《Diakazia: Laughter of Voiceless Slaves》 Prologue: The first step Prologue Part 1: Forgotten City "Do you think this is the right way?" asked old man past his 60s, in a quiet voice. "How, in seventh hell, should I know?" the voice answered in an angry, but also quiet voice. "By a smell? An intuition? I''m fine with anything, otherwise we will wander this insanely huge forgotten city forever and I''m not getting any younger, you know. We have been here for weeks, but we still don''t know even the name of this city. How can such advanced and beautiful city not be mentioned in any books, tales or even myths? " "You''re great adventurer and historian, Jamiteus, but even you don''t hold all the answers." They were walking through the street of empty city, hidden from the world under the mountain Tianmen. The old man is a genius with free-spirited soul by the name of Jamiteus. He is known far and wide in a world as historian, royal adviser to several kings, inventor, painter and adventurer. He has brown eyes, high cheekbones with deep scar under his left eye to his ear. His grey hair reached his shoulders. He is dressed in simple traveling clothes- red tunic, brown vest and coat, black pants and boots. His companion is a grey wolf, almost as old as he is, by the name of Rakie. Rakie was a bit larger than average grey wolf. They have been companions ever since Jamiteus in his teens saved Rakie from human hunters, who killed Rakie''s mother and wanted to do the same to Rakie, even though he still was a puppy. They turned left to the main street. Although the city must have been abandoned several thousand years ago, city wasn''t badly damaged, just some cracks on the walls, weed growing through the bricks. The most damage city received was from over growing trees too close to buildings. With some small repairs city could be made livable right away for at least a million residents, if there was a need for it. But the city is too advanced, makes you wonder about the people who lived here. And how come no one knew of this city and its inhabitants. The buildings on the main street all had at least 4 floors and the highest had 8 floors, decorated with different ornaments, mostly in blue and green, with large round windows and half-oval balconies. All the roads in city were paved with setts and every stone had either something written or drawn on it. Most writings and drawings looked like done by children. Most of the buildings had statues made of hepatizon and corinthian bronze in front of them, from mice, cats and dogs, to warriors, beautiful women and craftsmen, to elves, dragons and hybrids. But none were taller than 3 or 4 meters. The sight was mesmerizing and breathtaking. Most buildings had shops in the first floors, but it was hard to guess what kind of shop it was because writings above the shop wasn''t in any known language to Jamiteus or even similar, but he was able to guess the shops¡¯ identity when he entered, although most things were missing. They turned right and soon entered part of the city filled with old city ruins. Ruins consisted of broken apart wall of stone, originally 20 meters tall and 4 meters thick, castle with 13 towers made of white marble and semi-precious stones like actinolite, which are all green and heliotrope, also known as bloodstone, green with red or yellow spots, amphitheatre built in semicircle, 5 large buildings looking like marquees (large tents, about 45m wide), but were of blue bricks and glass ceiling. There were also various residential buildings and small shops of many shapes and colours. They were looking for mausoleum and they did so from the third day they found this city, all because of writing on a wall in the castle''s throne room which was in a language Jamiteus learnt in university, known as ancient script of rulers. Message terrified him so much that ever since then; they were looking for this mausoleum without rest and only few hours of sleep. Message: "Whoever is reading this, beware, soon after eclipse of fate, darkness and despair will overtake everything. Look for mausoleum with a symbol of truth. May gods bless your stupid souls. Truth seeker, king of mortals of the kingdom Napertha, Graggo the Merciless." Prologue Part 2: Different World and the Storm of the Century "Honey, don''t cry. Be strong. Overcome hunger. I''m begging you to listen closely to my story; all bad things will go away. You don''t believe me?" asked old granny with warm smile on her face. She had grey hair with some red mixed in; she was very thin with simple old grey dress reaching her ankles. On her lap was sitting a boy about 5 years old with black short hair with some red mixed in, he too was unhealthy thin. "I believe you, granny!" boy almost shouted with tears in his eyes, granny was his world, his guardian and he loved her dearly. He was afraid that she would think that he didn''t believe her. How could he? Without her, he would have been dead long ago, he knew that much. "Good." She kissed boy''s forehead, wrapped more tightly her arms around the boy to keep him warm from the cold. "Now listen closely, my little warrior, as I''ll start to tell you a story about amazing world of Diakazia..." ~~~*****~~~ Rari woke up sweating with tears in his eyes. "A dream?" murmured Rari. He was in his small one bedroom apartment in a very old building that looked like it will collapse any moment now or if someone sneezed too loudly. Rari was 20 years old, skinny with average height, pale skin, blue eyes with little red and dark hair also with little red. He had tattoo on the back of his neck. Circle with strange markings in it. Rari got up, quickly washed up, dressed and went to work without even eating, although except water and some old bread, he didn''t have anything else. In the morning he worked as a janitor in a small office, but he also did some small repairs there, like fixing computers, doors, chairs, lamps, electricity and the list goes on and on, but all he gets for it, is just a small bonus in the end of the month. As always he was the first one there. He started with cleaning and after few hours when he cleaned everything, first office worker came. Office worker is Ahmed, 48 years old with tanned skin, green eyes and short black hair. Ahmed was wearing casual clothes, brown sweater and black pants. He was one of the few people friendly towards Rari. "You''re hard-working as ever, Rari. Already finished? " "Good morning to you, Ahmed. Yes, just now" "Good. Then come over here, I''ll show you something interesting." "I hope it''s not one of your cat pictures." "Whaa¡­" Ahmed made surprised face. "I haven''t shown you enough cat pictures for you to get tired of them." "But you have shown me those pictures for the last two years every day." Ahmed laughed, then smiled and said: "True, but this time, I''ve something better. Yesterday I found interesting code, I can''t say where, but as I know how you like puzzles and stuff like that, I wanted to show it to you." "Have you solved the code?" with a smile asked Rari. "No." "So, you want my help because you couldn''t do it? That''s why you have those bags under your eyes?" now Rari was grinning with devilish look in his eyes. "Yes." Ahmed sighed and gave Rari a piece of paper. b7c8ffb8fbc67c171328e0e8f643694e8e61b335 7c211433f02071597741e6ff5a8ea34789abbf43 3c363836cf4e16666669a25da280a1865c2d2874 042dc4512fa3d391c5170cf3aa61e6a638f84342 86f7e437faa5a7fce15d1ddcb9eaeaea377667b8 13fbd79c3d390e5d6585a21e11ff5ec1970cff0c 86f7e437faa5a7fce15d1ddcb9eaeaea377667b8 395df8f7c51f007019cb30201c49e884b46b92fa 042dc4512fa3d391c5170cf3aa61e6a638f84342 86f7e437faa5a7fce15d1ddcb9eaeaea377667b8 e3d9bca2ecaf11825872780f9493ca0df05ec56a af10ef20dd9060bbeead0afbc55381a66af442ef 6b0d31c0d563223024da45691584643ac78c96e8 86f7e437faa5a7fce15d1ddcb9eaeaea377667b8 4dc7c9ec434ed06502767136789763ec11d2c4b7 042dc4512fa3d391c5170cf3aa61e6a638f84342 86f7e437faa5a7fce15d1ddcb9eaeaea377667b8 d1854cae891ec7b29161ccaf79a24b00c274bdaa 86f7e437faa5a7fce15d1ddcb9eaeaea377667b8 a0f1490a20d0211c997b44bc357e1972deab8ae3 ca84d1343b96baa8137c943ed1860e522cacb238 "Isn''t this just a hash function? Hmm¡­ if you''re asking me then that means that you tried already all known algorithms decrypt ways and tools." "Well, I haven''t tried everything, just the most likely ones." "At the moment, I don''t have time for this, but I will look it up when I can." "Thanks. But don''t show it to anyone." "I know." Rari said and sighed. Then he went out from the office, towards his next job. As Rari was walking down the street, deep in thought, he didn''t even realize two men approaching him. Then suddenly Rari got pushed to the ground. "Your kind isn''t welcome here, you dirtball!" Shouted one of the guys, while other one spit on Rari and kicked him few times in the stomach. Rari got up when they left, murmuring angrily to himself. "Because of your kind, I''m the only one of my kind left in this country full of assholes." Rari arrived at his second and last job for the day at the construction site. Here most of the workers also were mean towards Rari. Late at night he was finally free and was planning to leave, but was interrupted by manager Stende. "Hey, you still have some work to do in second floor." "You mean Alden''s unfinished work?" "Now it''s your unfinished work which you need to finish in 2 hours." With an angry tone manager said. "Yes sir." Rari knew there was no point in arguing how unjust and unfair it was, how his official work hours ended 5 hours ago and he did not only did his own work, but others as well. But if he said anything in protest, he would just get fired and it was already too hard to find a job for him. "Oh, and don''t come to work for the next few days. There will be the biggest storm of the century tomorrow or day after." After saying that, the manager left. ''Why I have a feeling that I¡¯ve heard talk of storm of the century before? Where have I heard before about it? I''m too tired to remember.'' After scratching his head, Rari walked towards stairs and started working once again. After 3 hours he finished work, he worked as fast as he could, but it was impossible to finish in 2 hours and most likely no one in this construction site could finish even in 5 hours. After 40 minutes he was home and went straight to bed, he was exhausted. ~~~*****~~~ "Granny, what are you saying? We originally are from Diakazia? Why ancestors left that world to come to this awful place where everyone hates us?" young Rari about 7 years old said with tears and desperation in his eyes. "It was long ago, my little warrior, so even I don''t know, there are many ideas why, but I don''t think any of them are true." Granny said with sad expression. "Listen closely, Rari, this is very important. I believe that you''ll be the one who will be able to return to our homeland." "How? And why did you say me? We''ll both return, granny. There we''ll live without feeling hungry and cold. We''ll live in small, warm house with lots of fruits and vegetables. .. And I''ll get you even meat and beautiful dress. Oh, and books, a lot of books. I know how you miss them. I''d get you anything you wanted and we would live happily there. I know it!" Rari said with big smile on his face with hugging granny. Granny smiled warmly but with a hint of sadness. Then she kissed Rari on the forehead. "I would love that, my sweet little warrior, but your chance will arrive only many years later and I''ll be dead by that time" "Nooo¡­." Rari cried while shaking his head. "We''ll both go there and there I''ll find doctor who''ll heal you." "Rari, every life once ends. It''s the way of life." "Listen. When the storm of the century will come, you must go to the highest building''s very top, the very top, so that when you stand there''ll be nothing higher than you. Do you understand?" "Yes." "Good. Then you must hold tight and wait for lightning to hit you while saying who you are and where you wish to go." "What? But that''s¡­ I would die." Rari was shocked by what he heard. "Don''t worry, my little warrior, I believe you''re stronger than lightning." Granny said that with an expression like she knew some secret why Rari really wouldn''t die. "But be careful and remember, in Diakazia there are many bad people, but there''ll be many good people, who would even die for you. Don''t close your heart for those who wish you well because of some bad ones. You''d regret it otherwise. Promise me." Granny said that with pleading eyes. "I promise." ~~~*****~~~ Rari woke up suddenly after just few hours of sleep. "Granny, I''ll go to Diakazia, like you wanted, but I''ll not be able to keep my promise to you. I hope you''ll forgive me for that. I know you just want the best for me, but people are evil and I don''t think that they''ll be any different even in Diakazia." Rari got up from bed if you could call two blankets and a pillow on the floor as bed. He got ready and left his apartment, but he didn''t go to work, but to search for information. ''My slavery days in this world are over. Either I''ll die trying to get to fairytale world Diakazia or I''ll actually get there. I¡¯ve got nothing holding me in this world anyway. Somehow I''m happy, first time in many years. Either way I''ll leave this world, be it suicide or mystical place far away from here'' ~~~*****~~~ After gathering information about which could be the highest point in this city, how to get there, what materials he possibly needed and when exactly he needs to be there so that the storm will be the most devastating. Somehow he had the idea that the culmination of the storm was the moment he would be most likely to get to Diakazia. The storm would begin tomorrow morning and the most devastating part would be around midnight. In the city there are several buildings competing for the name of the highest skyscraper. The title goes to Freedom Corporation, but technically its Union logistics skyscraper which is the highest to the sky because of various bundled tubes and one of them is 45 meters straight to the sky from the roof with the symbol of silver goddess holding three golden stars on the very top. ''Somehow it seems proper to stand on stars which are being held by goddess and then laugh at all those stupid garbage bags beneath me¡­ oh and then get hit by the lightening, don''t know how I feel about that. More and more seems like a suicide attempt.'' After that Rari went home to get some sleep. He was tired after constant working while sleeping only few hours every and that was his reality for most of his recent years. Good rest was the key element to achieve his goal. While sleeping he dreamt of happy moments he shared with granny. ~~~*****~~~ "¡­ Remember, my little warrior, in Diakazia there are different species of which you haven''t even heard of. Some of those species intelligence is similar or even higher than ours. They''ll have one of the markings from our tattoo. Each marking in our tattoo¡¯s represents bond with one species. It is said that our ancestors were the only ones those species were friendly with. It is our greatest treasure. You must be polite and respectful towards them. Show them your worth while being humble. They will see you for what you are and will turn into your loyal allies and friends." "Are there many of them?" "Yes, of course. Too many to count." "Then I''ll have lots of friends, I want a friend so bad." With excitement said small Rari. "And you''ll have friend, a lot of friends. Oh, and a lover too. All the girls will run after you." Granny said while laughing. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation."I want friends, not lovers." "Oh, my little warrior, when you grow up you''ll want good girl by your side." "I don''t think anyone could be as good as you." Rari said while smiling. "Because here you haven''t met nice people doesn''t mean that Diakazia is the same. The world in Diakazia is vast and somewhere you''ll find nice and good people who''ll show love and care for you." Granny smiled and pats Rari''s head. ~~~*****~~~ ''I hope you''re right, granny.'' Rari woke up feeling reborn with a smile on his face. Outside he heard strong wind blowing. He looked outside and saw that the sky was dark, although it was afternoon. No one was outside. Several nearby trees crushed some cars and even one house. ''I wonder how I slept through all this.'' Rari ignored it all and went to make breakfast. Yesterday he decided to spoil himself. He made several dishes with expensive ingredients which he always wanted to try, but couldn''t. He stuffed himself, but soon afterwards he vomited it all out. His stomach wasn''t used to such food. After many hours of preparation, he was ready. He left several hours earlier. It seemed like it would take more time than he estimated because of how devastating the storm of the century is. ''I''ll be lucky to manage few steps forward in this storm.'' When he got out of his apartment buildings, heavy rain started pouring down. Wind was so strong that it was almost impossible to stand, let alone take a step forward. Luckily, Rari didn''t need to go against wind and his backpack was heavy enough not to get blown forward and get him crashed against some kind obstacle like a car. After many problems and few hours later he arrived at Union logistics skyscraper. There was light only in the first floor entrance and lobby, where 2 security guards were. Rari didn''t plan to knock on the doors asking them to allow him sightsee from the roof; they would probably think he''s insane and kick him out or call the police. Instead, his plan was to sneak in through backdoor. He found the backdoor easily, took out bit of flour and threw it on security panel right next to the door. By doing this revealed that numbers 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 were often used. He then took out USB cable and another cable. He connected both cables and then his phone and security panel. Security panel had special port and Rari was able to find necessary cable in black market. He installed software on his phone to find out most likely password algorithm and other software to trick the security system to believe that he has infinite number of tries permitted instead of 2. It took him 12 tries and less than 2 minutes to get inside. He researched Union logistics building very carefully the day before and most likely knew about this building more than people who actually worked here for years. Thankfully because of the storm, electricity was out and just emergency generators were working. Because the possibility was low of someone breaking in now when the storm was destroying everything and to reserve power of generators, electricity was only used in the front of the building and only first floor, also located in the first floor. Even security cameras were out, as there was no need for them if the lights were off and they saw no need to switch on night vision. Of course, security measures on all important parts of the building was still on and on high alert. ''I''m seriously lucky. Only obstacle was the door and guards. If I needed to break in here two days ago, I most likely would get captured before even opening the backdoor. It''s bad that I can''t use elevator.'' As Rari sighed, he moved through corridors and reached stairs. He needed to climb 254 floors. And he hoped that 3 hours would be enough. When he finally reached door to the roof after 3 hours and 40 minutes, he was exhausted and didn''t feel his legs anymore. After a short break, he moved to open the door to the roof. As fast as he opened the door, he closed it. ''Seriously? Seriously? It''s nightmare out there. I can''t even stand on the roof, let alone get on top of goddess and stars.'' After few long moments of remembering his granny and painful moments of his life, he decided to risk it. ''Argh. I''ve been through much worse than some shitty storm. Storm of the century? Don''t make me laugh.'' Then he opened the door and walked right through the belly of the storm. Scale of the weather on one of highest buildings was in the league on its own compared to the weather on the ground. The rain was pouring many times harder. Whirlwind was destroying everything on its path. Thunder was so loud to make even the coldest and meanest person to shake in fear. And the worst of them all was the lightning. There were hundreds of listening strikes per minute, destroying everything on its path. Rari saw hundreds of buildings destroyed already and it didn''t look like the storm had any intentions of stopping anytime soon. After looking around and fighting the wind for a while, Rari decided to test his luck and climb to the top. He got out rope and harness out of his bag and started climbing. While climbing up, he several times fell, but thanks to his safety measures, he only fell few meters. Hardest part was the goddess and the stars. Surprisingly not even once lightening hit Union logistics building while he was climbing, even the wind slowed down. When he finally reached the stars, he sat on them. He overlooked the city. City called Tempe, after city''s founder. It was the third largest city in the world. Capital of Tempe Rais. Rari didn''t have any fond memories either of this city or country. But he heard that other countries were much worse than this one. Devastated by the plague and impoverished. Dictatorship and no freedom of speech. Or in constant war either with neighboring countries or with its own citizens. Then he looked up to the sky. Clouds of grey and violet were right above him. Wind and rain stopped, no sound of thunder and no sign of lightning, except for quiet blue sparks between the clouds. ''I guess it''s nature''s way of saying to stand up and say what I need to say.'' Rari stood up, took off his backpack, ropes, harnesses and threw them on the ground. He looked up and said with clear voice. "My name is Rari and I stand on the highest point in this city before you to ask your help to get to my ancestors homeland Diakazia!" ''I hope this works.'' As Rari thought that, he heard the loudest thunder ever right above his head and before he could even blink, light blue lightning appeared above him and hit him. It was the last sight he saw. ~~~*****~~~ Rari opened his eyes. He saw sky, in light blue and orange colors with no clouds at all. He was lying on grass. He could smell the grass and flowers. ''This is the smell of freedom.'' He looked all around him. All he saw was plains and a mountain farther away. "I DID IT! GRANNY, I DID IT! I REACHED DIAKAZIA!" Rari shouted and happily laughed afterwards. Because of all the things that happened, he was still exhausted and tired. ''I better rest a bit. I need strength and clear head to figure out what to do next.'' As he thought that, he lied down and immediately fell asleep. ~~~*****~~~ After few hours of sleep, Rari woke up, but the sight before him wasn''t as great as before. In front of him were standing 20 armed men with axes in their hands. All of them were dressed in black clothes with two red stars on their shoulders. Rari was confused and terrified of what could happen next. "What are¡­." Before Rari could finish his sentence, someone behind him hit his head and he lost consciousness. Prologue Part 3: After the Storm Half of the city was destroyed after the storm of the century. Millions of people had lost their lives, their homes. Even skyscrapers which were built to withstand many severe disasters were destroyed. Ironically the apartment where Rari lived wasn''t destroyed, but all the buildings next to it weren''t so lucky. It will take years to repair the damage, costing billions. Few weeks after, the office, were Rari worked as a janitor, after many repairs were finally good enough for people to work there again. Ahmed was worried about Rari''s disappearing; he even went to his house several times, but nothing. "Ahmed, you hear me? Ahmed?" Ahmed was so deep in his thoughts that he didn''t even hear how his friend from his time in university was calling him. "Ah, Sasha, I didn''t hear you. What are you doing here?" Sasha had blond hair in a ponytail reaching almost his waist, green eyes and was wearing elegant grey suit and black shoes. He was only year older than Ahmed. "Seriously, what were you thinking about that you didn''t even notice how I was practically yelling in your ear?" Sasha asked with a hint of amusement. "Oh, it''s nothing. Forget it. What can I do for you?" "Did you decrypt it?" "Not yet, but I''m close. I almost got it, but then I was busy with other things." "It''s ok. I''m not in a hurry. Anyways, I came today because I remembered you talking about ''forsaken one'' working here. Where is he? I''ve some questions only he could answer." Sasha said that while looking around. "Oh, you meant Rari?" While saying that Ahmed''s face turned serious. "Why exactly you need him?" "Don''t worry, I just want to talk. I know how you care for that poor boy, even trying to cheer him up with some stupid cat photos. People are really mean and most for the time they even don''t know why. It''s really sad." "That''s true." With sad eyes said Ahmed. "Anyway, I found out that his people actually weren''t the abomination we thought all along. But actually something more like our saviors, I''m still in the middle of investigation. And Rari could spread some light to some things. So, where is he?" "Sadly, right before the storm he disappeared. I went to his apartment several times and to his other work places, as well asked few other people, but no one knows." "That''s seriously bad. Do you think he''s dead?" with concern asked Sasha. "I already checked hospitals, prison and morgue, but nothing. I asked them to get in touch with me if they found something about him." "He was the last living of his kind in this country. I heard there were few others in other countries, but it''ll be problematic to speak with them as most are hunted, murdered, imprisoned or are hiding. It was very lucky for Rari to be able to work and rent an apartment compared to others, although he suffered no less. I wonder why. Do you know?" "Well, if you look at it like this, it''s seriously strange, considering what happened to his grandmother, parents, older brother, not to mention others from his kind. I always thought that he could work and be part of the society more or less because people in the government felt apologetic after what happened with his grandmother. But knowing our government it''s unlikely." "I hope he''s in a better place now, wherever he is." "I can only hope and pray." Said Ahmed deeply concerned. "He has suffered too much." ~~~***end of prologue***~~~ Next: Chapter 1 Author¡¯s note: I hope this was an interesting read. This is my first FF and by posting here I want to see if I¡¯m capable of writing something that some people could enjoy, if not then there¡¯s no point. Also, english is NOT my first language, so excuse me for all the mistakes and it would be very nice if someone would point out those mistakes. And I welcome all suggestions. The code (with lots of numbers and letters) in the text is real and I¡¯ll not reveal what it means for a while, but you can find the meaning for yourself. I thought it would be more interesting this way. Meanings to some uncommon(?) words I used (if I left something out, let me know): Spoiler : ? Hepatizon, also known as Black Corinthian Bronze, was a highly valuable metal alloy in classical antiquity. It is thought to be an alloy of copper with the addition of a small proportion of gold and silver (perhaps as little as 8% of each), mixed and treated to produce a material with a dark purplish patina, similar to the colour of liver. It is referred to in various ancient texts, but no known examples of hepatizon exist today. wiki ? Corinthian bronze, also called Corinthian brass or ?s Corinthiacum, was a highly valuable metal alloy in classical antiquity. It is thought to be an alloy of copper with gold or silver (or both), although it has also been contended that it was simply a very high grade of bronze, or a kind of bronze that was manufactured in Corinth. It is referred to in various ancient texts, but no known examples of Corinthian bronze exist today. wiki ? Actinolite is an amphibole silicate mineral. The higher the iron content the greener the colour. wiki ? The mineral heliotrope, also known as bloodstone, is a form of chalcedony (which is a cryptocrystalline mixture of quartz and its monoclinic polymorph moganite). The "classic" bloodstone is green chalcedony with red inclusions of iron oxide or red jasper. Sometimes the inclusions are yellow, in which case the mineral is given the name plasma.wiki ? An amphitheatre or amphitheater is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. Ancient Greek theatres were built in a semicircle, with tiered seating above a performance area. Ancient Roman amphitheatres were oval or circular in plan, with seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium. Example, Colosseum in Rome. wiki ? A marquee is a large tent used as a temporary building. They have long been used for circus or other performances, fairs, banquets, large weddings or, more recently corporate entertainment events. Marquees / party tents are dramatic and very strong. wiki ? Bundled tube- instead of one tube, a building consists of several tubes tied together to resist the lateral forces. Such buildings have interior columns along the perimeters of the tubes when they fall within the building envelope. Notable examples include Willis Tower and One Magnificent Mile. wiki ? A sett, usually referred to in the plural and known in some places as a Belgian block, which is a broadly rectangular quarried stone used for paving roads. wiki Chapter 1: My dreamland? Chapter 1: My dreamland? Rari woke up in dark place chained to a wall. It was a cell without windows and single door right across the cell. Cell was filled with people of all ages and genres, dirty, very thin with grey, worn out clothes or rather rags barely covering anything. They were so dirty it was hard to guess what skin colour they had. They were either chained to the wall or had chains on their hands. There were at least 50 people in the small cell, it was so filled with people that there was no room to even turn. All people had empty expressions; they had clearly given up fighting against whatever predicament they were in. ''What the hell? Where am I? What is this place? What are these people? Why am I so unlucky?'' Rari was confused. He couldn''t think straight. He was afraid. His heart was beating too fast. This wasn''t new beginning in a new world he was hoping for. He didn''t run away from that world which was filled with all the bad memories, injustice, hopelessness and slavery to end up in a more literal slavery. Rari tried to calm down as he was feeling panic attack approaching him. After few moments, his heartbeat stabilized and his mind cleared. ''This situation is so bad and ridiculous.'' Rari started loudly laughing like a madman who just lost his last drop of sanity. Laugh without emotions, just pure emptiness. Everyone turned around and looked mystified at him. Some with pity, thinking he lost his wits. After laughing, Rari turned his head towards closest middle-aged man in rugs, covered in scars. "Can you explain what this place is?" The man looked like he had question marks above his head. ''I was afraid that they spoke different language. Well, I will try few more people, but the chance is slim.'' Rari then asked few more people but got the same reaction. ''Now that I think about it, they don''t speak at all. From the moment I woke up here, I haven''t heard a sound from them. Not even a whisper. And doesn''t look like they would communicate in any other way like hand language. But they can obviously hear sounds. They turn around their heads when I was laughing or trying to talk to them. Could it be that they are mute? All of them? Now what should I do? I was hoping that at least I would get some information and then think a way out of here. This situation sucks.'' After few hours of nothing happening, only doors of the cell opened with a bang. In the doorway stood two men, dressed in black clothes, with black leather gloves and boots with one red star on their shoulders. They looked intimidating, with scars on their faces. Both of them had blond hair in two braids. They both had similar facial features, most likely brothers in their mid 20s. Both of them had battle axes in their hands. Then one of them started shouting. "Mulapos celoti kajit!" Apparently, all the people in the cell understood what they said and started standing up, except those chained to the wall. Two man stepped to the side to allow people, or more correctly slaves, move outside, while shouting ''atronos'' at them and hitting some of them who were walking too slowly with their axes. When finally all of them were outside the cell, two men, or more like prison guards, came inside the cell while taking out keys. They unchained slaves on the wall including Rari. ''I guess it would be very stupid to make a run for it, without knowing what I''m up against, who knows how many of these scary monsters there are.'' Rari obediently followed guards and other slaves, while trying not to get hit by an axe by walking too slowly. Outside the cell was large and dark tunnel with very dim light. Only source of light was small, round rocks on the wall. It gave out blue glow and was 5 meters apart each other. ''I wonder what kind of rock can glow like that. What is wrong with me? Why am I thinking about rocks in this kind of situation? Where we''re going? I hope it''s not execution.'' After 30 minutes of walking dark corridors, with some doors here and there, and many steps down, they finally arrived in a big space almost as large as a football field with 10 tunnels. The place was filled with at least 40 guards and 200 slaves. Slaves were holding buckets. Slaves with full buckets of earth were walking towards biggest tunnel on the left from Rari. Slaves with empty buckets were walking from biggest tunnel to smaller ones. Most of the slaves Rari saw were woman, small children, old people and men without a leg or arm. Whenever one of them slowed down or fell, one of the guards would walk towards them and hit them either with an axe or whip, while shouting ''mulados cele!'' Rari''s groups were lead to the first tunnel on the right. Before the entrance to the tunnel, on both sides were laying down pickaxes and buckets. The group was divided into two groups. In one group was men and stronger looking women, including Rari. In the other one, children, women, old people and cripples. Rari''s group was given pickaxes, while others got buckets. Then everyone got inside the tunnel, 4 guards leading them and 6 in the back. It took them 15 minutes to get to the end of the tunnel and endless digging began. After 2 hours Rari was exhausted. Every time he stopped or slowed down, he would get hit by one of the guards overlooking them. After another 2 hours he couldn''t move a muscle and the pain only got worse by each hit. After an hour, salvation appeared. Everyone was guided back and was given food. Food looked and tasted like mud, but Rari didn''t care. He was so hungry and exhausted that he could eat real mud. Afterwards they needed to resume work, but luckily Rari was put on bucket duty. He was hoping to see were the biggest tunnel was leading, but his hope that it lead outside was shattered in tiny pieces. It leads to a dead-end. Apparently, they wanted to bury the tunnel completely. After another 5 hours and a meal, they were led back to their cell. This time Rari wasn''t chained to the wall, but instead his arms were chained. Rari immediately fell to sleep. In his sleep, he was weeping. Like this two weeks passed. Rari was losing hope. He fell into deep depression. ''Why I must suffer like this? What I have done so wrong in my life to go through all this? In this and that world?'' After two more weeks his emotions turned to anger. Anger towards people and himself. But the most anger was towards life itself. In his cell, Rari started shouting. "Oh almighty goddess of Fate, remember me, remember my face and my name, I, Rari Astedius Astpart, swear to you to take revenge on everyone, who has done me wrong or will try to in the future. And everyone I consider worthy of my vengeance! I swear!" ~~~*****~~~ After Rari''s revenge declaration, he was once again in the tunnel digging. While digging, he found red rock with strange markings on it. They looked like hieroglyphs. The rock was in the size of his palm. He made sure guards weren''t looking, as well as slaves. ''I have no idea if they are trustworthy. The rock seems important. And this is the first time I''ve found anything while digging besides earth.'' As he put the rock in his pocket, he heard loud noises. Suddenly one guard was running this way shouting. Soon afterwards, all the guards near Rari started running out of the tunnel. ''Could this be sound of hope?'' Rari stopped working, but he didn''t run after guards. ''Better wait and see what happens. Maybe just a small commotion. No need to get into unnecessary trouble.'' If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.As more time passed, louder the noise became. Finally, after 20 minutes of listening, Rari''s curiosity won and he started walking towards the exit with extreme caution. Noises became louder and he finally understood about what was happening. He heard people screaming and yelling, metal against metal and even explosions. When he reached the exit and saw what was actually happening, his blood froze. About 200 guards were fighting against 100 unknown knights. And the guards were clearly losing. It was just a matter of time. There were already at least 50 guards dead and almost as much heavily injured. But Rari didn''t even see even one dead or injured knight. All knights wore brown armor decorated with silver flowers drawn on it. About 10 knights had one red drawn flower on their chest and there was one knight with gold flower. Rari assumed that those 10 were higher rank than others and the one with gold flower was most likely their commander. Rari assumed he was the commander not only because of that gold flower, but also because he was just standing on the side with arrogant expression. ''He surely looks like the type I hate the most. Arrogant, in high position and thinking everyone beneath him is trash. I can smell his type a mile away. And I haven''t been wrong even once. But what is that? Magic? No way!'' Half of the knights were fighting guards with swords, while others used magic. They would mumble under their breath and suddenly medium-sized ball would appear in front of them in white colour. Then they would take the ball in their hands and throw it towards guards. Most guards didn''t die on the spot and just got thrown away around 5 meters, but still suffered damages, as most of them would start coughing up blood. Magic ball wasn''t very powerful, but sounded like grenade exploded. In just 5 minutes of chaotic and overpowered battle, just 10 guards remained. They were yelling what most likely were words of revenge from afterlife. Closest knights just laughed and killed them all in just few seconds. ''This is my first time seeing such a bloodbath and I would have lived happier without seeing it, but I''m so happy to be finally being free from them,..from here. But who would have thought that not even one of the guards would flee the battle. They were surprisingly brave, even when they knew that they would die.'' Only few of the slaves died. They all were hiding in the tunnels, but not too far. They were keenly watching the battle. ''Guards are dead, but why they aren''t jumping around in joy? Do they know something or are they just paranoid? But I guess it''s better to be wary.'' While Rari was deep in thought, commander moved forward and started speaking in commanding voice. Commander was speaking in the same language as guards. Needless to say that Rari didn''t understand a word he said. When the speech was over, knights started taking guards weapons and other valuables. Soon after, knights went towards slaves in the tunnels. Group of 7 knights came to where Rari was. They all looked like soldiers who have been to thousands battles and were proud of that. They all had short hair either in black or brown colour. What surprised Rari was that they looked at him and others like they were trash, clearly showing their disgust. Rari was terrified now, afraid what could happen next. ''Why this looks like I''m getting farther away from freedom just by looking at them? It can''t be that they have other intentions instead of letting us free. '' Rari was shaking now. "Mulapos! Ari! Tulito!" After one of the knights said that in menacing voice, all slaves started coming out of the tunnel. As Rari didn''t know what to do, he just followed other slaves. ''I hope it''ll not turn out in me to want the guards back. '' But Rari''s hopes weren''t answered as knights started killing weak looking slaves, when all the slaves were out of the tunnels. ''Whaaat?'' Rari was shocked. ''Even guards didn''t kill anyone, beat and torture yes, but never kill. They even healed those near death. This is so bad. How come I get in these situations?'' Rari now was at his wit''s end. Not knowing what will happen next, left him terrified. After the killings and lots of silent crying from slaves, they were led out from underground maze. There were countless corpses of guards in every floor. Rari was surprised that the place where he was digging was 36 floors underground. Finally, outside for the first time in months, Rari almost went blind. Although the weather was cloudy, it still was too bright after spending a long time underground. After few minutes, Rari''s eyes finally adjusted and the scene he saw was breathtaking. In front of him was a small clearing with two wooden houses, but behind them was golden forest. The trees were massive, over 40 meters tall. Leaves were in different colours of yellow. The grass was green with yellow and white flowers just above the grass and looked like small sunflowers. When everybody was out, our long journey through magical forest began. Commander with 5 of his men lead the way. Since number of slaves was a bit over 400, they divided them in groups of 50 people. In each group 20 slaves were ordered to pull carts with stolen goods from underground, like weapons and food. 3 to 5 knights were assigned to each group. Rari''s group was the last one, with 7 knights assigned to watch over them. Of course, Rari was on cart pulling duty. ''Dammit! From one slavery to another. Luck clearly wasn''t given to me upon birth.'' After many hours of moving forward through the forest, it started to get darker and everyone was ordered to stop and make camp. After dinner, slaves were chained to each other. While commander was sleeping in big tent on bed, slaves sleeping place was the ground. Rari felt asleep as soon as he hit the ground. In the midnight, Rari woke up. Someone was yelling in commander''s tent. In the moment he wanted to turn his head in the direction all commotion was, he saw some movement behind the trees right in front of him. He started looking intensely to see what was there. Then he saw a figure of a person in red mantle covering his body from head to toes. That person suddenly stopped when noticed Rari staring in his direction. After few seconds of intense staring, person in red mantle moved her fingers (too delicate looking fingers to belong to man) towards were her mouth was supposed to be as if telling to Rari to keep quiet about seeing her. Confused Rari still nodded his head in approval. And the person disappeared into the darkness. ~~~***End of Chapter 1***~~~ Next: Chapter 2 Previous: Prologue Diakazia Author''s Note: Thank you for reading. I actually intended for this chapter to be longer, but right now I don''t have time to edit next part, but I''ll do it later today. Chapter 2: Drunk, assassin and wolfsheeps Chapter 2 Part 1: Innocent Spying Of a Drunk "Richie, today you''re drinking more than usually. Did your wife kick you out of house again? Haha." Said bartender and crowd started laughing. "Maybe for you it''s funny, but for me its hell. I got hit with a flying frying pan, now my butt hurts." Richie said with tears in his eyes. "That''s because you''re always drunk. Here, take another beer. On the house." "Thanks, but I need to take a piss." It was warm summer¡¯s night. Pub is located in docks in Avemptha. It was rundown and dirty place, but it was cheap and so was always filled with sailors and fishermen. Richie went to find a good place when he heard voices coming from nearby alley. He went closer and hid behind some barrels, thinking some of his pub buddies were up to something. But instead he sees two shadows of men talking in rather young voices. Richie thought of standing up, but their conversation stopped him. "Only thing I want is disorder. Utter chaos. Panic. I want everyone to shake in fear, to doubt everyone and everything, so that despair is the only thing left for them to feel. And you''ll help me." It is said in deep menacing voice, that Richie''s blood froze in fear. "Haha, sounds like a fun plan. Okay, I''ll help you, why not. I got nothing better to do anyways. Want some cookies?" Somehow Richie was more afraid of this person, who was laughing while saying this. ''The other guy sounds like bad news, but this one is total psycho.'' Richie tried to leave as quickly and quietly he could, but one of the shadows was behind him and put his arms on Richie''s shoulders. "Why are you leaving so soon? Let''s sing. One mouse is caught by a cat, by a cat. One leg cut, two legs cut, how many legs left, legs left? None none. Mouse was screaming, screaming. How long mouse can scream without a head, without a head? Huh? Why aren''t you singing? So, how long?" Richie pissed his pants. "You''re nasty, you know. If you don''t know the answer, how about you start screaming and I''ll cut your head to find out? Mmm?" Then out of nowhere mysterious man pulled out his sword and cut Richie''s head off, before Richie understood what is happening. His head fell down and rolled down to be stopped by a barrel 7 meters from where his body fell, covered in blood. "Because of sh*t like that, I don''t even know why I''m even talking to you." Other man in black said, while coming closer to look at the dead body. "Because life without me would be sooo boring. Want those cookies?" ¡°No. And your singing is awful.¡± And like that they left, not seen by anyone else. "Hey, Richie, what''s taking you so long? Where are you? I have big news for you, you''ll be a fath¡­ Sh*t." Part 2: Assassin''s stolen kill At dawn, one man was moving through the streets of Avemptha, one of the largest and filthiest cities of Napertha. He is dressed in black, assassin by the name of Leond von Lerosi in search for his next victim. He is one of the best in his trade, but it could soon change as more and more talented people joined ranks of assassins. Avemptha was popular for large amount of slaves, mostly human. Leond couldn¡¯t understand the point of slavery, but there was nothing he could do even if he wanted to change that. ''Stupid organization, making me do this lousy job. I''ve killed kings and queens, but no, now I need to dirty my hands with some lousy merchant just because he''s an ass. Every merchant is an ass, it was since the first merchant and it''ll be so for the last. And the pay is lousy.'' Assassin sighed as he reached his victim¡¯s house in trading region. The house was simple with a shop in the first floor. He quickly climbed and stood on the ledge of a third floor, where he was told is the merchant''s bedroom. ''It''s most likely a front to live in this ordinary house, otherwise a big shot wouldn''t order his murder.'' When he quietly got in, he moved out of bedroom because merchant wasn''t there and moved to second floor. In a living room was fat man in simple green merchant clothes hitting female slave. Girl was very beautiful with short blond hair and red eyes, in simple grey dress reaching her knees. "You, trash, how you dare to define me. I''ll hit you till you turn blue. If I tell you to sleep with 10 guys, you will do it. And you will satisfy their every perverse fantasy. YOU HEAR ME!" Merchant hit her again and went towards cupboard. ''He clearly deserves death. You will be my most satisfied kill, merchant.'' Leond took his blade to go for a kill, but didn''t move. Slave girl stood up and ran towards merchant and bit his neck. Blood was everywhere. Merchant with his last strength hit the girl, but she bit him once again and she got his major artery this time. Second later merchant''s now dead body hit the ground. "Haha, your blood is as nasty as you are. Let''s see if you have a heart." Now laughing, girl opens cupboard, takes out a knife and starts to cut merchant¡¯s chest open. Assassin saw that and immediately left. ''I thought I have seen everything until today. I''ll never get out of my head sight of a beautiful girl covered in blood laughing while cutting open man''s body. I guess time has come when slaves will stand upon dead bodies of their abusers.'' Assassin left the city not seen by anyone. Part 3: Survival In the morning after breakfast consisting of vegetable stew poorly made, the journey through the forest resumed. After hours of cart pulling, Rari is replaced with a middle-aged man. Soon afterwards, 10 beasts attacked their group. Beasts looked like a mix between a wolf and sheep. Body, eyes and mouth of a wolf and tail, wool, horns of a sheep. They attacked them most likely because their group was the easiest target and the last group. Wolfsheeps sudden attack caught the knights of guard, leaping from the bushes straight towards closest people to them biting their necks. In a matter of seconds 8 slaves and 2 knights lost their lives. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Finally, other knights noticed and started attacking wolfsheeps with swords, but creatures were too agile and fast. In next few seconds 2 more knights met their end, as well as 6 slaves, who were used as meat shield by knights. One of the knights started whistling and others dropped their weapons and started mumbling. While they were mumbling magic balls started appearing before them like in an underground battle. Rari was running towards cart as other slaves, hoping it''ll save them from beasts by hiding in it, underneath it or by taking a weapon from the cart. He saw how one of the wolfsheep dangerously close to him and instantly killing one little girl with its claws. Rari started running even faster, adrenaline given him power, however wolfsheep was faster and jumped on him, burying its claws deep in his chest and stomach, making him fall down with wolfsheep on top of him. Intense pain filled his entire body like never before and he screamed out of pain and shock to the body. Wolfsheep moved its head towards Rari''s neck, but before that Rari moved his arms to stop it with the last of his strength and started hitting beast in the head. That only aggravated it and slashed Rari''s chest right before one of the knights hit the wolfsheep with magic, making the beast fly away few meters. Rari was badly bleeding and the pain was too much making him unconscious. ~~~*****~~~ Because of the pain, Rari woke up, but he couldn''t move at all. He moved his head to look around. All around were dead bodies of slaves, knights and wolfsheep. Not too far away he saw a group of 13 slaves and 20 knights. Apparently, the whistling was a way to call for help. In front of knights kneels badly injured young slave woman. One of the knights said ''Mulapos mirsto'' and kicked her right in the head. She fell down to never move again. All the slaves were crying and hugging each other. None of them injured. Rari understood that there''s no way he''ll get help from them. If he''ll let them know he''s alive, they will just kill him. They have no need for weak or injured slaves. ''I better die here from my wounds then get killed by them. At least that way I''ll spend my last moments free from them.'' Closed his eyes while trying not to move a muscle, but soon sleep overtook him. ~~~*****~~~ At night he woke up surprised that he''s still alive. He was all alone. He was in too much pain to move, but he still tried. He crawled towards nearest dead knight. He wanted to bandage his wounds. He slowly removed knight¡¯s armor and clothes. With the help of the knife he found, he cut knights tunic and made bandages. He removed his clothes covering his upper body and started applying poorly made bandages. Process was slow with lots of pain involved. After successfully applying bandages, he moved to another knight and took his tunic and wore it. Once he done that, he fell asleep once again. ~~~*****~~~ Rari woke up early in the morning, feeling much worse than before. Even though he knew he''ll die very soon without any medical attention and bandages will only slow down the process, but he still had the will to live. Crawling to one dead body to another looking for anything that would be of some kind use to him, like food and medicine. Through his searches, he found a bag and put there some bread and container with water, small bag filled with coins of metal with numbers and animals on them, which most likely is their form of money, knife, some clothes, paper and small bottles with liquid in various colours. He didn''t know what that liquid was and he didn''t want to try it, in case it was a poison. In the middle of his hunt of valuables, he heard voices far away from direction knights and slaves went. ''Damn! They are coming back. I need to run. I''ll not be captured or killed by them.'' Going back towards underground was too risky, especially on road where they could see him miles away and there''s no way he wants to return there. So, Rari took his bag and run into forest. He run as fast as his legs and injuries let him, which wasn''t very fast. Occasionally he would stop and listen closely for any movement and if voices were getting closer. After two hours, exhaustion made it difficult to move, let alone walk, so he hid behind nearest brushes and took a break. 30 minutes later, he was up and started walking deeper into forest. He heard voices far away, but voices weren''t far enough, as he would have liked. ''If knights were on the road, I most likely wouldn''t be able to hear them as I am long way from the road.'' Thinking that, Rari moved faster. ''I really hope I''m just paranoid.'' Several times he fell and only because of his willpower he was able to stand up and continue. Sometime later his willpower left him and he fall. His bandages were all bloody and for a while he left a blood trail behind. Pain so intense, that it made him numb. ''I guess this is the end. I¡¯m so tired, don¡¯t care about anything anymore. I just want to sleep.'' Rari closed his eyes as strength left him. "I guess this is the end. I''ll finally be able to apologize to you¡­ granny." As a single tear escaped from Rari''s eye, his heart stopped beating. ~~~***End of Chapter 2***~~~ Previous: Chapter 1 Diakazia