“Three silver pieces to ensure this boy is sold as a permanent indentured with the rest of the trash at the next auction, and perhaps his previous paperwork conveniently disappears,” Master Duient dictated.

A sinister smile curled on the lips of the old man he addressed as anger and impatience echoed in Duient's every word. Beady eyes gleamed with greed as thin fingers locked together.“Mr. Duient, it wouldn’t be right for me to take your slave and treat him like some kind of criminal,” he remarked. Duient’s typical scoule seemed to grow even more sour “five silver.” Master Duient quickly offered, The air whipped around me as the world seemed to flip before a sudden stop on wooden floorboards feeling the grain press into my face as a wave of pain echoed through my side and arm. I rolled onto my back trying to make sense of what had just happened. I knew for a fact that Master Duient couldn't lift me with his wiry frame much less throw or toss me.

From my position on the floor, I looked back through the bars of the wagon and saw the salver standing by the door sliding the bolt shut, over six feet away from his original position near the coach seat. There was no way that old man had the strength or speed to be the one who threw me; he looked like he was a day away from death.

“Mr. Duient, I can’t believe someone sold you this criminal. I’ll make sure he is sold on the proper market this time,” the old salver said, accepting the promised five silver from a bag at Master Duient's side.

Sweat trickled down my neck as I sat up trying to find a way out of this.

“Master Duient, I have faithfully served your family for years without giving you any trouble. I understand that my actions seemed mischievous, but I assure you—”

“Mischievous! When my wife found you, you were elbows deep in our strong box, attempting to fill your pockets. Then, when she asked you what you were doing, you hit her with her own jewelry box and attempted to escape. If it wasn’t for our gardener coming inside to check out the ruckus, who knows where you would be right now.”

Lips curling, the small salver spoke up, “He assaulted his master’s wife. Well, I’m afraid it’s of the utmost importance that I don’t lose his paperwork. It would be irresponsible to let a rebellious and violent slave be resold, even as an indentured. I will have to speak with the slaving guild about this matter, and your family will be questioned about his treatment and what led up to this incident. We’ll provide the evidence to the courts, so this slave and your family can be judged accordingly.”

The wicked smile crept all the way up to the old man's eyes as Master Duient's face paled fury clear in his exprestion. “That won’t be necessary,” he growled, tossing the small bag at the salver. The contents jingled and chimed as it was snatched out of the air. “Well, assault is a crime, so the boy must be an indentured servant who was sold incorrectly to you, Mr. Duient. I will see that he is taken care of.”

Even though monsters like this slaver often force debtors and their children into slavery to pay off debts, I couldn’t help but have an amount of respect for him taking everything he could from Duient. After all, I had tried the same thing, albeit with slightly less success. I did manage to get what I was looking for, not that it matters anymore.

With business concluded, the old devil walked to the coach seat as my old master took a few steps in my direction his thin face carrying its useual scowl, “I hope you know youve just thrown away your only hope at being anything more than what you are but now you will die with the same value you had when you where born, absolutely nothing .” With those last words, we pulled away and I watched him turn and walk back to the front door of his estate, as I was on my way to whatever market the old man knew of where he could sell me without many questions.

My best chance at freedom now is an opportunity to escape before we arrive so that the papers stay valid long enough to escape Liánhuā. So, quietly I sat in my new cage, feeling every rock and dip in the road as we continued the journey, waiting for an opportunity, and planning what to do once I gained my freedom.

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“Why so quiet, boy? Most I pick up cry and try to get me to let them out. I once had a young man try to bribe me with a single copper piece,” he said with a slight chuckle.

“Because you can’t let me go even if you wanted to. You’re part of the slavers guild. If you suddenly started letting their money go, you would be out of a job or disappear. So what would wasting the energy get me?”

My words were met with a bark of a laugh one that was closer to the sound a five-hundred-year-old dog might make when you stepped onto its lawn

“You’re a smart one,” the old fart said in a slimy tone entering his voice. “Most forget that the salvers work for the guild, and the guild has the real money and power. We just take a percentage of the sales, and they get to decide that percentage.” his hands tightened on the reins, revealing a possibility It probably wouldn’t get me out, but it might help open an opportunity to escape.

“So, you’re kind of like me in a way,” I said, trying to get the wrinkled monster in front of me to

soften up a little

“I’m like you, huh? How so?” The salver's voice oozed with a mixture of curiosity and condescension.

“Well, we both get what those more powerful than us say we get and can’t do anything about it,” I replied, doing my best to keep a neutral tone.

This was met with that sharp bark of a laugh from the salver. “Boy, you can’t do anything about it. I can just find someone who treats me better or who pays better, or start my own business. You, on the other hand, are property that your master can do whatever they please with,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain.

Well, so much for that plan

“But I’ll give you this: you’re clever, trying to soften me up so I slip up. Very clever. But I’ve been doing this long enough to know better boy,” he added, a note of grudging respect in his voice.

“Boy, I know you think you’re special, but I’ve transported thousands just like you. Some thought they were clever enough to trick their way out, or that they were strong or fast or this or that. But they all ended up on the market, just like you’re going to be—just another slave,” his voice turned cold and self-righteous as he spoke.

I am going to hit this old fool, show him that I'm not just another slave, I'm not just some cattle to be sold or butchered as my masters wished. This cage is just a five-foot by ten-foot wooden prison wagon, and the bars aren't even that thick; they don't actually protect the slaver from whoever he is transporting, they just barely keep them from sliping out and running.

as I clenched my fists, ready to lash out, something stopped me. The salver had already mentioned that he had been doing this for a long time and I doubted he was ever a nice person he had to know how thin the bars are so why wasn't he worried about a slave lashing out. What was keeping me from him?

And then I saw it. On the back of his neck, barely visible beneath his collar, was an Aspect Avatar—a small centipede-like creature made of a putrid yellow energy, pulsing with an aura of pain and sickness. He was a veinweaver, not a very powerful one based on the abstract nature of his Aspect Avatar, but to a normal person, he was a powerhouse.

“What’s the matter, boy? Cat got your tongue? Scared of an old man?” The salver's voice was mocking, taunting.

“You’re a veinweaver,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

The salver's malicious bark filled the wagon. “You are an observant one boy. But I’ll admit I’m a little disappointed that you didn’t get a bite from my avatar. It’s always fun to watch foolish slaves fall back, and start to moan and squirm as the sickness sets in. They always act without thinking, most of them anyway. But you, boy, you have a good head on you and don’t trust people. Shows just how smart you are. If you weren’t in that cage, I’d like to take you on as my apprentice. Maybe I’ll purchase you myself. A smart boy like you would be helpful,” he said, his voice dripping with false charm.

He seemed to truly consider it. "What’s your name again, boy? Lilum or something?"

“It’s Liam,” I replied, my voice steady despite the fear bubbling inside me veinweavers were never to be taken lightly they could help you or kill you in an instant and your only hope was that a nicer one stopped them.

“Well, Liam, I think we would be a great pair,” he said, his tone turning predatory.

This man was not someone I wanted to be indentured to. I needed to do something to make myself seem uncontrollable and brash or maybe just give him what he expects of a slave.

And so, without thinking, I reached out as if to strike the old merchant’s head in anger. The second my fist left the bars, his avatar formed and struck out, biting into my hand. searing pain shot through me, the sensation of a thousand needles piercing my skin.

yanking my hand back, I watched in horror as the avatar melted back into his skin, becoming a living tattoo once again.

“Thought you were smarter than that, boy. Don’t you know avatars don’t sleep or disappear? They stick with you,” he said, his voice filled with triumph as he chuckled darkly.

Then the pain truly started. It flowed from my hand through the rest of my body like fire in my veins. A feverish rash spread from the bite, covering my body in a chaotic pattern.

I clenched my jaw, doing my best not to scream as the agony intensified. Extreme chills wracked my body, alternating with waves of fever. Muscle spasms and bone-deep pain consumed me, and I felt myself slipping into darkness.