“Find someplace to hide, I’ll find you.”
Miko glanced back and saw James turn to confront the oncoming soldiers. His desire to stay to help his friend was strong, but he knew that he’d be more of a hindrance. His first duty was to help the kids get away. Turning back, he found the fleeing children far ahead, turning down a side street. He hurried to follow, trying to catch them before they moved too far ahead.
Rounding the corner, he saw the last few children turning another corner, even further ahead than before. Running as fast as he could, he reached where they had disappeared around the corner. Almost losing his balance from taking the corner too fast, he came to a sudden stop. The kids were nowhere in sight.
Crumph!
“James!” he cried, glancing back at the cloud of smoke and dust rising to the sky. Torn between his duty to the children whom he’d lost and to his friend, he stood there a moment in indecision. Finally making up his mind to return to help his friend, he turned around and raced back to James.
As he rounded the second corner, a billowing cloud of dust engulfed him. After a moment, the dust cleared to reveal a large pile of rubble blocking the street; several buildings had collapsed. Amidst the rubble were bodies of Empire soldiers, crushed to death beneath large sections of the toppled buildings.
“James!” he cried out again, but received no answer. Looking frantically around, he couldn’t see him anywhere. Scared and alone, he raced back again along the path he and the children originally took in an attempt to find someplace to hole up until James found him. Whenever he reached an intersection, he paused before entering and carefully peer around the corner. Making sure no enemy soldiers were there, he would race toward the next intersection.
As he raced to find a place to hole up, he caught glimpses of enemy soldiers moving on adjacent streets. Panic took hold when enemy soldiers emerged from a cross street not far ahead. He ducked into a side alley and threw himself behind a broken crate just as the soldiers passed by. He had to get off the streets!
Once they were past, he tried opening one of the doors in the alley and was relieved when it actually opened. Pulling it open quickly he made to enter when a vase smashed into the door next to his head. “Get out!” a woman shrieked wildly. He quickly ducked as another pot came flying at him. The pot struck the door and ricocheted into the street making an awful clatter. “Out!” the woman screamed again as she readied another projectile.
Slamming the door closed, Miko raced down the street, panicking. From up ahead, a door opened and a man poked his head out to look up and down the street. When he noticed Miko, he opened the door wider and yelled, “This way!” motioning for Miko to quickly come inside.
Miko sprinted forward, his panic subsiding. When he reached the door, the man opened it further for him to run inside. His anxiety decreased rapidly when he passed through the door and was safely inside.
The man closed the door and Miko began to say, “Thank you…” but stopped suddenly when he realized the man was advancing on him with a knife. A quick survey of the room revealed other men with bared knives and swords. Dread filled him when he saw a dozen or so people, both men and women along with a few children, seated on the floor along one wall. To his astonishment, they were completely naked with hands tied behind them.
“Strip!” the man from the door ordered. Miko, panic ready to consume him, remembered the slavers they fought on their way to the City of Light. Shaking his head in disbelief, he backed away. Another from behind grabbed him and with the help of two men, proceeded to strip him, using their knives to cut away his clothes. He struggled to resist, but only received blows for his effort.
Shortly he found himself sitting naked on the floor next to the others, his hands secured behind his back. His clothes were tossed upon a pile of other torn and cut clothes in the corner. The little boy sitting next to him started to cry and the woman on the other side of the boy tried to comfort him but to no avail. The boy’s cries grew louder and louder until one of the men came over and struck him on the head, knocking the boy unconscious.
“You bastard!” the woman yelled.
The man turned to her and backhanded her across the mouth. “Shut your mouth! Open it again and I’ll slit your throat!” He drew his knife and menaced her with it, then sheathed it as he walked away, laughing.
The woman scooted closer to the boy and did her best to comfort the unconscious child. Miko saw tears streaming down her face.
“Here come some more,” the man by the door told the others. Opening the door partially, he stuck his head out and yelled, “Over here!” while he waved whoever was out there to come inside.
A man with a woman and two kids ran inside. He began to express their gratitude when the woman saw Miko and the others sitting on the floor; she screamed. Realizing their danger, the couple grabbed their kids protectively.
“Strip!” the man by the door commanded.
The father paused momentarily as if his mind couldn’t understand the order, then launched himself at the man by the door. He threw a fist but the blow was easily blocked. The slaver struck back with the hilt of his knife, clubbing him in the side of the head. The father stumbled backward from the blow, dazed. Two of the other slavers grabbed him and proceeded to cut his clothes away.
The woman screamed as others grabbed her and the children, tearing them apart. Soon, all four are sat against the wall with the others, arms securely tied behind their backs. They tried to talk amongst themselves, to comfort the children but were quickly silenced by the slavers.
Several times over the next hour, that scene was replayed as more people rushed into the room seeking safety only to end up captured.
There finally came a time when the man at the door turned to the other slavers and said, “I don’t think there are anymore out there.” To those they captured, he said, “Alright, get up.”
Miko found it hard to rise when your arms were tied behind your back. Using the wall for leverage, he made it to his feet and stood there waiting while the others got up.
One remained seated against the wall. A slaver went to the man and kicked him. “Get on your feet. Now!”
The man leaned to the side then toppled over. The slaver checked him and then turned to the one by the door. “He’s dead.” Then he turned a hard gaze toward another slaver. “You hit him too hard and cracked his skull.”
The slaver being accused just shrugged. “Oh well, happens sometimes.”
His gaze darkening, the man by the door said, “Next one you kill, you’re paying for. I don’t intend to lose money because of a heavy handed thug.”
“Thug?” the man asked, his face turning red in anger.
“Yes, thug,” he replied. “Now, let’s get ‘em lined up and back to camp.” He locked gazes with the man until he backed down and joined the others in tying their captives together in a line.
Miko was tied in line between two children. Once they were all secured in line, the man took the lead and they headed out the door.
The sun was already beginning to rise above the horizon as they left the building. Miko squinted in the glare, eyes unaccustomed to the light after having been in a semi dark room for hours.
One of the women began wailing and crying. A slaver used a whip across her shoulders, “Silence!” When the whip struck she cried out all the harder with pain and shock. After two more blows of the whip she tried to muffle her cries and the whip stopped.
Miko just looked on in shock at the red lines across her shoulders and back. He kept his head down as he plodded along, doing his best not to think about being paraded through the town naked. The enemy soldiers they passed hardly gave them any attention, except for a few calls to the ladies in the group.
After moving down several streets, their group joined with another slave line and together they made their way to the southern wall. More and more of the enemy’s soldiers appeared. When they drew close to the gate, the head slaver brought them to a halt and had them wait whil
e he talked with the guards. After a few words were exchanged, the slaver shows them a letter and they were allowed to pass.
Outside the walls, teams with carts filled with the dead pushed and pulled them to a large, communal grave where the bodies were deposited. Soldiers were everywhere, a veritable forest of tents covered the area outside of the gates. When they passed a tent where several men stood in line outside, Miko heard the cries of several women coming from within.
One of the smaller children asked, “Mama, what’s that lady crying about?”
The woman, trying to hide the tears in her voice replied, “She’s just sad dear,” her voice beginning to crack. “That’s all it is, don’t worry about it.”
Then a slaver came and whipped both saying, “No talking!” When they remained silent, he returned to his position next to the line.
Out away from the encampment was a large area with many wagons and strings of people tied in lines just as they were. The only difference between those people and Miko’s group, is that those people had clothes. The males wore a cloth wrapped around their loins while the women had very short dresses; all a drab brown.
When Miko’s group arrived, they were taken to an open area nearby where they were told to stand and be still. The lead slaver moved to a nearby wagon and began removing garb similar to what the other slaves wore and handed them to the other slavers. The slavers then took the garb and tied it around the men, and with the women they untied their hands before putting it on them. Miko felt somewhat better for having his privates covered. All the captured people visibly relaxed once they were dressed and covered.
Several of the slavers then moved to another wagon where they took crossbows which they held ready to prevent anyone from trying to escape.
One of the slavers climbed onto the bed of a wagon and faced the newly arrived slaves. “Sit down and rest,” he told them. “This may be the last chance you’ll have for a while. No talking and anyone causing trouble will be dealt with.” He glanced around at the faces looking up at him a moment then jumped off the wagon.
Miko did the best he could with his hands tied behind him and managed to make it to the ground without falling. He sat there, looking back to the City that’s now securely in the hands of the Empire. All that kept him from totally losing it was the belief that James would find him.
Over the next hour, several more slave lines arrived and joined the rest. There were now over a dozen different lines trailing behind several different wagons. With each line that arrived, several of the guards grabbed crossbows and joined their fellows in keeping watch.
At one point shortly after Miko arrived, a slaver moved down each line and untied the hands of the men and boys. Once they are all untied, another slaver mounted the wagon and addressed them. “We will be passing out food and water shortly,” he announced. “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 finished, others moved down the lines, giving each captive a small cup of food and allowing them a single drink from a ladle. When Miko got his, he ate the food ravenously, even though it tasted pretty bad. He drank all the water and was about to ask for more when a girl of about sixteen in another line held out her cup to a slaver and asked, “Can I have more?”
The slaver came to her and slapped 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 cried, “I’m not a slave!”
Those slavers standing within ear shot broke out laughing. The slaver who had come over and slapped her said, “You are now,” and laughed at her.
The girl broke out in hysterics and the man again slapped her across the face. “You shut up or it’ll be worse for you.” He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back so her eyes stared into his. “Do you understand?” he asked with an expression that said, ‘The only answer better be yes.’
Tears streaming down her face, the girl nodded. The man released her hair and walked away. She sat there, sobbing to herself quietly.
Miko looked around and saw 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 murmured amongst themselves, others started crying. One of the slavers shouted, “Slaves only speak when spoken to, break this rule at your peril!” The people quieted down until only muffled sobs could be heard. Several slavers came and collected the food cups that had been handed out.
An older slaver walked from the City and spoke with one of the others for a moment. After they were done speaking, the older slaver returned to the City of Light. The one he spoke to turned to the slaves. “Everyone on their feet!”
Miko quickly got up as did most of those around him. Several others, either through stubbornness or not understanding, remained on the ground. Those that failed to stand quickly enough for the slavers were whipped until they were up and standing.
The one that ordered them to their feet announced, “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, tends not to survive very long.”
Miko realized that the man who’d been giving them orders was the lead slaver for this group. He hadn’t noticed it before, but the man’s clothes looked slightly superior to the others.
The lead slaver got up on a wagon and with a nod of his head to the driver, it moved out, pulling the line of slaves behind it. Soon all the wagons were rolling, each leading a line of slaves.
Marching under the hot sun soon had Miko exhausted and extremely thirsty. Only after they’d been on the road for a couple hours did a slaver pass down the line, allowing each a single cup of water. No one dared to ask for more. This repeated every two hours until they stopped for the night.
While Miko ate the small amount of food given him, a woman’s voice was heard coming from within the group of slaves. “Where are you taking us?”
“Who said that?” one of the slavers demanded. With whip raised, the slaver rushed to where 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 looked around and said, “The Slave Markets of Korazan.” After a moment’s pause to let that sink in, he added, “Where you will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, to spend the rest of your lives as slaves.” Laughing, he went back by the fire and resumed eating his meal.
“Oh, James,” Miko sighed quietly. “Find me!”
Chapter One