Wrists raw from constant rubbing of the rope, finally the skin gave way and broke as crimson liquid slowly dripped onto the rope.

A day had passed in this world of darkness, however one would be unable to tell. The only sanctuary Kou had in this darkness was a small crack in the corner of the wagon. It wouldn’t let light into the wagon but the sounds of the outside world could be heard.

Although he couldn’t understand their language, it was the only salvation from the pain and fear that slowly gnawed away at his very being.

Every so often, he would assaulted by the bright light which quickly blinded him as he let out a muffled sound of pain. Quickly covering his eyes in with his hands, soon a object would impact his body as he fell over with a thump. Another waterskin, it had been 2 days since his last, and 3 since the last time they gave him something to eat.

Slowly this world of darkness became a part of him. In this world filled with nothing, his mind was left to wander.

Thoughts would often rouse themselves inside his head before being smoldered out by the sobs of loneliness.

Days turned into weeks, in fact the group only had to spend another forty days until they could leave the confines of the desert. And head into the open expanse of the Wildfire Plains.

As thoughts flickered in his mind as quickly as a flame licking the bottom of a roasted pig. He would often find himself remembering the stories he read in Rakhi’s house, and the ones he had been unable to finish.

Over the weeks, he had begun to piece together the meaning of some of the words the outsiders used.

Though he had a very vague understanding he could make out simple phrases.

Slowly sparks of life could be seen in the once dying eyes, the darkness no longer scared him, instead it was comforting.

His understanding of their language only got better until he was finally able to speak a bit of it himself.

As the door swung open, light assaulted him once again but this time he called out.

“Shut the door already,” he said as he held his hands over his eyes, a burning sensation shot through his head.

The man who opened the door this time was none other than the captain, who was on his way to tease the child with some fresh emerald lizard meat.

“Well, i’ll be freya’s uncle I wouldn’t have thought that you would be able to speak our tongue in such a short time.”

A slight smile appeared on his face, with a quick sudden movement the world of darkness once again descended inside the wagon.

“Want a piece of meat? mr soon to be slave,” he said partly in jest, as the dark confines of the wagon returned to normal.

Glancing upwards Kou could see the man clearly for the first time.

Piercing back through the veil of darkness two fierce blue eyes.

Worn out trousers, patch work could been seen on the upper left thigh, sloppy work. The cloth he wore as a shirt you could tell from a glance was originally a whitish color, it had be turned into a brownish color from the countless hours of sweating, and the unending sand.

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Strapped to his side, a long thin blade could be seen. Black and muddled hair could be seen as it hid one of his eyes, blue eyes that seemed to almost shine in the darkness.

As if the words took a moment to register, Kou began to nod his head rapidly.

“Well, that’s too bad,” he said as he opened the door with a sudden jerk of the handle.

The iron hinges squeaked as he exited the wagon.

“Pleas..” words left unfinished as his throat rebelled at the sheer thought of speaking, suddenly he clutched his head in pain.

The soft whimpers could even be heard outside the wagon as the Kyr’s continued to struggle forth, towards the Wildfire Plains.

“Captain, really enjoys to torment others,” Krist said as the great axe bound with green leather straps, seemed to increase in weight as the blistering heat of the desert continued to assault the group.

Only in the midst of night did relief from it’s onslaught truly come. Only to be replaced by a bone chilling coldness.

Although they had three sand wagons, they were mainly filled with their supplies for the journey into the desert, they had originally tried to come in the wagon Kou was currently occupying but it simply did not work as they intended.

Much of which was a obtained at the last second. The Red Gorge Mercenaries were more accustomed to the plains, or the northern mountains.

They had simply gotten lucky that the purple eyes had gotten wiped out by a swarm. It would have cost him quite a bit of men in order to approach that village, though it was damaged when he saw it a portion of it’s wall still stood proudly as if to defy the deserts grasp.

Seconds, minutes, hours, days.

Time continued to flicker in the perpetual darkness, that would suddenly be engulfed by light.

The gnaw biting feeling of never being full, thirsty.

The passing of the sand between the metal skee’s as they mimicked the distinct sound of that a snake makes as it slithers in the sand.

The slight murmur of the Kyr’s as they pulled the wagons.

Then silence.

The wagons had stopped moving completely, and a numbing silence slowly crept upon the land.

The silence continued for a brief moment, suddenly the air grew thick, suddenly a voice could be heard. Screaming for help, the screams continued until silenced returned.

From the safety of the wagon, Kou was unaware of what was occurring just outside the thin walls of the wagon.

A man with defiant blue eyes, laid underneath a sand wagon as he hid, next to him a youth with brown hair in a ponytail. his black eyes showed an extreme fear.

“Josha, I thought you said this route was safe,”  the man said as if it was a mere whisper.

“You can’t blame me for this one how could I have known that would be lying in wait!” he said in protest, though one could argue that he hadn't even said anything at all.