I am so sorry for the long delay. School is hard work, and my muse has been screaming at me to finish Death's Shadow. I'll try to update this one more often.
Chapter 1
Another day. Another day of grueling work. Another day of having the once-daily meal of tasteless sludge. Another day-
When had I started all this inward complaining? Ah yes, the night after my first dream. It had been many, many nights ago. A slave having dreams was unheard of.
Slaves, yes, that's what we were. We were all born as slaves of the Udoni. None of us Humans had known any other life. Work was our life.
I was a mine slave. From suns-up to suns-down, I mined for metals and precious stones. Gehenna was the largest mine, so, naturally, it had the most slaves and slave-drivers.
Labor slaves were never given names, or any type of identification. I was nameless, but, compared to the other slaves, far from soulless. Except for seven other slaves. I recognized a certain light in their eyes that no others had. Two females, five males.
As I ate my morning meal, my thoughts drifted back to the dream I had had last night. As in all my dreams, I, and the seven 'different' slaves were travelling and having strange adventures. Why did I have these dreams? Were they trying to tell me something? Since dreams were unheard of among slaves, I had no idea what to base any assumptions from.
A slave driver herded us to the mines and handed us our tools. We were only allowed two flasks of water a day, which, like the one meal, was enough to only sustain us for the workday.
Talking and interacting was limited, and the Udoni slavedrivers were not shy in letting us know that. During the day, I noticed that, every time I caught the older woman from my dream's eye, she faintly smiled. The day was hot, like any other, even underground.
Finally, the day ended. Males and females were separated and herded to our little burrows. The only good thing about Gehenna was the fact that each slave had their own burrow. But we were forbidden to visit eachother. So controlling were the Udoni that male and female slaves slept on opposite sides of Gehenna. I went to my little burrow and secured the curtain closed.
I dreamed that night as well. The eight of us slaves were being chased through a tunnel as bright flashes flew over our heads. I nearly screamed when I woke up. These dreams would end up driving me insane someday.
The morning alarm seemed to ring far too early. I knew I would be very tired today, because I had only gotten an hour or so of sleep. The woman approached me from behind on the way to the eating area. She slipped her arm around my waist and pressed her lips to my cheek. A second later, she was gone in the mass of slaves.
Confused, I got a bowl of the tasteless sludge and ate. I didn't see the woman even after we had been given our tools and sent to work. She was always with my mining group. Although, she had been absent twice before. To be honest, I was worried about her. I was sure the guards would soon notice her absence.
Not long after the work day had begun, the alarm sounded again. We knew where to go. Being the closest to the announcement area, I was one of the first to arrive. Slaves hurried to group together so that they wouldn't get punished for being slow. I saw the younger woman from my dreams down the front line, only a few people away. I glanced around and caught sight of the brown-skinned young man from my dreams as well.
Those of us within earshot stiffened at the cry of pain.
"Shut up! Your punishment hasn't even started yet," barked the tall and muscular reptilian Udoni who was pulling the older woman from my dreams by her hair. He kicked her legs out from under her once she was front of us. She went down to her knees, his large and scaly hand still entangled in her hair. He ordered her, "Tell all your fellow slaves what you were caught doing."
"I… I went into the Udoni Compound," she admitted.
I closed my eyes. Being anywhere near the Udoni Compound was bad. And she had actually gone inside?
Another cry of pain forced me to open my eyes. The Udoni holding the woman said, "Now, why did you go inside?"
"I was hungry. I was looking for food." Something about the way she said that suggested to me that she was lying. The Udoni guard didn't catch it, though.
"Looking for food? You weren't happy with what we were giving you? Is it not good enough for you?"
The woman was silent. The Udoni yanked her head back by her long brown hair. "Answer!" he commanded, bringing a chop down onto her throat.
I had to stop myself from calling out 'Sarah Jane.' Why was I even thinking that? She didn't have a name, none of us did. But… Sarah Jane was what I had called her in a dream.
I was brought back to reality by another cry of pain. Sarah Jane was now on the ground, unsupported by the Udoni.
"You've broken a big rule today, slave," the guard spat in her face. He announced to the mass of us, "This is what happens when you decide to complain."
The Udoni man began the punishment with many kicks to Sarah's sides and abdomen.
Beard aimed several savage kicks to her chest, ribs, and abdomen.
The guard wrenched her up to her knees by her arm.
Beard seized a handful of her hair and yanked her up to her knees.
The Udoni punched the side of her face. She fell into the dirt.
He backhanded Sarah with enough power to send her crashing into another sales rack.
The reptilian aimed a kick at the back of her neck.
Beard suddenly kicked the back of her neck.
The Udoni picked her up to her knees by her hair.
Who did you call?" Beard asked after yanking Sarah upright by her hair.
"Still hungry?" the guard mocked before serving a backhand to her face. Sarah's nose was now freely bleeding.
"That is none of your concern. I am asking the questions here, not you," he emphasized with another blow to her face. By now, her nose was bleeding.
"Please… stop…" Sarah begged.
"Please… don't hurt them… they're all… I have."
The Udoni backhanded her again.
Beard hit her again.
The slavedriver flashed his pointed teeth in a smile before picking her up and slamming her back into a stack of crates.
Beard snarled before yanking her up to her feet by the collar of her shirt and roughly backed her up into the wall.
The Udoni drove his knee into her chest. She fell to her hands and knees, trying to breathe.
The traitorous man kneed her in the stomach, making her double over, gasping for air.
The reptilian wasn't finished yet. He went over to get a whip from another guard. He slowly came up behind Sarah with it outstretched between his two hands.
But Beard's rage wasn't done yet. He grabbed a belt from the wall and slowly approached Sarah with it.
"No! Stop it! Leave her alone!" I screamed.
"No! Stop it! Leave her alone!" I screamed.
I didn't realize what I had done until the Udoni, who was about to wrap the whip around Sarah's neck, looked up from his prey and directly at me. He stopped and
pondered for a quick moment. He picked Sarah up by the back of her tattered brown shirt and pitched her at me. All the slaves backed away, except me, the younger brown-haired woman, and the brown-skinned man.
I caught Sarah Jane in my arms. The slavedriver approached, the long whip trailing on the ground from his hand. "You want to get involved? Hold her still," the reptilian ordered before raising the whip to bring down on her back.
I turned us around and was met with the cutting fire of the whip on my back. I yelped in Sarah's ear at the pain. She expressed a little surprise at my attempt to protect her.
"I told you to hold her still, slave, not to protect her. Unless, of course, you want to take her full punishment yourself," said the Udoni. "I'll give you a minute to decide if her welfare is really any of your concern.
I looked down at the woman standing in my arms. She whispered in my ear, "Turn back around and hold me still."
"But he'll-"
"I know what he'll do, but you can't take the punishment for me. I broke the rules, not you. I deserve this, not you. Now, please, do what he says."
I turned us back around. The guard was pleased with my decision. He told me to hold up the back of her tattered brown shirt. I did, and held her tightly around her shoulders. She slid her arms up my back and rested her chin on my shoulder, ready for her penalty. The whip came down on her naked back, marring her slightly tanned skin with a crimson stripe. Sarah Jane's grip on my shirt tightened, and she buried her face in my neck. The next strike made her yelp. And on the third, she let out a strangled scream.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wanting to be somewhere else, anywhere else, with Sarah Jane. I felt her body jerk and her grasp on my shirt tighten with each strike. Her cries of pain echoed in my ears.
The slavedriver was not satisfied until Sarah seemed lifeless in my arms. Her body was completely slack. If not for the ragged labored breathing in my ear, I would have thought her to be unconscious. I wished that she was unconscious, for I could see that the Udoni guard had more in mind for her. The slavedriver rolled up the whip and attached it back onto his belt before going inside the guardhouse.
My tight hold on Sarah was the only thing stopping her from falling to the ground. Tears from her eyes and blood from her nose and mouth soaked the shoulder of my tattered tunic. I felt her struggle to stay on her feet. She buried her face in my neck. I continued to support her with one arm while I used the other hand to stroke her hair. I could feel the stares of the other slaves.
I slightly smiled and absent-mindedly stroked her hand and her hair. Sarah was still conscious, but so out of it that she didn't even flinch when a gruff familiar voice said, "How adorable. Should I tell your boyfriend that you're cheating on him with an older woman?"
The slavedriver came out of the guardhouse and suddenly wrenched Sarah from my grasp. "Consider this an honor, slave. You will be the first in one hundred years to be on the Post," he sneered before half-dragging her over to the punishment pole in front of the guardhouse. He chained her wrist to the hanging manacles. He announced to us slaves, "She will be left there for three days with no food, water, or sleep. If any one of you come and try to help her at anytime, you'll join her. Now, back to work." I heard him say to another Udoni, "Make sure that she does not sleep."
It was so hard for me to leave Sarah Jane there, slack against that pole, trying in vain to keep her footing. I, along with the other six different slaves, was among the last to hurry back to work.