Fires of Prophecy.
by Brian S. Pratt.
Prologue.
"Find someplace to hide, I'll find you," he hears James say.
Miko glances back and sees James turning to confront the oncoming soldiers. His desire to stay to help his friend is strong, but he knows that he'll be more of a hindrance. His first duty is to help the kids get away. Turning back, he finds the fleeing children far ahead, turning down a side street. He hurries to follow, trying to catch them before they move too far ahead.
Rounding the corner where they fled, he sees the last few children turning another corner, even further ahead than before. Running as fast as he can, he comes to where they disappeared around the corner. Almost losing his balance from taking the corner too fast, he comes to a sudden stop. The kids are no where in sight.
Crumph!
The sound of a loud explosion comes from where he left James.
"James!"
Glancing back at the cloud of smoke and dust rising into the sky, he fears the worst. Torn between his duty to the children whom he's lost and to his friend, he stands there a moment in indecision. Finally making up his mind to return to help his friend, he turns around and races back the way he had come.
As he rounds the second corner, a billowing cloud of dust engulfs him and he's unable to see anything. After a moment, the dust clears and a large pile of rubble is revealed blocking the street where several buildings have toppled over. Amidst the rubble are the bodies of Empire soldiers, lying there crushed to death under large sections of the toppled buildings.
"James!" he cries out, but receives no answer. Looking around frantically, he can't find James anywhere. Scared and alone, he races back again along the path he and the children originally took in an attempt to find some place to hole up until James finds him.
Whenever he comes to an intersection, he stops before entering and carefully looks around the corner. Making sure no enemy soldiers are there before he enters the street, he then races toward the next intersection. Panic begins to take hold of him as enemy soldiers begin to appear as they move along the adjacent streets. He's got to get off the streets! He's got to get off the streets!
Hoping to find a place to hide, he tries opening one of the doors lining the street and is relieved when it actually opens. Pulling it open quickly he makes to enter when a vase smashes into the door next to his head. "Get out!" he hears a woman shrieking wildly and quickly ducks as he sees another pot come flying at him out of the corner of his eye. The pot strikes the door and ricochets into the street. "Out!" the woman screams again as she readies another projectile.
Slamming the door closed, he races down the street, panicking. From up ahead, a door opens and a man pokes his head out as he looks down the street. When the man notices him running, he opens the door wider and yells, "This way!" motioning for Miko to quickly come inside.
Seeing the man holding the door open and gesturing for him to hurry, Miko sprints forward, his panic subsiding. When he reaches the door, the man opens it further for him to be able to run inside. His anxiety decreases rapidly when he passes through the door and is safely inside.
Once he's inside, the man closes the door and Miko begins to say, "Thank you..." but stops suddenly when he realizes the man is advancing on him with a knife. A quick survey of the room reveals several men with bared knives and swords. Dread fills him when he sees a dozen or so people, both men and women along with a few children, sitting along one wall. To his astonishment, they are completely naked with their hands tied behind them.
"Strip!" the man from the door says. Miko, panic ready to consume him, remembers the slavers they fought on their way to the City of Light. Shaking his head in disbelief, he backs away from the man. Someone from behind grabs him and two of the men proceed to strip him naked, using their knives to cut the clothes off of him. He struggles to resist, but only gets socked in the eye for his efforts.
Shortly he finds himself sitting naked on the floor next to the others, his hands secured behind his back. Over to the side is a pile of clothing sitting in the corner, what's left of his clothes is tossed on top. The little boy sitting next to him starts to cry and the woman on the other side of the boy tries to comfort him but to no avail. The boy's cries grow louder and louder until one of the men comes over and strikes him on the head, knocking the boy unconscious.
"You bastard!" the woman yells at him.
The man turns to her and backhands her across the mouth. "Shut your mouth!" he yells at her. "Open it again and I'll slit your throat!" He draws his knife and menaces her with it, then sheaths it as he walks away, laughing.
The woman scoots closer to the boy and does her best to comfort the unconscious child. Miko can see tears streaming down her face.
"Here come some more," the man by the door tells the others. Opening the door partially, he sticks his head out and yells, "Over here!" while he waves to whoever is out there to come inside.
A man with a woman and two kids run inside. He begins to express their gratitude when the woman sees Miko with the other naked people sitting on the floor and screams. Realizing their danger, the couple grabs their kids protectively.
"Strip!" the man by the door commands.
The father pauses momentarily then launches himself at the man by the door. He throws a fist but is easily blocked. The slaver strikes back with the handle of his knife, clubbing him in the side of the head. The father stumbles backward from the blow, dazed. Two of the other slavers grab him and proceed to cut his clothes from him.
The woman screams as others grab her and the children, tearing them apart. Soon, all four are sitting naked against the wall with the others, arms securely tied behind their backs. They try to talk amongst themselves but are quickly silenced by the slavers.
Several times over the next hour or so, that scene is replayed as more people rush into the room seeking safety only to end up captured.
There finally comes a time when the man at the door turns to the other slavers and says, "I don't think there are anymore out there." To the naked people he says, "Alright, get up."
Miko finds it hard to rise with his arms tied behind his back. Using the wall for leverage, he makes it to his feet and stands there waiting while the rest of them get up.
One of the naked people remains seated against the wall. A slaver goes over to the man and kicks him, saying, "Get on your feet. Now!"
The man on the floor begins to topple over and falls to the ground, remaining motionless. The slaver checks him and then turns to the one by the door. "He's dead," he tells him. Then he glances over at one of the slavers and says accusingly, "You hit him too hard and cracked his skull."
The slaver being accused just shrugs and says, "Oh well, happens sometimes."
Giving him a dark look, the man by the door says, "Next one you kill, you're paying for. I don't intend to lose money because of a heavy handed thug."
"Thug?" the man asks, his face going red in anger.
"Yes, thug," he replies. "Now, let's get 'em lined up and back to camp." He stares down the man until he backs down and joins the others in tying the naked people together in a line.
Miko is tied in line between two children. Once they are all secured to the rope, the man takes the lead and they head out the door.
The sun is already beginning to rise above the horizon as they leave the building. Miko squints in the glare, eyes unaccustomed to the light after having been in a semi dark room for hours.
One of the women begins wailing and crying. A slaver comes over and uses a whip across her shoulders saying, "Silence!" When the whip strikes her she cries out with pain and shock. After two more blows of the whip she tries to muffle her cries and the whip stops.
Miko just looks on in shock at the red lines across her shoulders and back from where the whip struck her. He keeps his head down as he plods along, doing his best to not think about being paraded though town naked. The enemy soldiers they pass hardly even give them any attention, except for a few calls to the ladies in the group.
After moving down several streets, their group joins with another slave line and together they make their way to the southern wall. More and more of the enemy's soldiers can be seen. When they draw close to the gate, the head slaver brings them to a halt and has them wait while he talks with the guards. After a few words are exchanged, the slaver shows them a letter and they are allowed to pass through.
Outside the walls, Miko sees teams with carts filled with the dead as they take them over to a large, communal grave where they are deposited. Soldiers are everywhere, a veritable forest of tents covers the area outside of the gates for over a mile. When they pass a tent with several men standing in line outside, Miko can hear the cries of several women coming from within.
One of the smaller children asks, "Mama, what's that lady crying about?"
The woman, trying to hide the tears in her voice replies, "She's just sad," her voice beginning to crack. "That's all it is, don't worry about it."
Then a slaver comes and whips both of them saying, "No talking!" When they both remain silent, he goes back to his position next to the line.
Out away from the encampment of soldiers is a large area with many wagons and strings of people tied in lines just as they are. The only difference between those people and Miko's group, is that those people have clothes. The males all have a cloth wrapped around their loins while the women have a very short dress, all a drab brown in color.
When Miko's group arrives, they are taken to an open area nearby where they're told to stand and be still. The lead slaver moves to a nearby wagon and begins pulling out garb, similar to what the other slaves are wearing and begins handing them out to the other slavers. The slavers then take the garb and tie it around the men, and with the women they untie their hands before putting it on them. Miko feels somewhat better for having his privates covered. All the captured people visibly relax once they're dressed and covered.
Several of the slavers then move to another wagon where they remove crossbows which they hold ready to prevent anyone from trying to escape.
One of the slavers climbs onto the bed of a wagon and faces the newly arrived slaves. "Go ahead and sit down and rest," he tells them. "This may be the last chance you'll have for a while. No talking and anyone causing trouble will be dealt with." He glances around at the faces looking at him a moment then jumps off the wagon.
Miko does the best he can with his hands tied behind him and manages to make it to the ground without falling over. He sits there and rests, looking back to the City that's now securely in the hands of the Empire. All that keeps him from totally losing it is the belief that James will find him.
Over the next hour, several more slave lines are brought from the City and join with the rest. There are over a dozen different lines trailing behind several different wagons. With each line that comes, several of the guards that were guarding them grab crossbows and join their fellows in keeping watch.
At one point shortly after Miko arrives, a slaver begins moving down each line and unties the hands of the men and boys. Once they are all untied, another slaver mounts the wagon and addresses the people in the slave lines. "We will be passing out food and water shortly," he announces. "Don't waste any, it's the last you'll see until tonight. Your hands shall remain free, but if you make trouble, they will be secured again. If you try to escape, you will be shot. This is the only warning you'll be given."
Once the slaver is finished, other slavers begin passing down the lines, giving each captive a small cup of food and allowing them a single drink from a ladle, filled from a water bucket one of them carries. When Miko gets his, he eats the food ravenously, even though it tastes pretty bad. He drinks all the water and is about to ask for more when a girl of about sixteen in another line holds out her cup to a slaver and asks, "Can I have more?"
The slaver comes over to her and slaps her hard across the face, "Impertinent slave! You take what we give you and be happy that you were given anything at all."
The girl cries, "I'm not a slave!"
All the slavers standing within ear shot hear her and break out laughing. The slaver who had come over and slapped her says, "You are now," and laughs at her.
The girl starts crying hysterically and the man slaps her across the face again. "You shut up or it'll be worse for you." He grabs her by the hair and pulls her head back so her eyes stare right at him. "Do you understand?" he asks with an expression that says, 'The only answer better be yes'.
Tears streaming down her face, the girl just nods. The man releases her hair and walks away. She sits there and sobs to herself quietly.
Miko looks around and can see that until that moment, some of the people who were tied to the line hadn't come to that conclusion yet, that they were slaves. Some begin to murmur amongst themselves, others start crying. One of the slavers shouts, "Slaves only speak when spoken to, break this rule at your peril!" The people begin to quiet down until only muffled sobs can be heard. Several slavers come and collect the food cups that had been handed out.
An older slaver walks from the City and begins speaking with one of the others for a moment. After they are done talking, the older slaver returns to the City of Light. The one he was talking to turns to the slaves and shouts, "Everyone on their feet!"
Miko quickly gets up as do most of the people around him. Several others, either through stubbornness or not understanding, remain on the ground. Those that fail to stand quickly enough for the slavers are whipped until they are up and standing.
The one that ordered them to their feet announces, "When slaves are told to do something, they do it quickly and they don't ask questions. A slave who doesn't learn that rule fast, tends not to survive very long."
Miko begins to think that the man who's been giving them orders is the lead slaver for this group. He hadn't noticed it before, but the man's clothes look slightly superior to anything any of the others are wearing.
The lead slaver gets up on a wagon and with a nod of his head to the driver, it begins moving out, pulling the line of slaves behind it. Soon all the wagons are rolling, each with the lines of slaves walking along behind.
Marching under the hot sun soon has Miko exhausted and extremely thirsty. Only after they've been on the road for two hours does a slaver pass down the line, allowing each of them one cup of water while they're walking. No one dares to asks for more this time. This repeats every two hours until they stop for the night.
While Miko is sitting and eating the small amount of food they've given him, a voice is heard coming from within the group of slaves. "Where are you taking us?" a woman's voice asks.
"Who said that?" one of the slavers asks. With whip raised in his hands, the slaver rushes over to where the sound of the voice originated, looking from face to face in an attempt to determine who dared break the silence. Unable to find the source of the question, he looks around at them all and says, "The Slave Markets of Korazan." After a moment's pause to let that sink in, he adds, "Where you will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, to spend the rest of your lives as slaves." Laughing, the slaver goes back over by the fire and resumes eating his meal.
"Oh, James," Miko sighs quietly. "Find me!"
Chapter One.
James wakes to find the two boys are no longer there. The two girls are over in a corner huddled together, and talking in hushed voices. He stretches and sits up, asking, "Where are Jiron and Tinok?"
Startled, Delia and Cassie cease their conversation and look in his direction. "They're out looking for Jiron's sister," Delia explains.
"She was separated from us during the attack," adds Cassie, her yellow hair shimmering in the candle light.
Concerned, he asks, "Do you think it's wise for them to be about with all the soldiers in the city?"
"They'll be alright," Delia assures him. "Jiron knows how to keep hidden when he needs to."
Cassie nods her head in agreement.
Worried about the boys, but even more worried they may lead someone here, he tries to relax. Resting his back against the wall, he realizes there is nothing he can do about it now but wait.
He still feels weak and a little drained from the battle two days ago. Even though he's had two good nights of sleep and food, he still feels a little shaky. "Is there any more food?" he asks after his stomach growls loudly.
"Oh, yes," Cassie says. She gets up and goes over to a sack sitting against the wall. She pulls out some bread and cheese, bringing them over to him along with a bucket of water.
When she sets the bucket down next to him, she says, "Sorry, but there are no cups."
James smiles at her and replies, "That's okay." He takes the bread and cheese from her and removes his knife from its sheath, before slicing off a chunk of cheese. He only has to scrape a little bit of mold off with his knife.
While he eats, Cassie returns to Delia and resumes their conversation. Both occasionally stop talking and glance over at him, then when they realize he's noticed them staring, they quickly turn their heads away.
Sighing, James tries to ignore them. Miko, what's happening to you? he silently wonders. He's feeling better and stronger, but is still a little too shaky to attempt to go after him. Upset with his own weakness, he knows all he can do right now is try to regain strength quickly so he can go after him.
About that time, Jiron and Tinok come back in through the collapsed hallway. Earlier, he took a look and found it choked with stone and wood from when the building above had collapsed some time in the past. A small space has been cleared through the debris, wide enough to allow people to pass through in single file.
Several feet down the passage, a stone stairway extends up to the ground above, exiting in a corner of a park. From what Jiron told him, the opening is overgrown with bushes and grass, effectively hiding the entrance from anyone passing by.
Several years ago, when he was younger, Jiron had been playing in the area and stumbled upon the opening. Excited about finding a secret place, he decided to keep the knowledge of it to himself. Later, when he and Tinok became close friends he brought him here. Only because the Empire had showed up had they allowed Cassie and Delia to come.
Apparently, when Jiron had stumbled upon him during his battle with the soldiers, he was out trying to find his sister who had become separated from him earlier. When he saw James fighting the enemy and had actually driven them off, he decided to save him and bring him here. As far as Jiron knew, no one else has ever been down here in the years they've been using it for their secret clubhouse.
Delia sees them first and gets up asking, "Any luck?" Cassie stands up with her and they go over to them as they enter the room.
With a look of disappointment, Jiron replies, "No, and I looked everywhere."
"I'm sorry," Cassie says.
Jiron comes over to James and asks, "Can you help find her?"
Shaking his head, James replies, "Not unless you have something of hers I can use?" The look on Jiron's face tells him that he doesn't.
Feeling bad for the boy, but unable to help, he says, "She may still turn up."
"I doubt it," says Jiron, "I went to everyplace that she would've gone and she wasn't there. I can only assume that they found her and she's one of the thousands of slaves they captured."
"Slaves?" James suddenly interrupts. "Where are they being kept?"