(I really can’t see anything…)
Approaching the outer edge of the cemetery, Cale comes to a stop and peers through the dense fog.
(It’s almost as if I could grab it--)
He submerges his hand in the white mist and it immediately comes into contact with a hard surface.
Shocked, Cale draws back his hand.
(W… what was that?)
While suddenly coming into contact with an unknown object you’re unable to see, even from arms length away, is definitely surprising; it is not what caused his alarm. As soon as his hand touched the object, he felt something leaving his body. It felt as if all the blood in his entire bloodless body were rushing to his hand and out the center of his palm, entering the object. Though it felt like this, when he drew back his hand, it immediately came to a stop; and the fatigue or loss of energy he felt was almost non-existent.
(Could this perhaps be some sort of cursed object? Does it work similar to the gravestone? But I was able to remove my hand this time…)
Thinking this, Cale inspects the palm of his skeletal hand, only to find the same polished whiteness that the rest of his body holds.
(…Nothing’s there… As I thought, it must have to do with the object. It activates on touch.)
Arriving at this conclusion, he moves closer to view the unknown object within the fog. The second his body becomes completely submerged in the fog, the dim blue lights within the depths of his eye sockets begin to brighten.
[….]
Something like a small voice can faintly be heard from deep within his conscience, but it sounds far away and he brushes it off, thinking he is just hearing things. In the next instant, he becomes aware of everything surrounding him.
(This feeling…. Amazing… I can feel everything… The ground, the gravestones, these trees…)
Cale looks in the direction of the earlier unknown object, now clearly recognizing it in its entirety.
(I can feel the size and shape of it…. As if it were an extension of my own body…)
He brings himself close enough to the tree so that he can see its bark.
(Though I was slightly surprised last time and the suddenness of it, I wonder what happens when the process completes?)
Thinking this, Cale once again places his hand against the tree. As soon as contact is made, a blood red pentagram spreads from under the center of his palm, expanding to roughly 3 times the size of his hand. Just like before, he can feel something like blood rushing to his hand, then out into the tree. Looking closely, he can see fine beads of black liquid making intricate designs as it flows from the palm of his hand, past the pentagram, and weaves its way through the bark of the tree. After that, the pentagram grows dim and fades away, and the black liquid disappears into the tree. This entire process takes roughly 10 seconds.
(Hmmm…. Though I feel a little fatigue from the process, it is still at an almost undetectable level. I wonder wha--)
Suddenly the tree begins the rattle. The shaking of the tree transfers to the ground around it, mimicking a small earthquake.
(…wha!)
With the ground moving, Cale loses his footing and falls over. Looking up, he sees the fog around the tree turn black and melt into the bark. It gathers up large amounts of the surrounding fog, creating a small clearing within the sea of white mist.
With his vision cleared, he takes in the sight before him. The bark which had been burnt, dry, and cracking; now seemed to be covered by a slick tar, black as night itself.
With enormous cracking sounds, which were closer to explosions, countless black twigs flew from both sides of the tree, wrapping around each other and intertwining to become one massive branch. At the end of the newly formed branch on each side, the twigs bundled up to form large, closed fists. The center of the tree ripped open in several places, and the tears resembled a face similar to a jack-o-lantern. With a great rumbling noise, it rips its roots from the ground, placing its roughly formed feet on the surface of the dirt.
(N… no way, a Trent?)
The Trent stood over him at approximately 4 meters in height, its shoulders slowly moving up and down, simulating steady breathing. From deep within the Trent, a low moan could be heard here and there. It sounded like an old abandoned house, the rotted wood creaking and groaning as it struggled to support the weight it had been holding up for countless years.
(…It doesn’t seem to be hostile… does this mean I created it?)
Cale rises to his feet and looks over the Trent.
(Hmmm, it’s similar to a standard Trent… but what’s with this sinister look? It’s something straight out of a horror movie, people will mistake me for the bad guy you know? Or wait… could it be? Have I come back as a demon lord?!)
………..
His head hung in shame at his delusions, Cale pushes the thought out of his mind.
(But if this Trent was created by me, I should be able to give it commands right?)
Thinking this, he calls out to the Trent.
“….”
(Huh?)
Confused, Cale stands there, opening and closing his jaw.
(Don’t tell me… I can’t speak?!
…no, I mean it would make sense. After all, I no longer have a voice box or lungs, or a tongue… But aren’t certain undead supposed to be able to speak in this condition? Perhaps through some sort of unknown magic?)
(Well, I wonder if the fog might clear at a higher elevation…)
****************************************************************************************************
--Cale’s perspective--
I think about the Trent holding me up in the palm of its hand, lifting me above the tree tops and out of the fog. As I’m thinking that, the Trent suddenly starts to move.
It stretches out its hand on the ground in front of me.
I wonder if it’s okay…
I step onto the hand and it rises into the air. The Trent lifts me above its head, high above the tree tops. Up here the fog is much less dense, and I am able to relatively far. Looking around, I notice that the tree line stops some distance away, and the terrain changes into a muddy, swamp-like setting.
I motion with my hand and imagine myself being set back on the floor. Like that, the Trent lowers me back to the earth and I step off of its hand.
Though it’s uncertain what I’ll find there, I would like to leave this forest soon.
Thinking that, I make my way toward the edge of the forest.
***************************************************************************************************
The Empire is the largest kingdom on the eastern continent. Covering the majority of the northern half, it is comprised of several major cities as well as hundreds of villages. The capital, Wescher, is a massive city at the heart of the Empire. Housing a population of over 600,000, one can imagine its size. At the center of the city is a massive castle. Its stone walls towering over 90 meters tall, 20 meters thick and supported with several re-enforcing magics, it was built to be impregnable.
Surrounding the castle were rich, luxurious mansions, housing the nobles. The multi-story mansions were made of beautiful white stone, which seemed to reflect the sun and shine like a gem during the day. Surrounding each of these buildings were wide open yards and gardens. Throughout the gardens were beautifully arranged flowers and trimmed hedges, anyone who passes by could see how much time and thought had been put into the landscape in order to compliment the mansions. The clean streets were wide and made of cobblestone. Every so often you would see thin marble obelisks with a glass orb adorning the top of them. At night, these would be lit with magic, illuminating the streets and sidewalk.
The noble’s merchant district was a huge and open cul-de-sac. Around the outer rim were 2-3 story buildings with glass windows, advertising several beautiful and expensive items. Back from the edge, set up in a ring surrounding the center of the cul-de-sac, were various luxurious stands made of expensive wood and cloth. They often had glass show cases and one could find food, miscellaneous and foreign items while browsing these carts. At the center of the cul-de-sac was a large, circular stage made of polished granite. The granite was covered in intricate, natural patterns, resembling an expensive art piece. Around the stage were numerous exquisite chairs, expertly crafted with fine mahogany, with a cushion inlaid in the seats. The chairs could seat an audience of roughly 1000 and surrounded the stage completely except for a narrow gap connecting the stage to the perimeter of the chairs, resembling an aisle.
Aside from holiday shows and major events, the stage was mainly used to display and sell slaves. This was a common and legal practice in the Empire, especially among the nobles. Though humans sometimes were sold into slavery, most slaves were beastmen and other demi-human races. As such, the faction which played the biggest role in managing, and maintaining the legality of the trading of slaves was the church.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
The church is a central power in the Empire which rivals the royal family in influence. It originated as a means to band the humans together in order to fight the demons whom were stronger and once ruled the continent. Obtaining power from the gods through the church, the humans were able to push the demons back and establish civilization which today, spread across almost the entire continent. Having been repelled, the demons set up communities on the western continent which is now referred to as the demon continent.
Though the war ended hundreds of years ago, due to the influence of the church, the discrimination against demi-humans never died off. Thus all demi-humans except for the few who hid in large forests, were bred and sold into slavery.
It is noon and the chairs surrounding the stage in the merchant’s district are all occupied. There are even a crowd of nobles standing up around the outer perimeter of the chairs looking toward the stage. On the stage, a single large bald man is standing with a small hand-held magic device. He is wearing an expensive red robe, trimmed in gold embroidery. He raises the magic device to his mouth.
“Ladies and gentlemen!!! Welcome! To today’s auction!!”
His voice is amplified by the device and can be heard even in the stone shops on the outer edge of the cul-de-sac. After the voice, a thunderous applause resounds throughout the district.
“Today we have a total of 100 beastmen and 45 elves. The beastmen consist of 80 adults and 20 children. Among the 80 adults, 50 are female and 30 are male. Of the 30 male, 15 are warriors and 15 are craftsmen. Of the 50 females, 20 specialize in cooking, 15 specialize in gardening, and 15 specialize in household chores. Of the 20 children, 9 are male and 11 are female. As for the elves, all are adults, 23 female and 22 male. 10 of the females specialize in household chores, 5 in archery, and 8 in crafting. For the males, 7 are archers, and 15 are warriors.”
As soon as the bald man finishes his summary, another round of thunderous applause was heard along with loud cheering. It was a given that female slaves were preferred over male slaves due to a common service they were able to provide, and with this auction, the number of female slaves were far greater than male. Even with the elves, it was rare to see so many at a single auction. Elves had a long lifespan and therefore took a long time to be bred, so at most there would be 20-30 of them at a single auction. What’s more, though it was forbidden to say aloud, the elf women were extremely beautiful. They stayed young for over 100 years and not a single one of them would lose to the most attractive human female.
The men in the crowd had begun drooling upon hearing the news.
“Without further ado, let the auction begin!! Bring out the slaves!!”
The audience burst into cheering and applause so loud it would put the thunder god himself to shame.
**************************************************************************************************
My name used to be Elina, though I know now that I will never be called that again.
My family and I had been deep within a forest far away my entire life. A few months ago, our small community was raided by the humans. We tried to run, but weren’t fast enough. Their dogs were able to chase us down and surround us. My father lunged at the dogs, trying to open a path for me, my mother, and my brother to escape, but there were too many of them. He was torn apart right in front of us.
When the humans caught up, they separated my brother and I from our mothers arms, and many of them mounted her there in the forest. I closed my eyes. Unable to move from shock and grief, I was dragged away.
After I was captured, I was stripped and brought to a dark room. The humans threw me in there along with several other children, all the same race as me. In the cold room, the other children lay still, some crying, some barley breathing. I didn’t look for my brother. I knew he wasn’t here. When the humans dragged me and my brother, he screamed and resisted, and was cut down. I remember the sound of the blade cutting through his flesh. I sat up against a wall, hugged my knees, and cried.
We were fed one bowl of brown soup per day, or it felt like a day, I couldn't tell from within the dark room with no windows. After 50 or 60 bowls, the humans took us out of the cage and placed shackles around our wrists and ankles. We walked in a line outside and down some streets. I kept my head down. The only thing I saw were the heels of the person in front of me.
After walking a while, I heard cheering in the distance. As we got closer, the cheering became louder, and then we could see the source of the noise. I couldn’t help but look up.
Humans. So many of them. They are wearing clothing made of fine material, each of them looking at us as we pass, seemingly appraising our bodies. We pass some wooden carts and the crowd in front of us parts, letting us through. I see a massive flat rock, the rock has intricate and beautiful patters swirling together across the surface, and standing on top of it is a bald human. Surrounding the rock are a bunch of other humans, sitting in chairs. There is a long line of beastmen in front of me. Like me, they are naked and in chains.
The bald man calls them up one by one, he poses each one of them and points to various places on their bodies while talking to the other humans that are sitting down. When he finishes talking, the crowd gets loud and several of them raise signs with markings in the air. The bald man begins speaking quickly and the signs begin falling until there is one left. After that, the human holding up the last sign walks to the rock, grabs the chains of the beastman and walks with them out of the crowd. This process repeats for everyone in front of me until it is my turn.
“Next up, we have a female child of the beastmen!”
The bald man calls out to me and waves his hand around. I know he wants me to walk toward him and stand in position like everyone else did, but I can’t move. I stand there frozen in place and the bald man grows aggravated. He stomps over to me and yanks on my chains, forcing me to the center of the flat rock.
“This slave has not been bred. She has been captured from a forest 3 months ago. Our experts tell us she is between the ages of 13 and 15.”
There is murmuring throughout the crowd. I am 14. I grimace at how they accurately guess my age. I look at the faces of the humans. Most of them have no expression at all, some of them have hard faces, some are smiling at me. I feel a shutter in my spine.
“As you can see, her body is still healthy and in good condition. The grey fur with black stripes and the unique characteristic of having longer fur on the head, resembling hair; show that she is of the Briggard lineage. As such, she will grow to be quite a high quality female. Her fur is undamaged, and her stripes extend to the end of her tail. We can also guarantee that she is still a virgin.”
The bald man says this to the humans, pointing at me in various places, and grabbing me a few places. I don’t move, I don’t resist. There is nothing I can do.
He then turns me around, bends me over, and spreads me with his hands. I close my eyes. There is a burning pain coming from them, wanting to cry but being unable to squeeze out anymore tears. He stands me up straight, turns me a little, and repeats the process again. This happens four times so that everyone in the circular audience can see me.
“We will start the bidding at 5 gold coins!”
Immediately all the humans that are sitting down raise their signs in the air, looking at me with hungry expressions. I shut my eyes again.
“10 coins”
“15 coins”
“20 coins”
Like that he counts up 5 at a time.
………..
“95 coins”
“Sold!!”
I open my eyes again and see that a thin man with blonde hair and squinted eyes is the last to be holding up the sign. Everything he is wearing is white. A white rob, white gloves, white pants, white shoes. He looks at me. A smile slowly spreads across his face and his eyes open slightly.
A cold feeling comes over my body. He stands from his seat and approaches me. Every instinct in my body is screaming at me to run away from him, but I am unable to. Even if I could overcome the fear and move my body, where would I go? How far would I get? It’s hopeless.
He stands in front of me and takes my chains into his hand.
“Come with me.”
Saying that, he turns, and with him tugging on the chains binding my wrists, I’m forced to follow behind him as we walk outside and away from the crowd.