Death, Pain and lots of Heat

"Me?" says the man incredulously.

"Yes, go," says the Anuin while pushing him forward.

The man stumbles forward and is out of the area that the muslin cloth covers. Immediately, he starts screaming in pain, he screams loud and shrill. I look on horrified as he shouts as if he is burning alive. As I turn to look at the others, I spot Yuuta covering his face as he shivers in fear.

"Stop screaming, its not hot enough to burn you. That's a major overreaction," says the Anuin.

Slowly, his screams die down to whimpers as he grits through the pain.

"Touch any stone and repeat what I say," the Anuin continues, uncaring of the man's plight.

He reaches out a shaky hand and touches the stone nearest to him, "AAAHHHHHH," a cry that reaches the heavens emerges from his widened mouth.

"Repeat this. I so swear, as the sun as my witness, that I will be a servant to the Jarkit family of the Anuin race. I will follow their orders obediently and will never harm them. This vow shall be imprinted on my very heart itself," says the Anuin in a solemn tone.

The man tries to form words but as he opens his mouth, his body collapses on itself and he lays unmoving on the burning hot sands.

The Anuin shakes his head in disappointment, "I forgot to mention, if you don't have the willpower necessary to bear the pain, you will die. The sun won't kill you, the pain will."

I stare wide eyed, open mouthed at the sight before my eyes, its the first time I have ever seen a death. It is a jarring experience, one that will leave trauma on my psyche. My brain seemed to have shut down as I can do nothing but stand still in shock. The same scene replays in my head, of the man opening his mouth and then like a puppet with its strings cut, falls to the ground, motionless. I hear a pained sob as I slowly turn to face the noise. Its Yuuta, despair is written all over his young face as tears stream down his cheeks.

I rush towards the boy and embrace him in a hug, letting him cry into my chest. I stay in that position for a few minutes, until he finally calms down. As I finally stand up, I can see that the other humans look disheartened and very scared. The Anuin on the other hand have bored expressions, some even show faces of excitement. It feels like my entire being is on fire, I see red as I try to control my anger. The Anuins will pay for what they have done, they will pay their debt a hundredfold.

Snorting in amusement, the same Anuin points to a different person and gestures him forward. Not a different person, he points to me. It felt like the eyes of the death god were trained on me as I felt a wave of fear set in, then came the nausea. I was in denial, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine myself someplace else, someplace better. I was pushed out of my imagination by a rough shove.

"Go," he said, annoyed that I had not moved yet.

I forced my disobedient legs to move, a stumble forward and I fell face first into the sand. Hands pulled me off the ground and pushed me out of the muslin cloth's shade.

That was the first time I felt heat so intense that I wanted to end the suffering rather then let it continue. Pain coursed through my veins as I couldn't form actual thoughts. All I could think of was pain, pain and even more pain. It felt like a tsunami that throbbed, stung and burned its way through my body. My mind couldn't handle the acute sensory overlord. The only thing that kept me going was anger, anger at the Anuins, anger at the voice that brought me here and anger at my luck.

"Repeat this and the pain will go away," said a voice as it started spewing out sentences.

I pushed my way through the deluge of pain and slowly, forcefully formed words. It gave me hope, the promise of no pain. As I finished saying the last word, I immediately passed out, falling into the blissful hold of unconsciousness. As I lose consciousness, I feel a slight throbbing above my heart. The feeling quickly fades.

The sight that greets my eyes as I wake up this time is a different one, I no longer am in a grimy dark cell. Multiple bunk beds line the large hall that I wake up in, I lay in one of the beds that is situated near the edges of the room. I close my eyes as I smile in happiness, I survived. I might be a slave of sorts to the Jarkits but I still have life in me and that is one thing to be grateful for. Suddenly I spring to my feet as I remember that Yuuta was with me before I passed out.

"Woah, new guy. You scared me, what are you doing?" says someone as he holds onto my shoulders. The voice belongs to a male Anuin. The giraffe constantly twitches his nose as he speaks, its unsettling to watch. I am on guard because the person who approached me is an Anuin. The giraffe notices my guardedness as he snorts and moves his hands in a calming gesture.

"I am not like the Anuins you have seen before," he says, "I am Sunbound, just like you. More accurately, my name is Jort."

"Sunbound?," I ask in confusion.

"Didn't you touch the Oathstones and swear an oath? Every person who does so is known as Sunbound," he continues.

I snort derisively, " As if a stone can make me follow orders," I say as I laugh.

"Give it a minute, the handlers will be here. At that time, you will know exactly what hole you are trapped in," he sighs in defeat as if he is disappointed that I don't believe him.

I shrug off his words as I begin to question him about Yuuta. Before I could form the question, I hear the deafening tolls of a bell. Two Anuins walk in through the entrance nearest to me, they are huge and it feels like the ground shakes as they walk in synchronization.

"They are the twins," says Jort in a fearful manner.

"WAKE UP SUNBOUND. YOU HAVE A LONG DAY AHEAD OF YOU," they shout in thunderous tandem.

"Be careful of them, any sign of disrespect and you might be killed," whispers Jort as the twins walk out the hall.

The room is silent for a few seconds before suddenly the bustle of people moving and talking pervades the hall. Jort tells me to follow him as we walk out of the hall.