Eren lifted the lid up, and peeked from the little opening. His ocean blue eyes glanced around for any sign of Big Bran behind the inn.
There was none.
Eren chuckled in triumph, and putting the lid back down, leaned against the hard wall of the cabinet he was hiding inside. Beside his feet were handcuffs and heavy chains made of black iron, and the boy had no idea what they were for.
While the guards were away to feed themselves after their arrival, Eren was quick to throw out half of the things to make space for himself inside the cabinet underneath the driver's seat.
'Big Bran will be flabbergasted.'
"Hehehe."
He chuckled at the success of his clever plan.
"Did you hear that?"
He heard a man say, and instantly held his breath.
"Hear what?"
"Someone was laughing."
"Are you getting insane after hearing those filthy humans cry all the time?"
'Huh? Humans?'
"Shut up, bastard! Just get on. We gotta move them to the auction house before dawn."
'Auction house? What's that?'
Eren frowned, and for a moment, he began to have second thoughts about his little adventure. He shook his head, dismissing his thoughts.
'Don't be a whimp, Eren!'
The wagon began to move, and he no longer had a choice to get off it.
Eren yawned as he lazily opened his eyes. It took him a moment to understand where he was.
'The wagon!'
He was fully awake now, and realized that the wagon was no longer moving. He pressed his ear against the wall for any sound. It was quiet outside.
"How long have I been sleeping for?"
He whispered to himself, and reached inside his vest to check that his catapult was still there. He waited a moment for the sake of caution. Still, there was neither a footstep nor a man that he could hear from outside.
"Alright!"
He lifted the lid, and peeked outside. It was dark, and Eren narrowed his eyes to make out his surrounding. His eyes eventually adjusted themselves to the darkness, and he saw tall trees standing across from the small clearing that surrounded the wagon.
Eren pushed the lid up, and got out of the box. He was greeted by a gust of chilly night breeze.
"Holy jolly!"
He exclaimed hugging his vest closer to his body.
Neigh!
The horse in the front cried, and Eren jumped in his spot with fright. His heart beating fast, he looked around for any guard.
Neigh!
"Hey! Shh! Shh! Don't call over the guards."
Eren put his hand together, begging the animal. As if listening to him, the horse went quiet.
Eren jumped down from the driver's seat, and walked to the front. He stroked the horse's grey-haired neck.
"Good boy."
Neigh!
"What? No!"
He began to panic again, and looked over his shoulders with wide eyes.
"Shh!"
Neigh!
"Oh, please! Aren't you a good boy? Or maybe a girl?"
The horse bumped its head into Eren's shoulder.
"Oh! You are a girl! That's what this was about! Hahaha!"
He stroked her neck. A grin then stretched across his face, and if Drake or Big Bran were there, they could tell that the boy was plotting something mischievous.
"There you go, Sassy!"
He threw her reins down to the ground, and the horse jumped at her spot.
Neigh! Neigh!
Eren laughed at her joy as she galloped around the small clearing. He pushed his bandana back a bit, and looked over towards the tall towering trees. Straining his ears, he could make out muffled human voices in the distance.
"Bye, Sassy!"
He waved at his new friend, and she walked up to him. The horse lowered her head, and rubbed it against Eren's.
"Hehe! That tickles, Sassy."
The voices got louder the deeper Eren got into the forest. The specks of golden light in the distance were his guides in the darkness that surrounded him. He jumped over the moss covered tree root that laid half buried into the forest's cold ground.
"Catch him!"
Eren froze in his spot upon hearing that. He heard heavy footsteps ahead of him. Amidst the commotion, he could hear someone wailing, and an unknown fear gripped him; his stomach fell into knots as his instincts urged him to not get any closer, and to listen to Big Bran's words of staying away from their business.
"Aah!"
A boy's cry shook him out of his thoughts, and he reflexively leapt forward in the darkness. He tripped over a root, and fell on his hands and knees.
"Ugh!"
His palms had gotten scratched, and he felt his ankle aching a bit.
"No! Let go! No!"
Eren lifted his head, and his eyes widened when he saw what was outside that forest. Humans.
Hundreds of them stood just a few yards away from where he sat kneeling in the shadows. Heavy iron chains locked their wrists and ankles; snaking across their dirty skin and splitting it ope. Bruises and cut littered their bodies. They wore rags for clothes, and their bleeding feet were bare on the rough ground beneath them, but their faces showed no sign of pain.
They looked...dead.
Tall men in dark cloaks yanked ruthlessly at their chains, forcing them towards the old two-storey house that stood alone in the middle of the forest.
"Get in there, you filthy rat!"
Eren flinched, and released the breath that he had been holding subconsciously.
Huff! Huff!
He bent over, gasping for air. His ears felt full, and dark spots began to gradually encroach his field of vision.
Blegh!
Blegh!
He threw up all that he had eaten for lunch.
"Holy..."
He wiped his mouth with his sleeves.
"No! No!"
A prisoner boy was struggling under a guard's hold. He had short brown hair, and one of his jet-black eyes were hidden underneath a white handkerchief that had been clumsily tied around his head.
He glared at the bald man.
"Let go of me!"
Slap!
The boy fell down to the ground, groaning in pain. The man stepped on his ankle with heavy boot.
"Aa!"
His painful cry made a shiver run down Eren's spine, and he dug his fingers into the dirt; his hands trembling with the anger that was making his blood boil.
The child tried to pull his leg away, but his starved body had no strength to go against a fully grown man.
He bit his lower lip, refusing to beg the man to let him go. He would never break his promise.
'Never bow down to the evil, Pierre.'
Eren saw blood trickling down the boy's lip, and his eyes turned darker. He reached into his vest for his catapult.
"Beg for your life, you filth!"
A pebble dashed through the air, and hit the man in the back of his bald head.
Hiss!
The man growled at the men who stood behind him.
"Which one of you scoundrels hit me?"
"Hit you? Haha! Have you lost it, Kumar?"
The men began to laugh, and Kumar's face turned red with anger. He kicked the boy who laid at his feet.
"Aa!"
Kick!
Kick!
"Hey, Kumar! Stop it! You are going to kill the boy!"
But the man was blinded with rage. He bent over, and gripped the curled up boy with his hair. Lifting him up from the ground, he leaned closer to his face.
"Beg me!"
He growled in his face.
"Never..."
There was a look of defiance in his eye; an unbreakable will of his that stemmed from his bloodline and the vow that he had sworn to protect.
That boy seemed to make fun of him.
"Die, bastard!"
He swung his arm, and threw the boy across the clearing. He went flying, and crashed into a wagon's side. A cloud of dirt went up in the air, obscuring the guards' view of the child.
"Oh! He's pissed!"
"Now you have done it, Kumar!"
"Not again! Haha!"
Kumar huffed, and spat at the ground.
"These damned Rehalian bastards! They think that wielding magic makes them superior than us! They can go burn in hell with those cursed ancestors of theirs!"
"Shut your trap, you baldy!"
Kumar's eyebrow twitched, and he looked over his shoulder. The cloud of dirt began to settle, and a silhouette appeared from behind it.
Eren groaned, and spat out blood. The Pierre looked up at him from where he sat across Eren's parted legs.
"You ok?"
Eren asked with gritted teeth- his own back hurting from colliding into the wagon's side.
Upon seeing the guard swinging his arm, Eren had sprinted out of the forest. He had managed to catch the boy within his outstretched arms, but the impact of collision was too strong for him, and the two of them had still crashed into the wagon.
"Why..."
Pierre whispered with a frown, and Eren replied with a wide grin. Eren leaned forward, and ruffled his hair.
"You don't have to beg him."
Pierre's eye widened, and he found himself stunned at his words.
"Don't worry! Big brother will help you! Hehe!"
"Stop right there!"
Guards had surrounded the two boys. Their swords were out, and pointed towards them.
"Well, we seem to be in a pinch here."
Pierre said to him, and Eren touched the ground beside his thigh, feeling for any stones that he could use. He grabbed a few in his fist.
"Can you run?"
He whispered, and the boy regretfully shook his head.
"Don't frown. I'll think of something."
Eren glanced over the guards' shoulders, and the corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk.
Confused, Pierre looked in the direction of the boy's gaze, and his mouth hung open.
Neigh!