Whatever You Have To

Terror blossomed in Avery's eyes. The men shuffled, and hands closed around Dael's shoulders. Someone wrenched him out of the cell. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another boy writhing as he was dragged into the dirt-packed hallway. It was lined with cells full of other sallow-faced men cringing beneath the weight of the crowd's roars spilling from above. 

Avery threw himself against the bars as Darius slammed the gate. "Survive! Do whatever you have to!"

One of the men thrust a gladius into Dael's hands and shoved. Dael fell to his knees in hot sand.