. As it all came to a stop, she dropped to her knees, catching her breath.

"I think I'm becoming something else," she said lightly.

Men began to approach her again to finish what they had started.

"Rise to your feet, Scarlet. Fight them." She heard a woman's voice say in her head.

She sat there on her knees, examining the approaching men. It was at this moment that she noticed one of them had her Viper. She would wait till he was close enough and lift the pistol right off of him.

'And then he will be dead…'