Breaing Drae

Drake glared at the woman looking him over like he was a slab of meat and not a human being. He then noticed the collar in her other hand, and hissed. He knew she was going to offer him the apple only if he put on the collar. The idea disgusted him. He would never subjugate himself to this bitch. She could hurt him all she wanted to- he'd never submit. She smiled at him, as if she was reading him mind.

"Come here." She ordered.

Drake just turned his back to her. He had enough water- he didn't need food. Humans could live without food for days, he'd be fine. Almost if on cue he heard the gurgle of water. He looked at the trough, and felt his heart sink as he saw the puddle spreading out from the open tap at the bottom. No doubt she had used telekinesis to open the tap. No matter he thought, he'd figure it out.

He turned as he heard the gate of his pen slam shut and mentally cheered- Raell had left. She had left the collar in the pen though. Drake went and picked it up, looking it over. It had no buckle like normal dog collars. Instead, at one end it had two holes, and on the other there was a flat piece of metal he was sure would click onto the holes similar to a seat belt. He tried to close the collar- the ends slid together as he thought, but did not lock. He chucked the collar out of the pen, wincing at the pain the gesture caused.

Hours passed. The women finished up today's batch of men, and the arena was quiet. The heat was almost unbearable, and Drake felt like he was sweating his skin off. His mouth had long ago gone dry, and his hungry stomach had already caused him to throw up bile next to the trough. The smell of the baking vomit was making him want to throw up again. Still, he would not put on that collar.

More hours. It was starting to cool off, and Drake was dozing. He snapped awake as the door to his pen opened, and Raell walked in. She didn't have an apple this time, but a bottle of water. Drake gazed at it, imagining the taste of the water. But then he saw the collar was once again in her other hand. He staggered to his feet, stumbling away from her.

"No...o..." He croaked.

But then again he saw the cool droplets of water that covered the bottle. He felt the dryness in his mouth. Oh, how he wanted the water. No! He chided himself.

Raell felt the slave's resolve weaken, and almost grinned. But then it strengthened and she felt a burst of annoyance. She knew all good things took time, but she couldn't have this slave trying to kill himself to spite her. She gestured to one of the girls outside, who gave her a clamp-collar.

Drake snarled as Raell got a clamp-collar from one of the girls outside watching. So she was going to just force the collar on him! He felt a burst of triumph- she hadn't made him put it on himself.

She strode towards him, and he bolted away. But she was faster than he thought and lunged forward and clamped down on his neck. Drake struggled but felt no give. Raell called on of the girls over to hold him, and when his clamp had switched hands she walked towards him. Drake bared his teeth, fighting against the collar. He couldn't break her hold either. Frustrated, he watched Raell approach. She pulled out a length of rope, and he moved his hands away from her. She just smiled, and tossed it around his neck. He tried to flail at her, but just as he tried someone grabbed his arms. Drake yelped in shock and struggled further. However, the hands holding him were strong, and he couldn't break free.

Raell tightened the rope collar around his neck, then nodded at the person behind him. The person jerked his left arm, and Drake yelled as the movement jostled his brand. AS he opened his mother Raell ran another loop of the same rope through his mouth, gagging him. She secured it in the same place as the loop around his neck.

"Free him, he's tied." She told her helpers.

Drake was released and immediate tried to undo the ropes.

"Herrrmfffhh!"

But once again Raell had tied him with superior knots, and he couldn't free himself. He rushed Raell, trying to get the rope ends from her. She sidestepped him, and as he went by she shoved his back. Drake sprawled forward, and the second he hit the sand Raell and friends walked out of the pen, dragging Drake after them. He stumbled up, spitting sand. The rope through his mouth had earned him a mouthful of it. He tried to rush Raell again, but hit the brakes when he noticed the two girls who had helped her now had shock spears. He instead ran this way and that, pulling on the rope, trying to make Raell slip. She didn't.

The group approached a bunch of wooden posts set into the ground outside the arena. The earth around them was a mixture of sand and fine dust, and Drake's feet brought up puffs of it. The posts had rings set into them at different heights, but other than that Drake saw nothing special about them.

He was yanked towards one of the posts. Raell threaded the length of rope she held through a ring, and Drake realized what they were for. A slave would be tied to the post, whether by using their collars, bridles, or tied roughly like he was. The leash, reins, or whatever would be threaded through a ring, and secured, forcing the slave to stand in the hot sun for any chosen length of time, unless the slave hung in place by his head or neck. Drake realized that was the real reason for the gag in his mouth- to stop him from strangling himself. Drake yelped as he was pulled against the post.

Satisfied he was secure, Raell stepped back. She whistled, and Drake moved so he could see another girl bringing another slave over to the posts. He realized the woman was leading Riley. The man was shaking, and looked so hunched over Drake was surprised he wasn't crawling. Raell took Riley's leash and tied him next to Drake. Satisfied the two slaves were tied, the group of women left, chatting and laughing as they did. Drake glanced at Riley. The man was leaning against the post, his head resting against the rough post.

"What did you do, man?" Drake asked as best as he could. It really sounded like "Whhhrrt ddrddd yerr drrr, mhnn?" but Riley understood.

"I grabbed an apple out of the fridge. But I'm pretty sure I'm actually out here to answer your questions." Riley answered, his voice still sandpaper-rough.

"I have no idea what is going on, except Raell wants me to collar myself." Drake told him.

"Huh. She usually has everyone strapped up- that is collared, cuffed, and harnessed after she has you branded and whatnot. Did she have you rigged?"

"Rigged?" Drake asked.

"Did they inject those little balls throughout your skeleton?"

"Yeah."

"That's called rigging. Technically the nut plate we all get is rigging too, but since everyone gets that we call the little metal balls rigging."

"Gotcha."

They were both quiet for a minute.

A question popped into Drake's head. "Why don't you just strangle yourself right now- the collar would work just as well as any noose, and then you won't be Raell's slave?"

Riley inhaled deeply, then answered, his already low voice even lower. "We can't die. Don't ask me how she does it- it's some supernatural power of Raell's, I'm sure. But we can't die. Not from strangulation, starvation, dehydration, cold, heat, injury, or disease. We can only die when Raell wants us to. We can't even die of old age. There are tons of guys here who were once Romans, pirates, and whatnot. I think it has to do with her healing ability, but I'm not sure. Point is, if I tried to kill myself by hanging myself from this collar, it won't work, and she'll just thrash me for trying- I can tell you that from personal experience."

Drake glanced over at Riley's back, still covered in the whip marks he had noticed before. He realized that was why Riley's voice was so rough- not because he had been screaming, but because he had probably tried to hang himself and it had damaged his vocal cords. Riley confirmed his suspicions.

"I tried to hang myself back at that barn, and when Devon found me, I was purple in the face, barely breathing, but very much alive and conscious. He called for a mistress and Raell responded. She was nearby due to having just kidnapped you. She arrived, trussed you up, then cut me down and thrashed me for trying. I've been around for ten years, and I was aware that we can't die, but I had to try, you know...? She healed the damage I had done to my neck, but she liked my damaged voice and left that alone. Now it reminds me of my failure, which is probably the other reason she left it damaged..." Riley faded into silence, and turned away from Drake.

Drake stared at the broken man, coming to terms with his immortality. The pair were silent for a long time, Drake thinking and Riley silently crying. Drake became aware of his intense thirst. He smacked his lips, feeling them crack and bleed. He didn't even have enough moisture in his mouth to wet them. He felt like he was baking. He knew it had to be close to evening, but the heat directly under the sun was much differently than that under the arena. The two men stood for a few hours, watching the sun drop down. They had both acquired bad sunburns, and were painfully dozing in the fading light.

They jerked awake as the heard the crunch of approaching boots. Drake counted two pairs, and hoped they would bring water. The two women- Raell was not either of them- untied Riley and left with him. Drake waited for them to come and untie him, but they didn't. Day turned to night, and Drake once again dozed. It was like his night in the barn, except now he had to stand. Any weight on his tether cut into his face, and was really uncomfortable. Drake found the most comfortable was to simply lead his head against the pillar. He stood like this, keeping his knees locked for the whole night. He was so tired, sore, hungry, and really, really thirsty. It was just a collar- not like he had to obey any more whether he wore it or not.