《The Armoura Chronicles》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 ¡°Go away orphan, we don''t want your kind here!¡± I eyed the surly woman who I assumed was the owner of the stall warily while pretending to try to decide what fruits to buy. ¡°I''ll come over and beat you! Don''t make me.¡± The words stung almost as much as the first few times. Life was hard for a street urchin in Lasnarguard. It could take up to two days of careful preparation and planning for a theft without food only before being run off before getting a chance to take anything. This theft alone had taken me almost 3 days to pull off. It was beginning to get harder as more as more stall owners recognized my face. I had a bounty of almost 10 thousand credits on my head and that made more than a few common people start salivating at the thought. Time to make my move.As the woman curtly turns around to attend to a new customer in a brown and green tunic and legings, I grab several ripe purple tameigan¡¯s off a shelf and start running across Terinfar Plaza, weaving through the crowd of people. ¡°Get back here you thief!¡± yells a rough voice from behind me that I assume is the owner of the stall I stole from. I pump my legs as hard as I can, willing myself to run faster. My limbs are a mere blur as I take a shortcut through Mr. Mayanson¡¯s backyard, jumping the fence on both sides and dodging angry dogs along the way. I dare to look back. ¡°Crud,¡± I whisper under my breath. Two legionnaires have taken up pursuit. ¡°We''ll get you this time, Trey,¡± They yell. In their shining armor and red capes, they look like they should be guarding a temple somewhere. I jump past a nice cherry wood fence. I look back as the legionaries smash through the fence. Shame. That was a nice fence. Not looking where I''m going. I trip on a rock and stumble into a surly looking boy with blazing red hair and a frown. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Eauuh!¡± He cries in a rather shrill voice as he falls backwards. Wow. it really was shrill. ¡°Crap!¡± I hear myself whisper in a rough choked voice that sounded nothing like my own. Maybe that was how the boy felt. I force myself to get up, but a legionary grabs my hands and swiftly ties my wrists together with a tough looking piece of rope. ¡°Quite a chase you led us on, buddy,¡± he smirks, rumpling my hair. ¡°We¡¯re gonna take you and your little friend down to central prison.¡± ¡°Friend?¡± I say, confused. ¡°Mister Redhead,¡± the legionary says, still smiling. I look over and see that Mister Redhead is indeed tied up by the other legionary. ¡°Hmmm... him? Seriously, he couldn''t do squat, stupid rich kid.¡± ¡°Not buying it!¡± he says as he forcefully pushes me to walk through the throng of people surrounding us. Stupid rich idiots, I think. always dressed in big vibrant colored coats with wide brimmed hats adorned with bright feathers, which us slum kids call peacocks. The crowd parts for us as if we have a highly contagious disease that might make them explode or turn purple and they''re not entirely sure which one it will be. We walk for several days, my first time leaving the city, the surrounding hills green and all too beautiful considering my predicament. Once, I tried to talk to Mister Redhead, but the soldiers beat me with spearhaftes until I was unconscious. Well, that was the end of that lovely conversation. The stupid rich kid hadn''t said anything anyway. I guess I deserved it for getting him into it though. The days go by pretty monotonously. It was just so many rolling hills, with the constant looming presence of the Glasspire, An immense maze made of crystal that stood in the middle of the kingdom. It was probably the most dangerous geological feature around. I had heard tales of roars and screams emanating at night, but that was it. No one ever came out to confirm any rumors. After the third day, we reach a large white gate with huge red banners displaying the sign of Welserig. The gate was maybe fifty meters high and two thirds that many long. One of the soldiers blows a loud horn, startling Mister Redhead into literally jumping. I didn¡¯t think that actually happened. A similar horn answers and the gates slowly slide open. As we anter, we get to a toll both like building. A pasty faced receptionist asks the legionaries to fill out several forms, she then gives them a small bag filled with coins and motions them to lead us through a small wooden side door. My mouth drops open at the sight that lays before me. Rows upon rows of metal cells lay before me stretching down a long stone hallway. ¡°Alright, nighttime bugger!¡± I heard a rough voice say as my vision suddenly plummeted into darkness. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 We found ourselves at the base of a tall cliff that when I looked up to see that it was in reality the wall of a box canyon. The walls towered taller than the highest buildings I had ever seen before. The walls were steep and smooth to touch, too smooth to climb anyways. It smelled worse than the public bathrooms in lasnarnguard I couldn¡¯t help but feel hopeless as I saw that the only way out seemed to be a large entrance that was heavily guarded by a group of legionaries. A hard kick to my back caused me to stumble and stop thinking ¡°Move along Scum, walk faster¡± said the soldier in a flat, dead voice ¡°Slackers won¡¯t last for a single day here.¡± ¡°But you kicked me!¡± I replied angrily. ¡°So what¡± the guard smirks. Aghast at the prospect of working in this horrid place and the hard toil ahead, I retort saying ¡°I¡¯m not working here! It¡¯s practically a rat¡¯s hole!¡±. The last thing I heard before darkness and pain was the guards angry: ¡°I¡¯m not taking none of your lip boy! We¡¯ll use you as an example to the others.¡± When my eyes finally opened, It was almost as if I hadn''t opened them at all, so great was the darkness. ¡°Looks like you''re finally awake.¡± spat a voice angrily. I at first thought it had come from one of the temple looking legionaries, but it turned out to be the redhead who I had run into at the plaza. ¡°Why are you so mad at him?¡± Spoke a softer voice from the darkness. I felt solid rock under me ¡°It¡¯s all his fault!¡± redhead cried angrily, ¡° I shouldn¡¯t be here, I didn''t do anything.¡± ¡°Why are you in here for¡± said the soft voice, directed at me this time. My head was a little groggy but I was able to answer in a voice not that different from that of a bull frog. ¡°Talking back to the legionary temple peacocks¡± I replied ¡°What?¡± said the voice sounding confused, I could now tell that the voice came from a girl that appeared to be about my age, in the light of a solitary candle you could tell that she had brown hair and dark green eyes, similar to the color of the few leaves I had seen in my short life. Plants were few and far between in the city and were a luxury to have around, she was wearing something that resembled a shirt and pants but they were to dirty and ripped to really tell. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°The guards.¡± I said flatly. ¡°Oh, you shouldn¡¯t have done that you''ll probably be dead by the end of the week, but that¡¯s how life is here.¡± ¡°Where am I?¡± I asked, trying to change the subject away from my supposed imminent death. ¡°This is the lovely slave compound of Welserig. It¡¯s where the empire mines the metals for war. No one in the grand city of the empire knows about it, their loss.¡± She intoned in a dry sarcastic voice. ¡°What do you mean for war, the empire has been at peace for hundreds of years.¡± ¡°Oh, I forgot you wouldn¡¯t know, everyone here knows about the secret war that has been going on ever since Prince Xavier came into power.¡± ¡°Prince Xavier?!¡± I cried ¡°He¡¯s really nice he helps all the orphans!¡± ¡°Heh, that muttonhead?¡± ¡°He couldn¡¯t tell an orphan from a barbarian, Prince Xavier is essentially a puppet of the courts wills¡± ¡°What''s your name?¡± I ask interrupting the girl, ¡°The name is Martha, now don''t change the subject.¡± Suddenly a small crack of light appeared above us and I realized that we were in a pit. The crash seemed to become larger and light streamed in. I looked around to get a better grasp of my surroundings, to my surprise about 20 men and woman were gathered in groups around inside the pit they wore ragged clothes they looked starved and beaten but weirdly they had determined expressions on their face. As the crack grew wider I saw several legionnaires faces peer into the pit. ¡° Ew, smells like rotten eggs!¡± Exclaimed a guard ¡° I would hate to live here!¡± ¡°Well it''s work time.¡± The other guard sneered ¡±GET OUT OF THE PIT!¡± Another legionary roared ¡°YOU LOT ARE SLOWER THAN MY PET SNAIL!¡± ¡°Charge!¡± Someone from inside the pit yelled and rocks started flying towards the legionnaires, the legionnaires fell unconscious to the onslaught of projectiles. Men and women I had previously seen inside the pit started climbing out of the pit, I saw they held rocks and pick axes, on their way out they stabbed the legionnaires with their pick axes killing them as I stared in shock at the scene unfolding before me. ¡°Come on, we''re escaping!¡± Martha said grabbing my hand and pulling me up out of the pit. Martha started running past a squat two story wooden building and what looked like a mine towards the gate I had seen earlier ¡°That¡¯s suicide!¡± I yelled ¡°We won''t make it 5 feet there''s like a million guards.¡± ¡°Don''t be like that.¡± Martha retorted ¡°Other slaves are sacrificing their lives to help us and a few others escape!¡± I assumed if someone is sacrificing their life for you you should probably do what they say so following that line of thought I followed Martha towards the gate. All around me slaves used their pick axes as weapons to keep the legionnaires back creating a path for us to get out. I took it running out the gate. I looked back to ask Martha where we were going but saw her suddenly grabbed by a legionary ¡°Martha, I''m coming!¡± I yelled ¡°No, escape without me¡± she yelled as the legionary dragged her back. I ignored her running towards the guard, I grabbed the guard from behind the back and kneed him in the back causing him to drop Martha and stumble. I promptly shoved the guard over and pulled Martha up, together we ran up a set of stairs and into freedom, or so we thought. Synopsis In this first book in my series the main character Trey is just a simple orphan trying to survive on the streets of Lasnarguard or is he? The story begins when Trey is captured by some legionnaires and is brought to a secret slave compound far in theSahathryn desert. Involved in a conflict between the 5 kingdoms of the realm Trey and his friends must learn to fend for themselves. When Trey finds out that he has a huge amount of untapped magical ability he searches for a Master to teach him how to use his magic correctly. Meanwhile the conflict is simply becoming more and more heated as armies and dispatched and cities trampled. Will Trey be able to control his magic? Will Trey find out how to save him and his friend?Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Um... well is that a synopsis? It sounds really cheesy lol. Oh, well. So obviously I don''t really know how to right a synopsis so someone please help lol. Oh, and thankyou to novabomber for this idea!<3 Chapter 3 Chapter 3 I see a flash of blond and a familiar face. ¡°Ethan?¡± I say in surprise. ¡°Wait what?¡± asks Martha ¡°Who¡¯s Michael?¡± ¡°Never mind not now,¡± I reply ¡°we have to get out of here.¡± We run side by side up the rocky path, I look up and almost get dizzy looking at the huge spiral path leading up to the top of god knows where. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work Martha we have to find another way,¡± I say hurriedly ¡°At this rate my grandma could catch us.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± replies Martha ¡°over there a stable, we can get horses.¡± Following Martha I run to the stable a squat building smelling of horse dung and the familiar smell of hay. ¡°Wait here,¡± I whisper to Martha ¡°If I¡¯m not back in 5 come and get me.¡± I run inside and head towards a tall black horse, I unlatch the gate and slip inside the pen. I start to lead the horse out when I hear voices. I stand still not daring to move an inch when suddenly the pen door swings open and a legionary guard walks in. ¡°Aha!¡± yells the guard ¡°I found on-¡± I quickly knee him in the stomach and he doubles over in pain. I quickly grab one of his maces (Legionnaires always have several for seem reason) and hit him on the head as hard as I can. The resounding clang is not unlike that of a church bell as the maces smashes into the legionnaires plumed helmet. The guard crumples to the ground out cold. Grabbing the horse I run to the next horse leading ut a beautiful chestnut horse. Pulling both horses I run towards the door only to see a guard step out from behind the door. ¡°Ahhhh!¡± the guard yells ¡°He¡¯s stealing horses.¡± The guard draws his longsword and charges me as I momentarily wonder why I didn¡¯t keep the other guards mace. Deftly dodging his first swing I dance around the guard as If I were a fly and he was an elephant. He even roars like one I think charging him. The guard is startled by my sudden bravery and pauses, I take advantage of his momentary lapse and slam into his chest with my shoulder. The guard staggers back and I hit him with a hard right hook, he grunts and falls to the ground. I give him a kick for good measure before grabbing the horses again and running outside. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.¡°Hurry over here,¡± says a voice from the right ¡°And ditch the horses they won¡¯t fit.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I say confused I recognize that voice. ¡°Oh just come,¡± I hear Martha¡¯s voice call out. ¡°Where are you?¡± I reply warily. ¡°Just in Here slip in between these two boards,¡± Says Martha ¡°But hurry we''re running out of time Jake says we have about 5 minutes before they send out a search squad¡± Confused I slipped inside to see Martha standing with mr redhead and two other men one I assume to be Jake is a stout man with a curly brown beard and dark grey eyes and the other¡­ ¡°Michael?¡± Is that you I ask confused ¡°What are you doing here and why are you dressed like a legionary?¡± Michael is about six feet tall and has blond hair his old weathered face is stony cold from his chin to his hawk like nose. ¡°Not here, we have to move before the next patrol comes,¡± Michael replies in a low gruff voice. We run quickly down a series of tunnels that seem like they were carved out by a team of miners. The walls are jagged and uneven and the roof slopes up and down making hard to run at a steady pace. The floor has large rocks and in some places water drips down forming small pools. The rock is dark grey and looks foreboding with its shadows and only the flicker of a singular torch held by Michael that lights the way to freedom. We emerge out onto a stretch of desert that seems to go for miles. When I look behind us I get dizzy from the spiraling staircase that funnels down to a now small looking cluster buildings. ¡°Woaah, where are we?¡± I ask trying to fight the strong gusts of wind that make the sand fly like water. ¡°We are on the edge of the Sahathryn desert,¡± I hear Michael yell above the wind. ¡°Our goal is to trek across this six mile swath of desert so we can reach the crystal wastelands by nightfall. ¡°What!¡± The redhead cries out ¡°We¡¯ll die there everyone knows that there are monsters there and all sorts of other evils.¡± ¡°Oh be quiet,¡± says Ryan ¡°If you know how to it is possible to survive.¡± ¡°If?¡± yells the redhead ¡°were going to die here!¡±