The Coliseum

Her senses weren’t as keen as they had once been, after being depraved for so long they weren’t sure how to work. Years she had spent in that prison, breaking claws and bones before the odd creatures with all their fur growing on top of their heads decided to bind her up. Keep her from lying down or from coming close to the walls or doors to injure herself or to kill them.

She could hear the roar and howls of many creatures that seemed like a wolf pack that had already taken two legs from under a deer, and only now had to wait for it to die before they feasted. The howls echoed down the long smooth cave as her weak legs took her down the path, her nostrils flared still only had the scent of her urine and feces and the festering infection in her muzzle, ankles, and tail.

Wings broken, she realized even as the bright light of the sun pierced her eyes like a sharp rock that she wasn’t going to fly away. Fighting, she tried to keep her only reliable sense at the moment, tears streaming from her bloodshot eyes as she looked around. Those creatures were everywhere, crowded high above her and even in the pit she now found herself in. Those in the pit were on dumb beasts and armed with weapons. Those above watching like hawks ready for the kill.