Bella

Bella was a happy girl, she had her rough times but always had a smile on her face. The entire village knew her joy and laughter. So the day it disappeared the light in the town disappeared as well.

It was the day of Nox. The day the young prince was to be given to God. For Bella none of the royal drama mattered to her, but every villager knew of the night of nights.

It began like every other Bella was experiencing it for the 10th time in her 12 short years of life. It wasn’t scary for her anymore. Only baby’s got scared on the night of Nox. An Bella was a young lady now, basically an adult, she didn’t have time for scary stories.

Bella’s father was a drunk, everyone in the town knew, but nobody could help because he was one of the only soldiers in the small village.

Her father was also a terrible gambler. Following the death of her mother Bella had barely anything to eat and was constantly met by her father’s anger. It didn’t help that this year was especially bad for his coin pouch, so the only logical thing he could do was sell her to some passing merchants.

In the middle of Nox, the village wept. Bella was snatched from her bed, screaming and clawing for anyone to help. She was dragged into the cart, bruised and broken, and watching through the bars she could see coins clinking into her father’s palm. His big grin was the only light in the dark. As the wagon started moving she kept begging her dad to stop and let her go. He didn’t even look back as she screamed, softly chuckling to himself as the thought of the next bottle's taste already felt against his lips.

Bella was dragged to the slave and beggar capital controlled by criminals and crooks. The city of Lucden.

On her twelfth birthday Bella was bought and sold she was sent to a brothel like most young girls. The madam was a kind one, she didn’t have the young girls work until they turned thirteen. Until that day the young girl was to cook, clean and assist the older girls with any task they might have for her.

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It’s been a year since that day she was brought to Madam Lina’s an tomorrow would be her first night attending to a man.

Nick

My name is Nick, I don’t remember the rest of it anymore, there’s some faint memories but for the most part all I can think back on is days of hunger and begging.

I think I'm around eleven years old. It’s been hard to process things and thinking straight is extremely difficult when I’m always hungry. There isn’t anything in this town it’s empty and cruel. Birthdays aren’t celebrated. Even if they were no one would know mine; they'd just bunch me in with everyone else. The night of Nox- that is our birthday, kept track with simplicity.

I was brought here when I was young, sold to a mine. Left to help the other slaves. I was too young to use a pickaxe, only the boys thirteen and up were allowed to do that. The older boys got to keep any money they made over their quota. Us children were tasked with dragging the crystals the others mined into the carts that would be brought up to the surface. They have us down here for mana crystals. Which are sold to the Avadin merchants who come into town for routine pickups. Rare but systematically and promptly. No hiccups were allowed to be made.

That’s where the start of my disdain for the Avadin kingdom grew. The lack of knowledge of the source of their precious mana crystal. Like druggies, they needed their fix- no exceptions were to be made. We were allowed to sleep in the mine and given tiny amounts of food. If we didn’t meet the daily quota they wouldn’t feed us. Sometimes beating us. Especially if we slowed the line down.

I hate this life. I hate this world. I hate that I’m abandoned here left to rot in the darkness alone. I miss my family, I still see small visions of them. Me and my siblings running in the grass.

Then the fire comes and I see everyone screaming and begging for help.

The screams merge with my own as I come back into consciousness.

“Go back to bed peanut!”

One of the other slaves said using my nickname, given to me for my small stature but tough shell. Nobody uses their real names down here except for the guards, even some of them don’t. Everyone is stuck here together so we have a brotherhood unlike the surface where it’s a free for all.

That nightmare hasn’t stopped since I came here. Every night I have the same dream. Some nights it’s more intense than others but the nights I scream everyone gets mad.

We don’t get a lot of sleep so when we do no one wants it ruined. I wouldn’t want my sleep disturbed either.

I claw at the torn garments covering my body, it was all that I had to keep me warm. Trying to get comfortable I did my best to go back to sleep. Begging God to free me from this hell, an to return me to my family. My siblings, my uncle, and my dad…