《Ilum Maru - Descendants of the ancient Gods》


 Aries

    (The first chapter is written in the POV of one of the major characters, Haxamanis Hayat.)


    TW Violence


    I woke up but my eyes wouldn''t open. I wanted to keep escaping into my past, wanting to see that distant scene again and again. A fragile frame, long black hair, thick curls. Laughter and smiles. A spirit never to be seen again in my village. On that day, we were just exploring the whereabouts, exploring places far from the village. We were adventurous, making up our own worlds. There was not a thing that could stop us.


    If only I could , I''d not only dream about this day again and again - no I''d relive it. I was stuck in a place I didn''t like , and yet this dream made the feeling of being here better. To a certain point at least. Until the event that changed her fate, mothers fate, fathers fate and my own.


    We went from laughter to screaming in a second on that day. My body trembles as I remember. A kick to my gut, another to my face. Forcing me down immediately. I was only 7 years old. As much as I tried to fight back - I stood no chance against two adult men. I used my fists, my legs to stop them from pulling at her. There was nothing I could do, all that I earned were more beatings. My body didn''t want to give up - I knew I had to save her, it was my duty. I tried again, getting up, hitting them.


    Eventually, they punched me unconscious.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-


    "Haxamanis!" My eyes opened as a knock was heard on my door, someone calling my name.


    "What is it?" I ask, sure to sound rather chilled and stoic, ignoring what I just remembered.


    ?We have a mission. There''s a wedding at Kamara today. Approximately 5000 guests. We''re going to be 6 men, me and you included. Get ready, we''re leaving in an hour."


    ?Understood." Was my simple reply to the announcement.


    It''s been 5 years now since I''ve been in this organisation. A rebellious fraction that fights to convert the free lands into a rule of the Holy Book of Alatuarion- the one true God of Mercy - yet also the God of Destruction who orders his followers to slaughter anyone who acts in contrast with his rule.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    In the book it says that man is not meant to live free - that his sole duty is to serve Alatuarion. That there''s no joy in life and that you live to die. Becoming a martyr guaranteed a man of faith eternal life, surrounded by harlots who would serve his every wish.


    Frankly speaking, an utterly stupid religion. It was not the religion I believed in, yet pretended to.


    It was the power and information I desired. And this organisation gave me plenty of that in the years I worked for them already. It didn''t matter if I had to kill thousands of people, behead women or children. What would it change? I couldn''t become any more traumatised than I already was from losing her on that day.


    The person I loved the most, my little sister, my Aries. Taken by three men who ambushed us on that ordinary, peaceful day. Just playing, laughing. I''ll never forget the sorrow in her eyes when she begged me to save her, calling my name again and again. And yet I couldn''t do anything for her. I was weak and useless.


    I would never forgive myself for that day.


    Just as my parents never have. They''ve hated me since that day. My father would beat me up everyday, and my mother would sometimes refuse to give me food. I was a failure - no longer their son.


    Eventually mother died of what the hospitals called a heart attack - but people of our faith said it was the wound in her heart expanding so much that it made her bleed out from the inside. A slow death by sorrow so to speak.


    Father died a year later. He was found floating in the river. Supposedly it was no accident but suicide. The man who always boasted about being strong - whose fists abused me day after day , did he kill himself because he couldn''t take anymore of our sad tale?


    I''d never find out but it was no longer important. I stopped having a family when I lost Fauzia. I had a fake family for a short while, another villager, Rhoozbheh Saidi, took me in.


    The time spent at his place, with his nephews, nieces, sons and daughters... Those were some of the kinder moments I remember from what life was like after I lost her.


    I finally stood up, picked up my weapons, two swords and a few daggers.


    It was time already for our mission. Killing thousands to increase fear. To force the Rulers into submission. To assimilate and to forcefully convert. These were not my ideals, but I''d follow them until I found her.


    In the meanwhile, my blood rose as I felt the excitement. It was like after so many years of sorrow, I finally had the opportunity to let loose.


    I was frustrated, angry, blaming myself. But I would never end myself. Not before I find her and bring her to safety. To do that I''d kill - and I''d enjoy every moment of it. Their screams gave me what I seek.


    Relief to my pain.

 Stolen Soul

    I am not myself.


    I am another woman, another self who was doing this to survive.


    My eyes focused on the body on top of me. But this was not me, it wasn''t my gaze that fell upon the man. I am not Fauzia Amani. That girl is not here. She''s locked away. I keep her somewhere inside of this body. But she won''t come out. She can''t come out, because this is not the life she wants to live.


    Today I am Larisa. I am 22 years old. I am social, I am witty. I like to seduce and I''m eager to please. I exist to make men happy.


    The figure on top of me let out a deep pant. It was not pleasing, his odours made my stomach upset. But Larissa was able to endure it all. She wasn''t bothered by this. It was her job. Work is not easy. My bosses always told me "You worry about your body being in pain or hurt? Haha don''t make me laugh! Any kind of work requires the body to be broken. If you want to earn money, if you want to survive, you''ll have to endure it. And you''re not a woman anyone would marry, with such a past."


    That was true. Larissa was that kind of woman. But Fauzia was not. She still had a good life ahead of her.


    "Here you go whore." My customer said, throwing a bunch of money at me.


    "Make sure you''ll be more active next time. I''ll leave a bad review if you don''t." He continued as he got dressed, finally leaving.


    Larissa nodded obediently, then made her way to the shower. The water came pouring down on her body, but she couldn''t feel it. She hardly felt anything at all,it''s like her body just shut off any sensibilities. But when did all this start? Even her memory of that was fuzzy.


    Fauzia was trying to break free. She wondered why she had to be one with Larissa. The two didn''t have anything in common at all. And yet they lived together in one body. Fauzia had a childhood and a past to call her own, happy memories she locked away somewhere in the depths of her heart. A kind brother, a loving mother, a strong father. But what happened? They loved her all so much and yet weren''t able to protect her from becoming one with Larissa?


    Something strange overcame my body. I pushed myself against the wall and started to pant heavily.


    "I don''t... I don''t want to do this.... I want to go back..."This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    What?!


    Go back?


    Where to? This is my life, our life. It was normal, everything was as it should be. Sleeping and working. The same routine every day, never changing. Making money to survive. It''s the normal lifestyle for any human.


    "Haha ha ha... What''s wrong with me? Just shut up Fauzia would you? You might be part of me, but I am the main body. We live as I want us to live."


    "Hey whore!"


    "...."


    Someone banged the door open and walked in, forcefully opening the curtains to the shower.


    "Talking to yourself again eh? I swear you dumb bitches are all crazy. Is it all the cum that''s going to your head making you act like this? You''ve been showering long enough."


    Nadim closed off the water.


    "Water flows with money. You haven''t paid this month''s bill yet, what makes you think you can just leave the water running for hours?"


    "I... I didn''t think of that. I just wanted to smell good for the next customer. The previous one was rather sweaty..."


    "Hmph common now, you''ve got Parfums to cover any smells. Take a shower when you finish the shift. Most men prefer to put it into a dirty hole anyway. Hahahahahahahaha!"


    Crazy laughter filled the room.


    Words like this would embarrass any woman who respected herself. Fauzia knew but Larissa long since lost that self respect. So she didn''t say anything.


    She knew what she had to do and that was all that mattered.


    I left the bathroom and dressed myself in some


    Lingerie.


    "Hold it there." Nadim came over to me and gave my bottom a slap.


    "Not hiding your tits. We need plenty tonight." He ripped off my bra and left me there, leaving the room.


    ".... I should be able to earn more than usual like this. It''s fine."


    I thought as I went downstairs into the club. My battlefield.


    I sat at the bar, making eye contact with the customers, moving my tongue around to invite them in.


    "Larissa you''re surely having fun there huh? Fine but leave me out of this. Fauzia wants to go. Fauzia wants to go home to see her family. Then she wants to get married and have children of her own."


    Yeah right.


    Just shut up already, little girl with stupid dreams. Life does not work the way it is presented to us girls in tales.


    A knight in shining armour on a white horse? No way in hell. This club was filled with men. Their intentions weren''t good. Nothing like a knight in shining armour exists. It''s a fantasy, a myth. And this Fauzia, is reality.


    My last thoughts struck me when a man, overweight and with crooked teeth, grabbed me.

 Goddess

    There were many joys in this world, really many! But nothing could compete with the joy at hand - the joy of watching my own face in the mirror. My beautiful eyes, inherited from my flawless Milatifrian mother, azure in colour, long hair, at first glance a light shade of brunette, however whenever the sun touched my hair, strands of gold became visible in between the fairly light brunette . The very sign of my ancestors. Out of 6 children, I was the only one with these traits. Only my youngest sister shared the hair colour with me and yet, her hair was not as light as mine.


    My mother came from Milat - an ancient Kingdom ruled by the Gods of Milatousia for thousands of years. The Gods were overthrown by the force of majestic beasts, possessing the strength of 140 Gods each. The Gods were pushed back into their domain about 548 years ago, their domain said to be a parallel universe. The people of Milat have long since forgotten who they were. Even though the godly blood was still running through their veins. When the Dominos Generis invaded Milat and the surrounding kingdom''s, Kings were slaughtered, the people assimilated to the point where any connection to the Gods was ridiculed, making a mockery out of that very belief. The people of Milat were instead brainwashed to think they exist to serve the Dominos Generis, forced to accept that religious beliefs do not exist, there was no God and man were created by coincidence.


    I looked at my collection of history books and let out a sigh of frustration.


    To give up so easily drove me mad. A divine heritage is something that should never be forgotten.


    My father was from Pardesia, a country far from here. Pardesia shared the history with Milat. These countries were neighbours and both suffered the same fate of having their people completely forced into submission by the Dominus Generis. However, there was an expectation.


    We grew up in a small village in Pardesia, its name was "Ilum Maru". The village isolated itself from the rest of the country and kept true to their ancient fate and never let go of the belief to have godly blood flow through their veins. For that reason, there was a death sentence on anyone in our village. They sent officers to get us many times, but none of them ever left the village alive. They were tortured, murdered or even robbed of their souls by the Magus of the village, a direct descendant of the God of Magic Pam-Pouneh.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    However, 10 years ago, my parents still decided to leave the village and turn themselves into slaves of the Dominus Generis. They said they were making better money here and that they''d be able to provide their children with a better education here. Ridiculous. How can a person - a person with the Blood of a God at that, willingly turn themselves into slavery?!


    Life here was a bore. The Dominus Generis were all self righteous little shits, who think they stand above any other culture and religion. And yet it was only 176 years ago when they still didn''t know water existed to clean yourself. That you heat up food before you eat it. They were worthless barbarians who stole culture and civilisation from others, robbed them off their riches and then pretended to stand over them once they forced them into poverty.


    I hated them all. It would be a bliss if the richest King in this world made his threats a reality and pulverised this country to nothingness already.


    I combed my long hair gently, making it shine more than it already did. I opened my closet and grabbed my uniform, an azure blouse, tight enough to show off my beautiful, feminine bust. I always left two buttons open to expose some of my neck. It wasn''t officially allowed to but I did so anyway. No one would rule me, I was a goddess and anyone who''d oppose me would be punished. In one way or the other. I grabbed the skirt next. It wasn''t as short as it was when I first got it. I changed it into a mini skirt with a few cuts. What am I? An old woman who''d wear a skirt over her knees?! No way. I had stuff to show off, not to hide! It was of black colour, complimenting my womanly bottom with its shape.


    I took the baton next and placed it in its belt by the right side of my skirt. I applied some red lipstick and powdered my cheeks. The rest of my make up was already done and perfect as ever.


    It was time to go to my job. I was no friend of the slavery system the Dominus Generis used us for, but I had to earn money, I was part of this corrupt system even if I didn''t like it. I was an officer at a checkpoint. I did things like selling vegetables or books before, but it wasn''t for me. Whenever I put people in their place I was criticised or even fired. One time I just beat my master to a bloodied mess. That stupid bitch really thought she could rule a Goddess?


    With this job as an officer I had what I always wanted - Power.


    Power meant everything to me. Power was what was taken from us by the self proclaimed superior people. Power was what I possessed as a Goddess. That power was taken from me and I would reclaim it. It wasn''t the time to yet, but I was certain, the time was due. It wouldn''t be much longer. I''d bring the glory of the ancient past back and reign over these worthless pieces of garbage calling themselves human.


    I''d show them what a sin it was to deny the dominance of the Gods.

 Imaginary Foe

    I clean my sweaty face with a towel and put on my battle boots. They protected my feet well, even if a bunch of cement came crashing down on them, I''d still be fine. This was a necessity for a soldier of this country, Intactus Regnum, the country funded by the Dominus Generis about 200 years ago. It wasn''t the country I was born in, but I still saw it as my duty to protect the country that''s been taking care of me for the last few years. I made friends here, I liked my comrade''s, life was peaceful for me here. Much different than how it was in my home country  Pardesia, which was still plagued by war, especially our village was under attack for our unchanging beliefs of being descendants of the Gods.


    Gods, ancestors... I couldn''t care less. We live in the here and now and dwelling on the past seemed more destructive than anything. It''s not like I worshipped any type of God ever anyway. They might be up there, having created us, but I was sure they were more foe than friend. If they really cared about us and were our ancestors then they wouldn''t allow us to suffer all this war and misery. They probably do exist, but they''re not nice to us. They seem to be sadists, just enjoying our suffering.


    "Dawood Saidi forward." Commander Dominik called out.


    I saluted and stepped forward, my gaze firm and proud.


    "There he stands, the beast of mixed race. Father from Pardesia mother from Milat, one of our finest soldiers, he fights like a monster, never caring how much his prey suffers at his hand. Haha! It''s been a while since I''ve seen someone so brutal. Doing everything you order him and more. That''s an example to take after, for all of you newbies.


    Anyway Saidi , there came an order from the Praeses. His childhood friend and owner of the Jewel industry, Kevin Downar, wants to see you in the Stadium this weekend. The payment is spicy and you''ll be rewarded something grand if you win. You are to fight a man from Tourikia. For years that country has been a rival to your mothers country. In fact, they stole the culture and philosophy of Milat, even its history and islands. And even today its sadistic leader still threatens to invade Milat and slay its population. How can such rudeness ever be forgiven?! It makes me angry even with no ties to Milat, the country of Gods.


    You must be boiling Saidi?"


    I thought about the question for a moment. Sure, Milat had a never ending conflict with Tourikia, one that wouldn''t seem to stop anytime soon, but personally I had no quarrel with the people of Tourikia. In fact  most of my friends were migrants from Tourikia who''ve been living here for a few years like me.


    ?Hah. Well I''m not one to hold grudges against someone for something their history or leaders did or do, but I''m always up for a battle where I can show my strength to my heart''s content. May the brave survive!"


    Dominik grit his teeth. Was he perhaps not satisfied with my answer?


    ?You don''t understand Saidi. This isn''t like the childish battles you fought  before to entertain the mere infantry. It''s a fight to the death to entertain two of the greatest men who have ever lived. Our Praeses Josef Kamilio von Wilmmsdorff and Kevin Downar. You either lose your life or you kill your opponent. Even if the battle continues for days, it''ll only end with one party dead."


    What? No way?! Why the hell should I kill someone outside of a war?!


    I felt Dominik pat my shoulder.


    ?You''d better train day and night. I''d hate to lose a skilled soldier such as you." He grinned and walked off, leaving me baffled.


    This had to be a joke right? My commander, proud and fierce in battle, would never expect something like that of me. Even if he was given such orders by our Praeses, he''d never follow it! He was the definition of a honourable man!


    I clenched my fist.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    What on earth?


    I felt myself getting carried away more than I should. This job was never meant to be done with emotions getting involved. Our priority was rationality. We were taught so for long enough so why did my emotions get in the way now?


    All that should matter to me is winning that fight. I should leave immediately and devote all my free time to training. Yet something about this bothered me.


    After my usual walk from the base to home, I entered home, closing the door behind me. The hallway smelled of mothers delicious food. There was no better feeling than a proper home. The moment I entered I felt this home''s warmth.


    ?I''m back, family."


    ?What took you so long today? Get to the kitchen, food is waiting on you!" My mothers kind yet fierce voice yelled.


    Walking into the kitchen, everyone sat at the table already, the only empty chair was mine. I walked over and took my seat. In between two of my younger sisters, Lapis at the right, Jazmeen at my left.


    ?Eat, I''m sure you''re hungry and exhausted today too. You''re the only one working really hard in this family." Mother said as she prepared my plate.


    ?Thank you mother." I smiled lightly before I began eating.


    Delicious.


    ?Him? Work hard? You make me laugh mom. He might have strength in his muscles but that brain of his is utterly simple in structure and quite frankly it''s empty. A person who can''t think and decide for himself is nothing but a pawn." Lapis remarked rather arrogantly, I didn''t mind, she''s always been like this and she wasn''t wrong either. I never liked doing anything that forced me to use my head. Books? Never read them.


    Research? What for? Would it change anything?


    Any type of deeper thinking just made my head hurt.


    ?Tell us all what a sheep you are brother. A sheep in a muscular body! Isn''t that ridiculous? Hahaha!"


    ?Stop it Lapis let us eat in peace!" Mother interfered, but it didn''t stop Lapis at all. Authority was something she never accepted from anyone. She was extremely strong willed and lived by her own rules.


    ?Me, stop? How about you tell him to stop being a petty slave to a country that steals and abuses other cultures? Now that would be an important piece of advice, more important than telling me to stop speaking my mind."


    Lapis stood up. She was done eating. No one said anything to her. She was neither the oldest nor a male and yet she was like the head of this family no one dared to oppose. Not even father, or rather especially not father. Because after all, she was his favourite.


    My three younger siblings , sisters Jazmeen and Kimia and my brother Kian, as well as,  father, didn''t bother at all.


    ?So tell us, how was today?" Mother asked me, she was trying to move the mood elsewhere. She couldn''t know, but it was not the wisest decision, to tell her about today either.


    This little ranting of my younger sister actually moved my head away from the task I was given to perform next week.


    "Well...." I was never one to lie. My mother raised me to be honest, to never lie about anything.


    With my uncharacteristic answer, everyone''s attention was gained and father raised an eyebrow.


    "Dawood?" Mother pushed for the answer. I was conflicted, should I really tell them?


    I probably should keep it to myself for now and think about it.


    "Sorry. I''m really tired. Today was tough, my body hurts. I''ll go to bed for now."


    Damn it. I didn''t know it was so difficult to lie. But since they didn''t question me they probably believed me.


    I wondered as I stood up and started heading for my room.


    "I sometimes forget how hard you''re working. Good night Dawood, you''ll need a good sleep to be at your best tomorrow morning." Mothers kind words were soothing to me.


    Maybe I would be able to just sleep well and forget about all this until tomorrow morning.


    I yawned then reached my room. When I opened the door I rubbed my eyes.


    "......"


    "Seems like you''re waking up from your deep sleep, Godly brother."


    Lapis was sitting on a chair in my room. Did she really realise I was lying? How did she even hear our conversation when she was in her own room just until a moment ago?


    .... I suppose she was just too smart for her own good.


    "What are you talking about? That imaginary history about the Gods again? Let me sleep sis it was a long day."


    I slammed myself onto the bed, hoping she''d leave.

 Su-El Tulipa

    The sun reflected in the heavy item I swung through the air as if it was nothing. A swift movement was made and I cut the firm tree in the front of me in half. Cleanly, the tree fell apart. As the two pieces hit the ground, I sheathed what has become more of a friend to me, my golden sword "Su-El Tulipa".


    My strength was such that it could be on par with those of men. In fact, there''s been times where I have beaten men in wrestling and lifting. It was always embarrassing to them and a triumph for me. From when I was born, my body was different from that of the ordinary female and especially different from the body of my younger sister Lapis. My body lacked the typical feminine frailness. My bones and muscles were strong, I wasn''t skinny nor chubby, but I was muscular and well trained. My figure still had its feminine and curvy form, a little more obvious than most females even.


    My parents told me that when I was born, it took my mother several days to press me out of her womb. She went through great pain and out of the six children she birthed, mine was the hardest birth. She became sick and bedridden for a month after my birth. The village elders helped her to get better - otherwise she might have never recovered, might have never been able to have my 5 younger siblings.


    My bones and my muscles were advanced from the day I was born. The village elders inspected me and came to the conclusion that I was the village''s only child which possessed such a high level of Godly blood.


    I never fully believed in that. I always thought that many of the things we were being taught from history books were exaggerated, and I wouldn''t be surprised if many of those things were lies too.


    I never once in my life felt Godly. I felt like an ordinary girl, with a body stronger than most other girls. And I trained this body with passion to become even stronger. I''m sure there are women like me around. Maybe not here where I lived. This place had a strict rule about the roles of males and females. It was only thanks to the connection of a friend of mine, that I was able to get a position in the Alharas Almalakiu. I was the only female soldier serving the Almalakiu Althaani. This was a small country which was part of a section of 5 other countries who were absolutely ruled by the richest King in the world - Nabonahid king of the Khalijian peninsula. Under him served the 4 Almalakiu Althani or "Lower royals" who ruled their smaller countries on their own but were undoubtedly controlled by the rule of Nabonahid. For example, the small countries ruled by the Lower Royals, were not able to go to war on their own. To defend their country on their own if under a attack, to make decisions about migration, to make decisions about foreign supplies. It all needed to be approved by Nabonahid first and foremost. From time to time, I heard the people of this land - Kuwsiya Aseel was its name, complain about what a tyrant Nabonahid was and how they wished to become a free country of their own.


    While I had no ties to this country, being half Pardesian and half Miltatrifian, I was still able to understand them to a certain degree. However, the loyalty to my Almalakiu Althani would never fade.


    "The beautiful tulip of the oppressed nations." My thoughts were interrupted when one of my comrades approached me.


    "It''s hard to see you as a mere comrade when you''re this beautiful. I could look at your beautiful face all day and not be bored of it. When you swing your sword and your pitch black hair dances along with it! It''s a sight that''s been filling my dreams as of late!"


    "Really now Abdallah? You came to me just to say that? You''ve known me for long enough already. Words of that kind are not going to impress me at all." I shrugged my shoulders.


    "If you don''t have anything of value to say please leave me alone. I''d like to train in peace." I continued, not giving him a look.


    "Oh...! Well actually I wanted to say you''ve been summoned by the Almalakiu Althani."


    Huh? I was surprised, he didn''t often bother summoning any of us, especially not those of my position.Stolen story; please report.


    "Now?"


    "Yes, now."


    "Alright. Thank you for informing me, comrade Abdallah."


    I nodded him thanks then went on my way to meet my Master. As I walked I felt the eyes of Abdallah following my every movement. I didn''t want to know what he was thinking as he looked at me so intensely.


    There were some more steps ahead before I reached my Master. I nodded to him as I entered and stood firmly before his desk. My gaze lowered.


    "Raise your gaze, Lady Sanaaz Saidi."


    I did as he told me to and for a long moment nothing but silence filled the room. Our eyes locked. I kept my eyes on his in wait to hear what he had to say, while I wasn''t able to determine why his gaze upon me was so strong.


    "You truly are a wondrous being my Lady. It took me long enough to address one of my guards as Lady. And I''m still not over the fact that a being can be so beautiful yet so ruthless and skilled in battle. Women usually want to meet their prince, get married and raise children. You however, don''t seem to bear any of such desires. You comb your hair, you use makeup and you paint your nails. You''re a feminine woman and yet you don''t fear a sword being raised at you. You don''t hide and wait for a man to save you. You fight and kill the threat yourself. A woman like that is not easy to come by. It interests me you know... ever since you''ve been here and I watched your movements, I''m stuck thinking of you. I didn''t yet figure out why that is.


    But I think my Lady, I could need a piece of advice from you.


    My head has been hurting since last week. There''s a conflict with a neighbouring nation and I do not know how to solve it."


    I raised an eyebrow, surprised.


    "You want my advice? A commoners? One foreign to this land?"


    "See my Lady, you being of mixed heritage makes you far from a commoner in my eyes. And not only that, your ancestors built two great civilisations. History forgot, but I have not. Take a good look at these books on my shelves. They''re all about ancient history, the creation of this world and its mysteries."


    "Master I don''t mean to sound rude but as a Believer in Gods that were my ancestors'' rivals, shouldn''t you hold contempt for the lands my parents came from?"


    He laughed half-heartedly.


    "It is indeed true that the Gods of your parents'' lands murdered many of our Gods and even humans and animals. Yet, why would that leave me with a grudge? No not in the slightest. I respect Milat and Pardesia, for what they''ve built and given our world. And I''m intrigued to have a woman stand before me, who carries the blood of both these nations within her.


    And you''ve proven several times that you''re not in the position befitting of a soldier - a woman with your talent.


    Henceforth I name you General.


    I want you to lead our armies, to train them and to strategize.


    And as for the matter at hand- our conflict with the self proclaimed children of fire - I expect you to find a way to take their lands. They''ve stolen those from us, our history and our culture and they dirty it with the perverted claim of worshipping an evil God, worshipping the fire that brings nothing but destruction!


    That includes gaining permission from our King to Wage a war against the Children of Fire of course. He''s not an easy one to talk to, but maybe the soft wits of a woman, your talent and your intelligence will make him understand we are in the right!"


    "My Master, you honour me!" I fell to my knees and bowed to him, showing my appreciation. Gaining the position of General was no easy task. And I never even once thought about becoming General, being a woman especially it was more like a dream than a reality.


    "Do not thank me. I thank you for being such an improvement to our reign! I can see our future whenever I see you fight! You are the spirit we so need! Never ever let anyone put you down or ridicule your worth because you are a woman! I too mocked you at first. I had fun bullying you by having you fight the strongest of our men. I wanted to see you defeated and accept that you''re the same as any other woman - a vessel to bear children and serve her man. But you''re different.


    You''re unbreakable. You''ve been punched into that beautiful face by them, your reproductive organs have been kicked again and again. You spat blood. Your bones were shattered. And yet you stood strong and fought until you defeated them.


    You might as well be the reincarnation of the Goddess of War. The undefeated Mistress of Pardesia."


    His eyes seemed somewhat crazed as in a sudden movement his finger ran over my face down to my neck. Salvia could be seen dripping from his mouth. Was it his excitement? I didn''t like being complimented so much. I was a human. I bled as any other human bled and I hurt as any other human hurt. My endurance was a little different. But I was by no means a Goddess. I was just stubborn and strong.

 Prophet

    I looked at the frame below me, not at her face, but at her beautifully moving breasts as I gave her thrust after thrust. Her warm womb sucked me in, the tightness and wetness of her encouraged me to go harder on her, allowing her young breasts to jiggle even more. She moaned and threw her head back, her flawless skin was filled with drops of sweat.


    "Prophet Aouam... I am more than willing to accept your seed." She panted, her voice husky.


    I gave her a few more deep thrusts before finishing my full load inside of her tight womb. She felt great, the insides of her felt great. She was a good doll to be using for such pleasures.


    I pulled out of her and sat by the edge of the bed, drinking water to help my exhaustion.


    She moved and hugged me from behind, her fingers moving along my right arm, stroking it gently.


    "You''re the prophet who''ll save us all. I have my deepest faith in you. When you save our Pardesia from the firm grip of the Dominus Generis, we''ll all finally be able to live in peace again."


    Her words soothed my ears, but nothing she said was certain as of yet. There was a plan, tactics and strategies but there hasn''t been any success yet.


    "We''ll find that out sooner or later. And then we''ll know whether the Gods favour us or if there''s still a grudge they''re holding against us for allowing their rulership to be thrown over."


    I moved away from her and got dressed. By any means, the last thing I wanted was to get attached to a woman. I needed to empty myself once in a while, but I wasn''t going to have a relationship anytime soon. Especially not with the mission at hand, never forgetting the vision for the perfect future of Pardesia. My home land.


    //Flashback//


    8 o''clock already? For the Gods of Pardesia''s sake, it was that late? Damn it, it seems like I overslept again. I''ll have to be quick or I''ll be late for school again.


    I jumped out of bed and got dressed , ran to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. I quickly went to the hall to put on my shoes, kissing my mother goodbye.


    I ran fast towards school, there was little time left. My stomach growled but silly me refused mothers offer to take some bread she just baked with me.


    "Good morning! Late again, Aouam?" Dawood waved at me. As every morning, he walked to school with his sisters, Sanaaz his older and Lapis his younger.


    "Don''t lecture me boy! It''s not like you know what it means to be on time!" I snapped at Dawood, feeling annoyed he always had to point out my fault for sleeping in.


    "Good morning Aouam, I''m happy to see you''re well. Don''t let my brother''s words get to you. He''s an idiot as you know!" Sanaaz giggled and greeted me with a warm smile.


    "Me? An idiot? Now Sanaaz I''d expect Lapis to call me that but you of all people?! My big sister should protect me!" Dawood cried out annoyingly.


    It made me sigh.


    "Tsk! Would you act more like a man already Dawood? You put enough shame on our families name by losing to Haxamanis in the last official sword fight already. Don''t make it worse!" Lapis remarked, she seemed to just join Sanaaz in bullying their brother.


    It almost made me feel sorry for him. I didn''t want to imagine what living with these two fierce females would be like. What a poor lad.


    My stomach started to growl again.


    "Aouam? Don''t tell me you woke up so late again you didn''t have time to eat something?" Sanaaz questioned, the worry clear in her voice.


    "I can eat when I''m back home. No big issue with that."


    "Come on now, we''ve got a cafeteria at our school. Be normal and eat there." Dawood said.


    "Well we''re going to spend the break together anyway so you can eat with us." Sanaaz reassured.


    The four of us continued on our laughing and chatting as we walked towards the school and once we arrived we met three other individuals.


    "Haxamanis buddy good morning!" Dawood couldn''t hold back his excitement and jumped at Haxamanis.


    "What the-?! Stop this already so early in the morning." Haxamanis brushed Dawood off and grit his teeth lightly.


    "Why did you leave home before us anyway Haxamanis?" Lapis asked, wondering.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "I wanted to walk to school in peace, without that fool there." He pointed to Dawood.


    A girlish laughter started at the remark. Our gathered group looked over to the female who laughed so hard at such a trivial attempt at a joke.


    The female in question was none other but Minu Hayati. The fairest girl in Ilum Maru, her skin was even fairer than the skin of Lapis, who was known for her unique looks. Lapis took after her Maltifrian mother more than after her Pardesian father, which is why she always stood out.


    With Minu it was a little different. No one knew for sure where she got that fair skin, the hazel eyes and the red brown hair from.


    It has never been confirmed but it''s widely believed that her mother was not impregnated by her husband but by the God of Determination, Dariuman.


    "What are you laughing so hard at? Aren''t you shameless? Laughing at anything funny Haxamanis says! Stupid!" Lapis said and went on her way into the school building.


    Ours was a small school, there were actually no classes. Because to fill a class, we were too few. So we were all in the same class.


    Sanaaz and I were the oldest but we were still in the same class with Lapis, Minu, Haxamanis and Mubina, which were all two years younger than us. While Dawood was a year younger than us.


    There were 17 pupils in total. Between ages 6 and 16 and we were all taught the same stuff.


    However we had a school system that was different from the rest of the world. But I didn''t know just how different it was until I left Ilum Maru.


    We were taught language, science, mathematics, sport and the like just as anywhere else, but beside that we were also taught to defend our heritage and our village. We were taught about our Gods and about the blood of them which was inside of us. We were a chosen people, we were the descendants of the Gods of Pardesia who ruled these lands before the great invasion about 500 years ago.


    Once in class, class started by singing our village''s Hymne. Our village never accepted to sing the hymn that was forced upon Pardesia.


    ?Raise proud children of Ilum Maru!"


    (Hymne starts)


    We are the pride of our Godly ancestors,


    Their blood flows through our veins,


    With fierce glory we protect the gates of Ilum Maru,


    Never to fall


    Never to forget the truth about creation,


    We are the chosen,


    Those chosen by the Gods,


    To protect and to spread glory,


    To the world covered in a hideous lie.


    May the Gods forgive them,


    May they blow their houses away,


    Whatever the punishment,


    We stand forever with our Gods,


    No matter how oppressed


    We stand in eternal glory with our Gods


    (Hymne ends)


    "Take your seats!"


    Class started with mathematics usually, the morning was full of book readings and lectures. It was the part where you used the brain. In the afternoon, the second part of our teachings started.


    The physical part.


    Sword fighting.


    Fist Fight.


    Defense tactics suited for anyone no matter size, age or gender.


    Learning to use any type of weapon including daggers, axes and so forth.


    And lastly, magic.


    The last part was only for those with potential to use it.


    And there were just two with that potential in our class. Mubina, who became a skilled healer, the famed nurse of the village and Lapis, who had a great amount of magical energy stored inside of her, but she was never able to awaken her true potential.


    The magus of our village foreshadowed though, that one day, Lapis will bring back the great beasts who brought down our Gods and that she will be able to control them.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    School was over, most were already home, but I waited for someone specific.


    The girl with long, black hair and a beautiful face came running towards me , waving.


    "I''m sorry it took so long! I kind of got lost in the sword fight there. It was great!" Sanaaz spoke full of excitement.


    "With Haxamanis again? When the two of you battle it''s like a never ending story. I''m sure you will continue tomorrow?"


    "Of course! My blood is boiling whenever I fight him! He''s talented but also my greatest rival. We''ve grown a lot together."


    I would have asked any other girl if she was hurt but with Sanaaz there was no need. She was a more formidable sparring partner to Haxamanis than Dawood was. And Haxamanis was the prodigy of our village.


    "So how was my Cous Cous?"


    There was that girlish side to her finally.


    "It was delicious. Thank you Sanaaz. You saved my day. I was lying this morning. I couldn''t have survived the day without any food, so you really saved me there."


    Sanaaz stopped suddenly.


    "You know that''d I''d always do this for you... "


    I stopped too and turned to look at her. Getting closer I wrapped my arms around her. Which she did too, resting her head on my chest.


    This stunning beauty , the intelligent girl who had amongst the highest scores in our class, the talented sword fighter, was also the girl I loved for the longest time.


    Flashback end////////


    So I remembered again? It seemed to happen whenever I slept with a woman. Did I still look for her in my arms? Did I still love her? Did I miss her? I wasn''t able to answer all these questions... I just knew that not having her here and not knowing where she was hurt me.

 Sacrifice and Obsession

    I got up  in the morning for my early shift. It would start at 6am so I was up at about 4.30. I did need some time to get ready, do my make up and hair in the most beautiful way possible. But my way to work was short, it was just a 15 minute walk. I had a purpose to make myself extremely beautiful today. I put on red lipstick because I knew the person I did this for would like it. I still remember how intensely he looked at me when I wore it last. When I was ready with my make up and my hair I looked at myself and admired everything about me. Really, he could never reject a beautiful flower in her purest youth like me could he? I usually put my hair up in a ponytail so they wouldn¡¯t get in the way when I was working, but today that did not matter to me. I let my long hair loose, so he could admire it, because just like so many men in my life, he also admired my long hair. I was overall, extremely attractive.


    My heart was beating fast when I went on my way to work. I was so happy. Whenever I saw him, my mood changed, hell even my personality changed. It sometimes felt like I became a push over when faced with him. He was the man I admired ever since I started working here, he was the Manager of our unit of security guards, he was Adonis Statopolous, a man who was from my mothers country, Milat. When I started working here, I heard that a man of Milat was within the ranks of Managers. It triggered my curiosity right away. I found myself asking a lot of questions about him, but I did not always need to do so. Many times, people freely gave me information about him, because they made a connection between us by sharing the same background. When I saw him for the first time, I introduced myself proudly as a woman with a background from Milat. I didn¡¯t realise it right away, but within the coming weeks I found myself wanting to be close to that man more than just friendly. We really got along well, we often spoke to each other in our mother tongue. There were so many things we were able to talk about. But I was not happy with just that and I knew for a fact, he wanted more, just as I did. The only obstacle was his fat wife, an ugly woman with rotten teeth who seemed like a witch. And more annoyingly, she was a fellow security guard, working in another unit. I often was put under the pain of having to see the two together, I always boiled with rage when it happened. I always wondered, how could a man like him be with a woman like her? Has it become a trend to marry ugly women when you¡¯re a handsome man? It was certainly not the first time I¡¯ve seen something like that.


    Now that didn¡¯t mean that he was extremely handsome, basically, a lot of my friends questioned my sanity when I revealed my affection for him to them. The most negative aspect about him seemed to be his height. He really was just about a head taller than me, and for many women, including me, that would be way too short. We all loved a tall man who would tower over us, one we would feel protected by. But for me, he had enough other positive points to make up for this. He had a young face even though he was 20 years older than me, he had charisma and most importantly power. Other than that he was somewhat thin and fragile, he had muscles, but not really of the kind most women, including myself, would go for. When I fell for him, I questioned myself too. But I came to the point of accepting my affection for a man like him. And today I had a plan¡­.


    I went to work like normal, greeted my colleagues and went to the checkpoint to do my duty. Today, I didn''t think so much about work though, I thought more about meeting him. And I knew, today he would be in early.. he would come soon. I smiled at the thought.


    ¡®Why are you in such a good mood today, Lapis?¡¯ Ugh. Annoying. Someone just pulled me out of my beautiful and warm thoughts, and it was no other than Mounir, a tall and stupid guy who thought looks and youth were all that mattered to sway any woman. Besides that, he was really shallow and just cared about parties, drinking and getting to be with as many women as he could. Someone like that would never find himself in any position of power. He was a small brained fool.


    ¡®As I am every day. Don¡¯t you remember that I am the girl in this unit who smiles no matter what?¡¯ I gave him an arrogant answer, one that would hopefully make him shut up. I had no time or words to waste on this fool.


    He simply stayed quiet and scratched the back of his head.


    This was good. I didn¡¯t want to hear any more of his unintelligent blabbering.


    The day was going as usual, work, breaks, work, breaks. It was a bit disappointing that Adonis did not yet show up, but sometimes he would be busy until afternoon and he would show up later.


    I already had my lunch break and not much longer to finish work¡­ So then, when would he come? I thought a lot about him and just like how some may say if you think about something deeply, your wish will be fulfilled, I saw him greeting my colleagues one after the other. Immediately, my heart started to beat as fast and rebellious as this morning. Thankfully, I went to the bathroom to refresh my makeup at lunch break. Now, my shift will be over soon.. but before leaving¡­ I would do it.


    Yes, I as a woman would take the first step. It was a questionable action to take, but one I was not afraid to take regardless. I was one with Godly blood, I am allowed to take what I want. There would be no shame in doing it, and there would be no way he would reject a beauty like me anyway.


    ¡®Mounir. There is not anything to do right now. I am really thirsty, could you please get me some water? The sun is way too hot again today.¡¯


    ¡®Uh? Sure.¡¯ The stupid and bulky guy went on his way as I told him. Good riddance, I wouldn¡¯t allow him to interrupt my alone time with Adonis.


    Adonis was on his way towards me¡­ my heart was beating so fast. I was excited and yet a bit afraid and shy. But this was just because it was him. Were it any other man, I would be my usual spunky self but this person.. could change me in the blink of an eye.


    I acted as if I didn¡¯t realize he was coming, I acted as if I was busy. But then.. his voice, the voice I admired so much, greeted me.


    ¡®Good afternoon Lapis. I see things have quieted down in the afternoon, though they were busy this morning.¡¯ He held his hand out to greet me with a hand shake, like he would with all the other colleges. He was a very humane manager who tried to treat everyone equally.


    I shook his hand. Just the touch of it gave me so much more excitement. I felt like I was exploding.


    ¡®Good afternoon, Manager Adonis. Yes.. so it seems.¡¯ For one like me who was usually quite eloquent, it was weird to say just that. But nothing else came out of my mouth. It was like a blockage whenever I saw him.


    He was about to go away then. He would need to greet the others, then get back to do his own work. But I knew, today, I couldn¡¯t allow him to leave.


    ¡®By the way. I wanted to ask you something, manager.¡¯


    He stopped, turned around and looked at me again, smiling. This smile gave me confidence.


    ¡®Go on?¡¯


    ¡®I wanted to ask you out. For a meal.¡¯


    Suddenly, he stopped smiling.


    ¡®Lapis. I am a married man.¡¯


    What? What did he mean? So what if he was married? Cheating was a trend. Haha. He didn¡¯t just say that, did he? I couldn¡¯t understand, but I knew I had to react. I needed to react in a way that wouldn¡¯t let me embarrass myself further, because I felt like I already did that!


    ¡®I don¡¯t mean like that! I mean as friends, just to get to know each other better.¡¯


    ¡®No.¡¯ Was his cold answer. And without another word, he left.


    I felt how a mixture of sadness and anger overcame me. I wanted to cry, but I was too angry. I watched him walk away, so full of spite. How could he have done that? He just rejected me! How dare he? Really? Did he not look at myself? How much I did just for him? My make up? My hair? This couldn¡¯t possibly be happening. Married? To that ugly woman? Really? Did he prefer spending his time with her than the possibility of spending it with me? NO! IT CAN¡¯T BE ACCEPTED!


    My shift was over, and it was good. I wanted nothing more but to go home. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    I was filled with rage.


    When I was at home, I did not eat. I went straight to my room. I looked into the mirror, watching my reflection. I was beautiful indeed. Not many women matched my beauty, and yet that bastard¡­ he! He rejected me??? I wanted to slam my fist into the mirror, but doing that would mean I would hurt my own hand, so I took a glass bottle and smashed the mirror. What a relief! It felt good! I just wished I could smash his face in like I smashed the mirror!


    ¡®Lapis what is wrong?¡¯ My father was shocked when he entered my room and saw what I had done.


    ¡®I just had a bad day at work.¡¯


    ¡®Tell me about it.¡¯


    ¡®No. It¡¯s fine. I might later, for now just leave me alone please.¡¯


    ¡®That needs to be cleaned up though, you will be hurt.¡¯


    ¡®LATER DAD!¡¯ I glared at him, making him understand he should leave. And so he did.


    Ugh. What bad timing.


    Though, fathers concern might come in useful at a later point. I smirked, thinking about what I could do to teach Adonis a lesson.


    But for today, I pushed the negative thoughts away. I wouldn¡¯t just give up like that, there was still a way to make him want me.


    ¡ª---------


    The next day, I went to work as usual. I acted normal, greeted Adonis normally and so did he. It was like, nothing happened yesterday.


    When we had our break, Mounir and I were together in the kitchen.


    Adonis was smoking in the room next door, the doors were closed so the smell of cigarettes wouldn¡¯t enter the kitchen.


    I held a knife, I was about to prepare my toast, but in my head, there were much darker thoughts.


    ¡®It sure is hot today. I¡¯d rather be in my bed than here.¡¯ Mounir sighed. His mind was as small as it always has been.


    Idiot.


    I moved the knife along my wrist, then all the way up to my elbow. It tickled. I wondered, would it hurt a lot if it actually went inside my flesh?


    It probably would.


    But it was worth it.


    I closed my eyes and thrust the knife deep into the skin of my upper arm, I moved the knife down, leaving a wound that began to bleed heavily.


    ¡®Ah¡­ ahhh¡­ ahhh!!!¡¯ I moved onto the floor and began to cry out in pain, the blood kept on splattering.


    ¡®LAPIS!!!!¡¯ Mounir came over, trying to help me, but I pushed him away.


    ¡®DON¡¯T TOUCH ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!¡¯ I yelled at him.


    ¡®Huh?¡¯ He seemed baffled, normal for a stupid idiot like him.


    ¡®HELP! HELP! HELP!!!!¡¯ I yelled, the desperation in my voice clear.


    Adonis rushed into the room, his eyes were wide when he saw me bleeding. There was clear worry in his eyes. I enjoyed this.


    ¡®What happened here?¡¯ Adonis asked.


    ¡®I don¡¯t know she -¡¯ Mounir started but I interrupted him.


    ¡®He¡­ he¡­!¡¯ I cried, acting like the damsel Adonis would want to protect because he was a man who would enjoy saving a damsel in distress.


    ¡®He tried to grope me.. and when I pushed him away, he attacked me with a knife, cutting my arm!¡¯ I continued in a shaky voice.


    Mounir''s eyes widened.


    ¡®Manager, that is not..t¡­¡¯ He couldn¡¯t even speak, that is how shocked he was.


    ¡®I never did.. anything!¡¯ He continued, shaking.


    ¡®I will hear about it later. We need to treat your wound.¡¯ Adonis helped me to my feet. I wanted to smirk, but I needed to keep it to myself. I needed to act the damsel in distress, so heroic Adonis would save me.


    ¡®Mounir, you¡¯re out of duty for today. But you¡¯re not allowed to leave. At the end of what would have been your shift, come to my office. If you leave, you will be imprisoned.¡¯ A stern last comment made by Adonis before we left together.


    Wow. How beautiful! How close I was to him! My arm was hurting and bleeding but I cared nothing about it! I was in his arms, I felt his breath tickle my cheeks. I felt how I just wanted us to stop and hug, kiss.. do so much more.


    We were so close now, I was the weak princess and he was the knight who saved me. For sure, we will end up doing something together today!


    We moved into his office and he closed the door behind him. We were all alone now. I shivered, felt my heart race so very much. He got a first aid kid from his desk and started treating my wound. I looked down at him, I sat on a chair as he kneeled in front of me.


    Handsome.


    Heroic.


    Manly.


    I wanted him.


    Now.


    ¡®You are my saviour. Thank you. I wouldn¡¯t have known what to do, were it not for you.¡¯ I spoke in a soft voice, acting like I was traumatised by what just happened.


    ¡®Ah but that is my duty as your manager. I can¡¯t allow stuff like that to happen. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time we¡¯re dealing with sexual assault. So I am taking this quite seriously.¡¯


    ¡®And that is right! Too many men don¡¯t even care, they don¡¯t even understand how we women feel when we¡¯re just being groped. You are.. a rarity!¡¯


    In many ways, that was true.


    ¡®Hah, that is not true at all, like I said. It is simply my duty. How would we look as a security company if we allowed criminal acts as such to happen?¡¯ He continued as he finished bandaging my arm.


    ¡®Thank you.¡¯


    ¡®Alright then.¡¯ He washed his hands then moved onto the chair behind his desk.


    ¡®We need to make a report. Tell me exactly what happened. It might be uncomfortable, but it needs to be done. If you need breaks in between, you can always leave and get some fresh air.¡¯


    ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ I looked down sadly. I was silent for a moment. I knew I needed to put up the act, so I thought of how sad I was when he rejected me, and naturally by doing so, tears came running down my cheeks.


    Oh yes, this was good. This would make him act even more protective!


    ¡®I just¡­ I just wanted to eat something. As per usual. I wanted to make bread¡­ I was about to take the butter.. he was behind me. I didn¡¯t know what he wanted, I just realised that he came closer as usual. It was uncomfortable. I felt his breath against my ear. I didn¡¯t like it. And suddenly.. suddenly..¡¯ I teared up more. I had to be as believable as I could.


    ¡®I don¡¯t know how to say it.. I..!¡¯ I got up and ran out of the room, closing the door behind me.


    I leaned against the wall there. I closed my eyes. I gulped. And I laughed. Oh, damn. How can I continue this without bursting out into laughter? I am going to get my way.. I am!


    I breathed in and out. Alright. It was time to act normal again.


    I opened the door and moved back in, sitting myself down.


    ¡®Are you alright? Have a glass of water, Lapis.¡¯ He poured me a glass of water and pushed it over to my side. He was the kind of manager who always called everyone by their first name, just another reason to be more likeable than the average manager.


    ¡®Yes, thank you..¡¯ I drank from the glass of water. It was much needed. Acting a damsel in distress was difficult for someone like me, after all.


    ¡®Are you confident enough to continue?¡¯ He carefully asked. Ah, I loved how empathetic he was about this!


    ¡®Yes, I am. So like I was saying.. he just suddenly.. moved his hand below my skirt and felt me up! I felt so abused, so disgusted! I wanted to cry! I was scared and frozen in place! I couldn¡¯t do anything¡­ ¡®


    Adonis listened carefully and noted everything I said down.


    ¡®I came to my senses and moved away, telling him to leave me alone. Then he just took a knife and told me to hold still! I was scared and begged him to leave me alone. He pulled me over and slashed the knife across my arm. I was so hurt then! I fell down and called out for help.. then.. you came.¡¯


    I explained, crying all the while I did. It seemed tough for him to hear all this and to see me cry at the same time. This was just what I wanted.


    ¡®Alright, thank you Lapis. I think it is best for you to go home now, and stay home for a week. We will take care of this.¡¯


    He moved up and was about to open the door to me.


    Really? That was all? What about giving me comfort? Getting much closer to me? We just bonded, so why didn¡¯t he want more? Was he perhaps shy? Did he want me to make the first move? Strange for a man, but if it¡¯s what he wanted, then I wouldn¡¯t mind¡­


    I got up, moved up behind him and gently whispered to him.


    ¡®You save me and then you just want me to leave? I don¡¯t think that is what any of us want.¡¯ I ran my finger gently across his neck, sending shivers down his spine.


    He turned around to look at me sternly.


    ¡®Lapis, I told you last time. Nothing will ever happen between us, I want you to understand this.¡¯


    What did he just say?


    What?


    After everything, he still rejected me?


    NO WAY!


    ¡®What do you mean by that?¡¯


    ¡®Exactly what I said.¡¯ He answered.


    ¡®You mean¡­ not even one night?¡¯


    ¡®Not even one night.¡¯


    WHAT IN THE WORLD? Was he even a man? How could he reject me? I am beautiful and a damsel in distress, that¡¯s all men really want! What is happening here?! Why did my plan not work?


    ¡®Haha¡­ I see.. but¡­ what¡­ what..¡¯


    I should leave. I shouldn¡¯t stay here and embarrass myself further. This was the last time I would let him get away with rejecting me.


    Yet, I still wanted to try.


    ¡®So what, If I told you that you can take me anal?¡¯


    I took his hand as I asked the question. He didn¡¯t move his hand away. He gasped, he seemed shocked, but he also didn¡¯t seem to dislike the idea.


    ¡®Are you alright?¡¯ Was his question then.


    What did he mean by that? He still rejected me, right?


    Fine.


    In that case, he will feel my wrath.


    I let go of his hand and left the room, going home. My heart filled itself with ugly feelings.


    ¡ª------------------------


    A colleague called me later on and told me what happened to Mounir.


    When I was gone, Mounir was called in to tell his side of the story. But unfortunately, the guy wasn¡¯t clever enough to talk himself out of it. Instead, he made it worse. He was already known as the flirty type who always hit on any girls and women in the company. He annoyed a variety of women. And he was too stupid to convince Adonis of his innocence.


    In the end, he was found guilty. He lost his job and was imprisoned for 5 years. He would never be able to work a proper job again.


    I didn¡¯t even care.


    I didn¡¯t even feel sorry.


    It was a sacrifice that had to be made.

 Change

    I looked at the sword I carried by my side. It wasn¡¯t just a sword, to me it was a friend, the companion I trusted most. If I told them secrets, they would never be spilled. Knowing a lifeless object gave so much trust made me grin. And yet, it was ordered to do something terrible, I didn¡¯t want to do it. I was about to enter home through the balcony when I saw my sister Lapis taking a seat outside.


    ¡®Lapis, you are home.¡¯


    ¡®Obviously I am.¡¯ She seemed annoyed, but I couldn¡¯t tell why.


    ¡®Are you sick?¡¯


    ¡®None of your business!¡¯


    Ugh, it was going to be tough to find out what was going on with her. But really, it was concerning whenever she acted like that. It¡¯s not like she was a kind and caring sister, well she might actually be deep down, but she never was the cheesy kind of girl who would talk openly about her feelings. I looked her over then, trying to see what was wrong.


    ¡®What is that?¡¯ I pulled up her sleeve and realised her arm was bandaged.


    ¡®I just told you it is none of your business, brother!¡¯ She slapped my hand away.


    ¡®Lapis who did that? What happened? You know if someone hurts you, you can always tell me! I will protect you!¡±


    ¡®Is that so brother? If you are so protective then why did you willingly make yourself the slave dog of the Dominus Generis?¡¯


    ¡®This isn¡¯t what we were talking about!¡¯


    ¡®Oh yes it is! I can not trust someone like you. To me, you are not a man! You¡¯ve lost your manliness when you decided to be their slave. What are you doing it for? To earn money? Do you really think it is the only way to make money? Stupid! You are a man, a warrior at that! If you wanted, you could conquer the world!¡¯


    ¡®I have no desire to do such a thing. I am content with my life.¡¯


    ¡®Then why did you look so gloomy the other day? Why didn¡¯t you tell mother what happened at work? I should be the one worrying about you, something seems to be bothering you.¡¯


    ¡®There is nothing¡­¡¯


    ¡®Oh brother, you need to practice lying too! Do you want me to give you some lessons?¡¯


    Damn. She really was too smart for her own good. I looked down. I really was bothered by this issue. I had only a few days left. And I knew for sure that I didn¡¯t want to kill anyone.


    ¡®You would only mock me if I told you. There is indeed something that is bothering me, but I already know what you would say if I told you. So there is no point in telling you.¡¯


    ¡®Nonsense. I might be your little sister, but I¡¯ve proven several times that my mind is superior to yours and to that of big sister Sanaaz even. So go ahead, I might be able to give you a useful piece of advice, Dog of the scum.¡¯


    Oh, how kind of her. She was encouraging me to open up to her by insulting me. Feels good, eh? No, not really. I¡¯ll need to be careful. At some point I might end up a masochist. Because of my own sister, that would be weird.


    ¡®They want me to kill a man I have no quarrel with.¡¯ That was all I had to say. There really wasn¡¯t more to the story was there?


    She raised an eyebrow at me. There was an odd silence. This isn¡¯t what I expected. She was always very talkative, so why was she quiet now?


    ¡®Hahahahaha!¡¯


    ¡®Huh?¡¯


    ¡®Hahahaha!


    Oh, Brother! Really now? That¡¯s it?¡¯


    ¡®What do you mean that¡¯s it?¡¯ I didn¡¯t understand, what was funny about this?


    She stood up and patted my shoulder. She was short and had to look up at me, and yet her determination could frighten anyone no matter the size.


    ¡®If you were smart, you would have known this would eventually happen. Or actually, isn¡¯t that what you have been doing all this time? Fighting their battles, to what end? What was your gain from it? They are not our people, there never was any reason to fight for them.¡¯


    I see, so that was her motivation. If I wasn¡¯t careful, she might start lecturing me about the so-called Gods and what not. I didn¡¯t want to hear about such myths now. I had much bigger problems.


    ¡®I am an honorable soldier for them.¡¯


    ¡®Correction, obedient dog. Paid killer.¡¯ She smirked at the last remark.


    ¡®Sister.¡¯


    ¡®A killer who kills for the wrong people. All the strength you possess could be used so well to reclaim our Pardesia, and yet you are here wasting it on helping our oppressors. You know what? You have two options here, kill the one who gave you that order, or just leave the army.¡¯ She shrugged.


    ¡®You don¡¯t know what it means to be in the army, sister. If I killed my higher up I would be imprisoned and killed myself. Why would I want that?¡¯


    ¡®Alright, then kill the man they ordered you to kill, and you will forever be an obedient dog. Of course, going by what the Gods teach us, that will also mean you will never be granted eternal life. Are you fine with that?


    I think, if you kill the oppressor who gave you that order, you will set an example, and many will follow you. ¡®


    ¡®Of course sister! As if they all would start killing their comrades! We are men of honour!¡¯


    ¡®No you are not. Let them think they are that, but you brother, you are different. Why do you refuse to accept the truth of your identity?¡¯


    ¡®Because there is no confirmation. It is all just stories being told from generation to generation.¡¯


    ¡®It is our history and the reason we live!¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t believe in stories told just to sugar coat our own nation.¡¯


    ¡®You are unbelievable brother! You are a disappointment. Not just to me or the family, but to our Gods of Pardesia and Milat too.¡¯


    ¡®Maybe I am. But I know one thing for sure. And you can doubt me as much as you like even after I said it, but I will never kill a man I have no quarrel with!¡¯


    My sister crossed her arms and shook her head. I left her there in the garden and took my leave, there was no point in discussing this with her further. I was wrong thinking she might have been of help. She doesn¡¯t really know what it means to be in the army, or what it means to fight with honour.


    So in the end, this would remain my problem alone it seemed.


    ¡ª---------------


    I walked around aimlessly. I didn¡¯t have any work to do today, and I didn¡¯t want to be home either. I didn¡¯t want to be asked questions by no one. And sisters'' comments hurt my head enough already. While walking around the city centre, I saw a man speaking to a gathered group of people.


    Huh? What was that about? I was curious and decided to move closer to listen.


    ¡®Citizens! What is your purpose? Why do you live? Does life have a meaning? Apparently, it does not. We are born into this world to die. But what do we do on our journey? Who do we live for? Just think about your daily routine. You get up early in the morning and you go to a place they call work. You are away from home, from your family for hours. You are to obey, if you disobey you could lose your work, your income. But do you really work for yourself? To feed your family?


    NO YOU DO NOT! You work for the ones who call themselves leaders! The pig who calls himself Preseas and sits in a villa surrounded by gold and silver! GOLD AND SILVER YOU EARNED FOR HIM! They tell us life has no meaning, but that is, citizens, a lie! Try to get your hands on books from the ancient days, they tell you the truth about us humans! We are more than just an existence meant to die. And we are to enjoy our life, not to work so those calling themselves leaders can live in luxury!


    I hereby declare! If you all want to live a life in peace and harmony, do stop going to what they make you believe is your ¡®work¡¯! Do stop making money for them! DO STOP MAKING THEM RICH! Show them, we the people are the power AND THAT WE DO NOT NEED LEADERS!¡±


    The man standing in the center was quite charismatic. After his speech, the group surrounding him clapped. They liked this kind of cheesy talk? I didn¡¯t even listen to most of it, it was just loud to me. Though he seemed to get quite a lot of attention, and they all seemed to admire him.


    A woman walked up next to him then. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡®Citizens! Open your eyes and look around you. Carefully. How many of our children have gone missing lately? How many of them never came back? How many parents don¡¯t even know if their children are still alive? Connect with your neighbours, and find out. Because children go missing every day, forced to be killed as a sacrifice, or forced into prostitution. Citizens, we MUST BE NOISY TO STOP THEM! LET US NOT-¡¯


    Suddenly, electric beams were fired at both the man and the woman, and the group surrounding them. There was shouting now, everyone tried to run away to save themselves.


    There was chaos. As a soldier, I probably should step in. I hesitated at first but then I saw one of my comrades, a senior General, Roy Rigg.


    ¡®What you standing here around for, Dawood? Already a useless punk, are ya?¡¯ He pushed me forward, telling me to help out with the motion.


    ¡®Common, we are to arrest these four. They are nothing but trouble to our nation. Fuck them,¡¯


    ¡®Understood.¡¯


    Tch. I was sure a gathering like that wouldn¡¯t end well, especially with all the lies they spread about our country, the Preseus wouldn¡¯t just allow that to happen.


    I unleashed my sword and went through the crowd. I didn¡¯t really need to put up a fight, I was just moving through a group of civilians after all. However, when I neared the four people standing in the center, the two speakers and two others who seemed to belong to them, I saw that they were fighting with our soldiers. And well, they were fighting them with just their fists, no weapons.


    Oh bloody hell.


    How bold and reckless?


    ¡®FUCK OFF! LET ME GO!¡¯ I was surprised to see that even the woman fought with her fists. They were struggling for quite a while. They punched at our men again and again, but they just ended up being punched back harder. I didn¡¯t really want to bother punching them. They didn¡¯t have any weapons, they were no threat and most of all they were civilians. Aren¡¯t we supposed to protect the civilians?


    I was disappointed to see Roy and some of my comrades beat them up really badly. Should I step in? Haha, that wouldn¡¯t even help. I mean.. my comrades were fired up and angry now. They¡¯ve been punched by them and they started unnecessary chaos in the city. They got what was coming for them.


    Yet¡­ I did feel bad when I saw the two women bleed from their nose.


    The guy who spoke was punched unconscious. That wasn¡¯t a nice sight either. It didn¡¯t really need to end like that did it?


    ¡®Bastard, just standing around letting us do all the work? I¡¯ll let Dominic know this.¡¯ Roy yelled at me as he cleaned his bloody nose.


    ¡®You really handled them well already. They were rather defenseless against so many of us, so I didn¡¯t really need to step in.¡¯


    ¡®Well go and bring the loud bastard into his cell at least then. And make sure he doesn¡¯t have a good time there. You¡¯re on duty to look him over. Even if it¡¯s your day off, don¡¯t slack off, brownie.¡¯ Roy laughed and walked away, leaving me baffled with one of his discriminating slurs. It wasn¡¯t unusual for him and I was able to shrug it off.


    I helped a comrade carry the loud guy into his cell. Strange. His charismatic voice didn¡¯t match his statue. I thought carrying him might be tough, but he was actually not heavy at all. He was so thin, I was able to feel his bones. He wasn¡¯t short, but extremely thin. No muscles either and his face was all bones. I wondered how such a man could build up the courage to rebel against our leaders?


    We moved into the cell and I was left alone with the thin guy. Well, what a day. First the argument with my sister, now I no longer have a day off. I am on duty just because I decided to go into the city centre. And I didn¡¯t even know for how long I¡¯d need to stay here.


    He was out of it and all I could do was stare at him. What an entertaining day. To think that I was actually just about to go and eat something nice. Gah, what a shame.


    ¡®Nghhh..¡¯


    Huh? Really now? He was already awake?


    ¡®Ugh, fucking bastards.¡¯


    ¡®Enough with the swearing and shouting already, you are no longer in the city. And if it wasn¡¯t me with you here, you¡¯d be getting more punches.¡¯


    ¡®Oh hey slave.¡¯


    ¡®Huh?¡¯ Almost sounded like my sister speaking.


    ¡®Slave to the Dominus Generis, that is all you are. You don¡¯t have ideals of your own. Pitiful, you live for them and you will die for them. Hit me as hard as you want, it won¡¯t change my vision! It won¡¯t change the truth of the world they try to hide!¡¯ As he shouted that out, he almost seemed crazed.


    ¡®Calm down would you.¡¯


    ¡®Calm? What is calm? Who decides what calm is? You? Who are you to decide?!¡¯


    ¡®I think you should sleep some more.¡¯


    ¡®I won¡¯t sleep until I deliver the truth.¡¯


    ¡®Well, as you noticed today, that doesn¡¯t seem to go too well for you and your friends. They were all beaten up and imprisoned. Don¡¯t you feel bad for them?¡¯


    ¡®Tch. We are used to it by now. This isn¡¯t our first time doing this. And we will continue doing it. To shut us up, they will have to kill us.¡¯


    ¡®Well, I don¡¯t like my comrades hitting women though so you should probably stop taking the women to your shouting gatherings.¡¯


    ¡®I can¡¯t stop them from coming. We know no rules. A human is only free without rule.¡¯


    ¡®That is not true. If a human is not following rules then he will do whatever the hell he wants, even killing someone.¡¯


    ¡®Haha! That is what you do though. But tell me, why is it right of you to kill someone? You are following orders without questioning them. If I kill someone, I am a murderer and I will serve a life sentence in prison. If I am lucky that is. Most likely, I will get the death sentence. You, on the other hand, will be celebrated for committing murder. Why is that? Do you know, slave?¡¯


    ¡®A situation of war is different.¡¯ Yeah that was true. But strangely, this guys comment remembered me on the unhonourable task I was given last week, to kill a man without reason, just for the Preseus¡¯ entertainment. That was wrong. But it wasn¡¯t the norm and he still didn¡¯t figure out why such a thing was asked of him.


    ¡®How is it different? Are the ones you kill in a war not human?¡¯


    ¡®Well.. ¡® He had a point. But it was obvious wasn¡¯t it? That is how wars are fought. Always have been.


    ¡®You have no answer to that because you are blinded. They fed you all their lies. History, religion and creation, are all lies, nothing they tell us is true. Research and learn the truth. If you won¡¯t, then you will forever live a miserable life and die serving them.¡¯


    ¡®It is a soldier''s duty to die for their country.¡¯


    ¡®How can you die for a country?  Can a country speak? Foolish! The orders given to you are given to you by another human being. So a human being orders you to kill one of his own. If you believe in any Gods, do you think this is what they would have wanted if they created us?¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t believe in what is not proven.¡¯


    ¡®You can not prove the existence of Gods, but you also can¡¯t deny their existence, because you don¡¯t have any proof for that either.¡¯


    I didn¡¯t know how to reply to this, he was actually right. I had no proof to support my claim that there are no Gods. But at the same time, there was no proof of their existence, there were just stories, tellings, myths.


    ¡®Tch, you soldiers are all the same. You just refuse to learn. You want to continue living your dull life. So keep on getting up early every morning to work and feed your leaders. They would let you die in the blink of an eye.¡¯


    I didn¡¯t know how to reply again. My mind was too small to process all of this. I never heard someone say stuff like this. My sister wasn¡¯t like this either, she was all about the Gods and our nation being the greatest, basically she was the Dominus Generis but as a half Perdiesian and Miltrafian. But hey, she should never ever hear I thought this.


    For some reason, this man made me curious.


    ¡®What is your name?¡¯


    ¡®Acipe Verum.¡¯


    ¡®Nice to meet you then, Acipe Verum. My name is Dawood Saidi. Know that I am not the type of soldier here to beat you up. I am just going to keep watch over you until they tell me to leave. Simple as that.¡¯


    ¡®Hah, a good slave you are. Come on, beat me up. I am sure they¡¯d be happier with you. You might even get a reward.¡¯


    ¡®No. I don¡¯t enjoy hurting others without meaning.¡¯


    ¡®There is no meaning in hurting others whatsoever.¡¯


    ¡®Well, you did hurt my comrades. General Roy Rigg had a broken nose. Did you do that?¡¯


    ¡®Oh, do you mean the old bald guy? Yeah I did that, he was just annoying. Thinking he can rule us and looking down on us. I¡¯ll have none of that.¡¯


    ¡®Well, he¡¯s always like that.¡¯


    ¡®And you allow it? Well, I guess he is in a higher position than you are, leaves you no choice. You were taught to accept a hierarchy. Foolish.¡¯


    ¡®Well, I don¡¯t see a point in arguing. Life is short, so we should enjoy it to its fullest.¡¯


    ¡®You can enjoy life when you kill innocents for your leaders? How can you even sleep at night?¡¯


    ¡®Like I said, I am not a killer.¡¯


    ¡®You are exactly that. It¡¯s what you are getting paid for,¡¯


    ¡®My duty is to protect the land, even you are protected by us soldiers.¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t want to be protected by those who keep me in a cage.¡¯


    ¡®A cage? You really are into this too much. I think the one rejecting reality is you.¡¯


    ¡®You stupid bastard. Think what you like. I am not here to waste my time convincing idiots like you. My words are for those ready to wake up. The great awakening is near! And the world will change forever.¡±


    ¡®And you will be the one to do this?¡¯


    ¡®Me and others, there are many high spirits within our movement. But I won¡¯t talk about it with you.¡¯


    ¡®Saidi? It¡¯s your day off today isn¡¯t it? I was told to send you off. I will be watching the prisoner. You go home and enjoy the day with your family.¡¯ Another soldier, named the Blue Joe, came inside to take my place.


    I leaned in to Acipe, whispering something.


    ¡®Try to just be quiet so you won¡¯t get beaten. I really do think you aren¡¯t a bad person. I don¡¯t want you to be hurt, okay?¡¯


    I stood up. Acipe just grinned at me.


    ¡®Oh, I will embrace any kind of wrath. I will fight until I can fight no more, for the truth and for the children.¡¯


    I sighed. That man couldn¡¯t be helped. Hopefully, he wasn¡¯t secretly a masochist.


    I left then. I had a bad feeling, likely, the other soldier would punch Acipe. But what could I do? There really was nothing I could do. Things were as they were meant to be, and there was no changing that.


    ¡ª-------------------


    I was hungry and it would be wise to go and eat something, however the talk with Acipe just a moment ago lingered in my mind. I couldn¡¯t forget his words, his spirit. I was taught that it was important in life to become someone. But it wasn¡¯t easy to become someone for just everyone. Sometimes, it wasn¡¯t even possible. I never had any special talents but to fight, and even when it came to that, there¡¯s people who were better at it. For instance my older sister Sanaaz. As a woman, she was a better fighter, with more skill and experience. And then there was the boy who used to be my best friend.. Haxamanis. Actually, I still considered him my best friend. It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t see him in a long time. I didn¡¯t know what he was doing. I just knew that he wanted to find his missing sister. Fauzia was her name if I remember correctly? I didn¡¯t know her, but I always thought she was a poor girl. Hamza  confidently thought she¡¯d still be alive. It was unfortunate but I  believed she was already dead. I never told him though.


    Just as the woman who was with Acipe in the city centre preached, children go missing all the time. It was a mystery. These children never returned. What the woman said then, could it be any true? Hah. No way.


    I looked over at the river. I wasn¡¯t really sure anymore if this life was worth living.


    Keeping in mind my task for the coming days, my thoughts became more uncomfortable.


    I probably would allow myself to be killed instead of killing the man from Torikia. I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to kill anyone just for the Preseas entertainment. So again, this made me a failure. I wasn¡¯t ever going to be what I wanted to become. I thought that I became a soldier of honour, but if I can¡¯t obey a simple order like that, then I wasn¡¯t honourable at all.


    Acipe called me a slave.. Lapis called me a slave. To them, me being a soldier meant nothing. To my parents however, well I at least do think to them it means something. I thought they were proud of me and believed I was protecting them and the country. But when I thought about it more deeply now, I realized my father didn¡¯t even once praise me. My mother did, but mother praised all of us equally. She never made a difference between us as father did. For the longest time, I was an idiot to my father. I sometimes even thought he hated me. That man wasn¡¯t able to show us boys love. Kian didn¡¯t get any of his attention either.


    I sighed and sat down by the river. It seemed like I wasn¡¯t hungry anymore. All these thoughts upset my stomach.


    But what was most important to me was.


    I didn¡¯t want to kill the man.


    No, it was greater than just that.


    I WON¡¯T kill that man.


    I clenched my fists and rose to my feet.


    I wouldn¡¯t go to eat. That could wait. There was something more important I had to do.


    I was fired up now. I was walking at a very fast pace. My determination was great.


    I pushed the familiar doors open and entered, finding my Officer Dominik. He stood at a table with more of my comrades. Roy Rigg, the Blue Joe and older female soldier, Susan. The Blue Joe was a proud and muscular man. He was about 190cm tall. He trained a lot of us, not in the art of sword fighting, his speciality was fist fighting. He loved the country and the Preseas, and he was extremely loyal.


    Susan was a rather chubby woman, she had short reddish hair and kind of an ordinary face. I never really got close to her. She seemed cold and reserved, often mean even.


    Roy Rigg was a choleric man who would shout at the smallest of issues. He was easy to get violent too, but at times, he had a good sense of humour. Out of the 4 present, Roy was the one I got along with most.


    ¡®Saidi? What brings you here on your day off? Can¡¯t stop thinking about the damned prisoner from before?¡¯ Roy asked, giving a chuckle.


    That being asked, since Joe was now here, I wondered who else was in charge of looking after Acipe.


    ¡®Well. There is something I need to discuss with Officer Dominik.¡¯


    ¡®You want us out? No problem then.¡¯ Joe shrugged and got ready to leave.


    ¡®No. Dawood, our comrades can be trusted. Why do you want them to leave?¡¯ Dominik asked.


    ¡®Well, I don¡¯t really want them to leave. I just thought what I had to say wouldn¡¯t really concern them. But I am fine with them staying.¡¯


    ¡®So then, what is it you want to tell me?¡¯ Dominik raised an eyebrow in curiosity.


    ¡®I have a message for the Preseas and I want you to deliver it to him. I was ordered to fight a man from Torkia for the Preseas entertainment. Hereby, Officer Dominik, I reject the task. I will accept any punishment.¡¯ I closed my eyes, bracing myself for what was coming.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­..


    There was an odd silence.


    ¡®HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!¡¯ Roy was the first one to laugh.


    ¡®HAHAHAHAHAHA!¡¯ Joe joined him, then Dominik too and lastly, Susan.


    Huh? I didn¡¯t tell a joke or anything like that. I was serious.


    Their laughing went on for what seemed like hours. I just stood there baffled. I felt so stupid, not knowing how to act or what to say.


    At some point, their laughing stopped slightly, though only Dominik could stop it completely.


    ¡®Very well then, Dawood Saidi. Your message shall be delivered.¡¯ Dominik finally spoke, still panting from how much energy he needed for his laughing.

 Pain

    Pov: Fauzia Hayat


    TW: SA/MA/MPS


    I slept until the afternoon, nothing unusual. Our lives were lived during the nights, the days were spent sleeping or making ourselves prettier. I mean, as pretty as we could get. I really did feel that I looked worn out, even just being 22 years old. I didn¡¯t like looking at my face. The only hope I had was the fact that I am not Fauzia. Fauzia lives inside of me, this surface is just Larissa, and she is the one who looks worn out. One day, I believed, Fauzia would return and she would be beautiful and elegant, not worn out and tired like Larissa. A small smile formed on my lips as I thought about it. I had nothing to smile about here, but this little ray of hope, allowed me some relief.


    As I was about to move back into my room to get some more rest, I met one of my colleagues, Sahrina.


    ¡®Oh, good morning Larissa.¡¯ Sahrina greeted me with a small smile. She still had a black eye from last week.


    ¡®Good morning Sahrina.¡¯ Sahrina was a beautiful young woman with a rough voice. She was quite short, just about 156 centimetres. She was thin with a rather large bust. I often went out to buy underwear with her so I knew she wore D Cups. She¡¯s been longer into this than me, when I came here, she told me that she¡¯s been here for 4 years already. She seemed to remember more of her past than I did, but we never spoke much about it. I just knew that she came from the Land of the Children of Fire.


    ¡®Did you sleep well?¡¯ She asked.


    It was a question I couldn¡¯t really answer. When was the last time I slept well? I can¡¯t remember such a time. However, I gave the standard answer.


    ¡®I did, yes. What about you? How is your eye? Is it still sore?¡¯


    She moved a hand over her eye, giggled and seemed embarrassed. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have asked.


    ¡®No need to worry about that. It will fade away soon.¡¯


    Sure it would. Like all of the things that were done to us. But that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t painful.


    ¡®You are brave Sahrina.¡¯


    ¡®You think so? Well, we all do what we can to survive.¡¯ She shrugged her shoulders.


    ¡®Living means surviving doesn¡¯t it?¡¯


    ¡®What kind of philosophical take on it is that, Larissa.¡¯ She laughed.


    ¡®Hm, that''s what some religions might say.¡¯


    ¡®Do you believe in any?¡¯


    I thought about her question and tried to remember. But all that came to mind was /that/ woman. She called herself High Priestess Oana, the only woman the Gods would directly speak to. I tried to dig deeper, there was something else. But that something was locked away by Fauzia.


    ¡®No, not really. I don¡¯t know enough about any. What about you?¡¯


    ¡®I believe in the sun. It¡¯s the one energy that gives life and takes life. That¡¯s what we''re taught in the Land of the Children of fire.¡¯


    ¡®It is good to hear you still believe in what you have been taught.¡¯ I gave her a comforting smile.


    She hugged my arm then.


    ¡®I need you to do my nails and my hair. I¡¯ll do yours tomorrow. Deal?¡¯


    ¡®Sure.¡¯ We went into my room. She sat down at the small table by the window. I didn¡¯t have much in my room. A simple bed, a small closet, a small table and two chairs.


    I got a brush, nail polish and an emery board.


    I sat down on the chair next to Sahrina and started with her nails.


    ¡®Do you have your regular customer today?¡¯ I asked, focusing my eyes on doing her nails so I would make no mistake.


    She seemed to be uncomfortable as I asked that question.


    ¡®Yeah.. I do.¡¯This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡®I didn¡¯t ask the last time because I didn¡¯t want to force you into telling me but.. is he the one who gave you the black eye?¡¯ The words were spoken carefully by me, but I thought she might feel better if she was able to speak about it.


    She tensed up.


    Crap. Maybe it was a bad idea to ask.


    ¡®He did that, yes. That bastard.¡¯


    ¡®You really don¡¯t like him do you?¡¯ Of course she wouldn¡¯t. Who in their sane mind likes someone who beats them?


    ¡®I despise him. The last time he was here, I saw a picture of two young girls and a woman in his wallet. That man is married. It¡¯s nothing unlikely, but to think someone like him has children to look after, it makes me shiver.¡¯


    ¡®You know how they think though don¡¯t you? We are not human to them. They view the women around them as a higher existence than our own. To them we are just three holes. We need to function so they get what they paid for.¡¯


    ¡®The God of the endlessly burning sun says that before its heat every human roasts the same. We are all the same at our core. What is done to us, is unjust.¡¯


    ¡®Deep down we all know that, but there is nothing we can do about it is there? We learned to accept our fate long ago.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s not that Larissa. We don¡¯t try to save ourselves because we are scared. Because we know what they will do to us if we don¡¯t obey. A black eye is the least to worry about then.¡¯


    ¡®You are right. And we¡¯re into this too long. We wouldn¡¯t even survive in the outside world.¡¯


    ¡®How will we die I wonder? It will be a terrible end if we die here. I wouldn¡¯t want to wish it upon myself, nor upon you.¡¯


    ¡®I doubt we will die here. If we come of age they will probably dumb us.¡¯


    ¡®Oh, I don¡¯t think we are going to live to be very old¡­¡¯


    She said that with a seriousness that sent shivers down my spine. Was this how it is going to be? What about Fauzia then? Larissa had no life, but Fauzia had a life ahead of her, a proper life. How can she live it if Larissa died? That can''t be allowed.


    ¡®Well, I for once do want to become old, and I want you to become old too. Let¡¯s agree to live together as old and ugly hags once our time has come, alright?¡± I laughed, trying to cheer her up, trying to cheer myself up too.


    She giggled a little. She wasn¡¯t convinced, but I was glad to have said it anyway.


    ¡®Thank you for helping me with my nails and my hair, Larissa, but I have to get going now.¡¯


    ¡®Oh, already?¡¯ I checked the clock and realised it was still early.


    ¡®Yeah, he has a day off today, he always comes in in the afternoons when he has a day off.¡¯


    ¡®And his family?¡¯


    ¡®I have no idea. They should feel honoured that a brute like him isn¡¯t home. Who knows what he¡¯d do to them if he was home.¡¯ She shrugged and left the room.


    I felt sadness overcome me when she left. I didn¡¯t want to let her go, I didn¡¯t want her to be with that man. I didn¡¯t know the full extent of what he did to her, but what she told me about, along with the black eye, was enough to be worried about.


    Most were still sleeping or out shopping, or getting ready. If I went to peek into her room, no one would notice. And likely, the door wouldn¡¯t be completely shut. Many girls left the door open so they could be heard when they were calling for help in case a customer got violent.


    I was about to go outside, her room was next to mine and I stopped behind my door when I saw the tall, elderly man approach her. He didn¡¯t seem kind and for some reason, he didn¡¯t seem to be here for pleasure either. He looked stern and angry, full of frustrations. A man I myself wouldn¡¯t enjoy having as my customer. He went into her room then. They didn¡¯t shut the door, they left it open just slightly. Good for me. I moved out of my own room quietly, leaned the door in and checked my surroundings. I wouldn¡¯t really like being caught peeking into another girl''s room. It wasn¡¯t something to be punished for, but it was a bit embarrassing, especially since they wouldn¡¯t understand my reasons. I was as quiet as I could as I stood by the door and used my eyes to look inside.


    I was a bit confused because none of them made any physical contact with each other yet, they also both still wore their clothes. Maybe he just needed more time to get into the mood? I decided to wait until either of them would get out of their clothes, but they never did. I was frozen in place when I saw him clench his fist. Being such a tall man, naturally his hands and fists were strong too. I couldn¡¯t look away. Why would he clench his fist? When he came here for pleasure? I knew the answer, but I didn¡¯t want to believe it was true. He raised his fist then and punched Sahrina straight into her face. I wanted to scream, yell at him to stop, but no sound came out. Should I call for help? Was he even allowed to do this to the girls?! I wanted to act, but I also couldn¡¯t look away. Because he wasn¡¯t done yet. He clenched his other fist then, and that fist too, went straight into her face. She was about to fall, but he grabbed her by her hair and held her in place. He then punched her face. Again. And again. And again. Blood was splattering from her mouth and nose, she was gasping. He let go of her then and she just slumped onto the bed. He leaned over her and began to punch her belly. Oh no! That must hurt really bad! STOP IT! STOP IT! I thought again and again, but thoughts were all that I was able to emit. I couldn¡¯t move or act. And it was so wrong! Why did I just watch him beat her like this? She gasped and panted. She couldn¡¯t fight any of his attacks.


    BY THE GODS. STOP THIS CRUELTY!


    It wasn¡¯t happening to me, but it was like the exact pain she felt was felt by me. I was sobbing. I was helpless. What could I do? If I did anything, the same or maybe worse would happen to me! I AM USELESS!


    He didn¡¯t stop. He punched away at her chest. There were cracks. He definitely broke some ribs there.


    ¡®Ahh..¡¯ I held my hand out slightly. My body was moving on its own, I wanted to save her, but I knew I couldn¡¯t. I had no choice but to watch him batter her like a mad man.


    ¡®Please¡­¡¯ I whispered.


    I shouldn¡¯t whisper- I should be screaming. I shouldn¡¯t allow this injustice. It wasn¡¯t Larissa who told me this, it was Fauzia. She was raging inside of me. She was telling me to do something about this. Her blaming me for not doing anything just made it worse on me. And all I did was disappear into my own room, shutting the door.


    I sat on the bed and tried to cover my ears. But it didn¡¯t help at all. I still heard her screaming in agony.


    ¡®Please stop.¡¯


    ¡®Please stop.¡¯


    ¡®Please stop!¡¯


    I begged again and again, but who did I beg to?!


    This whole thing was going on for about an hour, I knew it did because I checked the clock.


    I felt relief when everything went quiet. She was no longer screaming. He stood up, I heard the door being shoved open, I heard him stepping away. When I was sure he was far enough away, I looked at the man once again, now his back was facing me.


    It wasn¡¯t my first time meeting a violent man or woman, but this one, especially, shocked me. I¡¯ve never seen anything like this done to the girls, nor has it ever happened to me. I also couldn¡¯t believe no one came to help her. Her screaming was loud enough, many must have heard.


    I tried to see more of him, I checked everything about him. And at last, I saw something hanging out from his pocket.


    The badge of a soldier.


    I tried to see the name on it. Since it was difficult, I grabbed the glasses from my own pocket. Finally, I was able to read it.


    ¡®High Officer The Blue Joe.¡¯


    Officer? He worked for the state? And he did something so vile?


    Hahahaha.


    I see.


    So if the world was like this, then there was no hope whatsoever.


    Sahrina was right. I was a fool. We won¡¯t live to be old. We will die here. Maybe we will be punched to death, maybe we will be raped to death.


    I laughed at the realization.


    ¡®Did you hear that Fauzia? You won¡¯t ever be able to meet your parents, or your brother again. And you won¡¯t ever be able to meet your prince and get married either.


    Brace yourself. The coming years will be hell for you!¡¯


    It was all too funny to be sad about.

 Twisted

    As I stood by the door to my home, about to open it, I looked at my bloodied fist. I grabbed a small towel and wiped it clean. Everything that happened at the brothel, had no place here.


    I entered our sacred home, and saw my youngest daughter, Venelia, run towards me. She jumped into my arms and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back, taking in the scent of her soft hair. My wife came out of the kitchen, wearing her apron. She was an elderly woman with a wrinkled face. And unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t attractive anymore. When I met her in my youth, she was beautiful, she had many admirers. But she only saw me, and I was able to get married to her and make these two beautiful girls.


    ¡®Oh father? You¡¯re home?¡¯ My older daughter Natalia greeted me. She wasn¡¯t cuddly like my youngest, but I blamed her age on that. And if I was to be honest, I didn¡¯t need these cuddles. I just returned them when my daughter gave them to me because it seemed normal. But personally, I would never hug her, or anyone in this home. What is the point? Did they change anything? Did they earn us money? Food to eat? Water to drink? It was all pointless to me, and sometimes, bothersome. Which is why I tried to spend as little time as possible at home. I wondered what I would do if I had another chance to live my life, would I get married? Would I have children? Probably not. I just did it, because it was expected of me and because it was normal.


    Oftentimes, I felt like a tool, only existing to function. I had a clear purpose here, the purpose of the provider, the protector. My role was clear. I didn¡¯t really enjoy the role. It was too dull. Too normal, too boring. This is why I loved my job above everything. Our country, we Dominus Generi, they were the most important to me, even more important than this family and this home. But more than the job¡­. I looked at my fist and clenched it when no one was looking, everyone was going into the kitchen, ready to eat. There was something else I enjoyed.. it was probably dark and twisted to most, but to me, it was the highest form of excitement. To see a woman beaten and broken by my hand. A small smile formed on my lips as I remembered what I just did to that useless harlot. I enjoyed how the blood splattered from her, how she was completely defenseless and how she was crying and screaming. I had to stop at some point, otherwise she would be broken and broken she would be completely useless to me. I favoured her, and I wanted to abuse her again and again. I felt something between my legs twitch as I relived what I did sometime ago.


    Damn. I would prefer going into my room to take care of it, but they wanted to have dinner with me now. I guess I have no choice but to sit with them and pretend. The pain between my legs would be annoying though. I sat at the table and I ate with them. They talked and laughed, but I didn''t participate in the conversation. I only had that thing in mind. I didn¡¯t even want to talk to them, everything they said was just boring to me. I didn¡¯t care how my children scored in school or what my wife was planning to cook tomorrow. It was a boring life I didn¡¯t even want to live. I would prefer to have someone to beat up everyday. My wife? I couldn¡¯t do it to her.. I would risk everything about my existence if I did. And I know the hag wouldn¡¯t spare a minute to go and call the officers if I laid a hand on her. If only she was more obedient, I would beat her up everyday. But on the other hand, there would be no fun in it nowadays. She was old and ugly, she even lost bladder control  after giving birth to our youngest daughter. She often smelled of piss and I had no interest in touching her anymore. Even if she tried to seduce me, I was just disgusted by her. It was more fun to batter up a beautiful young flower like Sahrina. I damaged her face, it regenerated, and then I damaged it again. Over and over. Ah damn, how I would love to have her here in my home. As a wife, a mistress, a slave. I could afford to buy her, I had enough money, but my wife would forever be nagging about it. How stupid was that? If we had a slave like that, my wife could relax more. I crossed my arms as I thought about that. I was done eating already and I drank some red wine. I thought that I should probably buy Sahrina at some point. My family will just have to accept my decision in that case. It was annoying enough that I had to hold back on many things just because of them.


    ¡®Dear are you working tomorrow?¡¯ My wife asked, forcing me out of my thoughts.


    ¡®Yes. Morning shift.¡¯


    ¡®Alright, I will prepare food for you then.¡¯


    ¡®Thank you. I will rest now. ¡®


    I stood up and went into my room. When I closed the door, I felt comfortable in the privacy of my room. Unfortunately, with as huge as my house was, the house I bought, my room was the only place I felt private in. Luckily, I no longer shared a room with my wife. I didn¡¯t want to sleep next to her anymore and years ago I told her our sleeping pattern was way too different and I needed my sleep to be good at work, so it was easy to convince her to sleep in separate rooms.


    I sighed and sat down onto my bed. I thought about what I did once more. I relived every moment of it. My strong fists gave her so many good punches. She was shivering below me. Oh yes. It made me harder than I already was. I couldn¡¯t hold it back anymore. I took out my hard member and began to pleasure myself. I didn¡¯t think about sexual intercourse, all I could think about was beating up a defenseless Sahrina.


    I want her. I want that bitch, that dirty pleasure toy. I want her here in our home. As our personal slave and play thing.


    I came hard and long and I had no choice but to lay down and relax. I was panting heavily. It felt so good, so much better than any of the sexual intercourse I¡¯ve ever had. Nothing could match this pleasure.


    Not even that one time¡­


    I closed my eyes and remembered something from my youth.


    //Flashback//This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡®THE VILLAGE IS OURS!¡¯ My comrade Roy Rigg yelled. We were still very young then. Back then,  Independent villages still existed, and they dared to rebel against our great empire. We tried to convince them for many years to give in and obey us, but they didn¡¯t listen. They just continued rebelling. They attacked us and our citizens, many people died at their hands. One day, our great Preseas couldn¡¯t handle it anymore, many people we cared about were lost. He was angry and he wanted to put an end to the rebellion. Our unit was sent to the village and our order was clear.


    KILL EVERYONE.


    Woman. Children. Elderly, no one would be spared.


    And so we did.


    Hell, was it fun to kill the scum. I took revenge just as my comrades did. Our friends and family members were killed by them, they only got what they deserved. I was covered in blood back then, and I loved it. It was like a trophy, we were going to be celebrated as heroes for killing the enemy.


    Everyone seemed to be dead, but we were still checking the homes to see if anyone survived. Even a single of those rats wouldn¡¯t be spared. Because no matter how weak, small or alone these rats were, they would still try and overthrow our great empire.


    I stepped into a burned down home and heard a faint whimpering. I couldn¡¯t see anything until I moved broken chairs and bits of wood out of the way. Someone was lying on the floor. The voice was clearly female, but I couldn¡¯t be sure until I stepped closer. There I saw her, a young girl with beautiful blonde hair. She couldn¡¯t be older than 16, she still had a very young baby kind of face. Her clothes were ripped. I was able to see her butt cheeks and bits of her chest as she desperately tried to move up.


    ¡®PISS OFF! YOU SCUM! WE WILL NEVER BOW TO YOU!¡¯ She yelled at me, using the little strength she had left.


    I chuckled to myself.


    So broken and yet so rude.


    Wasn¡¯t that amusing?


    ¡®You know, I could kill you with a single blow of my sword. Then your words mean nothing. Why don¡¯t you accept your position?¡¯


    ¡®And what if I did? As if you would spare me. You already killed everyone. Sucks if people oppose you, huh?¡¯


    ¡®Do you oppose me right now, girl?¡¯


    ¡® I will always oppose you, even in death.¡¯


    Funny. It seemed like a challenge. But what could she do? I only needed to move up my sword, she would be done in a single blow. But for some reason, I didn¡¯t kill her as quickly as I killed everyone else in this village.


    I looked her over once more. Miraculously she managed to stand. She held a knife pointed in my direction.


    Funny.


    ¡®Do you intend to fight me?¡¯


    ¡®Yes I do. I will stay alive as long as possible. I might even be able to escape, you know?¡¯


    ¡®Hmph. Do you think so?¡¯


    ¡®Tch!¡¯ As I moved closer to her, she jumped closer to me as well, but there was still a small distance between us. She was shaking, and I could hear her heartbeat. She was trying to act so tough, but she was weak and scared.


    Interesting.


    ¡®I can suggest something. I¡¯ll let you escape if you do me a favour.¡¯


    ¡®You people never keep your promises. I don¡¯t trust you, no matter the offer!¡¯


    ¡®Oh in that case.¡¯ I slammed the back of my sword against her wrist, making the knife she held fall from her grip.


    She jumped backwards and glared at me. Her dress moved down more as she jumped and I was able to see her juicy pink nipple now.


    ¡®I was going to say, sleep with me and I¡¯ll let you go.¡¯ I offered, looking her over. I had to lick my lips, she was just too juicy.


    ¡®What did you say? I never would! You people disgust me!¡¯ She yelled, but she didn¡¯t seem to mean it.


    ¡®I think you want to survive, girl. Come on. It is not going to be so bad. It is just going to be one time.¡¯ I didn¡¯t hold anything back, I just moved my hand over her exposed breast and kneaded it.


    ¡®Tch!¡¯ She glared at me, but she didn¡¯t fight my touch. Her legs were shaking.


    I wasn¡¯t as excited about her exposed breast. That was hot too, but most of all, her fear and helplessness made me horny.


    ¡®Come onn, you want it to, why else would you leave your breast exposed to me like that?¡¯ I whispered into her ear and moved her around, pressing her against the wall. Her dress from behind was ripped apart enough. I was easily able to find her entrance and without warning I pressed myself into her.


    Ah yes. So warm and soft. I thrusted into her without care. I took her in a much rougher way than I ever took my wife or any other woman I had. Oh yes, this was it. I was doing this and I knew I would get away with it. This was the greatest pleasure I felt at that time. But I didn¡¯t stop there, I wanted to do much more.


    ¡®Do you want to escape? Do you accept my offer?¡¯


    ¡®Ugh..! N-no way! I didn¡¯t even allow you to do this! You just forced me!¡¯ She continued to glare at me, but she didn¡¯t do anything. Why didn¡¯t she fight? It wouldn¡¯t be possible for her I think. She was a weak girl.


    ¡®And as you do nothing to fight back, you accepted me doing this to you, which means, our deal exists. I ask you again.


    Do you want to escape?¡¯


    ¡®Shut up!¡¯


    I grabbed her by her hair then and slammed her head into the wall.


    ¡®Do you want to escape?¡¯


    ¡®LEAVE ME ALONE!¡¯


    I slammed her head into the wall again.


    ¡®Do you want to escape?¡¯


    ¡®STOP IT!¡¯


    Again.


    ¡®Do you want to escape?¡¯


    ¡®Bastard!¡¯


    Again. Blood started splattering from her head.


    ¡®Do you want to escape?¡¯


    She just whimpered then.


    Again. I heard a crack, more blood splattered from her head.


    ¡®Do you want to escape?


    She made no sound.


    I smashed her head into the wall one more time, some more blood splattered out. The girl was motionless.


    Ah, so in the end, I guess she didn¡¯t really want to escape?


    As I finished inside of her, I let her slump onto the floor, her bloody mess of a face looking at me.


    I pulled up my trousers, picked up my sword and left.


    I would always remember this and pleasure myself over it for the years to come.


    //Flashback end//


    After having rested for a few minutes, I opened my eyes. I put my clothing back into place and stood up. I took my shirt off then, clenched my fists, breathed out and started punching away at the punching bag in my room.


    Fuck that bitch.


    Fuck my damn daughters.


    Their existence is what keeps me from living life the way I want.


    If only I could punch them like I punch this thing.

 Sonus Libertatus

    We¡¯ve been imprisoned for 24 hours. It wasn¡¯t much, but enough to be annoying. We¡¯ve been imprisoned for longer before, but nevertheless, we didn¡¯t ever care. It was most important to wake the population up and to convey the truth. Only if we were enough could we ever hope to change the world. I was at home already, my eyes were swollen like crazy and my entire body hurt. That strange soldier, Dawood I think it was? Yeah, he wasn¡¯t at fault for my injuries, it was the other old bastard. Makes me wonder what¡¯s wrong with that Dawood guy. Judging by his name and appearance, he is an immigrant, though he speaks our language well. What was a guy like him doing in the army? He was the typical asslicker who was just going to be used. He would die a pitiful death for a nation without moral standards.


    ¡®There you are.¡¯ Molo came inside to greet me. I was glad she wasn¡¯t as battered up as I was. We all agreed that we will accept whatever it is to change the world, but I hated to think she would get beaten when I wouldn¡¯t be there to protect her. She was such a beautiful, intelligent woman with a very positive spirit. When I first met her, I knew she would change the world together with me. I would never let go of this gem. And I¡¯d protect her no matter what.


    ¡®Here I am.¡¯ I took her face into my hands and gave her lips a gentle kiss. Her lips tasted sweet and pure, the taste was a reflection of her personality, of her noble moral standards and her empathic nature.


    ¡®So, we survived yet again huh?¡¯ She grinned, her short blonde hair was dancing as she moved away. She was happy, even after all this. She didn¡¯t care as much about herself as she cared about the missing children, she was selfless, perhaps one could say she was way too pure to live in a world as dirty as this one.


    ¡®We did. And we won¡¯t die until we change this damn world. And of course, until we free the poor souls, the children.¡¯


    ¡®Our most important task is saving the children.¡¯


    I nodded in agreement. Just then, two of our main members came through the door. They¡¯ve been freed from their imprisonment too. One was a tall thin guy with short blonde hair and green eyes, he wore glasses and was very intelligent looking. He was a great speaker, before he joined our group, he worked as a journalist. He didn¡¯t survive as one long though, because he spoke the truth too much and no media ever liked this. His name was Reconcinno. His face was as much battered up as mine was, we couldn¡¯t do anything but grin at each other as we realized just how similar our injuries were.


    The second person to enter the room was Jai-Jai. She was a proud and confident woman, never scared to speak her mind. Before she joined our group, she ran her own business. Much of the money she made was stolen by our damned leaders though, which is why she too, decided to become a rebel. She had soft shoulder long hair that was of silver colour. Her eyes were a deep blue. I was glad that she hasn¡¯t been beaten up as much as us men either.


    ¡®And we seem to agree with that too, and once we¡¯ve saved them, we will continue on.¡¯ Jai-Jai agreed as she lit a cigarette.


    ¡®The exposition of the inner earth.¡¯ Roconcinno added.


    ¡®Indeed. That is where we will discover the truth of everything. The mystery of our creation and our purpose lies there.¡¯I said.


    Some years ago, a soldier got lost in the desert. It was hot and he had no way to contact any of his comrades. He kept on walking. He lost all hope of survival, there was no water and he was exposed to the sun. He was about to collapse, but his will to survive was too great, so he kept going. He realized that the desert seemed to fade and that he seemed to move into another dimension. When he entered that  to human''s foreign place, he was met by beings that were different from our kind. They were tall, they seemed to never age, everything about them was beautiful, pure and positive. They lived in a realm without poverty and war. They acted very hospitable to the soldier, in fact in his book he described them as the most generous and kindest beings he has ever met and he said that no human kindness could match theirs. His book is not available to everyone anymore. When I was young, I was able to find it in my fathers study. Nowadays however, his book has been banned in our country, in some foreign countries, like the countries ruled by the richest King of the World, the book is still available. When the leaders found out we had that book at home, they broke into our house, took my father and burned every book he ever possessed. I didn¡¯t see my father ever again. I don¡¯t know if he is alive. If he is, then he would be about 80 years of age now. And that was my first awakening. When I first read the book, I thought it was just a story. And even my father said, that it is believed, the soldier was hallucinating because he was at a loss of water and the sun made his mind spin around, causing him to see unrealistic scenarios. After all, he was never found in a foreign realm but collapsed in the sand of the desert. He was on the verge of death when he was found. For many, it was easy to believe what he saw were just hallucinations. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    However, as I grew older and spoke to more people, I was able to connect more of the dots together. Our damned leaders hide so much from us, they don¡¯t want us to know the truth, because all they want for us is to act as their slaves and think our existence is meaningless. They don¡¯t want us to believe in any Gods, because that would give us hope and allow us to believe we are meant to be more than just their slaves. I was sure, what the soldier saw in that foreign realm that day, was the realm of the Gods. The one people learned of before the Dominus Generis invaded and enslaved much of the world.


    ¡®Before we can do any of that, we will need more people though.¡¯ Molo said.


    ¡®We do yes, because that place is protected too well by soldiers and guards.¡¯  Ever since the soldier published his story about having found himself in a foreign realm, that exact place in the desert where he got lost is protected by soldiers 24/7. If someone is seen in that part of the desert without permission, he will be shot. It happened to two people already.


    ¡®We have about 780 followers now.¡¯ Reconcinno added.


    ¡®Still not enough for a full on revolution though.¡¯ I replied.


    ¡®Which is why we need to wake up the population first. They need to stop working for the Dominus Generi.¡¯ Jai-Jai said.


    ¡®We need to give them proof of what we say. We need to show them where the missing children go. We need to bring them this woman.¡¯


    This woman was no other than sorceress Oana Nikita. Very little was known about the past of the woman, but rumours say she¡¯d been alive for over 700 years. Other sources claim she is an ordinary woman without any connection to magic who makes a living by working in the red light district. Though she was not the kind of woman to sell her own body, no she was the kind of devil who picked up young girls and women from the street in their darkest moments and then sold them. She was evil and heartless. According to reports from victims who were able to escape the red light district, they all said they were kidnapped by Oana as children and forced to undergo a mind control program, which forced them to lose all of their memories and past connections. Some of them said, this was done using magic, some of them said she just used tactics like electric torture, sleep and food deprivation and extreme psychological torture, which none of them spoke about in detail. It was a shame, because if we had more detail, we would be able to discover if she was using magic or if she was just a human.


    ¡®None of the victims are ready to talk in public yet.¡¯ Jai-Jai said.


    ¡®The hell! We need their testimonies!¡¯ I yelled. I couldn¡¯t stand this! Why would they continue to keep quiet about all of this? THIS WAS NOT THE WAY TO GO! The public needed to hear what was really going on in this world! Everyone was easily distracted. By work, by cheap entertainment, no one knew how many people and children were suffering in this world! How would it all change if those who went through the actual torture keep quiet?


    ¡®Consider their feelings. It is likely that talking about their experience will re-traumatize them.¡¯ Reconcinno tried to calm me down, but it was too late for that. I couldn¡¯t care about it, knowing there were still children who needed to be saved.


    ¡®These are selfish reasons by the victims. They need to talk and let others know. How can they care so much about themselves knowing there are still children who are suffering just as they did? That doesn¡¯t go into my head.¡¯ Molo, just as most times, agreed with me. Hah. This was the woman I loved, we were always on the same wavelength. It was sometimes shocking to see just how alike we thought.


    ¡®Well now, now. We might not be able to get the victims talking. Remember, we can¡¯t force anyone, but we might be able to get to the core of this in another way.¡¯ Reconcinno said as he slammed pieces of paper onto the table. A map and some pictures of locations I¡¯ve not seen before.


    ¡®What¡¯s that?¡¯ I asked as I looked through the papers.


    ¡®I had a spy  find out Oana¡¯s current location. We need to be quick if we want to catch her, since she never stays at one place for long.¡¯ Reconcinno replied.


    ¡®Oh? Good job. Let¡¯s go as soon as we can then. Let¡¯s not waste any more time. If we bring an end to that bitch, we will save many of the children.¡¯ Molo clenched her fist. She was fired up and her determined eyes were burning. I felt that fire in her, and it caused my own fire to burn.


    ¡®We won¡¯t wait, we don¡¯t have time for that. If the population of the country remains stupid and unwilling to learn, then we need to give them proof. And if the victims decide to work against us, then that¡¯s as much as I will care.¡¯ I nodded to Molo, then to Reconcinno and Jai-Jai.


    ¡®We¡¯d best head out right away then.¡¯ Reconcinno nodded back.


    We grabbed our equipment and some protective jackets. Our equipment was by no means on par with that of any soldiers, but we had what we could afford to defend ourselves.


    This was our mission and all of us knew, we won¡¯t stop until it¡¯s complete. Always knowing we might die, but always going forward anyway. That was the boldness and spirit of our movement. The ¡®Sonus libertatus¡¯ movement.

 The Wedding

    Today was the day they would bring terror and horror to the population. It was a wedding, something that would inspire happiness in anyone. Family, friends, they were all there. Music was playing, everyone was happy. All of this would soon come to an end. Such happiness could not be tolerated, because it violated our ideals. I looked down at the dancing crowd. I thought they looked ridiculous. What were they so happy about? How could they be so happy in such a terrible world? Losers. They deserve to die, because they don''t want to face the reality of this world. Scum like this doesn''t deserve to live anymore. They made me so much angrier than I already was. I grit my teeth and clenched my fist. Everyone here was ignorant. I couldn¡¯t wait to see them all torn apart.


    I looked sideways and saw one of our men give me the opening sign. I turned around swiftly and held out my sword. I closed my eyes and gathered the magical energy that filled the air. My sword vibrated as it sucked in the strength of the magical energy, it became heavier but I had no trouble holding it. The glow was massive, the people at the wedding could no longer ignore the radiance. They seemed to wonder, they seemed to be confused. The music stopped and so did their dancing. Did they fear this light? Or did they think this was something divine that would bless their petty wedding ceremony? Well, whatever it was they thought, their answer would be given within seconds. I smashed my sword into their direction, the light now fell upon them and within seconds eradicated them without mercy. Their blood and guts was splattering all over the place. There were those who survived and tried to run away, but even they were slashed down by my comrades who jumped into the mixture of wedding guests and attacked them with their swords. It was a cruel massacre. If I weren¡¯t already so used to this misery, I would be horrified by the screams and cries of the people. But I was already at the point where I didn¡¯t care much. My goal was the only thing that mattered.


    I leaped down into the mass of people, I landed on my two feet and slashed down anything that moved. The ground was covered in red, the blood was flowing, there did not seem to be an end to the river of red. I wondered, would it make sense to gather more magic and send another blast into the masses to get rid of them? When I looked around I realised that my comrades were too close to the guests, they¡¯d get eradicated too if I went that way. Hmph, fine then this will be done the old way. Not that I mind. It was rather refreshing to fight physically like this. Though, it would be even more fun if the opponents could actually defend themselves.


    I slashed.


    And slashed.


    And slashed.


    It was like a job I carried out. It actually was a job, I was getting paid for this, I was able to fill my stomach by doing this. But this wasn¡¯t what I was after, if it was money I wanted then I could have done any other job. It was the information about my sister I desired. And yet, I felt relief killing all these people. How could they be so careless? Celebrating a wedding when people like my sister were gone without a trace.


    FUCK THEM.


    I thought as I slashed a guest''s skull in half.


    ¡®KEEP IT UP MY HONOURABLE COMRADES! KILL THEM ALL AND SHOW THEM ALATUARION IS THE ONLY TRUE GOD OF MERCY!¡¯ My comrade screamed as he held his bloodied sword up. The other comrades roared, they were enjoying this, they were full of blood lust. They even laughed as they slashed the guest¡¯s apart.


    This went on for about an hour, not longer. The guest¡¯s didn¡¯t have any way to defend themselves, and they were stupid enough to throw this party without any security guards.


    Hmph. So all was done now.


    ¡®Haxamanis.¡¯ I raised an eyebrow as I heard this familiar voice call out to me. Huge breasts were jumping up and down as the redhead rushed towards me. Oh.. really now? This annoying woman again.


    ¡®Hey are you alright?¡¯ She asked as she grabbed my arm. Ugh, did she always have to be this pushy and annoying?


    ¡®I am. Like I¡¯d get injured in a one sided fight like this.¡¯ Was my reply. I hope she realized just how annoyed I was.


    ¡®Great! I was worried about you! But then again, these screams were just the enemies and not yours! I wouldn¡¯t ever forgive myself if you got injured here!¡± She hugged my arm between her large breasts. Ugh. Really now, was this necessary? We were at a battlefield here, I did not need this type of attention!


    ¡®We¡¯re done Haxamanis. Let¡¯s gather all the riches these bastards are hiding here and leave. We send the message we came to send. The newspapers will be full of this.. massacre.¡¯ A comrade of ours smirked. He was quite the sinister fellow. I didn¡¯t know why but for some reason I admired that about him. He didn¡¯t need to act like a hero of some kind, he just acted out on what his true desires were. How could I blame an honest person like him? Too many people try to act good because they consider it the norm and society forces them to act good. This causes pressure and frustration in many people and those who are forced to suppress their true desires most of the time end up maddened.


    We worked on gathering all the riches, though I didn¡¯t care about any of them. What did all this mean if my sister was still separated from me? My head hurt as I thought about it.


    ¡®Hey look Haxamanis, isn¡¯t this a pretty necklace? If only I had a husband who¡¯d give me such expensive gifts, then I wouldn¡¯t need to worry about anything in life.¡¯ There was her blabbering again. She was the healer of our organisation, Medina. An orphaned girl from a village in the East that was completely eradicated by the Dominus Generis. She was cheerful and goofy, but I often wondered if there was more she hid behind her facade. There might be more to her, but I wasn¡¯t a saint or a saviour, I wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with her miseries when my own were eating up at me so much.


    When we finally returned, I felt exhausted. The gathering of so much magical energy always puts a large stretch on my overall well being. I removed my shirt and sat myself down on the bed. Having a bath after this would probably be wise, but I felt like strength to do so was lacking me.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I never cared much.. but this was one of the moments when I wished she was near me¡­ Even though I left her in Pardesia so she would never be involved in any of these cruelties. In my own way, I protected her by keeping her out of my missions. She probably had our child by now. I closed my eyes as I remembered the woman I got married to, Minu. She was known for her beauty, many guys of our village showed an interest in her. But from a young age, she rejected all of them. She was devoted and obedient, a wife anyone would wish for, and yet he felt like he didn¡¯t appreciate her enough. And in the end, he even left her alone. With a child on top of that. The regret over my decision wasn¡¯t as painful as the regret over having lost my sister however, so I was able to deal with this. At least I had an informant who made sure my wife and child received more than half of my monthly payment. I would never forget them, but I also didn¡¯t assure them I¡¯d come back home alive. I just wanted to find my sister and bring her back to safety, anything else didn¡¯t matter as much. If I died, that was fine, because if I died after finding her, then that meant I fulfilled my mission. I wouldn¡¯t ever allow myself to die without finding her though. I swore that to himself.


    I opened his eyes. I did wonder what my child would look like and how many of my aspects it might have inherited. Maybe I can see him or her one day.. funny, I didn¡¯t even know the gender of his child, but that was because I never bothered to write to them. I wanted to avoid doing so, because any contact could be dangerous. If any of my enemies discovered I had a wife and a family, they would be exposed to danger. Minu probably was sad about this, but I couldn¡¯t change how things were.


    ¡®Haxamanis?¡¯ Ugh. This familiar voice again. What did she want here now? Why during such a time of exhaustion and memories returning to me did she of all people have to call out to me?


    ¡®I am coming in okay?¡¯ Well, it¡¯s not like she would have asked anyway, and it¡¯s not like if I said no she would stay outside either.


    She stormed into the room with her usual cheerful attitude.


    ¡®WOOOHOOO Haxamanis! Soo! I thought you might be exhausted! I made you a meal! And! I thought maybe you want to take a bath? If you want to, then I brought everything to make your bathing experience the best in years!¡¯ She declared cheerfully.


    ¡®...¡¯ I looked at the food from the corner of my eye. It smelled nice. And I was hungry after all this.


    ¡®Oh? Did your stomach just growl Haxamanis? Now that¡¯s cute! Wouldn¡¯t expect that from a handsome lad like you!¡¯ She held her stomach and laughed.


    How stupid.


    How was this funny at all? Some people and their strange sense of humour. I frowned and began to eat the food. It tasted surprisingly good. Wouldn¡¯t have expected such high level cooking from an airhead like her.


    ¡®You seem to like it!¡¯ She watched me eat. This was most uncomfortable. I didn¡¯t need anyone to monitor my eating. If only she could leave my room. But then again, it would be rude to tell her to leave after she went out of her way to make this food for me. She had many duties, and I wasn¡¯t the only warrior she had to take care of. There were others who were injured and needed healing. She was probably exhausted too and in need of rest.


    ¡®Thank you for the food, it was delicious.¡¯ I said after I ate up.


    ¡®Heh! For sure it was delicious! I spent about two hours cooking this for you!¡¯ She smiled proudly.


    Oh? So she really did spend a lot of time making this.


    ¡®So now then, how about taking a bath?¡¯ She seemed excited asking that, in an almost creepy way.


    ¡®No I¡¯m fine. I think I¡¯ll be able to go for it by myself. How about you go and take some rest yourself? To me, you look pretty exhausted.¡¯ I got up and walked towards the bathroom.


    Though, something was weird. It¡¯s like I couldn¡¯t feel my feet properly. Why was¡­ What was..?


    Before I realised it, I stumbled over.


    ¡®Haxamanis watch it!¡¯


    ¡­¡­.


    I looked at the annoying woman in front of me. So.. I didn¡¯t hit the ground did I? No.. Actually, this airhead held me. She used her own body to support my weight. It was clear how difficult it was for her. She was sweating.


    Was there even a limit to how stupid she was?


    ¡®Look Haxamanis? You aren¡¯t strong enough to take a bath on your own. Don¡¯t be so stubborn. Just take my offer will you? Besides, you¡¯re heavy! I can¡¯t keep holding you forever!¡¯


    ¡®And I never asked you to hold me, consider your own health a little more. It¡¯s not like I would have died if I hit the floor.¡¯ I allowed myself to slide down onto the floor, so my weight would be lifted from her. I heard her release a sigh of relief.


    ¡®Ugh, you sure are heavy. But that¡¯s to be expected from a man so muscular and hot!¡¯ She squeaked. This was somewhat uncomfortable. And the last thing I¡¯d want to hear.


    ¡®I swear, you¡¯re pretty hot! If I was your wife, I wouldn¡¯t leave you alone, not even for a single night!¡¯ She stared at my exposed chest.


    ¡®How about we both just go to bed and leave the bathing for tomorrow?¡¯ I asked, actually it was more a demand than a question.


    ¡®Huh? So I¡¯m not getting to wash your abs?!¡¯


    ¡®No, you won¡¯t.¡¯ Sigh, she made me frown again. If only she would shut up and leave already.


    ¡®That¡¯s a shame. But I¡¯ll just give in. Let me help you back into your bed then at least. I wouldn¡¯t want you to lose your feet again.¡¯ She smiled and helped me up. I accepted her support and murmured a thank you. She placed me into my bed and put the sheets over me.


    ¡®Good night Haxamanis. Make sure you get plenty of rest. We don¡¯t know how tough our next mission will be.¡¯


    With these words, she finally left.


    It was strange, just a moment ago I was crazily annoyed by her presence here. But just after she left, I felt like the silence was going to kill me.


    Was it because she reminded me of someone? Something? The warmth of a family maybe? The family I was welcomed into after I lost my own?


    Dawood?


    Sanaaz?


    Lapis?


    When I closed my eyes, I saw their happy faces in front of me. Memories from my childhood flashed through my mind.


    Those were the happier days in my life after having lost my family. After I lost everything, I never thought that I¡¯d be able to be happy again. But then our kind neighbour Rhoozbeh Saidi took me in and I had a big family again. Siblings and cousins. We weren¡¯t related by blood, but it didn¡¯t change anything about our deep connection and bonds.


    If I was to be honest, I¡¯d admit to missing these carefree days. But like everything in life, these days weren¡¯t going to last forever. That was an undeniable fact from the start.


    I saw many scenes that happened sometime in the distant past before my eyes.. Warmth, smiles.. peacefulness.


    These were things I had lost when Dawood, Sanaaz and Lapis left. When they left, it was like I experienced the death of my parents and disappearance of my sister all over again. I wondered, was I ever going to be happy? Was I not allowed to be happy? Was this to be my fate from when I was born?


    Laughable.


    I wasn¡¯t even worth happiness.


    Hahahaha!


    I really couldn¡¯t do anything but laugh to myself about this.


    Everyone was gone. No one cared.


    Medina was the only one who cared.


    She was an airhead.. but she cared.


    Never mind. This was never about me to begin with. This is about finding my sister. I committed the greatest sin by not being able to protect her. Now I have to deal with the consequences of my failure. Everything is my punishment. And I deserve all of this. There was no need to pity myself.


    I finally drifted off into a sleep. My mind wouldn¡¯t have allowed me to fall asleep with such thoughts.. but my body needed the rest and took it, ignoring the troubles in my mind.


    Sleep was one of the things that helped me escape the devastating reality.