That's your hospitality?

Arvish and the handmaid continued their walk through the camp. As they strolled, Arvish spotted a place where steel cages were lined up. Inside one of them, he saw the woman, whose hand remained in place because he had disturbed the sacrificing. She was a brunette with a curvy body.

Their eyes met, and she whispered, "Save me." However, Arvish couldn't quite catch what she said and didn't believe what he had heard, so he followed the handmaid.

Eventually, they arrived at a tent near the edge of the camp. It wasn't as big as Gorgon's, but it had enough space for Arvish to lay down and get some rest. The woman pointed at it and left.

Arvish was so exhausted that he couldn't resist sleep any longer. He crawled into the tent and immediately fell into a deep slumber.

****

Wearing a mask over his head with two opening for his eyes, Bezix attached a weapon to his missing right arm. It was a hook, and he looked at it with pride. It still had his latest target's blood on it.

Bezix was Gorgon's number one assassin, and he had helped to clear up a lot of mishaps in his time, allowing Gorgon to maintain his so-called throne.

Bezix flapped the tent entrance open and stepped out into the cold night air. He looked up at the half-full moon and felt a blood hunger for his next target.

As Bezix prowled through the camp, his bloodlust growing with each step, he spotted Arvish's tent.

A wicked grin spread across Bezix's face under the mask as he readied his hook and approached the tent. He was so focused on his goal that he didn't notice Takah watching him from the shadows. Takah twirled a rock up in the air then caught it, his eyes fixed on Bezix's every move.

'So Gorgon sends an assassin instead of taking care of business by his hand. Such a shame to see a once great warrior to turn to tricks like this,' Takah thought to himself. 'But he didn't calculate in that I saw his waver.'

Bezix flipped the tent entrance open, his heart racing with anticipation. Arvish was sleeping like a rock.

But before he could even take a step inside, a large rock came hurtling towards him. It struck him square in the face, and he stumbled backwards, his vision swimming. The rock fell to the ground with a loud thud in the silent night.

Arvish poked his sleepy head out of the tent, bleary-eyed and confused. "What's going on out here?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

Bezix was out of his element. He knew he couldn't fight Arvish one-on-one, because he had seen the man strength earlier at the sacrifice. He was not a great warrior - he was someone who used the shadows to his advantage. And now he had another opponent somewhere who had thrown the rock at his head.

It was time for a retreat. Bezix just as quickly escaped into the night as he arrived. Arvish stood baffled by what he had just witnessed.

****

Gorgon strode confidently in the sunlight, as he approached the slave master, he surveyed the meager group of captives that had been brought in the day before.

"This is all that we captured?" he asked the slave master, his tone laced with disappointment.

The slave master nodded nervously, knowing that he would face the consequences of Gorgon's displeasure.

Gorgon turned to the row of people who were kneeling in front of him. "Firstly, I need a new handmaid," he said, his eyes scanning the group. "One of them made a mistake. Give her to the gang for entertainment."

The slave master nodded again, knowing better than to question his master's commands.

Gorgon stepped in front of one of the women, eyeing her up and down. "Oh, she looks nice," he said, squatting down in front of her. "Darling, you want to live good?"

The woman spat in his face in response, and Gorgon stood up with a smile as he wiped the spit from his cheek.

"She's a feisty one," he remarked. Then, without hesitation, he kicked her in the face. The woman fell over, blood pouring from her nose.

"I will take her," Gorgon said, standing over her. "And I will break her."

He moved on to the next slave, his tone calm and matter-of-fact. "This one will only be good for food," he said, nodding at a scrawny man who was cowering in fear.

"We lost a man last night," Gorgon continued, towering over another man. "You have what it takes to replace him?"

The man looked up at Gorgon, his eyes wide with terror. He didn't say anything, just gave a shaky nod.

Gorgon dropped a knife in front of him. "Kill the one on your right," he ordered, his voice cold.

The man reached for the knife with a shaking hand, turning to the man on his right, who was equally terrified. He mouthed the word "Sorry" and then plunged the knife into the man's neck.

"Okay then, the dead one is going to be food," Gorgon said, turning to the slave master. "Signal the cooks that we have a feast tonight."

Arvish arrived at the scene just as Gorgon was in the midst of his cruel and calculating selection process. He looked on with a mixture of disgust and horror at the way that Gorgon was deciding the fates of these poor souls with such ease. It made him question everything he knew about freedom and power.

How could one truly feel free when they had to enslave others to maintain it? And how could anyone live near such misery and suffering and not feel moved to do something about it? These were questions that Arvish could not shake from his mind as he watched the scene unfold before him.

Gorgon greeted him with a smile. "Arvish, my friend," he said. "Just in time to see how our tribe operates."

"I saw that last night," Arvish replied, his tone resentful. "I think one of your men wanted to kill me in my sleep."

"So?" Gorgon asked, his eyebrows raised.

"That's your hospitality?" Arvish asked incredulously.

"I said to you last night, we don't have rules or laws," Gorgon reminded him.

Gorgon approached the woman whose hand had remained intact the night before. "Oh yeah, we missed you out from the party," he said, a sinister glint in his eye. "Chop it off, then add her to the gang entertainment."

The woman looked at Arvish with pleading eyes, and for a moment, he was stunned by her gaze. She was clearly terrified and desperate for a way out of her current situation. Gorgon caught this between the two, and a wicked smile spread across his own. A new idea began to form in his mind, and he decided to tease his friend a little.

"You fancy this girl, my friend?" Gorgon asked Arvish, his tone mocking.

"I-I don't know her," Arvish stammered in response, his discomfort evident.

"Come on, she's a beauty," Gorgon pressed on, "How about you take her for yourself?"

The slave master looked on in disbelief. Nobody in the gang had their own personal slave, apart from Gorgon himself. But Gorgon gave him a quick glance, warning him to keep quiet.

"No, no, I can't," Arvish protested weakly, but the woman gave him a look that made it clear she wanted to be taken away from the gang, no matter the cost.

Gorgon smiled triumphantly. "Then it's settled," he declared, "Slave master, get her chains off."

The slave master nodded obediently and moved to carry out Gorgon's command. He brought out from his side a big key-ring with many keys and freed the woman from his shackles.

Arvish couldn't believe what he was witnessing. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought of taking this woman as his personal slave, but he also knew that if he didn't, she would be subject to the cruel whims of Gorgon and the gang.

Gorgon spoke again, breaking Arvish's train of thought. "Take her and get to know her better, but make sure she doesn't escape. It's your responsibility now," he said, a cruel smirk on his face. "And get ready for tonight. We have a feast to celebrate your initiation into our gang."

Arvish was pulled away by the woman, and they moved away from Gorgon's view. The slave master, still stunned by what had just transpired, stood there frozen in place. Gorgon noticed his hesitation and quickly reassured him.

"Don't worry, it's not going to be a new thing," Gorgon said. "I just want him to get attached to her,"

'So he will trade his arm willingly for her life,' he thought with a twisted grin.