The gentle clink of chains colliding woke Kato briefly. He was in some sort of cart lying down. As he tried to keep his eyes forcefully open, he could make out a long line of people in chains through the iron bars surrounding him. He recognized some of them as his friends from Farvel and wanted to shout out. However, the pain in the back of his head flared, and his mind fell back into the depths of unconsciousness. When he awoke for the second time, there was no more sound of chains. Instead, there was just the gentle sound of the wind brushing past and the creak of wooden wheels from the cart as it proceeded onwards. The sound lulled Kato further to sleep and for an insurmountable time Kato drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness eating or drinking when it was thrown at him and sleeping for any other part.Finally after many days Kato awoke to the familiar sound of the cart travelling along a dirt road. Kato slowly tried to rise from his side and swayed violently as a searing pain shot through his head. As Kato stumbled, a voice could be heard calling out to him from the other side of the cart.
“I would take your time, young man. A wound to the back of the head like that would kill most grown men, let alone someone of your size. You are lucky to be alive.” A gruff and warning voice called.
Kato lazily rolled his eyes toward the direction of the voice and could also make out more of his surroundings. He was indeed inside a prisoner cart. Iron bars lined all four sides with a firmly bolted door as the only exit. Several men and women silently sat haphazardly throughout the interior. Many had no light in their eyes or were too weak to keep them open. All hope had left them long ago, and now they were simply waiting for their journey to come to an end. There was, however, one person who stood out. An older man who was tightly bound in chains at the very back of the cart. He must have been inside the cart before anyone else. Kato wondered how he could have survived since it didn’t look like anyone here had eaten in a long time.
“Grandpa… Grandma… Rena…” Kato whispered to himself.
Slowly the circumstances precluding his awakening surfaced in his battered mind. Hot tears pooled at the bottom of his eyes and slowly dripped downwards. They were gone. His best friend was taken. His grandfather was slain by the very warriors he had once aspired to become. And he had no idea if his grandmother had survived. The pain, sorrow, and anger coursed through his veins with a wicked abandon as his breath accelerated.
“Ahhh!” Kato screamed.
Kato grabbed the back of his head. His skull throbbed in agony, and he felt his blood pumping violently. It felt like someone had cracked open his skull and was tenderizing his brain.
“Listen to me, kid. Listen to the sound of my voice. You are going through a lot right now. I want you to focus on my voice and take slow deep breaths. You are alive. You are in a prisoner cart. We are heading to Devil Bite Island. There is nothing you can do about anything right now, but if you continue irritating yourself, I can guarantee you will die a pointless and painful death.” The chained-up man spoke slowly and calmly.
His calm voice cut through the pain in Kato’s head like a cool balm on burned flesh. Unconsciously, Kato followed the man's words and took slow deep breaths as he felt his mind slowly recover, and the pain receded slightly. It was still extremely painful, but now it was more of an ache than agony.
“W-where did the p-people behind go?…” Kato forced the words from his parched throat.
The words came out in a long cracking drawl. However, the man nodded his head as if he understood everything Kato had said clearly.
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“The slave train separated from the prisoner caravan and was marched towards the Alam front lines awhile ago.” The old man said with a pained look in his expression.
“The soldiers who threw you in here were told to do so at the beckoning of the Lord Captain himself. One of the female selected wouldn't stop screaming about not killing you, and he reluctantly had them throw you in here. Though I fully believe he expected you to die due to your injury.” the old man continued gesturing for Kato to come towards him.
“That is one nasty gash you have on the back of your head. Must have taken a glancing blow, else your head would have popped like an overfull waterskin instead of cracking slightly like an egg.” The old man spoke as he inspected Kato’s head injury.
“What exactly happened in that village of yours? It’s rare to see Hydrian troops retreat instead of just torching the place and genociding the inhabitants.” The man mused with a dark chuckle towards the end.
“I’m not sure,” Kato croaked out in response to the old man.
One thing was certain, Rena had saved Kato. The Hydrians had retreated, and he was currently in a prisoner cart headed to a place he’d never heard of before. Slight hope that not everyone in Farvel had been killed blossomed slightly in the bottom of his heart as he recalled his Grandma and the townsfolk being surrounded by soldiers.
After a few moire days of travelling, there was a scuffling of soldiers, and the carts came to a slow halt. They were in the middle of a dense forest with thick brush surrounding a clearing, a cold breeze blowing through the foliage. The prisoner caravan seemed to have settled using the carts as a barrier around the main camp. The sun shone through the evergreens merrily and indifferent to the plight of those locked in the prison carts. A Hydrian soldier walked up to the side of the cart with Kato and the old man and tossed in several animal skin pouches full of liquid and some stale pieces of rye bread as well as a few torn blankets.
“Eat up, vermin! This is the last food you will have until we reach the port town. Share the bread; I don’t want any flack from my company if one of you maggots dies and we have to clean up afterward.” The soldier ordered in a cold tone before walking back towards the next cart.
Kato hurriedly grabbed one of the water pouches that had landed nearby and drank deeply. The warm water sliding down his throat tasted even better than the sweet candies the merchants had brought from the Hydrian capital. The others in the cart also slowly moved to grab a piece of bread and a water pouch before returning to their original positions. The only one who didn’t move was the chained-up old man. Kato, after relieving his thirst somewhat, noticed this and grabbed a pouch and some bread from the floor before making his way back toward him.
“If you’d be so kind as to assist me.” The man requested plainly.
He gestured with his head towards the food and water Kato presented to him and then to the chains that tightly bound his body.
“Sure..” Kato replied.
Kato raised the water pouch to the man's cracked lips and slowly tilted it forward to allow him to drink. After allowing him to drain the water pouch, Kato ripped the Rye bread into four smaller pieces and fed them to him.
“Ah…” The man sighed contentedly after quenching his thirst and filling his stomach.
“Thank you. You should rest to give your body some time to heal your wound. We can continue our conversation when you next wake.” He suggested.
Kato couldn’t help but agree. His head was still in a lot of pain, and the relief he felt from satiating his body’s basic needs had made him drowsy. So, Kato nodded and walked back to his corner at the front of the cart, and lay down on his side. He propped his hand under his head. And just as quickly as he lay, he fell asleep. He dreamed of the giant Vala tree in the center of Farvel. He dreamed of his grandparents, who were looking at him lovingly. He dreamed of a beautiful girl with dazzling amber eyes smiling at him happily. Then the nightmares came, of the giant armored Captain and his indifference and cruelty as he ordered the slaughter of the people of his village and home. The death of his grandfather and the heartache of knowing he might never see Rena, his grandmother, or Farvel again accompanied the blackness of sleep until he thought no more.