Darkness Falls (Tales of the Wolf) (15 page)

“But don’t think you’re free. You will work, you will learn and you will train. Those still alive this time next year will move into phase two. That is not your concern right now. Now you have two choices before you, live or die. It is as simple as that.”

Kralm began to move through the children, smiling and placing a reassuring hand on random shoulders.

“If you so choose run off and flee into the desert, maybe you’ll get lucky and find an oasis. Or better yet, delve into the depths of the Scar, who knows what you will find. Either way, no one will try and stop you.”

Kralm signaled and three huge Jotens stepped forward. “These are the Overseers. They are only here to make sure you don’t shirk your responsibilities. You will learn your place or die. Work, learn, train and survive. Those are your daily goals.”

Without saying another word, Kralm turned and disappeared into the depths of the Scar.

Chapter 16

One of the Jotens stepped forward while the other two fanned out to either side. Many of the children shied away from the imposing dusky-red monstrosity as he gazed on them with his one large eye but to their surprise, he just grinned and gestured for them to follow.

“This way, you come.” His voice was deep but seemed friendly enough.

Gray realized that they really did not have a choice in the matter and stepped forward first. One step behind him came a dark haired handsome young man in the remnants of a fine silk tunic and pointed shoes; sure signs that he was noble born.

The rust colored joten ignored the fact that many of the children were lagging behind but began speaking anyway.

“Villicus am I. Da twins are Jexitra and Sinistra. Our sole duty is to see that the daily chores are done.” The joten led them to a different section of the fortress and pointed at a huge wooden wheel. “The Wheel must be turned from sun up to sun down.” He continued moving through the castle and stopped when they reached a balcony that overlooked an obstacle course which seemed to span this entire section of the fortress. “The Maze must also be run from sun up to sun down.”

Ignoring their gasps and confusion, Villicus moved back to the main courtyard and proceeded down a spiral staircase that was anchored into the side of the Scar.

Many of the children balked at
descending the rusty staircase into the darkness but Gray and the other boy immediately followed. Seconds later, so did the rest of the children followed by the other two jotens. Once everyone was gathered in a huge cavern which opened on one side to the sheer cliff face of the Scar, Villicus pointed at a large granite stone block then at a small ledge that snaked its way back up to the fortress.

“And lastly, there are the Blocks. These must be moved topside as often as possible during the same time span. In mind keep that daily quotas increase each week.” Villicus paused for a moment before asking, “How would you like to begin?”

Jardan, the dark haired noble, stepped forward and began asking questions. None of which Gray had not already figured out the answers to but he let the nobleman lead, for now. Jardan began to divide up the children into three groups; the largest, smallest and everyone else.

The children began to move until Gray intervened.

“What in the name of the gods are you doing? Trying to get half of us killed?”

Jardan was shocked. It was obvious he was not used to anyone questioning his commands and paused for a second before responding. “What do you mean?”

Gray faced the rust-colored overseer. “Villicus, what happens if the tasks are not completed?”

“You must learn from your mistakes, so you will be flogged for first failure and branded for the second. If you cannot learn by then, banishment into the Scar awaits.”

“Is that punishment as a group or individual?”

The joten grinned. “Your quota must be reached. Any group that fails to maintain their quota will be punished. Individual punishment banishment is reserved for.”

Jardan tried to interrupt but Gray ignored him and pointed at two of the smallest kids, one boy and one girl. “You two try and move this block.”

They hesitated, looking back and forth between Gray and Jardan until the half-elf barked out a command. “Now!”

Rushing forward, they strained and pushed but were unable to budge it.

Calmly placing a hand on their shoulders, Gray stopped them and pointed at one of the biggest kids in the group. “You, try and lift the block.”

Judging from the cut of his clothing, the big kid was from the same region as Jardan but was from a farming community. However, the big guy lifted the block easily and gave Gray a stupid grin as if saying…so?

Gray returned the grin and pointed at the winding path. “Now, try and carry that up the trail.” The farm boy shrugged his shoulders and moved toward the path but would have fallen off after four steps if Gray had not pulled him back. Grabbing one of the little kids from his first demonstration, he paired him up with the farm boy.

“Now try it.” Working as a pair, one lifting and the other guiding, they made the climb.

Jardan stammered. “I…I…”

Gray just shook his head. “You don’t see it yet, do you?”

“What?”

“These tasks? They’re all about teamwork.”

“I would’ve figured that out eventually.”

“After how many got flogged?” Gray paused for a second. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever been flogged before, let me tell you this, it hurts.”

“They wouldn’t dare.”

“Yes, they would and if I were you, I wouldn’t just be worried about them. If you do something stupid that gets a bunch of these kids killed, being flogged by the overseers will be the least of your worries.”

Turning away, Gray moved to the back of the gathering a sat down.

In the end, Jardan used Gray’s suggestion but took it one step further by pairing the smallest with the largest until everyone was divided into pairs and three teams; leaving only Jardan and Gray as partners.

However, the oddest and most demeaning aspect of their situation came later that day when the joten twins, Jexitra and Sinistra, arrived in the barracks and calmly escorted each of the kids outside. It was there that Villicus stripped off their clothes and shaved off everyone’s hair. Once this was done, he sprayed each individual down with some sort of green, foul smelling liquid and moved onto the next.

From this moment on, the kids had no clothes and no way to cover up, only a thin blanket for use at night. It was just one more way that Kralm chose to remind them that they were nothing but slaves.

Even though everyone was hesitant the first day, especially since they were naked, by the end of the first day, no one was flogged and everyone completed their assigned tasks. Gray and Jardan hardly spoke all day. They had the Wheel, which turned out to be the easiest task in some aspects but hardest in others. Pushing the wheel all day long, from sun up to sun down in the blazing sun was exhausting. It was obviously designed to increase their endurance more than anything else.

Their second day was spent on the Blocks. This was difficult since one misstep meant a very long fall. They got to see this up close and personal around mid-day. One of Jardan’s countrymen, the same farm boy Gray had singled out the day before was too busy trying to impress the young noble that he wasn’t paying attention to the young lady assigned to guide him and it proved to be his downfall.

Since the two unofficial leaders were pretty much the same size, they quickly discovered it was easier for them to alternate the heavy lifting. Sturm and Tamina were right in front of them on the cliff-side pathway. The long line of young slaves was stretched out on the narrow ledge when Sturm and Tamina reached a steep bend in the path. To make the passage more difficult, the rock wall jutted out sharply at shoulder level. This meant that the carrier had to lower the stone and nearly slide it around the corner or keep it at waist level and lean precariously out over the darkness. Most had discovered that it was, or felt, safer to lower the block but Sturm did not want to seem weak in front of his liege, so he refused to lower the stone and even hazarded a glace over his shoulder and off of the trail. Since he was not paying attention to his partner, when he bumped his shoulder on the outcropping, he began to topple. Sturm instinctively dropped the stone, which caused two things to happen.

First, the dropped block clipped his toes causing him to jump backward and further off balance. Secondly, he grabbed at anything that might stop his fall. Unfortunately, the only thing within easy reach was his partner’s leg. Since he was nearly three times her size there was no way she would be able to stop his fall and he began to pull her over the precipice.

Gray saw all this as it started to happen and was on the move. Dropping his own block, he rushed past Jardan and snagged Tamina’s wrist just as the pair was disappearing into the darkness. However, his forward motion and the added weight of Sturm and Tamina threatened to pull him over the ledge also. Gray reached out and snagged Sturm’s fallen block but even that wasn’t going to be enough to stop them. He knew he had two choices, let go of the girl and save himself or hang on and trust in the gods.

He did the latter.

It was not some miracle that saved Gray but Jardan. The young noble had rushed after his partner and snagged his arm. The young auburn-haired girl was breathless and white as a sheet as they pulled her up to safety, although she did manage a little grin to her rescuers.

“Thanks.”

Jardan looked over the cliff and asked, “Sturm?”

Tamina swallowed hard but it was Gray who answered. “He must’ve lost his grip and fallen to his death.”

She shared a small, knowing smile with him but did not contradict his statement even though she knew full and well, that Sturm had only let go after she kicked him in the face several times.

“That’s a shame. He was a good lad.” Jardan just nodded and pushed himself upright. “Come on, you can join us for the rest of the day.” And the trio completed the task before them.

The next day was the Maze. Again, it focused on teamwork but also on agility, balance and coordination. This was where the smaller kids blossomed and the bigger kids floundered. Only through teamwork was any group able to get through it safely.

On the tenth day, they rested.

They had lost seventeen during the first week; fifteen to the Scar and the other two to the Maze. By this time, Gray and Jardan had become fast friends. Jardan noticed the faraway look on his friend’s face and asked, “What is it? Our numbers? Don’t let that bother you. Each week we will lose less. My father used to say that in adverse times, the chaff must be separated from the wheat.”

Gray cocked his head to the side. “What does that mean?”

“In times of war, the weak and unlucky are the first to fall. After them, it will be those with the lack of will to survive will fall next. Or that is how my father would describe it.”

Gray nodded. “I have heard that before but it doesn’t mean that I have to like it.”

Tamina snorted. “What do you two know? Everyone thinks I’m unlucky or cursed since Sturm was the first to fall and I survived. Only you two even talk to me. The rest treat me like a leper.”

Gray shook his head. “Don’t let it bother you. It is nothing more than survivor’s guilt. I fear that we will lose many more before this year is done.”

Jardan took a big bite of stew and asked, “I agree. So why the long face?”

“I can’t figure out Kralm’s endgame.”

That got Tamina’s attention. “What do you mean?”

“Okay, follow me on this. Kralm is no ordinary slaver. He brought us here for a reason but did you notice that he didn’t select the really young kids or even the older teenagers, just the kids generally our age.”

Jardan nodded. “So?”

“Why? The tasks he’s set before us focus on teamwork, strength, agility and endurance among other things.”

“True.”

Gray gestured to the bowl of stew that Jardan was eating. It was a very thick broth of heavy gravy, big chunks of meat and lots of vegetables. “And look at the food. I don’t remember ever eating something so satisfying.”

Tamina took a bite of her own stew. “So?”

“No, Isengrim is right.” Jardan added, “None of this is cheap, especially this food. Not to mention the overseers. I can tell you from experience that guards are expensive.”

“So what is Kralm getting from all this?” asked Gray. “Never forget that he is our true enemy.”

Tamina blushed. “I must admit, I’ve completely forgotten about him.”

Jardan nodded. “Same here.”

“I believe that to be the biggest truth here. We are too tired and too focused on surviving our daily tasks to really think about our situation here. Hell, do you even think about being naked anymore? I don’t. We are in effect slaves. It is only a matter of time before Kralm steps forward and reminds us of that fact.” Noticing the setting sun, Gray stood up slowly and held out his hand to Jardan. “Come my friend, it is time for our nightly duty.”

Jardan accepted the help. “Yes, it is.”

The two unofficial leaders began their nightly pass through the barracks making sure everyone had eaten and were ready to get some sleep. Only once in the past ten days did they have to do more than just remind them. Jardan had come across two bullies and had stepped in. He was used to being obeyed and had ordered them to back off. The bullies started to object until they noticed the half-elf moving closer. Stories of how he had killed Garoth in the slave camp had made the rounds of the kids and the two bullies knew that he would back up the nobleman, so they had backed down. As punishment, Jardan had paired the bullies together for the next three days. However since they had the Maze the very next day, they wouldn’t have survived if the two kids they’d been picking on hadn’t come to their aid. Afterwards, the four seemed to become friends and nearly inseparable.

By the time the two leaders returned to their area of the barracks, Tamina had laid out the bedrolls and banked up the fire. Subconsciously, Gray noticed that she had placed her bedroll right next to his but since she was already curled up and asleep, he decided to let it slide until the morning and laid down to sleep.