Chapter VII - Held Captive
As the red slave wagon rolled out the gates of Hort Town, it carried in it slaves, some of whom had just been caught that very night. Arren awoke to find himself surrounded by people dressed in rags, like the slaves he'd seen only a couple of hours ago. He lay his head back thinking it was all a dream. Then he realized it wasn't when he felt something heavy fall down his arms and clang against his wrists. Arren looked at himself and saw that he had been stripped of his clothes and was wearing rags. In addition, he realized quite quickly, he was wearing chains! A thick one around his neck and thinner ones on each of his wrists.
He pulled at the chains to test their strength. They were not going to come off easily. He pulled at them again only to hear another slave tell him otherwise.
"Give it up. It's no use!" He called to Arren. "Quiet!" Another called fearfully. Then, a small porthole in the front of the wagon was opened and a slave trader growled at them.
"Silence or I'll feed you to the hounds!" He snapped at them. He slammed the porthole shut.
Arren looked out of the barred windows that were places equally around the top of the wagon. He felt like crying. How could his day get any worse? Poor Sparrowhawk. He must be worrying sick about him and he would never know where he was. Arren hung his head in shame. He just wanted to go home.
As the wagon rolled forwards, the driver whipped the oxen forcing them to keep pressing on. As they entered a light mist, the driver urged the animals on but then, they suddenly stopped. He got up out of his seat and began to whip them ferociously, yelling as he did so. "Come on! Get moving!" He yelled loosing his patience.
"What's going on?" A slave trader asked, coming to see why they had stopped.
"I don't know!" The driver yelled. "Move you lazy animals! What the Devil is wrong?" He screamed at them as they mooed and started to get jumpy.
Suddenly the driver forgot about the oxen, as he saw a bright white light approaching them. The other slave traders came to look too. Then they all covered their eyes and fell backwards blinded.
Inside the wagon, the light could be seen and also heard as it had a crystal sound to it mixed with that of a voice whispering something indistinguishable. Arren looked up as it shone through the cracks on the door. Then the door opened and the extent of the light could be fully seen. He looked on as a figure stepped out of the light and walked towards him.
"Sparrowhawk…" Arren said as the light dimmed and the figure approached him. Sparrowhawk knelt down in front of Arren and looked at him regretfully.
"We must go, Arren." He said reaching out and touching his chains. Suddenly they all opened and fell off onto the floor. "Can you stand?" He asked getting up and walking out of the wagon.
Arren followed him out and made a feeble attempt to jump from the wagon. Luckily, Sparrowhawk was there to catch him. He groaned in pain but then turned to look back at the other slaves.
"What about the others?" He asked weakly.
"I left no one bound, what happens now is up to them." He said leading Arren away to the side of the road where his horse stood tied to a tree. It twitched its ears and lifted its head as they approached. Arren reached up and petted his horse only to receive a licking in return.
The moon shone bright as Sparrowhawk and Arren traveled through the woods. Arren had taken to riding on his horse as Sparrowhawk lead the way on foot.
"I don't understand, how did you find me?" Arren asked looking at the ever-strong Sparrowhawk as he led Arren's horse through the trees.
"When you didn't come back, I scoured every corner of Hort town." He said not taking his eyes from the road. "Finally someone told me they saw a boy taken by slavers. I was left with no choice but to summon a finding spell." He finished pressing ever forward.
Arren looked down in disappointment and shame. He hated to think he had troubled Sparrowhawk to the point of him using magic to save him. "I'm sorry. I was foolish!" He said hanging his head.
"No." Sparrowhawk said leading them over a crest in the hillside. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have left you. Forgive me Arren?" He asked turning to look at the helpless boy he led.
Arren just looked down in shame as Sparrowhawk led them on out of the forest and into the almost never-ending moorlands.
As Sparrowhawk led them over fields and hillside, the silvery shadows the moon gave off illuminated a small house on the horizon. Sparrowhawk made his way there, an unconscious Arren lying slouched over his horse.
As he opened the small wooden gate, he led Arren's horse inside and stopped it next to a post. He needed help, and there was only one person in the world at this moment in time he could trust to provide him with the type of help that he needed. Only one.
Next Chapter up soon!
