Chapter 3 - The First Fight

Veil stared in awe at the public statue of Serapis. Though it was made of simple stone and stood only a few feet taller than her, the image of the Goddess in her four-armed incarnation still commanded absolute reverence from every dreamkeeper who passed it by. Some of the faithful were kneeling before it as Veil approached, not even regarding her as they immersed themselves in prayer.

Following their example, Veil descended to her knees, grasped the prayer talisman wrapped around her wrist, and bowed so that her head touched the ground. Following that initial show of devotion, she started whispering her prayer to the Goddess.

"Serapis… Thank you for your blessings. I kneel now before your shrine, the lowest of your faithful, hoping that you will smile on my efforts to come. Please find me worthy to overcome this trial, a fight between slaves that I now know only one of your children will walk away from.

"I… I'm scared, Serapis. For the past several days, I've been trying to make the most of your gift. I've tried to make myself the best that I can be, for your glory and the glory of House Tenebri. But… with the threat of death in mind, it makes me afraid that none of my work will be good enough. I ask that you be with me during this match, for your divine grace will surely-"

"So, this is the best that House Tenebri can hope to throw at us? A pathetic slave girl hoping that Serapis will hear her prayers?"

Veil froze mid-prayer as she heard a decidedly smug female voice behind her. Keeping her head bowed, she could only hear Mistress Adelin's voice answering the newcomer.

"Walker Priya. So you're still handling arena slaves for House Mut. I shouldn't be surprised you lied about showing up late."

"Yeah, I lied. I know you can't stand it, and you should know by now that it's all in the name of winning, Addie," Priya replied. "The battle starts by messing with your opponent's head, long before a single blow is dealt! Haven't we beaten you down enough times for you to get that by now?"

Veil heard a whirr of energy as a power was activated behind her.

"You will address my wife with the proper respect, Walker. I'm fully prepared to crush you right here if you do not."

"Oh, do forgive me, Master Tenebri! But I've yet to see your wife really do anything to earn House Mut's respect! Just how many times has she sent her House's low quality slaves to get beaten down by our superior stock?"

"You disrespectful little…"

"That's enough, Sef. Her blood isn't worth soiling your hands with. And as for you, Walker, today will be different. Tenebri Veil will ensure that House Mut leaves defeated."

"Tenebri… You mean that quivering mess by my feet? You actually wasted the time to refer to her by your House name? Ha! She's just another failure waiting to happen! In fact, that's why I made her first fight a death match! I decided to spare you the trouble and execute your latest champion before you can bother to get your hopes up!"

Veil felt a sudden jolt of pain and tumbled, landing on her right side. As she looked up at the source of the kick, she saw a woman - apparently Priya - looking back down at her.

Priya was a lean, navy-furred badger woman who looked exactly as smug as her voice implied. Her right forearm had a crude looking tattoo on it, depicting a circle with a broken bone inside it. Veil looked away quickly as she noticed a smirk growing on the slave handler's face.

A slave wrapped in a thick cloth robe and chains stood just behind Priya. Occasionally, the bundled up slave would writhe around, causing the chains around them to rattle. The only hint of their appearance peeking out of the robes was a set of long, sharp claws on their hands.

Priya let out a chuckle as she stared down at Veil. "Ha, she's not too bad looking for a slave! I almost feel bad that she'll be dead by the end of this! In fact, I could think of a few uses for a girl like that! I'm starting to wonder why you don't just-"

Master Sef instantly appeared behind Priya and grabbed her neck from behind.

"Keep talking, Walker. I'd like to hear just how you were about to suggest my student degrade herself and our House."

"Aah, th-that won't be necessary, Master Tenebri! I-in fact, Mistress Tenebri, w-why don't we just get on with the match already?"

"Sef, let the Walker go. As crude as her comments are, she is right that we should get this over with."

With a huff, the Master let go of Priya before vanishing. Veil was briefly startled as he reappeared in front of her and raised her to her feet.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Tenebri Veil," he whispered. "That woman brings out the worst in me. But do not let her get to you. With your power, you have the upper hand against whatever that slave of hers is capable of. I expect nothing less than your best in the match."

"Of course, Master."

Veil nodded, then turned to face her opponent's handler, who was rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. "So, ma'am, who will I be fighting today? I'd like to know the name-"

Priya burst into laughter. "Ha ha ha! The nerve of this one! But what else can I expect from House Tenebri but slaves that don't know their place! And a name! Ha ha, as if I name my tools!"

"I… They don't even have a name…?"

"Of course not! All you need to know, girl, is that the slave standing behind me is going to tear you to pieces! Don't need a name for something like that! Now, if you're done asking stupid questions, how about you get your slave ass over to the pit so you can get killed already!"

With another round of laughter, Priya pulled on her slave's chain, dragging them along as she headed for the arena. Veil stared at the departing duo, then turned her eyes to Mistress Adelin and Master Sef. Both of them gave her a reassuring look before turning to face the arena. Before doing so herself, she looked back at the statue of Serapis, then down to the prayer talisman still clenched in her hand. As she loosened her grip on it, she noticed that the half-moon and circle carved into the talisman had left an imprint on the smooth scales of her palm.

"I, I can't lose this match," Veil said.

Mistress Adelin nodded. "Serapis is with you, Tenebri Veil. You will not lose."

Veil gave the Mistress one last nod before turning to face the arena herself. With little more left to say, she followed behind her Mistress and Master, ready to see her first match through to the end.

—

Once Veil and her opponent were in the arena, Priya undid the chains around her slave, and quickly leaped over the boundary of rocks separating the spectators from the arena pit. The moment the slave noticed they were unbound, they tore the robe off of their body, and Veil saw just who, or rather what, she was fighting.

The mole boy who stood opposite Veil was a dreamkeeper in appearance only. He stared out at her with the kind of vacant expression she was used to seeing from kerricks and manekales, betraying no greater intelligence than that of a tamed animal. The thin layer of fur on his body was a mess of colors, a stained patchwork of reds, grays, and browns which made it impossible to tell which was his actual fur color. Despite appearing to be about her age, he was much thinner than her, to the point of appearing to be starved. Veil stared at the boy, not knowing how to feel.

Serapis… This is my opponent? He doesn't even have a name… I guess Claw would be a good fit… Ugh, now I feel like Kamal. But at least he names his slaves…

While Veil was thinking, she hardly noticed as the master of ceremonies announced the start of the match. As soon as the word "begin" left his mouth, Priya gave a shrill whistle that got the attention of both Veil and Claw.

Claw's eyes immediately narrowed, focusing on Veil. With a bestial roar, he rushed towards her, and a bronze halo whirred into existence over his head. A glow of the same color began to cover his claws, and in the next instant, one of them shot towards her.

Veil barely had time to react, and her frills opened up as she reeled backwards. One of the extended claws tore into the frills on the left side of Veil's head, causing her to gasp as it punched a hole straight through the frill.

To Veil's relief, the claw retracted, leaving her now punctured frill to slowly ooze blood. With the initial shock having passed, Veil wasted no time avoiding Claw's next attack. Her movements were swift as she ran along the ring of stones, dodging her opponent's power-extended blades.

As she passed the part of the arena where Claw started, she could hear his handler jeering at the both of them.

"Come on! Is this a fight, or a race? Hurry up and kill her already!"

A brief slip up caused a claw to graze the fins on Veil's tail, tearing a part of them off while also digging a groove into one of the stones surrounding the pit. Paying little attention to the injury, Veil kept running.

"Veil! What are you doing?"

The sound of Mistress Adelin's voice almost made Veil pause mid-run.

"You have the means to end this, Tenebri Veil! Use it!"

As she barely dodged another strike from Claw, Veil went over the Mistress's words in her head. As soon as she made the connection, she cursed herself for letting fear make her forget about it, and activated her power.

The moment the halo appeared over Veil's head, Claw paused and pulled back slightly. When he saw a plasma ball emerging from her frills, he let out a panicked whimper. With a brief flash of his own halo, his claws shot out to block the approaching attack.

Veil winced as she heard the resulting howl of pain. The searing ball of plasma burned through a layer of Claw's claw, causing him to retract it just as quickly as he had extended it. Breathing a sigh of relief, Veil started making more plasma balls, causing Claw to panic even more.

With only a thought, the plasma balls started chasing the feral dreamkeeper down, and the situation of moments earlier was reversed completely. Priya gaped as she saw her slave suddenly running for his life.

"Are you kidding me? Serapis gave a power like that to her of all people?"

A series of shrill whistles and commands followed, nearly causing Claw to be hit by incoming plasma balls as he struggled to process his mistress's orders.

"Forget about the balls, you stupid animal! The girl's the important one! Get in there and put a claw right through her heart!"

Fighting against every primal urge in his body, Claw heeded his mistress's command and turned to charge Veil, his halo flaring as a trail of plasma balls tailed him. With a quick gasp, Veil canceled out the straggling projectiles furthest away from her opponent and fired another volley toward him.

Claw let out a terrified sound as the new plasma balls advanced on him. Using his power, he thrust a claw towards Veil's heart, which never had a chance to hit its target as both of the fighters dove out of the way of their opponent's attacks at the last moment.

Rising from the sand and jumping to avoid a long-reaching claw swipe, Veil considered her options. Claw was surprisingly fast, fast enough to avoid her plasma balls while still remaining a threat due to his own power. Even the ones she still had chasing him seemed to have little effect as he scurried around, taking whatever opportunities he could to thrust or swing his claws at Veil.

With a sudden thought, Veil canceled out all of the plasma balls she had active. Claw looked around as the burning threats to his life suddenly ceased to be. It was only when he saw Veil rushing towards him that the reason became clear, and he instinctively used his power, thrusting his claws out to impale her.

The next few moments were filled with screams of agony. Just before the claws could reach her, Veil stopped and fired a massive volley of plasma balls from her frills, each one making contact with her opponent's natural weapons and melting through them with an ease that almost made Veil retch.

When Claw ran out of breath to scream with, he panted as he stared down at his hands. His halo's glow had now reduced to a flicker, and his claws were similarly reduced to little more than smoldering stubs. With his only means of attacking gone, Claw stared up at his opponent in primal terror. He started to pick himself up to run, only to heave a breathless gasp as another plasma ball tore a fist-sized hole in his right leg.

Veil stood over Claw, her own halo shining bright and one more plasma ball the size of her head floating between the two of them. As her once fearsome opponent was now recoiling from her presence, she looked around at the small crowd, all of whom were watching intently. The question she wanted to ask was drowned out by the silence in the air, and Veil knew what had to be done.

"I'm sorry, Claw…"

Veil closed her eyes. The representative of House Mut didn't even have a chance to scream as her final plasma ball vaporized his head.

—

The crowd erupted into cheers. As Veil's halo faded and she stared down at the headless remains of her opponent, she started wavering in place as she started hearing voices from the crowd.

"Damn, wasn't expecting something like this today!"

"Who is that slave girl anyway?"

"Serapis be praised, what a show!"

"Gotta really be blessed to have a power like that…"

"Tenebri? First I've heard of them…"

"Took his head clean off!"

"Damn it, what a waste…"

The last voice, which sounded closer to her than the others, pulled Veil out of her momentary trance. Right in front of her, Priya was grabbing Claw's body, muttering under her breath the whole time.

"Gonna have to start training a new one, fuckin' House Tenebri pulling a power like that out of their ass… The fuck are you looking at? You just cost me a whole trained slave!"

"You didn't even care about him," Veil whispered.

"Huh? What's that?"

"You didn't even care enough to give him a name, and now you're complaining like he was some big loss?"

Priya shot Veil a glare. "What do you care, you little slave bitch? You scored a win for your House, why don't you fuck off and be glad that you were a good little tool for your mistress?"

Veil's frills started rising, and she returned a glare of her own.

"That's all you think slaves are? Tools to be used and replaced, just like that? That's completely disgusting! Maybe if you actually cared about Claw, treated him like an actual person, maybe he wouldn't have ended up-"

A shadowy claw suddenly appeared around Veil's snout, clasping her jaw shut before she could continue speaking. A moment later, more claws shot out from her shadow, wrapped around her body, and dragged her to the ground. Veil could only watch on as Mistress Adelin approached her, her halo glowing brightly and her face set in a glare that was usually reserved for when she was upset with Kamal.

"Slave Tenebri Veil, you are completely out of line. It is not a slave's place to question how a Walker treats their slaves, and certainly not a Walker from another House. If it weren't for your victory today, I would punish you here and now for this transgression."

Veil felt her heart sink as her Mistress turned to speak with Priya. "I apologize, Walker Priya. Tenebri Veil was most likely feeling emboldened by her victory. Please do not hold her words against us."

"Bah, she's just a slave. Not like I even give a fuck what she has to say. Just keep a tighter leash on your property next time."

"Of course. On my honor, it will not happen again."

Priya shrugged. "Whatever, I can't stay mad at a winner for too long anyway. I hate to admit it, Addie, but it looks like Serapis finally cut you a break after all this time. A win's a win and a deal's a deal. House Tenebri'll get its winnings once I'm done explaining this whole mess to the powers that be."

The Mistress nodded. "House Tenebri thanks you for your courtesy."

Priya grunted in response, slung Claw's corpse over her shoulders, and turned to leave the arena. Veil could faintly hear her muttering as she left.

"Fight to the death without knowing shit about the opponent… Biggest dumbass mistake I could've made…"

Once Priya had left, Veil felt herself being lifted up to meet Mistress Adelin's eyes.

"Now, slave, once I let go of you, will you promise to behave?"

Veil nodded to the extent that she could. Following a returned nod from the Mistress, the shadowy claws settled Veil back on her feet before disappearing completely.

"M-Mistress, I…"

"Not now. We'll have time to discuss your behavior once we've returned to the estate."

Veil sagged as Mistress Adelin turned to leave the arena. As she followed behind and the two of them rejoined Master Sef, he spared Veil a brief glance before they started making their return to House Tenebri's estate in silence.

—

Once the trio returned to the House's estate, Veil felt compelled to speak to Mistress Adelin. With only a brief bow, she looked her in the eyes as she prepared to explain herself.

"Mistress, I… I meant no offense to the House! But what you said the other day, about the role of higher castes, I, I thought I was saying what you would say!"

The Mistress wrapped Veil in a hug without any pressure to it.

"Veil… You're absolutely right. What you said back there is by all rights something I agree with. But the way you acted back there… it would have gotten you killed if not for the circumstances. A slave speaking out against someone of a higher caste is a terrible insult. Fortunately for all of us, House Mut has a philosophy of respecting the victorious, even despite that."

Mistress Adelin paused, then released Veil from her hug.

"I fear you've forgotten your place all too quickly. Even blessed with a power, even for all the freedom that I give you here, you must not forget that to the rest of Serapeum, you are still just a slave. And in public, though it pains me to do so, I must treat you as a slave as well."

Veil stared at her Mistress for a moment, then glanced down at the tattoo on the back of her hand. That mark was printed on her at its lowest possible point, and it showed everyone who saw it that she was little more than property, barely even a person in the eyes of society.

"I… I'm sorry, Mistress. I'll try to remember my place going forward."

"That's all I ask of you. I do truly wish you had been born into a higher caste, Tenebri Veil. You deserve much better than the life of a slave."

"Adelin," Master Sef said, moving closer to his wife, "perhaps we should move on from this. Despite her outburst at the end, Tenebri Veil has done well for her first outing in the arena, and I believe her hard work should be rewarded."

"Yes, of course, my love. But first, Veil, I believe you should have your wounds treated. Even if they were only glancing blows to your frills and tail, they-"

"Um, Mistress? If it's not too much trouble, I think I want to keep these wounds the way they are."

The Mistress blinked. "I, well of course I have no intention of forcing it on you, Veil, but might I ask why you want to stay injured?"

"Cla- I mean, House Mut's slave. He was my first opponent, my first… kill. And he didn't even have a name of his own! His owners will probably forget him once they get rid of his body. I, I can't just let myself forget about him too."

"I… I see. Very well. You have a good heart, Tenebri Veil."

Veil bowed. "Thank you, Mistress."

"Of course, my dear. Now, putting that aside, Sef is right. You've done something incredible for House Tenebri today, and you deserve to be rewarded. We'll start preparing something immediately. In the meantime, you are free from your duties for the rest of the day. Once everything is ready for your celebration, we will be sure to let you know."

Veil nodded, bowed to both the Mistress and Master, and turned to head off, her destination already in mind. In a short time, she arrived at Nuha's hut, and made her way in. Nuha was busy reading through a scroll, and her ears perked up as soon as she heard Veil coming in.

"Oh! Veil, you're back! How did your first fight go?"

Veil quickly walked over and gave Nuha a hug. "Well, it ended up being a death match, so if it went badly I guess I wouldn't be here right now…"

"Oh, oh Serapis, I had no idea! I'm so glad you're alright! But, if you had to fight to the death, that means you had to…"

"Y-yeah. Nuha, I, I have a lot that I need to talk about."

Nuha nodded. "Of course, Veil. Whatever you need to say, I'm here for you."

Veil spent the next few hours explaining everything to Nuha. Throughout the talk, the Servant paid close attention to her pupil's every word. By the time the two were almost done talking, Nuha's hut was bathed in the light of dusk.

"Serapis above, Veil! I can only imagine what that must have been like!"

"Yeah, you're lucky you were born a Servant, you probably wouldn't have had to put up with anything like that…"

"That's just," Nuha paused and lowered her head. "I just wish I had some way to let you be a Servant too…"

Veil blinked. "Wait, that's it! Nuha, on the day I got my power, Mistress Adelin mentioned that there are ways to advance through the castes! Maybe one of the scrolls in here has a way to get me promoted!"

"You think so? Yes, I think I remember reading about something like that… If it means that you can be a Servant, that would be something worth looking into!"

"I think she meant there's a way specifically through fighting in the arena, so if you could find out what that is, I could make it happen! I already won one match, so it can't be too hard, right?"

Nuha smiled and started pulling out scrolls from a shelf. "Yes, this has got to happen! I'll start looking into it right aw-"

"Slave Tenebri Veil, Servant Nuha?"

Veil and Nuha paused as one of the Mistress's Servants, a young silver-shelled beetle girl, appeared in the hut's doorway.

"I was told I might find you here. The preparations for Miss Veil's victory celebration are complete. All of House Tenebri is expected to attend, especially the one responsible for the victory. Oh, and congratulations by the way."

"Oh, t-thank you, ma'am. We'll just need a moment."

"Of course. I will be waiting outside, for when you're both ready to head over."

"Thank you," Nuha said with a nod, "we shouldn't be too long."

The messenger nodded back and turned to leave the hut. Veil rubbed her left shoulder, pausing briefly as she remembered the hole in her frill now left it exposed.

"Ah, I guess I forgot to mention they're throwing me a party for winning my first match," she said.

"Heh, I should have figured! Well, we might as well head over, I can start reading through the scrolls tomorrow. For now at least, I think you deserve to celebrate! It's your first big step in the arena, and hopefully just the first of many!"

"Yeah, hopefully with your help I won't have to take too many of them as a slave!"

Following a quick laugh and a hug, the two girls left the hut to join in on Veil's celebration. All the while, Veil kept the reason for it all fresh in her mind.

Claw… While your soul returns to Serapis, I hope you'll be watching me. I won't let your death have been for nothing. I'll keep winning. I'll break free from the caste that we were both born into.

And whatever happens, I'll never forget you, or the first victory that started me on this path…