Chapter 3

Absalom fidgeted with the wooden mug resting on the long table, his long claws clicking on the wood. It had been another exhausting day, working in the heat, keeping an eye on the slaves. He hated his job, but he had been forced into it, thanks to the superior officers of the Tao Army, namely his brother Rhion. Rhion did not want him fighting on the front lines against the war, which had now devolved into guerrilla warfare, the Sky rebels striking from the shadows, forcing the Tao soldiers to always look behind them, just in case. He couldn't blame the Sky rebels for fighting the way they did; they had been vastly outnumbered and caught off guard by the Tao armies. They had to fight the way they did, in order to survive.

Absalom hated being a guard. He wasn't unnecessarily cruel or thuggish like the other guards. He took no pleasure from beating the slaves with his Empire issued whip, unlike many of his comrades. Many of the slaves, if they had been asked, would have called Absalom the "kind guard", sneaking some water to some of the more faint-hearted slaves and pretending to whip the slaves with his weapon.

In fact, he didn't even want to become a soldier; he would have been more than happy to live out the rest of his days in the family business, becoming an engineer like his father, who had been one in the Tao forces. But the the Oam military commander came around and forced him into the draft. Rhion, his "perfect" older sister had been more than happy to be in the Tao army; she had joined even before the war and was now an officer in the Army. It was Rhion's clout that kept Absalom from fighting on the front lines. She tried to force Absalom out of the army, stating health problems—Absalom had not been pleased with Rhion's "excuse"-, but failed. Instead, Absalom ended up working as a guard in the Black Pit Mines, one of the mines that the Tao army took over in the beginning of the war.

He hated it, he hated everything about it and had hated it for two years now, since the Tao armies took it over and placed their own guards in the place. He kept quiet for those two years, keeping his head down and doing his job, but now, things were changing

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the raucous laughter of some of the guards down the tables, their faces in mugs of old, watery ale, the only form of alcohol they could obtain. Absalom shook his head and went back to his drink, water. Some of the guards were older, former soldiers taking their internal problems out on the slaves, other guards were nothing more than bullies and malicious, taking sadistic pleasure from beating those weaker than they. Others were like Absalom, soldiers drafted into the Tao army and then shipped up here, trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible.

He dug one of his claws into the wood of the table and began to scratch patterns into it, too awake to sleep, too lethargic to do much of anything else. He wanted to ignore the signs of change for so long, but he knew that they were happening whether he liked it for not. First it had been the arrival of the newest batch of slaves two fortnights ago. Slaves were often sent up to Black Pit Mines by way of rapidash of zebstrika pulled carts and Absalom and a few other guards met the carts at the entrance of the Mines, to distribute the slaves to their respective bunks, to take the places of those who had passed away.

One of those slaves Absalom had been positive that it was his neighbor in Oam: Micah Aurum, a prestigious jeweler and friend of his parents. Absalom could recognize him by the two nicks in the raichu's long whip like tail and the slender figure, with a small pot belly. Absalom did not know why Micah had been enslaved, but he noticed the ragged ears and he realized that his numerous earrings had been ripped out cruelly. It filled the charmeleon with rage that they would do such a thing to them. Micah had never done anything to deserve it, let alone be enslaved. Something was becoming horribly wrong. But he wasn't entirely positive; it could have been a figment of his imagination, but he had to be sure.

Then, it was the actions that had occurred in the shafts of the Mines. Absalom did not know exactly what had happened down there, but from what he could gather from rumors and half-truths, one of the slaves, a blaziken, had stood up to one of the guards, a sadistic krookodile known as Bharro, from beating one of the slaves, a raichu. There was only one raichu that Absalom knew of working in the Mines and that was Micah, he thought. The slaves were beginning to grow restless of their lot in life. Many had been soldiers in the Sky Kingdom, captured by Tao forces, and others were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. But no matter their past, the slaves were beginning to rise up and Absalom could not blame them, as treasonous his thoughts were.

At the beginning of the war, Absalom had been for it, supporting the Tao army and his sister, who had been one of the first ones to enter the Sky Kingdom. There was one problem though; no one knew exactly why the Tao Empire was invading. Some claimed it was to obtain more resources and land for their growing populace, others said it was to purge the Sky Kingdom barbarians off the map and this was the first step for completely dominating the region, including the "archaic" Twin Monarchies of Kanjo and the "pacifist" Island Nation of Obliverae. Whatever the reason, it seemed very fuzzy and not well defined. The Tao Emperors claimed that it was retaliation for the disappearance of Kyurem, the Frost Emperor, but that too, was vague.

Two years into the war, and Absalom was not even sure what they were fighting for. He was tired of staying in this miserable pit that was worthy of The Distortion Lord's domain and he was tired of having to lord over those who had been less fortunate than he. Absalom wondered if the Sky soldiers would treat him like this if the situation had been worse. Probably worse, according to some of the Tao guards. They claimed they were being merciful to the slaves. "As if," Absalom thought to himself.

Then, he had an idea. First though, he had to confirm that the raichu slave he saw was in fact, Micah, the jeweler.

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He fumbled for the keys that opened the bunk. Absalom had to purloin the keys off the discarded belt of the overseer, the ursaring. The keys were bronze and archaic in design, Absalom thought in disdain. There were other ways to design the keys. He wanted to laugh at himself for using the "engineer's mind", his father had called it, his uncanny knack to point out the design flaws of objects. Micah had employed his services once or twice, when trying to make his jewelry processes more efficient. The raichu had sworn to hire the charmeleon "one of these days", Absalom thought with fond memories. He slowly tip-toed back out of the room, trying to make as little noise as possible. The ursaring had complete control over all the keys used by the guards. In the morning, he would disperse the keys to the guards for their respective shifts. Then at the end of the day, they would hand them back in. Those who didn't were often penalized; Absalom didn't want to know what would happen if he were caught.

He dashed back to his room, grabbing his chainmail hauberk to go under his gray tunic. It was better to be safe than sorry, Absalom thought, his hands shaking, rattling the individual links of his hauberk. The last thing he wanted was an angry slave attempting to kill him. He decided to leave his whip and knife back in the small room he called his own, leaving them on the small crate he called a nightstand. He padded out of the room agonizingly slow, to keep the hauberk from jingling.

He sighed in relief when he managed to make it outdoors without being spotted by the guards. He looked up to the night sky and he wondered which constellations he was seeing now. It was the beginning of fall, if he remembered right, and soon, the beginning of harvest season, though that did not matter much here.

The Black Pit Mines were located at the feet of three large, steep mountains in a rough triangle shape. The Mines were in a valley, with one of the mountains at the end of the valley, with the other two flanked it. It was steep, and with only one way in and out of the valley. As a precaution, since the Mines were originally a penal colony, a thick wall with massive oaken doors was built at the entrance of the valley, guarded constantly by trained soldiers. Total, the Mines took up about seventy-five acres in size, smaller than many farms and estates, but large enough to host a large population of slaves, as most of the work was done underground in a veritable maze of tunnels and alcoves, deep into the mountains that shielded the valley.

Absalom crept along, past the mess hall for the guards and past many of the squat, drab buildings that housed the slaves, until he found the one he was looking for. He managed to catch a peek at the housings lists when he pilfered the keys. The lists didn't have names, but it did list species and their designation numbers, given to them by a department in the Tao government.

He stood before the door of the building he believed that held Micah. He fumbled for the appropriate key on the massive key ring. The keys jingled painfully loud in the silence, seeming to echo in the complex and mock his attempts . He finally found the key he was looking for, a bronze key patina-ed with age. He pushed it into the lock and turned it, hearing the satisfying "click". He attempted to open the door, but the hinges creaked jarringly loud and Absalom ceased, waiting until the right moment. He then creaked the door open slowly, a little at a time, until he managed to step inside.

He gawked at the numerous bunk beds that lined the walls. The stench of must and other unpleasant odors assailed his nose and he nearly gagged. He waited until he managed to get his gag reflex under control, and then went in between the bunk bed, looking for the raichu he believed to be Micah. He finally found the raichu, sleeping fitfully under the thin blanket. Absalom reached out and fingered the blanket between his claws, appalled at the deplorable conditions. He dropped the blanket and studied the raichu. He was sleeping on his side, his back turned to him. He had the slender frame and the two notches in his tail. His heart sprang to his throat. It was Micah! But why was he here? Why was he a slave now.

He reached out and gently shook the raichu. The pokemon stirred and turned to face Absalom, eyes half-lidded.

"Who's there?" he muttered.

Absalom took a shaky breath. "Micah, is that you?"

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Micah woke slowly when he felt something shaking his shoulder, softly at first, then harder and harder. He wondered if it was one of the other slaves, or Kephra perhaps. He rolled over and opened his eyes, still gummy from the bouts of sleep. In his sleep addled vision, he saw a reptilian face peer down at him, its pelt dark, while a small fire, almost a flicker, burned at the end of the stranger's tail. "who's there? He sat upright.

"Micah, is that you?"

Micah blinked in surprise, realizing with a start who had been shaking him awake. "Absalom?" the charmeleon, Absalom, nodded eagerly and Micah's breath hitched. "I was right. It is you." Suddenly, he reached forward, enveloping the charmeleon in a tight hug. "It is you."

Absalom was taken by surprised, but he managed to wriggle his arms out from Micah's vice like grip and returned the hug. When the pair broke it off, Absalom began. "How did you end up here?" he asked in a rush."

"One of my rivals accused me of being a spy for the Sky Kingdom and through a farcical excuse of a trial, I got convicted and sent to be a slave for my punishment. It is poor times to not be a Tao in that country."

Absalom shook his head. "I don't believe it. You were a pillar of that community. My parents trusted and loved you. How could they turn against you?"

"It wasn't your parents, son. It was hysteria that drove me here. Your parents tried to help, but it wasn't enough, not when the accuser and the prosecution had forged documents and bribed witnesses to prove their case. Injustice won there." Absalom fell to the floor in a thump, head cradled in his hands. Micah continued, "times are changing Absalom, and we're too old fashioned and honest to keep up with them. But my question is what are you doing here, in the slave compound of all things?"

Absalom turned his face to the raichu on the bed. "I had to make sure, make sure it really was you."

"Well it is, here in the flesh."

"I came because, because I realized that change is coming."

"It is, like a wind going in opposite directions at once."

"Yes, I don't even know why we're fighting anymore. No one does, and yet, we still go through with it. The Sky Kingdom didn't instigate anything. It's. . .it's wrong." he finally admitted. "We need to change." he turned inward. "But how?" he wondered to himself, pondering the great epiphany he came to.

"Simple, we rise up, and make the change ourselves."

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He was dreaming the dream again, the same one where he saw his father and his oldest brother burned at the stake for defending his home. He knew what was going to happen, yet, he always prayed that the outcome would be different, his father breaking free of his bonds perhaps, and slaughtering the Tao soldiers that dared to take away his home. He was always looking for Ezra though, the second oldest, the brother who would sneak him treats and candies while working in the fields and defending him from his brother, the peacemaker and the acolyte for the local priest of Arceus. He was supposed to be inducted into the priesthood in mere months, until the Tao soldiers charged in and changed everything. He always wanted Ezra to survive or escape the catastrophe. Maybe if he would ever escape, he would search for his brother. . .And Kara as well. He knew the Tao soldiers struck her on the beck of her head, knocking her unconscious. They probably enslaved her, knowing the soldiers.

To find Ezra and Kara. . .and maybe, just maybe, he could have a semblance of a family again.

"Kephra!" a voice hissed urgently at him, interrupting his dreams. It wasn't his father shouting his name, nor was it Akhum. So who was it? "Kephra! Wake up Kephra!" the blaziken stirred, the thin blanket falling off his person. He blinked groggily into the darkness, with minimal light to show the way. The face of Micah peered back at him, seeming as large as the moon rise. He nearly jumped, startled by the close proximity.

"What is it?" Kephra asked slowly, his voice scratchy and rough.

"Someone is here, and he wants to talk to us. Well, you mainly."

Kephra's heart suddenly began to race in his chest and his mouth went dry. His claws clenched the ragged edges of his blanket and he wondered if it was a guard, wanting to "question" him about what happened in the mine shaft. Thankfully, Micah's voice cut through the fog his mind entered. "Don't worry, it isn't anything bad," he reassured him.

Kephra sat up slowly in the bed, taking care to not hit his head, like he did every time. He gazed around the room, trying to find the figure who so desired his attention. He finally saw it, a figure hovering in the corner of the room, a small fire next to them, lighting it in a dull yellowish glow. Kephra squinted and realized that the fire was in fact, coming from the tip of the mysterious stranger's tail. The visitor was not very tall, only slightly taller than Micah at just over three feet. He was definitely reptilian in looks, bipedal, and with a dark red, almost maroon pelt. He had burly forearms and thick claws and a single stout crest emerged from the back of his head. His eyes were a vibrant green, like leaves in spring. He wore a dull grey tunic, now looking orange in the firelight, with what appeared to be a chainmail hauberk underneath, the individual links glowing in the light.

The appearance tickled the back of Kephra's mind and he pondered who he was. He had to be a guard, judging by his clothing and more put together appearance. There were about two-hundred guards at the Mines and while Kephra had seen all of them numerous times, he never thought of putting a name to their faces. It wasn't as if the guards cared about learning his name.

"This is Absalom, the charmeleon guard I told you about," Micah explained, gesturing for Absalom to step forward. Kephra suddenly remembered: Micah had mentioned him in his grandiose plans to escape the Black Pit Mines, helping the other slaves break free in the process.

"So he is going through with it," Kephra mused. "You must be Absalom, the charmeleon Micah told me about."

"Indeed I am," Absalom replied, almost nervously, eyes constantly glancing around.

"Of course he's nervous," Kephra realized. "He's surrounded by those he enslaved."

"I had to find him, Micah, I mean." Absalom explained. "When he first came off the carts, I thought I saw him, but I had to be sure. Then I heard about the incident in the shaft, so I had to find him, and find out why he was here of all places."

"And then I promptly told him everything." Micah added.

Kephra's jaw nearly dropped, no words fully adequate to describe his tumultuous emotions. "You told him everything?"

"And why not?" Micah asked, arms crossed, the raichu's face set in determination. "I trust him."

"Besides," Absalom interjected quickly. "I want to escape too."

That had Kephra's attention. "You're a guard, life is good for you here. Well, as good as it gets, I'm sure."

Absalom shook his head. "I'm sure it seems like that, but I never wanted to fight, or even be a soldier. All I wanted to do was be an engineer, but I ended up conscripted into the Tao army. My sister Rhion tried to get me out, but failed." He flopped down onto the hard dirt packed floor and sighed, the fire on his tail dying down just slightly. "Things are changing. I mean really changing. Micah being enslaved, the slaves beginning to stand up for themselves. I'm not even sure why we're fighting anymore and to be honest, I don't think anybody knows save the Emperors. Something has to happen, before everything breaks loose."

Kephra shifted himself to the edge of his bed, studying Absalom. He had no idea exactly how old the charmeleon was, but he would guess a young adult, one who wise beyond their years. He decided that Absalom could not be that bad, especially if he was a family friend of Micah's and he came down here to their level, so to speak, and confide in them. "What do you propose then?"

Absalom shrugged. "I guess what Micah suggested. Black Pit Mines is the second largest importer of copper and iron to the Tao army. If that is somehow disrupted-"

"Like the slaves rebelling and taking over the Mines," Micah interrupted.

"-Again, what Micah suggested, then the Tao army's supply lines would be greatly affected. The army has numerous uses for the metals and in order to conserve the metal they have until they obtain new sources, the Tao armies would have to cut back on other things, like machinery, and alchemical and engineering purposes, thus slowing their progress into the Kingdom of Sky."

Kephra mulled it over. "How will we do this then?"

"As a guard, I'm allowed access to the keys that the overseer has. Maybe, I can get the keys from him, using you two, and then we can help free the other slaves."

"We'd have to get a distraction somehow," Kephra added. "I mean, how are we supposed to get the keys from him, without drawing suspicion?"

"Maybe we can help," the three shot upright to find some of the other slaves hovering nearby, hope and other emotions alight on their faces. The leader of the troop, the one that spoke, was a cinccino, older, judging by its gait and wrinkles around its eyes. Its voice was distinctively male.

"We can provide the distraction," a darmanitan shouted eagerly. The minccino shushed her and the darmanitan shrunk back into the crowd.

"As I was saying," the minccino continued, stroking its long fur that wrapped around his neck like a scarf . "We can provide the distraction, even if it means at the cost of our lives, but with the chance at freedom, we will be more than willing to take it." The other slaves began to add their voices , turning the bunk into a din.

"Quiet!" Absalom hissed sharply, the fair on his tail flaring to life. "Or we'll get caught!" the slaves immediately quieted, not wanting to draw unwanted attention.

Kephra turned to Absalom. "How do you suggest we do this?"

Absalom mulled it over. "Well, here's what I've got so far. . ."

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Absalom was a creation that came to me rather suddenly, as I was trying to piece together the upcoming part and figuring out the logistics of the escape. Then his character grew and grew and I gave him a backstory, and an in depth personality. Shoot, he even gets his own mini-arc in the story, but only for a few chapters.

I'm not quite sure how he ended up at his name; it sort of just came to me. I'm also too lazy to look up the actual meaning of it, but you can, if you want. Chances are, it has nothing to do with him, lol.