Chapter 3

Taelsa

The air was cold and damp, a thick musty odor clung itself to the walls of the cell. The moss that grew from the cracks in the wall was oddly comforting to the slaves. There were no real beds, only shaggy worn sacks to give rest to the slaves at night. These amenities were all they knew, for the slaves were born here, lived here, then died within the walls of this compound.

It grew exceptionally dark in the winding corridors of the cell blocks, except for the illumination of the flickering torches. Between each cell a torch sconce was bolted to the wall, casting out a fluttering aura of light. Periodically a Human guard would appear out of the darkness just to fade away again moments later.

In a dark corner of one of the many cells, a slave tossed and turned within the sleeping sack. The Slave was muttering and would occasionally lash out at the darkness around him. her cell mates were sound asleep, recovering from a hard day of work. This was just another normal day of life to them.

"Taelsa", a very low echoing voice washed over the thick cool air. "Taelsa" again the voice echoed. The slave laid in her ragged sleeping sack seemingly having a nightmare. The name finally pierced the vale of her dreams causing her to sit bolt straight up, sucking the air in the form of a loud gasp.

Taelsa slowly pushed herself up out of her sleeping sack and stumbled over to the bars of her cell. Rubbing her eyes at the attempt to wake up a bit before proceeding to lean into the bars. She peered out into the dark halls, sweeping her gaze back and forth. She hated her life, hated feeling like a trapped animal, feeling like her only existence was to serve the Humans until she dropped dead, like so many before her.

The Shriven have an ashen color to their skin and were about half the size of a Human. Their skin stretched tightly over bone that can be seen in various portions of their bodies and were completely void of hair. With the feeble amount of food they were allowed to consume on any given day, it's no wonder they were anything but walking skeletons with skin. Their teeth remained sharp and they usually had a couple of tusks jutting up from their bottom jaw. The Humans liked to call them monsters, grotesque twisted little creatures, who'd likely chew through the throat of anyone not paying attention.

Taelsa worked in the library with the old wizard, tending to his needs, cleaning, organizing books, and assisting other Humans that came in to read. She would often gaze out the small circular window to the forests in the north when she found herself during a slow time. The old wizard, whose name was Antorias, treated Taelsa like his own son, he was one of the few Humans to ever be kind to the slave.

A loud smack against the cold steel bars which Taelsa was leaning on, was just the thing that she needed to snap her back to reality. A guard had crept from the shadows laughing, walking away with a sadistic grin stretched across his ugly face. Taelsa hated the Humans, the guards purpose was to keep the slaves in line, yet they all seemed to take great pleasure in torturing the slaves.

Time began to whisk away before Taelsa's eyes as the darkness in the corridors retreated to the light of day. Before she knew it, the others were beginning to awaken too. Another night with minimal sleep, something she had gotten used to over the years. One of the other slaves approached from behind and slipped his arms around her, gingerly kissing the middle of her back.

"Still cannot sleep, my love?" Ryke asked, his soft voice breaking the silence of the morning. Taelsa just shook her head, turned in his grasp and embraced him. He always managed to ease the burdens of the emotions in Taelsa's head. She let him go when she heard the footsteps of Humans approaching towards their cell, the soft scuffle of leather boots on the hard stone floor.

Three men stood before the cell door, as the guard in front waved his hand, the door unlocked and then was pushed open. They poured in and started yelling at the slaves to get moving. The one in charge went straight for Taelsa, stood before her, scowling, "You may be protected in your precious library, but out here? This is my world, and I simply allow you to live in it. You'd do best to remember that, slave, or I might change my mind."

They all turned and walked out towards the other cells to wake the rest of the wing in a similar fashion. Damian, the Lord Commander of the compound, a cruel bastard, always did his best to make Taelsa's life miserable. The history between those two was no secret. The hatred for Damian still burned hot in her veins, for she could never forgive him for what he did twenty years ago.

Magic was used to keep all of the cells locked during the night, so the slaves were unable to break free. The Humans had the ability to harness the Essence that the world provided and use it to create abilities. They called this transformation of Essence, Magic. Every Human had the ability to feel the Essence, not every Human could create Magic to the same level. Taelsa had heard that there were some Humans who could not feel the Essence of the Earth at all, though she had never met one who couldn't.

The Slaves in Taelsa's cell made their way out of their cold damp home and towards their respective workplaces. There they would throw their soiled loin cloths into a bin and dawn fresh ones from another, then begin carrying out their duties. Some slaves would eventually make their way around to all the different job sites collecting the soiled loin and breast cloths to wash, these slaves were often called Scrubs.

After Taelsa had given Ryke her goodbye kiss, she made her way to the library to begin her day of work, compared to the other slaves, her job was easy. She was older than a lot of the others as well and had seen her fair share of work around here. Taelsa worked in the mines for many years before eventually earning a spot in the library. Antorias had needed a replacement for the old slave Taelsa thought as a father.

She entered through the library doors and made her way towards Antorias's desk, the wooden shelves stretched up the walls, nearly touching the ceiling. The old wizard wasn't at his desk, so she spent the next few minutes wandering down various isles of books looking for her master. Nothing. "Taelsa" ... that voice, like in her dreams. Startled, she flipped around, only to find she was still alone save the company of books and dust bunnies.

She then slowly crept around the library looking for anything, to only be drawn to a round window in the wall. "Taelsa" ... again, the voice called to her, this time sounding as if the voice came from the window. She pulled herself up onto the table that rested beneath the window and began scanning the lands that lay beyond the walls of the city.

Taelsa began to feel a warmth worm its way through her body as she stared into the forest, content, as if the forest itself was calling to her. She found herself longing to just reach out and touch the trees, smell the pine pitch in the air, feel the wind all around her. The only things she knew about the forests beyond her reach were things she had learned from conversations held with Antorias. She had never felt the earth beneath her feet, only the hard cold stone of this compound. Never smelled the sweet scent of pitch. It was the smell of shit and sweat, the smell of the guards food, versus that which she was forced to eat. Those smells, she knew well.

The world slowly began fading away all around her, it felt as though the forest was pulling her in. "Taelsa... come to me" that voice echoed through her mind, this time feeling as if it was in her chest. She began to push on the window, she knew what she was doing could result in her losing a hand, yet she found herself unable to stop, then a hand was placed gently on her shoulder.

Taelsa snapped out of her trance and jerked around letting out a loud gasp as she tumbled. He reached for anything to hold herself up, finding nothing but air then fell to the floor. The desk came crashing down as well, scattering the books across the floor. From her back he stared up at the old wizard peering down at him, hands on her hips. his long white beard hung down to his belt. He was a tall man, his scarlet robes flowed gracefully down to his feet.

"Trying to escape I see?" The wizard let out a small chuckle, "come now, on your feet, we've much to do." The old man turned and started walking towards his desk, with agility, unlike normal old men. "Do you require medical attention, Taelsa?" He said, looking back.

"No, master, I'll be fine," she said.

"Good, they probably wouldn't tend to you anyway" The wizard said, and with a light flick of his wrist the torches in the library burst aflame. "Ah, now perhaps you can see where you're going" The wizard let out one last chuckle.

Taelsa began picking up the table and rearranging the books back to where they once were. These were her duties in the library, to clean, organize and tend to the wizards demands. The old man had taught her the basic alphabet, so that she could fetch books for the guards or whomever required one.

✽✽✽

Hours past as she continued out her duties in the library. Taelsa was about half the size of a human so she frequently needed a stool to reach up high. The library was massive and contained thousands upon thousands of books and tomes. From behind Antorias's desk was a large door that always remained locked by some very powerful magic. There was obviously something hidden in there, Taelsa could only assume.

The library had a half moon style design, for it followed the shape out the tower wall. The door in the middle to enter the library was a large arched entryway, with two metal studded wooden doors that swung open. On one end of the library, where the magic door resided, was the area the wizard called his quarters. It was there he conducted all his business.

"Taelsa." The wizard called over to her, as he sat at his desk. "You have been strangely quiet today. Is there something the matter?"

"No, master, I am fine" she said, looking up as she swept the floor.

"I have known you long enough to know when you're lying." Antorias said, as he swirled his mustache.

After a pause, "I have been having these dreams, for a while now." She began to explain to the wizard. She told him of the voice she would hear in the dreams, calling to her. That these dreams felt so real, running through the forests, except only she was human. Then the voice would wake her up, and she was back in her burlap sack.

The wizard stared at her the whole time, seeming to not blink, or even move a muscle. After Taelsa was finished, the wizard remained quiet for a few moments until he finally spoke "would you like to know how your people came to be?" The slave nodded her head. Antorias closed the tome that he had been studying, stood up and went into the back of his quarters and to the forbidden door, as he had called it.

Taelsa could hear him mumble something under his breath, his large pointed ears were more than just for show. The wizard waved his hand before the door and it popped open, granting him passage. He disappeared into the blackness, moments later appearing with a large tome in his hand. The door swung shut behind him, the click of the lock could be heard shortly after.

The wizard flopped the tome on to his desk with a heavy thud and started flipping through the pages. He explained to Taelsa that in these pages was written the history of the world, along with her people. What they came to be and what they were today. "What is it that they call you? The Humans."

"The Shriven." Taelsa replied

"That's right, do you have any clue as to why?" The wizard asked, but got only the shake of Taelsa's head. "Because the souls were ripped from your kind long ago." He explained to her. "The Humans used their dark Magic to enslave your kind thousands of years ago."

Taelsa sat there and listened, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, she drank it all in. The wizard explained to her that his kind was in fact, at one point, Human too. A large group of humans that developed a variation of the magic Humans possessed, defected and retreated from Graeca, the capital that we are in now. They fled deep into the forests to the north in hopes to escape from the tyranny. "They were the first to ever walk away."

These Humans called the practice of their magic, Druidism, it was different than the dark magic for it allowed them to commune with life all around them. The trees, the animals, their magic gave life, whereas the dark magic, twisted life. "These Druids, abandoned the ways of Humanity and decided to go by a different name. The Raekūl." Antorias told Taelsa

"Raekūl..." the slave repeated a couple times, until she got the pronunciation correct. She just sat there, shocked, not knowing what else to say. The entire meaning of her life changed in a matter of minutes, her existence now felt like she had a purpose. She yearned to learn as much as possible now, she needed to know. "Please, tell me more..."

The wizard began again. The Raekūl, over hundreds of years, their druidic lifestyle began to change them. Eventually their skin grew darker, taking on a dark green color. Their teeth began to form much like the way the Shriven's are today. The Raekūl typically grew their hair and beards long and styled it in many different ways. Over time the Humans saw them as monsters and started a war. The Humans were eventually victorious, the Raekūl kingdom was broken and scattered across the north and thousands were taken back at slaves.

The Raekūl who were taken back had their souls ripped from their bodies and were tortured until submission. Over a thousand years of dark magic torture, they became the twisted monsters they are today. Mutation then occurred in the Shriven, the bones in their spines curved, resulting in a hunched over posture, their arms remained long, going beyond the knees, enabling them to run on all fours easily.

"The Raekūl found a way to work with bone, to shape it, to mold it. The smiths found a way to use the druidic magics to temper the bone, making it as strong as metal." Antorias went on to explain that the Raekūl made a lot of their weaponry and armor from this method.

"You were the first Shriven to have ever been born, with a soul." Antorias explained to Taelsa. "They murdered your parents and were going to kill you too, but I pleaded for your life, you were just a baby. The king stepped in and commanded the Lord Commander to spare your life, so long as I rip your soul out myself, and take full responsibility for you."

"I do not know what to say..." Taelsa said, "do my dreams have a connection to all of this? What do they mean?"

"Everything, in this life is connected, my girl." Antorias closed the tome and got up to put it away. Taelsa sat there for a few moments trying to process all the information just thrown at her. There must have been a reason Antorias decided to tell her these things. Taelsa had been having these kind of dreams for a long time now, everything started to all make sense. Men wearing scaled armor, layered in plates that looked to be made of bone, with long slender swords strapped to their hips. Were those men her people?

The forbidden door slammed shut and locked. "I have some errands to run, I shall return." The old wizard said, the confused look on Taelsa's face must have caused Antorias to explain. "I have... someone... to see." With a warm smile he moved past the little slave, his scarlet robes always seemed to flow like water as he walked. How old was this nimbly old man? Every old man that ever came to the library always wore glasses, yet Antorias's sight seemed to still be perfect.

#

A few more hours passed since their conversation, Antorias left to carry out some errands, and Taelsa was still hard at work. Along the wall, Taelsa would periodically refill a guards tankard of ale and return it to the table at which he sat. The men that came to the library were typically more friendly than the rest. She would occasionally catch herself staring out the tower windows as she put away books and swept the floor.

What kind of errands did the old wizard do? He would never tell Taelsa, secret wizard stuff, Taelsa thought. All she could think about now was traveling into the northern forests and bringing her people home. She wanted out of this place, now more than she ever had before.

The sun began to descend past the mountains in the distance a blood red gash ripped at the sky above the treeline. Down the hall Taelsa could hear the scuff of boots, the clink of chain mail rubbing against the metal plates of armor, guards. She sighed as She prepared herself for the worst, who knows what they were up to now.

Three guards appeared in the doorway. The man in front was a couple inches taller than the men who flanked him. He also wore different armor, steel grieves were strapped over his leather boots, steel pauldrons over his shoulders and had a cloak of black and red slung over his shoulders and down his back. Damian. A crooked grin cracked his face as he approached Taelsa. "There you are, you spoiled little shit. Enjoy your play time today?" The Lord Commander mocked. He reached out and grabbed Taelsa by the back of his neck and threw him towards a bookshelf knocking some books to the floor.

Taelsa got back up onto his feet and stumbled trying to get away from Damian, the Lord Commander caught up to him almost instantly and backed him into another bookcase, "where's your friend?." Damian looked around the room, "not so tough now, are you?" He slapped Taelsa across the face and grabbed him by the throat as she was falling then slammed her up against a bookshelf.

"Please, let me go..." Taelsa pleaded as she clutched at the man's hands and kicked his feet.

"Why you, of all the slaves, managed to get a pass and work up here in the library is beyond me." Damian was squeezing harder and harder. Now both hands were around his neck. "After all the shit you've caused." Taelsa could smell the sweetness coming from Damian's breath, clearly Damian took pride in his hygiene, where as some guards couldn't care less. "A lot of good men died because of you."

"That..." Taelsa struggled to breathe, "was a... long time ago." Taelsa coughed and gagged and she pulled at Damian's fingers, kicking ferociously. "It wasn't... my fault..."

"You think the dead care about whose fault it was? You sure as shit don't, you walk around like you own the damn place, protected up here in your precious library." Taelsa's vision began to blur and darken, his strength weakening, she could feel herself beginning to lose consciousness. "You've just merely forgotten your place!" Damian was now yelling. Everything started to fade away, noise, Damian's voice, the thoughts rushing through his head. The screams of those dying during the riot echoed through her head, growing quieter, quieter still.

Taelsa felt his grip loosen from Damian's hands, and Just then, the Lord Commander threw his head back and let out a throaty grunt. Taelsa fell to the floor as Damian gripped at his own throat. The slave flopped around the floor trying to get away, like a fish who had discovered land for the first time, all the while trying to regain his strength.

Damian turned and flew several yards away and smashed into a bookshelf. Wood splintered and books scattered in all directions across the floor. Taelsa could hear Damian gasping for air as he scrambled around trying to find his footing.

Then a familiar voice boomed out across the entire library, "how dare you enter my domain and terrorize this little one! I have grown quite tired of your arrogance." A sudden force of energy screamed through the library knocking Taelsa to his ass, rattle the windows and sent even more books sprawling. Damian was now screaming in pain. The blurriness in Taelsa's vision subsided and she could see the Lord Commander suspended in the air, clutching at his throat. The old man approaching, with one arm extended before herself and with a quick jerk of his free arm, the other two guards flew into the wall in the hallway.

Damian was thrown over the desk and he bowled into another shelf. Antorias through his arms out to the side as he walked to his desk. The air grew cold all around them, his eyes burned like white fire, his scarlet robes snapped as if they were caught in a windstorm. His voice echoed "I am not to be trifled with! You face powers you do not comprehend!" Throwing his arms forward, he lifted the man into the air and floated Damian towards him and threw him out into the hallway as well.

Taelsa scurried sat in the corner staring wide eyed with his mouth hung open, she had never seen the old wizard like this before, let alone even raise his voice. She didn't know Magic could be used like that before. What else can this man do? Antorias approached Taelsa and took a knee in front of him. He reached out a gentle hand, and just like that, he was back to his usual self, "are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm okay..." managing to find her voice.

The wizard helped her to his feet. "You Shriven are tougher than you look" he scanned the library "guess you kind of have to be." he began to pick up the mess he caused. Taelsa fell in beside him to help.

It felt like hours had passed, then Antorias told Taelsa to get back to his cell before more guards come looking for trouble, the next slave shift would be coming around soon. Taelsa thanked the old man for being there for him and scurried away back to his cell.

As darkness befell the kingdom, and the moonlight shown through the cell window, Taelsa sat Ryke down to talk about his day. She told him about what Antorias said about their ancestors, who they were, what had happened to them. She explained that she was finally told the fate of his parents, and why they were killed, that Antorias pleaded for his life to be spared. By this time in the story, the other slaves made their way over, becoming enthralled with what Taelsa was sharing.

"Raekūl." Ryke's soft voice said. The males had larger tusks and larger jaws than the Shriven females. To Taelsa, Ryke was handsome, his skin smooth, his tusks were a nice white color, his smile always found a way to melt Taelsa's problems away. "I like it."

"You speak as if any of this matters." Another voice said, rougher, with a hint of emptiness to it. Drok was another male slave, who lately seemed to combat everything Taelsa said. "What's the point? We're still trapped in here."

"The point, is that there is more to our existence. We're more than just slaves." Taelsa said. "We aren't just meat sacks the Humans can knock around."

"But we are just meat sacks the Humans knock around. What are we gonna do? Say no?" Drok asked. He was young, compared to Taelsa, too young to be this broken. Drok had a point, what could they actually do? Saying no would just result in more beatings. When Taelsa didn't respond to his question, Drok slumped away, plopped down by the bars and looked out into the halls as he ran his fingers across the cold metal.

#

For much of the night Taelsa laid in his itchy brown sleeping sack, staring at the ceiling, his imagination running wild as she thought about his ancestors. Those men, wearing that layered bone plated armor, must have been the warriors. Women. She thought to herself, there were women too, the Humans didn't have any women guards here.

She pushed herself to his feet and walked to the cell bars, clutching the cold metal with his boney fingers. She pressed his forehead against them and closed her eyes, focusing on the slow drip of the water tap. "Don't resist..." a voice pierced the thick cool air.

Her eyes shot open, she scanned the halls and saw only darkness safe the light from flickering torches. She let out a long drawn out sigh, then suddenly four figures seemed to just appear from the abyss. His cage door flung open colliding with Taelsa, sending him sliding across the slick floor. The Guards stormed in, shouting curses, causing the slaves to spring up from their slumber.

Damian was first to rush in, and went directly for Taelsa, picking him up off the floor. The slave thrashed about with his arms and legs, clawing at the guard, managing to cut Damian's cheek letting a drop of blood. The Lord Commander lunged forward and slammed the slave against the wall, "Antorias will pay for what he did, apparently he forgets his place as well."

The guards tried their hand at restraining the other slaves as best they could, all the while trying to avoid getting their fingers bitten off. The tusks protruding from the Shriven's bottom jaw proved to be quite painful if they managed to find their way into flesh.

Ryke broke free and bolted towards Damian, jumping onto his back and trying to dig his fingers into the meat in his neck. The armor prevented his fingers to gain the leverage necessary to penetrate his throat. Damian threw Taelsa, grabbed Ryke's wrists and ran backwards into the cell bars crushing Ryke with his weight.

Taelsa jumped to his feet and charged the Damian but was intercepted by another one of the guards. The guard grabbed him by his face, then flopped him onto his back, briefly taking the wind from his lungs. The sweet taste of blood filled Taelsa's maw as she bit into the guard's hand, ripping into the flesh.

The guard let out a scream and jumped to his feet as he retreated backwards. The other guards immediately attacked Taelsa, jumping on him, pinning him to the floor. The other Shriven cowered in the corner, terrified of what could happen to them. Damian ran out of the cell as a fifth guard made his way in jumping on Ryke holding him down on the floor.

A few moments later Damian came back in, this time with an iron rod, it's end a red-hot brander. The men held him down as the iron rod was pressed into the left side of his chest. His skin sizzled like bacon in a frying pan as his flesh melted, making way for the dreaded mark of shame. All she could do was scream as she battled to remain conscious, the searing pain proved to be too much to bare. The smell of meat in his chest cooking, and the burnt flesh overtook his nostrils as she passed out.

#

Hours later Taelsa finally came to, Ryke sitting by his side holding his hand. She opened her eyes and met Ryke's gaze, he had bright hazel eyes, almost glowing. She was then greeted by a searing pain on the left side of his chest, she reached out to touch it and was stopped. "No, my love, you must not touch it!"

Taelsa let her head fall backwards and his arm flop out to the side, she felt as though she fell off a building. Looking around the cell, she could see a blood spot where she had bitten that guards hand. Ryke told her that the old wizard came to the cell to check in, that he used some healing magic to help mend her wound. Antorias was angry, furious even, and after he tended to the rest of them he stormed out.

"You were having a nightmare." Ryke said. "you thrashed around wildly in your sleep." She has been having vivid dreams and nightmares for quite some time now, all about the forest to the north, the mysterious man. What did it all mean? The good dreams are of peace, happiness, freedom. The nightmare's are of fire, hearing people screaming all around him, sorrow, pain. She had to find out what all of this meant, she had to track this man down, she had to escape this prison.

"I know what I must do my love." She asked Ryke to help her to her feet. Her legs were weak, causing her to stumble a bit before regaining his composure.

"The wizard said you might have a hard time moving when you awoke." Ryke said. "something about the healing magic's rapid curative effects."

She limped over to the bars and stared out into the black abyss. "He came to me in my dreams." Taelsa said. "these dreams, they are different, not like the normal kind." She turned around and looked Ryke straight in the eyes "they are real, not just dreams, almost like visions." The others seemed very intrigued, Ryke, not so much.

"You're talking mad Taelsa!" Ryke replied.

"No! You must believe me love!" Taelsa approached Ryke and put his hands onto his shoulders. "Remember what Antorias said? About our ancestors in the northern forest? I think this has a connection, these dreams, are calling me there!"

"Have you spoken to him about these dreams?" Ryke asked.

"Yeah..." Taelsa's voice trailed off.

"He thinks you're mad too." Ryke said.

"No, he didn't say that." She turned back around and limped away. "He doesn't know what the dreams could mean, but what is he supposed to say? Go Taelsa, run! Follow this creepy man into a dark forest?"

Ryke couldn't help but laugh. He walked up behind her and snuggled her, being careful not to touch her mark. "Well, what do you think they mean?"

"I think..." Taelsa stopped to think for a moment before continuing. "He has something for me. Something that will free us from these walls! I know it!" she slammed her palm into the bars of her cell.

"I'm gonna get us out of here. I don't know how or when, but I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna save my people." Taelsa said.

"Good, I wanna smell the forest air too, that you won't shut up about." Ryke joked. They both let out a laugh, Taelsa let go of the bars, turned herself around and embraced him.