It was dark, the ground was hard, flat, and smooth. He felt like he hadn't eaten for days or had anything to drink.
'Where am I?'
'Am I dead? again?'
'This must be hell then.'
'Mother, Kong... I hope I don't reincarnate again so I can see them again.'
He held little emotions for them, but he felt a desire to see them should be the right feeling at a moment like this.
Alaric tried to make out where he was, but couldn't seem to see anything. He felt a sharp pain in his stomach as his body screamed in protest.
'Not dead yet,' he thought to himself after feeling that searing pain where he was hit unconscious.
'That man captured me. I need to figure out a way to escape.' he tried to move, but he couldn't seem to get his limbs to move. it was as if they were bound tight, but something he couldn't make out the feel of.
Alaric eyelids refused to open. Not from weakness; they simply wouldn't obey. His body lay limp on a cold, flat surface, his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth by thirst.
'What is this? My fingers wouldn't even bulge.' 'Are they going to sell me? what a shitty world i was sent to'
Then he felt something, the shifting of the platform he was currently on. the subtle vibration he could feel around. He could not move, but he could feel, he could hear, and he had a sense of balance.
'I am in motion,' Alaric concluded. He could finally feel the space around him as he found out he wasn't alone; there were others besides him, and he could feel their movement. Other children had been captured by the bandits. He could feel himself coiled up, facing the opposite direction they were heading.
What was most fascinating to him was what he felt around his body, or what he couldn't feel. He wasn't bound by anything; he was 'free' to move, but his body refused to respond. It felt unreal to him. 'Is this voodoo magic?'
What Alaric didn't know was that the man who had captured him had placed a binding spell on him while he was unconscious. It wasn't exactly an easy task for him, though, as he felt resistance from binding his eyes, which almost drained him of all his energy. It truly had been a struggle for him.
The man felt that binding Alaric was the best choice, despite it straining his reserves of energy. Seeing how Alaric took down the five bandits who after him, he couldn't help but be a little cautious.
Alaric had heard of practitioners/cultivators before, but never really knew what they were capable of. He only knew they were powerful enough to do things that would normally be considered impossible. No one in the village could give him insights into what they were, they only believed that he had the potential to join a sect or cultivation family.
"Do you think the boss would be satisfied?" Alaric heard a male voice coming from behind him.
"I hope she is. I want to go back, I miss home. The boy that was bound by Rahj seems talented enough to satisfy the boss," another voice replied.
'They are talking about me.' 'What do they possibly want from me? do they need a talented slave?'
Alaric didn't know what exactly they wanted from him or these children, but he was sure that if he ever got out, he would seek revenge.
That's the right thing to do, right?
"She will be satisfied. Then we can leave this place. I am tired of this region, it's nothing like home." This time, the voice came from above Alaric.
I know that voice. The ninja who appeared at the end. The man who knocked me out. He was fast. he must also be Rahj, the one who bound me, 'I will remember him.'
Alaric spent the remaining 5 hours of their journey trying to gather as much information as he could from the conversation he was hearing, but couldn't get any information as to why they were captured.
What he could tell, though, was that he was in some sort of carriage, being pulled by an animal along a surprisingly smooth path; it only got bumpy an hour ago. A horse, maybe? He couldn't tell exactly what it was.
"We are here," he heard Rahj say to the other two, as the carriage pulled to a stop.
Alaric could hear Rahj jump down from the top of the carriage before opening the door of the carriage.
"Alright, kids, get out here." Rahj said while grinning like a maniac, he spread his arms wide as he said in an ominous tone, "Welcome to hell, little sparks"
Looking around, the children could see a massive open cave. It felt like the mouth of a beast that was eager to consume all who came close.
Alaric felt himself being hauled up as Rahj picked his bound body up, placing him on his shoulder.
Rahj looked at the dozen kids who looked like they could fall and die at any second. They hadn't had anything to eat for days now. He felt excitement seeing them, as this could change the trajectory of his path to power, especially the boy he was currently carrying.
"Take the kids to cell block C to be with the others, We will check their quality later. I will go speak to the boss," he said to his two companions.
"OK, sir," the male companion replied. the man didn't care for anything else, he just wanted to get some alone time. He hadn't had a bath for two days now.
"Can I come look for you later?"The woman licked her lips, her gaze crawling over Rahj like she wanted to flay him open and wear his skin. She knew that with the talent they were turning in this time, Rahj would be greatly rewarded. He would probably be relocated to another planet better than this barren horseshit they currently live on, so she wanted to be there for the ride and seducing him would be the fastest way there.
Her male companion couldn't help but look on with betrayal written all over his face. He had been trying to woo this lady for years now, he really thought they had connected during this mission but it all went down the drain just like shit.
"We can arrange a discussion later." Rahj didn't really care about human relations, he just wanted to dissect her. She would serve to fuel his curiosity about the complete anatomy of the female body, so why say no to such a willing experimental material?
The woman nodded excitedly like a lizard in heat, not knowing that she just willingly handed herself off to a psychopath.
As Rahj hauled him toward the cave's maw, Alaric couldn't help but feel for the vibrations the man's body was giving off. He came up with a confusing revelation that made him frown internally. The rhythm was wrong. Human hearts beat in steady waves, but Rahj's pulse skittered like insect wings—too fast, too many. This isn't the frequency of a normal human body. It's too high and chaotic for humans.