Chapter Two: With my back against the wall

My captors weren’t giving me any attention as I crawled away from them and the rest of the people in the room, and after a few seconds I was on my own with one of the room's corners behind me.

I needed to act fast, and so immediately started to search with my eyes for anything I can take advantage of. Swords were strapped to some of the men’s waists, and lamps hung on the walls were burning brightly, but other then that, I couldn’t find anything I could take advantage of.

Fight them off with their own weapons? No, that would be a crazy idea. I’m no swordsman, and even with the wall watching my back plus the element of surprise I would still be at a disadvantage. Not to mention, I’d have to actually manage to disarm one of them.

Use the lamps to set the building on fire or escape in the dark? No… there’d be no guarantees I’d be able to get out, especially with my captors still standing in front of the door. How am I meant to reach the lamps as well? I’m only a meter plus a bit tall.

My observations only made me realise the very real difficulty of a task it would be for me to escape, and I felt the little hope left in me waver. My life itself was being threatened, and all the comebacks I could think of were full of openings. Do I really want to gamble what is likely to be my only chance at escaping on something I’m almost certain will kill me?

I’d basically be committing suicide, but I’m already familiar with that aren’t I? However, I doubt there’s a goddess watching who will save me; this time I have save myself.

Swallowing my doubts, I forced myself to stand up, and in the process drew the attention of one of my captors who’d been discussing things with another man across the room.

“Hey, kid, don’t go trying to run, got it? You’re mine now, so sit back down,” said the man called Bryce, looking down on me. “Unless you want me to break your legs, hehehe.”

I know he’s bluffing. Well, I convince myself he must be, after all, I’m merchandise to him now, and no one wants to buy damaged goods. I can’t let my fear control me, and stay standing without replying, not that I can anyway since all that’d come out of my mouth is a whisper.

“Oi, you deaf or what?” said Bryce, walking in my direction until he stood in front of me.

I looked up at Bryce, who stood at least half a meter above me, and he raised his fist.

I smiled. From this distance Bryce would be able to hear my voice, no matter how quiet it is.

“Don’t damage the goods,” I said.

I don’t know what drove me to speak as it would only make matters worse for me, but in the heat of the moment I’d stopped thinking long enough that the words had slipped off my tongue before I could stop myself.

Bryce swung his fist down at me, and I shut my eyes, however, nothing hit me.

“Urgh! You stupid brat,” said Bryce, ruffling his hair. “Just wait till I sell you, you won’t be smiling then eh? hehehe.”

Bryce walked away, sat down beside one of the tables, and started drinking from one of the cups that were laid down in front of him.

I could feel my heart beating rapidly in my chest, and I started to breath a bit faster as well. My nerves were now sitting at the edge, and if I didn’t do something soon I was sure they’d collapse.

Think Lewis. Think! You wanna use magic? Then do it!

Another man sitting beside Bryce stood up, and his sword swung about as he approached me. Still caught in my thoughts, he took me by surprise, and my head started to feel like it would be crushed under the pressure I was feeling.

Stopping a bit over a meter from me, the man waved his hand out in front of him and rested it on his sword's handle, making sure I could see.

“You know, just because Bryce doesn’t like hurting his merchandise, doesn’t mean we all don’t,” said the man. “Infact...”

Keeping his hand on his sword, the man bent down until we were face to face, and whispering so that only I could hear.

“I love little kids... the way they cry for help, and beg me to stop, I love it, but the best part is when they give up-”

“Go away,” I whispered back, unable to think of any other response. The man was downright creepy, and the way he looked at me made me want to get as far away as possible.

Standing up straight again the man looked down on me with a look of delight in his eyes, no, now that I looked closer he wasn’t looking at me, but my body. His eyes moved up and down, and I could see his fingers curl tightly around the handle of his sword.

Breathing erratically he turned to look at Bryce who was in turn looking at me, and forcing words out in between breaths spoke across the room.

“Hey, Bryce, I’ll take this one,” said the man.

Bryce grinned, and at that moment I collapsed. Closing my eyes, I wrapped my arms around my legs, and placed my head against my knees. I wanted the man to go away, for all of them to go away. For them to vanish into thin air, or get blown off the face of this planet itself, but consumed by fear and anxiety, I began to hyperventilate. I couldn’t pretend to be courageous any longer, not even to myself, this situation was simply too much for me.

“Hey, kid, look up,” said the man.

I can’t move, and so stay in my current position. The sound of chatter has stopped, and the room is deathly quiet. The people chatting seemed to have found something more interesting to pass their time with. I then heard footsteps, and someone grabbed my head, forcing me to face whatever it is that’s silenced the room. As I slowly opened my eyes I’m greeted by the tip of a sword, and instantly tried to back away, however, with a wall behind me, I have nowhere to run.

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“Like my sword?” said the man.

I can’t speak, but can hear some of the people in the room snicker.

“If you’re not gonna talk, how about you use that tongue of yours for something else?” said the man, pointing his sword down at my mouth. “Lick it.”

The man who’d grabbed my head forced my mouth open as the other man pointed his sword down at my mouth, and holding me in that position for everyone to see, my confidence plummeted.  

“If you don’t wanna lick this sword-”

At that point I stopped listening. The mouth of the man holding the sword kept moving, but my brain stopped processing the words. Behind him I could see the people in the room laughing and pointing their fingers at me. Their eyes held no pity, but only pleasure from watching me suffer.

It’s not fair. While I suffered they were allowed to sit there? Why? What did I ever do? The answer came to me easy enough. I’d done nothing, but that didn’t make me innocent. I’d promised myself I would fight them, but broke the promise the second things got tough. Heh, I hadn’t changed at all.

Even with two men using me like a toy I know that the biggest hurdle for me was never them, but myself. I lied to the goddess who gave me this chance by letting her believe in me, and I lied to myself by thinking I’d changed over these past few years, but what did I have to show for it? I lived in a dump, and my future would be comprised of me working everyday to survive. Whoop dee doo.

Was I any better then them? In the end, they were living their lives, and I wasn’t. They were doing something, and I wasn’t. But what could I do? Nothing. All I could do is sit here and wish they’d go away.

It was then that someone snapped their fingers, and I was pulled back into the real world.

A sword was still being pointed at me, the people in the room were still laughing and mocking me, and their eyes were still devoid of any pity for my suffering. Yay, nothing had changed.

“Boss, I think you broke him,” shouted someone I couldn’t see.

The person who was being spoken to, the man holding the sword, pouted.

“Aww, I thought he had more fight in him,” said the man holding the sword, and raising the tip to point it in between my eyes he spoke to me. “Maybe I should just kill you? Plunge this sword right through your head. Would you like that?”

All I want is for a gust of wind to blow them away and end this nightmare.

The man slowly brought the tip of his sword closer and closer to my skin until I could feel it touching the tiny hairs in between my eyes.

In my head I could picture it. A wave of force radiating out in front of me which would expel the men in this room and cleanse my mind, but it was just a thought, a figment of my imagination.

The sword stopped.

The lamps in the room were flickering, and the man holding the sword turned his head to look around the room. There weren't any windows, and the door was shut tight.

“Huh…” said the man, the confused look on his face matching the rest of the people in the room.

Only I could see the tip of his sword vibrate ever so slightly, and when the lamps settled he turned his head to look at me again. Unable to see any reason why the lamps had flickered in a room with no breeze, his suspicion was warranted as he probed my eyes for an answer.

Figuring something out which I couldn’t, the man grinned.

“Bryce!” shouted the man. “I think you got us a mage.”

The man retracted his sword, and began to shake in excitement.

“That trick of yours was cute, show it-”

BOOM!

A wall of air - a shock wave - surged forward from my position, and propelling itself, I could only watch while it swept through the area as time seemed to slow.

At the same time, the crack of a whip- no, a supersonic jet breaking the sound barrier from up close, tore into my ears, and immediately I covered them with my hands as tight as I could. Something streamed down the sides of my face, and I quickly checked one of hands to find that it was blood. My ears were bleeding.

I won’t be hearing the rest of the man’s sentence, not that it mattered. I’ve got much bigger concerns right now.

By the time I finished checking my hand, the shock wave had dissipated, and I proceeded to check my surroundings.

It would be an understatement for me to say the lamps had gone out, because the lamps themselves were nowhere to be seen. In fact, the whole room except for a small circle at the space I occupied is gone, and above me I could see the sky, with the moon glowing and the stars twinkling the same as any other night.

In the faint moonlight I couldn’t see any signs of the people who I’d been in the room with.They’ve vanished, as if they’d never been here to begin with. All that remained was me, and a large conical crater stretching out from in front of me.

The first thought which popped into my head from there was to get up and do what I do best.

Run.

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Got my braces off today and licked the front of my teeth for the first time in time in two years. Felt amazing.

Anyway, had some trouble with tenses in this, and sorry for the slow update as well, I hope you liked it (if not I’m sorry, tell me what I could better?). Ta-ta till next time!