Token (Token Chronicles) (12 page)

Rogan asks, “Commanders? Why would you make us commanders?”

“Think about it. Who knows Island 3 better than you? Those who have lived there all of your lives. You must know every inch of the place. This will be to our advantage when we raid all of the Islands and set the captives free. You will be the ones who lead the charge. Grodar has spent the past 16 years training your bodies, your minds to become stronger and faster. They have made the perfect soldiers, and when we reveal the Truth to you, we know you will be on our side, as well.”

Butler interrupts, “You said our lives in Ridian will be about freedom and choice. If we don’t want to become a part of this Rebellion or become commanders, do you think we really expect them to just let us walk away?”

Daylen replies, “I know it’s hard to believe that anyone would spend their money in such a way and just let it walk out the door, but yes. If it is your decision, we will respect it. All that is asked of you is to go through the orientation once we arrive. There are things you need to see. Things all of you need to see before making that decision.

“Things like what?” I ask.

“Things that can’t be described in words. Things you would not believe even if I told you. You will all see the Truth.”

“How about you just tell me now,” I smirk back.

“Soon, you will know everything, Kincaid” Jayce replies. He places his hand on my shoulder and promises, “In due time. You must remain patient.”

I am not sure if these people can be trusted yet, but I need to use them as long as I can until I can find out if Hadley is safe or not.

An intense aroma drifts into the room, and we are all distracted from our fears momentarily. They serve a dinner of splendid foods we have never encountered before. Understanding we have never seen these foods on the Island, Daylen explains what is being placed in front of us. Filet mignon steaks covered in a garlic butter sauce. Marmalade roasted duck with gravy. An entire cart is rolled out with pecan and apple pies, and cobblers of many varieties; peach, blueberry, blackberry, plum.

I begin to realize how hungry I am. Whether it was the adrenaline from after the auction or the elation from thinking I was going to see Hadley again, I could not even eat anything at my Retreat Feast. And now, they serve the most delicious assortment of foods I have ever seen in my life. How can we eat at a time like this? When they themselves are the ones who told us our friends, loved ones, are in danger.

Jayce beckons to us all, “Please, enjoy the meal we have prepared for you. I know we have thrown a lot at you. But you must all be hungry, and we need you to maintain your strength. I promise, we will answer as many questions as we are able to after dinner.”

We all look around the table to each other, and apparently we have all heard exactly what we needed to. We begin to dig in to these strange new exotic foods. Meats so tender they fall off the bone at the touch of our fingers. Desserts so exquisite our pallets have never come across such sweetness. Daylen comes by and convinces me to try the apple pie with a dollop of sweet cream on top. I am thankful for the suggestion because I eat three more slices of the sweet pie.

After our bellies are stuffed, possibly more than we have ever had in our entire lives, I plan on seizing the opportunity to finally get some questions answered. As our plates are cleared from the table, I look up only to find Jayce and Daylen have disappeared on us. I suspect they may have just been using the false promise of answers as a ploy to get us to eat and distract us as they leave. I quickly get up from the table disgusted I allowed myself to give in to my hunger now.

I leave the dining room without speaking to anybody. I exit through the first door I can find, not even knowing where I am going. I just keep marching down the hall, but I come to a rapid halt. I can barely hear the voices of Daylen and Jayce talking in one of the rooms from the hallway. I am certain because I can make out Jayce’s distinct deep voice.

“Do you think he knows yet?”

“No, but we have been instructed to keep quiet until she has a chance to talk to him.”

“What about the girl?”

“He cannot know about her, especially where she is.”

I am bothered by their conversation deeply. It sounds as if they are talking about me. Is the girl they are talking about Hadley? Where is she? Who needs to talk me?

I am considering opening the door to confront them, but I quickly reconsider when I hear the ship’s intercom go off.

“We are on final approach. We will be landing shortly.”

I scamper out of the hallway back to the main room. Everyone is still sitting at the table with miserable expressions on their face. I am sure from overdoing it at dinner as I did. As Jayce and Daylen re-enter the room, Daylen takes her seat while Jayce walks over to one of the windows.

“Just a few more seconds. Everyone hold on to something,” he calmly says.

The light coming through the window abruptly goes black, and I can feel the speed of the hovercraft decrease steadily until I am almost thrown out of my chair as the craft appears to be in a complete nose dive. Are we crashing? The lack of light has hidden the faces of my fellow Tokens, but I can hear their worried sounds of panic.

“Relax, everything is fine,” Daylen says still sitting in her seat.

I pull myself back up into my chair and everyone’s alarm has seemed to subside. The hovercraft has leveled back out, and I feel a tremendous rumble from the engines as they are powering down, and the craft is slowly lowering to land. As soon as the thud from the landing legs outside sounds, Jayce wastes no time. He opens the hatch and dispenses the ramp in seconds. He eagerly beckons us over to the exit urging us to come see. I am the first to make my way over.

He barks with a loud voice of pride, “Welcome to Ridian! Welcome to the Rebellion!”

When I approach the door, I now understand the blackout and the unexpected nosedive the craft took. We are in a large underground cavern with wooden stairs leading up to the floors carved into the walls filled with hundreds of doors and hallways. The walls of the cavern all surround the main octagonal base floor filled with soldiers.

As I warily step through the exit onto the ramp, I hear thunderous sounds emanating from the thousands of people in front of me all dressed in the same blue fatigues.

“FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM!!!” they all proudly roar.

Chills flow from my neck down through my spine. As I make my way to the bottom of the ramp, a large stocky man who looms over me by almost an entire foot greets me. His scalp is completely shaved, and he has only a light brown moustache.

“Welcome, Captain Kincaid,” he says with a deep voice. “We have been highly anticipating your crew’s arrival.”

Captain? Why is he calling me Captain?

“Captain,” he says. I am still astounded by the magnitude of this crowd who all appear to be cheering our arrival. “Captain.” He nudges me, “Sir.” I finally realize he is referring to me again.

“I have been instructed to inform you upon your arrival that we have arranged a meeting for you. Someone you are going to want to see.”

My heart skips a beat with excitement. There is only one person in this entire world I want to see right now.

Chapter 7

Ridian Elite Camp

Paralysis. A terrible torture I have had the misfortune of experiencing in several different forms. The extreme physical pain of being jolted time and time again. The crippling pain of Hadley being stripped away from my life. But I have never felt this pain before. Not like this. The sting of learning the truth. A truth we have all been shielded from. Your whole life building up to one glorious moment was all a devastating lie. I know the truth now. We all know. After we left the ship, they brought us to the orientation room where it was revealed to us. My exultation withered. There was a fire of infuriation burning inside of me. At Grodar. At Cromus. At every single person who had lied to us our entire lives. Especially at every parent who had given their child up so they could be raised to be slaughtered and abused. I have to wonder how much the Grods and Holds on the Islands knew. Did Zeke know? Surely he would have warned us of what we could have been walking into if he had. Or maybe he was more loyal to Grodar than I originally thought.

I was elated as I had stepped off the ship into our new home. The crowd of soldiers was passionate and believed the words they were cohesively chanting. I had already begun to grasp the strong sense of comradery among them, the sense of pride and dignity in their voices and postures. They were the soldiers of the Rebellion. New and improved. Ready for battle and courageously willing to take on any obstacle. They wanted their freedom, and so did I. For the first time, so did I. I began to feel it was truly within my grasp. But the true reason for my happiness was because I would be seeing Hadley again. Who else could they have meant when they said
someone I am going to want to see?

After they played the video for all of us in the orientation, I was stunned. I am not sure what I should have expected. We were all taught from our birth until now to give all glory to Grodar. We were the fortunate kids. Always being taught that to be a Token is a great honor to have bestowed upon us. But had any of us known the fate we would be forced into, we may have very well revolted as the kids from Island 10 did.

“Follow me, Captain.” Jayce is escorting me to the meeting room. The place where Hadley and I will be reunited.

“You have made the right choice, Kincaid. We will proudly follow you,” he says. He stops at a set of iron double doors. He clicks the handle and forces the door open, “In here.”

“Captain Kincaid, please have a seat,” the stocky Rebel soldier with the moustache directs after we have entered the arranged meeting room. He introduces himself as Sgt. Merk.

“She will be with you shortly.”

At least I have the comfort of knowing Hadley did not have to go through what so many others have before us. She was lucky enough to be purchased by Ridian as well, but Benja and Yency will not be as fortunate, however. If there is a way to save them, I will find it before it is too late. Before they meet their impending deaths or worse.

As I sit here impatiently waiting for them to bring Hadley to me, the images from the video keep rolling through my mind again and again. No matter how much I try to block them out, they consume every corner of my consciousness. The orientation was an eye opener for all of us. We had never thought such fates were in the cards. I remember the times back on the Island when I was looking forward to becoming a Token, to serving Grodar. I scoff at myself for the incredible stupidity.

They showed us what the Elitists do with their prized Tokens once we are purchased. We were all predestined to become warriors, just some in different fashions than others. While those of us in Ridian are preparing to ignite a Rebellion against Grodar and start a new war against their regime, the rest of the Tokens just become pawns used to amuse the Elitists in every way imaginable. Male Tokens from the Elite camps immediately enter extensive training to enhance their fighting skills. The men from different camps are pitted against each other in different arenas to fight to the death. We watched several of these fights. Two men entering arenas each knowing only one was walking out. The deaths were brutal. I could not imagine anyone from my Island turning on their own humanity so quickly, but I have not been placed in their shoes. Would I have been so noble? Or would I have been fervently battling to save my own life at the expense of another innocent man?

Apparently, as it was explained to us, the more spectacular the opponent’s death is, the longer period you have in between your next fight. For an incredibly dramatic finish to a fight, the victor may get several months before he is thrown back into the arena. Eventually, every fighter meets the same outcome, a cruel death. But the Elitists did give hope, although slim, to every single Token fighter.

The rumors were true. Freedom could be won from the Elitists. But there were only two ways your freedom could be had. Both ways involved decisive victory in the arena with the death of many others at your hand. One way is to become the most victorious Token the arena has ever seen, a challenging feat. If you won twenty battles, you became a free man. But so far, in all the years of Tokens, no one had ever even surpassed this goal. Those who had come close were placed in impossible scenarios. One man fighting against an entire hoard all directed at him. Ultimately, these men were butchering each other to earn the right for a few more weeks of precious life.

Particularly, the last fight they showed us is the one that I cannot force from my mind. It will forever stain my memory watching the last dying breath of a friend. Cabel. He was sold at the last auction before me. We had been good friends growing up, and I watched another man shove a three-pronged knife right through his throat. The tall red headed man left the knife in his throat as Cabel fell to his knees making the struggling attempt to take in his last few breaths. The only sound escaping from his throat sounded like a wheezing boar. It will forever haunt my memories. The brawny opponent then took an axe and decapitated him in one rapid motion. As his head rolled away, it became apparent the red headed man took no joy in doing this. His face was distorted with sorrow for what he had done, but it had become a necessary evil for his own survival. To please these wretched Elitists who use these fights as their own petty forms of entertainment.

Some Elitists place bets on the fights. Some who don’t even have a fighter in the arena. They just enjoy the thrill of the battle. However, the one on one battles are just the tip of the sword. If I had gone to another camp, I would have been happy to receive such a fate. To either die by the hand of one opponent face to face, or be forced to kill only one man. Either way, the alternatives are much scarier.

All of the gruesome footage only showed men fighting each other. But obviously, about half of all the occupants of the Hawk Islands are women.