I turned and saw that everything was not my room but a huge tent filled with humanoid creatures all different from one another. One was green with scales all across his skin…. while another looked feminine but with large tusks coming out of her mouth, it was like her mouth was forever snarling.
I got up to my feet as soon as I felt the mysterious feeling leave my body. Whatever that man gave me left a bitter taste in the back of my mouth. Potion? Is that what he said? I looked at my surroundings and sighed as the humanoids walked out like nothing was happening or nothing was out of the norm. I was in a large rectangular tent, while the exit or the outside flaps were to my left. To the right of me were rows and rows of cots and other items I could not make out.
“Damn, well aren’t you gonna get to work lad? The foreman will have your arse if ya don’t.” I looked to my right as a small man maybe a few inches above my waist was waving his hands in my direction. I pointed to myself with my hand which was covered with grime and dirt. “Yes you, get over here and get a seal!”
I was confused but got up and walked toward him and noticed that I was only wearing a thin piece of cloth like a tunic, kinda like a shirt without sleeves and the rest was hanging over my knees like a robe. I was wearing some crude sandals that cut into my skin.
When I reached the small man with a huge black beard covering what I presume is his mouth he reached out his hand and motioned for my hand as well. “Give me yer left-hand laddy. It won't be that bad I promise, well it won't last long.” As I started to give him my left hand hesitantly two figures came up behind me and kicked my hamstring so I would collapse to my knees.
The figures smelled of sweat and filth like very sharp iron and rust. Once I was on the ground I resisted, “Hey, what are you–” as one of them forced my left hand and pinned it on what felt like cold metal. I noticed a small glow in the corner of my eyes coming from the small man’s direction. Before I got to say anything else or question the glow I felt pain shoot through my arm.
“AHHHHHHGGG FUCKING HELL!!!” I screamed as what felt like my blood turned against me in my arm and started to melt through my muscles and bones. The figures let go of me and as I looked at my arm, the veins through my arm turned a glowish pink and started to fade out as I cursed and began to look at the small man in front of me.
“What the hell was that you son of a bitch!” Before I began a rant over this garbage of a man, one of the figures took to my shoulders, and I felt the air leave my lungs as the other figure gut-punched me. They lifted me and chuckled as they said, “You're lucky you cost a few gold pieces or otherwise we would have gutted you for bait.” As they were dragging me the small man looked calm and gave me a look of pity before bright light emerged in my vision. As my eyes began to adapt I got a better glimpse of the guards, one was covered in metal armor with scales going down where the armor wasn’t so thick. The other one was identical in appearance but what did catch my eye the most was the ears. They curved upwards to a point rather round like normal.
“Elves? Potion? Oh, great I am in a fucking fairytale now?” I silently cursed the angel that sent me here that didn't say shit about this. I was thrown forward, landing quite harshly and dirt covered the back of my head. I grunted and got up and glimpsed the elves that dumped me here walking away. “Ah, so you were the one that was brung back from the brink, huh?” I turned and saw what looked like a man covered in leather from neck to toe, he was also sporting a reddish beard with a scar that was jagged down his left eye. I look to see if he had any inhuman traits, but looked human enough. Though in his left hand, he was carrying a mace that sported a leather strap for the handle. The end of it widened into a metal cylinder with some ornate decorations, but what concerned me with the most dread is the reddish liquid dried onto the metal.
“Brink?” I said, questioning him. “Yeah, you were stricken with plague and were put in the sick tent.” I turned and saw the tent that was marked with a skull on the flaps where I was momentarily just put through hell. I looked at my arm where the burn and pain were but found nothing but my own skin which was already a little tanned. “Yeah, I heard you holler like a coon being skinned alive. Don’t worry, that is just your seal provided by the dwarf in there.” He pointed back toward the tent. Dwarves too?
“I am in a hurry so just follow this dirt road with the other slaves and you will see soon what you and every other sorry sort here will be doing with the rest of their fucking lives.” He smiled with what I thought only a devil could sport. “Then why were you waiting for me?” I asked. He huffed while thinking for just a moment to answer again, “Waiting, pshhh I only like the faces of the newcomers and the screams that tear through those tents as well.” I looked at him without emotion and saw the slaves walking towards the dirt path over the crest of the hill. While I was looking at the shambles resembling other races and such, he pulled out what seemed to be a piece of parchment that resembled a scroll. He opened the scroll and said, “Rifter… no house name, is to be sold for 6 gold pieces and to be sealed to the company known as the Silver Caravan.” He looked up at me, “Welcome to the Silver Caravan!” As he showed a malicious grin. “Don't die in the first week, yeah?”
He turned and walked over the hills surrounding the medical tent and was out of sight. I started towards the path and when I reached the apex of the hill I stood breathless as I took in the sights. In the far north of where I was standing stood a large stone building that was seeping in towards the mountain. ‘Probably, more of the building is inside the mountain.’ Surrounding the structure was what I can say as wooden spikes where both ends meet at the mountain and the middle narrows down towards an entrance to a gate. ‘I can’t tell if that is a bridge from here.’
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Before I attract any more attention I start down the dirt road, catching up to at least the slaves in the back before I start to slow down and revel in the mountains sight. They looked like the Rocky Mountains but has snow caps at the very top. ‘Or at least I think that is snow. I mean it wasn’t that chilly, more like a dry cold wind with the sun raining warmth kind of weather. Yeah, that sounds right. Totally, not going crazy.’
I was so lost in thought that I bumped into something, I looked toward the object that I bounced off of. I looked in awe as a 6-foot tall, red scales and dragonic face looks towards me and snarls. “Watch where you are going whelp. Or I will gouge your fucking eyes out with my claws when we reach the depth of the mines.” He holds up his hand revealing scaly red and thick hands with nails I presume spurting forth with a surgical sharpness. He then turns back around with a grunt and continues to stand there.
I, who is still frightened by this otherworldly creature who just threatened my own life did not take notice that he was standing there because he was just standing in a line. When I finally calmed down from that red nightmare standing before me I took a glance to the side of Scaly. I viewed a large line that headed into a dark opening that looks like it was lit by a few torches. Two guards were standing at the opening one on each side. ‘Hell I am guessing those are guards, that is the same armor that the other elven guards were wearing.’ I started to caress my arm as I remembered the pain that shot through not even an hour or so ago. ‘I wonder if time is different here? Is there more than one moo-? These questions can come after I get my bearings and start to figure a fucking way out of here.’
It took some time before I can finally make out what the guards were doing with the slaves when they entered through the entrance. Each slave was either holding their hands out towards the guards while one guard took hold of their arm and a brief flash of colored light glowed from both arms. ‘That looks like what they did to me when I just woke up, but this time it looks like the slave did not flinch in pain or showed any of it at all.’ After the wordless exchange, the slave walked into the dark opening and vanished without a trace. It was as if the slave walked into a black void swallowing the color and light as well. I started to fidget at the sight but the people ahead of me reacted as if this was normal or something.
‘Okay, okay, maybe this is some sort of magic that keeps stuff in or out. Logically with this many slaves to guards I’ve seen. There must be places where most slaves are divided and worked separately to prevent a revolt.’ Either way, it was almost my turn as the few humanoid creatures I have been staring at gave the brief but occasional exchange of words between the slave and the guard and walked into the inky blackness. Scaly as I have been calling him to rationalize my understanding of the creature walked toward the guard and drew his arm forward as the guard took hold of his arm Scaly pulls him toward him and headbutts the guard. The other guard then reacts as he starts to come to defend his comrade, Scaly then utters a deep growl and I swear I felt the air around me warm up as one unfazed guard shouted, “Fire Breath!” and tried to jump clear away from Scaly. Though before he was about to jump toward a stray boulder lying to the right of us, Scaly unleashes a fiery blast of fire from his mouth. The fire completely consumes the first guard entirely and some leftovers partially covered the other guard's shiny blue armor on the right leg.
I reacted and just jumped back and fell on my back as I looked back towards the scene unfolded. Once the flames died down the first guard that was enveloped by the fire fell towards me and falls face first into the dirt. The smell of cooked flesh was instantly brought to my nose and filled me with dread when the guard didn’t move from that spot. ‘Is he dead?’ I thought as the other guard recovered his footing and started to reach for something on his neck. He pulled out some kind of object that looked like a seashell and blew into it. Scaly started to charge at him with a burst of speed that made Usain Bolt look bad. Though before he was halfway toward the guard, Scaly just stopped running. It was as if he was stopped and frozen like a statue mid-run.
I was beyond confused, puzzled, and more frightened than anything else in this world. I looked back toward the guard that was sizzling in front of me. “Hey, you ok there kid?” I looked toward the sound that came from the startled guard that was still looking toward Scaly. “Ye- yeah, umm what did you do to Scaly here?” He looked toward me and pointed behind me, “I’m detaining him until the others come back me up.” I looked behind me as several other blue metal tin cans in the distance were rushing toward us. I looked back at the guard in front of me that was still melting in his own armor. “Is he dead?” I asked, trying not to throw up whatever I had in my stomach.
“I don’t know kid, healers are great but even an attack from that might be fatal. Turn him over and see if he is breathing.” Before I had a chance to say anything in protest he said, “Look, the magic that is holding him here requires concentration and I can’t do that if I am constantly talking to a slave.” I grimaced at that last word he said but started to do as he asked. I gave a lookdown and dug into the ground where the metal armor was touching so I don't fucking burn myself. I started to push and the armored elf started to turn, but I had to push my hardest to make it just turn over. Once I did it made me look smack dab in his face and made my stomach win over me.
I vomited and turned back toward the corpse. ‘He has to be fucking dead.’ His helmet was melting and the droplets of metal that did not reach the dirt path were dripping onto his face. The skin was all charcoaled and cracked as blood swept between each crack. His eyeballs which were once white were black and dripped down his face. Hell all of his skin was gone and some parts were poking out with bloodied bone. Though before I could examine him further in astonishment and wonder how much heat would do this in a brief second. I felt a cold metallic hand hoist me up and pin my arms behind my back.
Before I said anything the guard that was still holding Scaly shouted, “He did not do that to Aural, just get him in the mine so we can clean this shit up.” The figure that was behind me grumbled, “Yes sergeant, what about Aural?” While he was walking me toward the black void I heard behind me, “Wrap him up and send him to the morgue. Not even a healer can bring someone back from that.” With that the guard holding me let go and before I get to turn around I get what feels like a boot in the back as I am sent into the void.