The Slave
The fire was rising above the small town. People were running away from their homes, fearing for their futures. A blond woman was clutching a small bundle in her arms. She looked as if what was in that package was more important than life itself.
Suddenly, she fell. A young soldier with a sword stood behind, his blade wet with the woman's blood. He kicked the woman across the ground. Then he stepped on her stomach, and smirked. "Foolish woman, if you hadn't resisted, you wouldn't have died," he said.
Another man walked up to him-obviously his superior officer. The first man saluted. "She's dead," he told his superior.
The commander walked up to the woman. He began prying her hands loose on her bundle. Then, he took whatever it was, and walked away.
* * *
"Hey Bit.wake up," begged his friend Scott, "You don't want to get in trouble with the master for sleeping in, do you?"
Bit stirred from his sleep. He and Scott were slaves in the palace of King Vector Vilyane of the Vilyane Empire. Both boys were sixteen years old. Unlike his friend, Bit didn't know what freedom was. He'd been a slave since he was only an infant. Scott, on the other hand, had been taken from his family at age seven because his father owed the emperor a debt. But both boys were loyal to their master-Scott because of loyalty to his father, and Bit because he had nowhere else to go. They were also very much trusted, and were given many important tasks-and avoided beatings.
"Sorry Scott, I was dreaming," he replied. Scott knew this too well. Bit was often in another world when not working. He'd always believed that it was because his young friend didn't know who his real parents were or where he came from.
Their taskmaster came into the room at the moment. Instantly, both boys were down on the ground, kneeling-slaves treated their taskmasters as if they were the king himself. He told the boys, "I have a job for you. You are to each take a sword, and defend the royal trader caravan. Monsters have been reported in the area, and I'm not taking any chances."
The boys smiled. Being as trusted as they were, they were allowed to carry a sword and defend royal caravans. Many slaves were prohibited from such an honor, as they'd use their swords to incite rebellion. They ran into the changing room to get armed.
* * *
"Hey Bit, isn't this great?" asked Scott. They had been traveling with the caravan for about a week now. Scott was allowing the wind to blow his long red hair around. It was one of his favorite feelings in the whole world.
Bit nodded. He loved jobs like this, as he got the opportunity to get outside. But today all he wanted to think about was his dream. Never in his life did he have such a dream before. The soldiers were from the Vilyane army all right. Was this a premonition of an imminent attack on their neighboring country-and usual enemy-Jatiran?
Suddenly, the lead wagon in the caravan stopped short. The leader got out of his wagon and began inspecting what was ahead. It appeared to be a Vilyane patrol, but something was wrong. They weren't moving at all. Usually they asked to see the ID of any caravan that came by. His eyes went wide.all of these men had been turned to stone! The leader turned to his men. "Get some Softeners from the caravan!" he ordered, "We need to save these people."
Bit and Scott did just that. But while they were unloading the Softeners, they heard the caravan leader scream. Scott dropped the box-on poor Bit's foot actually-and turned to see what was going on. Before them, stood a giant dragon! It blew a breath of stones at the caravan. Although the two boys were uninjured, everyone else in the caravan was petrified instantly. Most didn't even have time to scream before the spell overtook them.
"Bit we better get our swords out. We can give them the Softeners after the threat is eliminated," stated Scott. He pulled his sword out of his sheath, and Bit followed suit. The two boys then turned to face the monster.
The dragon looked at the boys with the look a human gave to a fly. He then blew his stone breath at the boys. Bit effortlessly dodged the attack, but Scott wasn't as lucky. When the dragon's breath ceased, Scott stood there, as still as stone.
"Scott! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Bit. He turned to face the dragon again. "You're gonna pay for that pal."
The dragon didn't take the threat seriously. After all, he was a mighty Stone Dragon who'd lived hundreds of years terrifying and petrifying humans. And Bit was but a human boy whose swordsmanship would be average at best. How could such an insignificant creature defeat a mighty beast like himself in a real battle?
But the monster severely underestimated Bit's abilities. While he was still laughing at the boy's jest, Bit ran forward with his sword drawn. He jumped high in the air, and onto the dragon's back. Then, Bit plunged his sword deep into the monster's scales.
The dragon hadn't expected this. He let out cries of agony as Bit sliced open his back. Dragon blood spilled out along the road. Soon, the beast could no longer stand. He fell forward-right onto the crates containing the softeners.
"Ooops," said Bit, "Better get to a town in order to get some help for these people." He picked up his sword, and began to head for the nearest town on the map.
- - - -
Well, I got the idea for this because I'm an RPG fanatic. The full story I've cooked up sounds like something out of an RPG, so I decided to use it for an AU Zoids fic. Next chapter, Bit meets someone who'll change his life forever.
The fire was rising above the small town. People were running away from their homes, fearing for their futures. A blond woman was clutching a small bundle in her arms. She looked as if what was in that package was more important than life itself.
Suddenly, she fell. A young soldier with a sword stood behind, his blade wet with the woman's blood. He kicked the woman across the ground. Then he stepped on her stomach, and smirked. "Foolish woman, if you hadn't resisted, you wouldn't have died," he said.
Another man walked up to him-obviously his superior officer. The first man saluted. "She's dead," he told his superior.
The commander walked up to the woman. He began prying her hands loose on her bundle. Then, he took whatever it was, and walked away.
* * *
"Hey Bit.wake up," begged his friend Scott, "You don't want to get in trouble with the master for sleeping in, do you?"
Bit stirred from his sleep. He and Scott were slaves in the palace of King Vector Vilyane of the Vilyane Empire. Both boys were sixteen years old. Unlike his friend, Bit didn't know what freedom was. He'd been a slave since he was only an infant. Scott, on the other hand, had been taken from his family at age seven because his father owed the emperor a debt. But both boys were loyal to their master-Scott because of loyalty to his father, and Bit because he had nowhere else to go. They were also very much trusted, and were given many important tasks-and avoided beatings.
"Sorry Scott, I was dreaming," he replied. Scott knew this too well. Bit was often in another world when not working. He'd always believed that it was because his young friend didn't know who his real parents were or where he came from.
Their taskmaster came into the room at the moment. Instantly, both boys were down on the ground, kneeling-slaves treated their taskmasters as if they were the king himself. He told the boys, "I have a job for you. You are to each take a sword, and defend the royal trader caravan. Monsters have been reported in the area, and I'm not taking any chances."
The boys smiled. Being as trusted as they were, they were allowed to carry a sword and defend royal caravans. Many slaves were prohibited from such an honor, as they'd use their swords to incite rebellion. They ran into the changing room to get armed.
* * *
"Hey Bit, isn't this great?" asked Scott. They had been traveling with the caravan for about a week now. Scott was allowing the wind to blow his long red hair around. It was one of his favorite feelings in the whole world.
Bit nodded. He loved jobs like this, as he got the opportunity to get outside. But today all he wanted to think about was his dream. Never in his life did he have such a dream before. The soldiers were from the Vilyane army all right. Was this a premonition of an imminent attack on their neighboring country-and usual enemy-Jatiran?
Suddenly, the lead wagon in the caravan stopped short. The leader got out of his wagon and began inspecting what was ahead. It appeared to be a Vilyane patrol, but something was wrong. They weren't moving at all. Usually they asked to see the ID of any caravan that came by. His eyes went wide.all of these men had been turned to stone! The leader turned to his men. "Get some Softeners from the caravan!" he ordered, "We need to save these people."
Bit and Scott did just that. But while they were unloading the Softeners, they heard the caravan leader scream. Scott dropped the box-on poor Bit's foot actually-and turned to see what was going on. Before them, stood a giant dragon! It blew a breath of stones at the caravan. Although the two boys were uninjured, everyone else in the caravan was petrified instantly. Most didn't even have time to scream before the spell overtook them.
"Bit we better get our swords out. We can give them the Softeners after the threat is eliminated," stated Scott. He pulled his sword out of his sheath, and Bit followed suit. The two boys then turned to face the monster.
The dragon looked at the boys with the look a human gave to a fly. He then blew his stone breath at the boys. Bit effortlessly dodged the attack, but Scott wasn't as lucky. When the dragon's breath ceased, Scott stood there, as still as stone.
"Scott! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Bit. He turned to face the dragon again. "You're gonna pay for that pal."
The dragon didn't take the threat seriously. After all, he was a mighty Stone Dragon who'd lived hundreds of years terrifying and petrifying humans. And Bit was but a human boy whose swordsmanship would be average at best. How could such an insignificant creature defeat a mighty beast like himself in a real battle?
But the monster severely underestimated Bit's abilities. While he was still laughing at the boy's jest, Bit ran forward with his sword drawn. He jumped high in the air, and onto the dragon's back. Then, Bit plunged his sword deep into the monster's scales.
The dragon hadn't expected this. He let out cries of agony as Bit sliced open his back. Dragon blood spilled out along the road. Soon, the beast could no longer stand. He fell forward-right onto the crates containing the softeners.
"Ooops," said Bit, "Better get to a town in order to get some help for these people." He picked up his sword, and began to head for the nearest town on the map.
- - - -
Well, I got the idea for this because I'm an RPG fanatic. The full story I've cooked up sounds like something out of an RPG, so I decided to use it for an AU Zoids fic. Next chapter, Bit meets someone who'll change his life forever.