*Thum, *thum, *thum, haaa...haa...

A slave who appears to be in his adolescence, falls on the hard and damp floor of the cave, breathing heavily, his body trembling uncontrollably with extreme pain, due to exhaustion and all the physical effort made while working in the mines all day, without a minute of rest for himself.

"What do you think you're doing on the ground, you worthless slave? Continue mining immediately."

A guard, wearing simple armor, with a whip in his left hand and a mug of drink in his right hand, and with a huge scar in the shape of claws on his cheek, apparently made by a huge beast, scolds the ragged slave lying on the ground near his feet.

"But sir, I can't take it anymore, let me rest, I beg you, my whole body hurts, I can't feel my arms or legs anymore, give me a break, please."

The exhausted boy, with extreme fatigue in his body, tries to plead for mercy from the guard watching over him.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

The guard with the huge scar starts laughing at the slave, and his nearby companions, seeing the scene, can't hold back their laughter and start laughing along with the scarred guard.

"HAHA, what's this, a 'luxury' slave, demanding rest for his officer HAHAHA"

A nearby guard starts speaking as the slave writhes on the ground.

"Hey Giggs, why don't you teach this slave a lesson?"

The nearby guard, with a mocking smile on his face, speaks to Giggs, the officer responsible for observing the boy and other slaves nearby.

"True, better put this slave in his place."

Giggs speaks as he begins to unroll the whip in his left hand, a whip that seems disproportionate compared to Giggs' large body, at the same time he takes a few sips of beer from his mug, then he whips the ground to test the hard leather whip, which appears to be somewhat worn at the tip due to excessive use of whipping slaves repeatedly every day without rest.

"So, slave, are you going to get up at once, or do I have to use force?"

Giggs continues to mock the slave's suffering on the ground, despite all the bruises and dirt on the slave's body, he shows no mercy.

"But sir...I can't get up, my whole body hurts, I beg you, let me rest for a while."

The boy speaks with difficulty as he tries to get up from the hard and damp floor of the cave, despite the deplorable condition of his body.

Already having problems with controlling his anger, and also being drunk all the time, Giggs quickly loses patience, even faster compared to other times, and without any mercy, or intention of holding back his strength, he aims at the boy's fragile body and begins to whip him while shouting, trying to vent his latent anger and frustration.

"VILE SLAVE"

*pah* *pah *pah*

"HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME EVEN BEING A MISERABLE SLAVE"

Giggs continues to shout while spitting saliva and spilling his drink from his mug, but without stopping whipping the poor boy for even 1 second.

"LEARN YOUR PLACE, YOU DAMNED DEFECTIVE MERCHANDISE"

"Ouch my lord...stop...my lord please...help please"

The slaves passing by look at this scene, showing pity in their eyes, but without intending to get involved to help the boy, for fear of suffering the same consequences, showing that regardless of his suffering, the boy cannot count on anyone and must endure the torture of the drunken guard, no matter how painful it is for him.

The boy on the ground writhes in pain uncontrollably, while his weak body is whipped relentlessly, and he begs for help from the slaves and guards passing by, but, as expected, no one tries to save him.

"Damn, someone make this stop, why me, why did I do wrong, why won't anyone help me, I just want this to stop." The boy thinks in the midst of his incessant agony.

"Hey Giggs, I think he's had enough beating, can you hold back a bit now?"

The guards nearby speak to Giggs, but already consumed by fury and out of control, Giggs ignores them and continues to whip the boy. Seeing this, the guards just look distressed and ignore it, some even feel sorry for the poor slave, but no one tries to help him for fear that Giggs will get even more irritated.

"haa...ha...ha"

Panting after venting his anger, Giggs looks at the unconscious and bloodied slave on the ground, showing nothing but satisfaction in his eyes. Giggs orders a nearby slave to pick up the boy and drag him to the slaves' quarters.

......

In the slaves' quarters, lying on a filthy sheet, the boy, lying down with a bruised body, slowly opens his eyes and stares at the stone ceiling with only one lamp to illuminate the huge dormitory.

After opening his black eyes, without having time to think about what happened, a tremendous pain comes through his entire body, and the boy screams in pain.

"AAARGG, DAMN! WHY DOES THIS HURT SO MUCH"

His screams echo through the empty slave dormitory. And since it's working hours, there are no other slaves there besides the boy, so he can scream in pain and wriggle at will, and no one will help with his wounds or care about his presence, just as it was while he was being whipped and humiliated by the guards, every day.

After a while, the pain gradually subsided, and the boy with black eyes managed to calm down, running his hands through his equally black hair like the pure void, and breathing deeply and heavily while thinking about everything he had gone through to get here.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"What a shitty life, why do I have to go through all this damn shit, I just wanted my family, my father, my mother, my friends, my home." *sniff* *sniff*

The boy curls up while crying incessantly, thinking about all the suffering he had to endure even though he was just a boy.

..........

About two months ago

In a burning village that had once been peaceful. Enormous monsters of all kinds emerged, frightening all the inhabitants of the village, the beasts swept through the village without mercy, destroying houses, buildings, tearing apart and devouring all humans and animals in their path, the few guards of the village did their best to try to stop the advance of the enormous tide of beasts, but to no avail.

The village, which had been peaceful for a few hours, was now in flames and devastated. The sky covered in smoke, gray falling everywhere, bodies thrown, thousands of people running and screaming everywhere, and huge and countless beasts, running and destroying everything in their path without mercy, and in some places, even fighting among themselves for human flesh.

A man under the rubble of a house, crying silently next to the body of his dead wife, hoping that the beasts would not see him.

"God help me, why did this happen to our village, what did we do to deserve the gods punishing us like this?"

While the man cried hidden, a beast resembling a wolf, but much larger and more terrifying than it should be, with gray skin and fangs the size of an adult man's palm, heard the noise of the man in the rubble. The wolf-like creature went to the rubble, cleared the way, and spotted the man hiding beside the body of a bloodied woman.

Upon seeing this, the beast advanced on the man, who was extremely terrified, without giving him any chance of escape or mercy.

"NO, STOP, SOMEONE HELP, ANYONE, GOD---"

The man spoke and pleaded for help as the enormous wolf bit him, tearing off his arms, his legs, and finally crushing the man's head, who experienced it all with extreme agony.

After that, the enormous Gray Wolf, approximately five meters long and three meters tall, turned toward the city walls and ran at full speed in search of its next human toys.

A little closer to the village's wall, there was a boy holding the hand of a man and a woman with long black hair as they ran non-stop towards the village's exit, hoping no one would find them.

"Daddy, mommy, why is all this happening, I'm scared."

The boy's parents tried to calm him down as they ran. The boy's father spoke to him.

"Don't worry about that, Zyfir, just look ahead and run as fast as you can."

"But daddy and my friends, what happened to everyone, and the lady from the bakery, and grandpa who gave me candy."

Zyfir's mother, worried about the boy and afraid he would become even sadder, spoke to him to try to soothe the evident fear in Zyfir's eyes.

"Calm down, Zyfir, everything will be okay, they fled long before us, and soon Duke Verona's army will arrive and save us, mommy promises."

The boy, although scared and very afraid of the situation, calmed down a bit after his mother's sweet words and ignored the smell of blood and smoke that permeated the entire village and continued to run with his parents.

"Love, Zyfir, just a little more and we'll be saved."

Clark said to his wife Livia and his son Zyfir as they approached the village's limit and the emergency tunnel entrance nearby, built for situations like this.

As they ran non-stop, the family began to hear the growls of a wolf and the thunder of thousands of beasts behind them, getting closer and closer.

"Darn it, it's already this close, let's run even more."

"But daddy, my legs hurt too much, I can't run anymore."

"Come on, Zyfir, just a little more, you can do it, mommy believes in you."

"Okay, I'll try!" Zyfir ran even faster, ignoring the noise of the thousands of beasts and the cries and screams of numerous men, women, and even children being devoured by the tide of beasts approaching.

The growls and the sounds of the paws became louder and louder, the wolf that was previously distant was now only a few hundred meters away from them, and getting closer, along with some other smaller and furious beasts, devastating everything in their path and killing all humans in their way in the most brutal way possible.

The wolf, being the fastest of the beasts, soon caught up with the three prey in front of it, all smelling of blood and sweat, making the wolf even hungrier and in a state of intense frenzy.

Clark and Livia, seeing the wolf approaching, looked at each other and made a decision quickly. It didn't take a word to understand what the other was thinking, just a look was enough to understand what was going on in each other's minds. Clark let go of Zyfir's hand and turned to face the approaching wolf, while Livia gave Zyfir a very strong hug and said to the boy who was wide-eyed and extremely scared.

"Zyfir my beloved son, run to the tunnel, daddy and mommy will stop these beasts nearby and will soon be with you."

"NO, I don't want to, let's run, the monsters won't catch us if we run, you promised me, I'll run even faster, please, let's go."

Zyfir spoke while crying non-stop, staring at his parents and the beasts approaching closer and closer, afraid that his parents would disappear amidst the beasts and leave him forever.

"ZYFIR!, listen to me, your mother and I will hold off the beasts and will soon be with you, we promise, now run as fast as you can, we're right behind you."

"Yes, my son, go, mommy and daddy will soon be with you."

"But, but" Zyfir continued crying and scared of everything, but his mother gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. She took the crystal necklace from her neck and gave it to Zyfir.

"Take this, my boy, this is mommy's necklace, keep it safe for me, I'll come back for it, okay, take care of it."

Zyfir took one last look at his parents, and with tear-filled eyes, he said, "Okay mommy and daddy, come back soon, I love you," and then he began to run as fast as he could, ignoring the pain in his legs and his injured feet.

Clark and Livia felt relieved when they saw their son running. Livia turned to face the tide of beasts along with Clark, and tears kept streaming down her face.

"Ah, my son, my sweet and beloved son, mommy loves you very much, take care, my sweet boy, be strong, we will always be with you."

And Clark, seeing this, said to Livia, "Don't worry, my love, he'll be fine, he's a very strong boy, trust him."

After bidding farewell to their son, they both turned to face a huge tide of beasts ahead of them and began to gather their power. Clark, being a former soldier, had reached the Mortal Realm of seven stars, and Livia, skilled in the art of magic, had reached the Apprentice Mage Level of four stars. It may not be an exorbitant firepower, but it's enough to defeat some monsters, of course, provided they are not in a group of thousands and are not too strong, like the enormous Gray Wolf in front of them, dripping scraps of entrails from its teeth.

After the wolf and Zyfir's parents momentarily faced each other, both sides advanced towards each other, the wolf opening its mouth and showing its fangs and revealing its deadly claws, and Clark and Livia unleashing their most powerful attacks to buy time for their precious son, beast, and humans. This battle would be extremely brutal and bloody for both sides, destroying everything around them.

......

Far away, Zyfir ran non-stop, panting, in much pain, tired, crying, afraid, desperate, and in extreme anguish for leaving his parents behind, blaming himself and afraid he would never see them again. Deep down, Zyfir knew that what his parents said was just a lie so he could save himself, and that he probably would never see his parents again, and he became even more certain of this when he remembered his father's old injuries, injuries that forced him to retire from the army.

Finally, after so much effort, so much pain, so much suffering, without his parents, without a glimmer of life in his teary black eyes, with his black hair dirty with blood and ashes, Zyfir reached the entrance of the emergency tunnel, where there was a huge flow of refugees in the same situation as him, and a few guards trying to calm the situation and protect the citizens.

He walked towards the entrance while staggering with his last bit of strength.

"Ah...finally...mom...dad...I'm sorry if I were stronger, if I weren't a burden, I'm sorry!"

After one last cry filled with pain and anguish, Zyfir collapsed from exhaustion, with the necklace his mother gave him, and tears streaming down his face. This was the worst and most traumatic day of Zyfir's life, a day that would give him many nightmares for a long time.

*This is a Brazilian work, translated by AI, so there may be some coherence errors in the text. If you prefer, I can post it in Portuguese, which is its original language, and you can translate it using your device's translator."*