(1710 BC/Babylon )
The city of Babylon sat proud and rigid from above the Euphrates river, a pinnacle of power and human might . One of the first true cities built by man , the very predecessor of empires like Rome and Alexanderia . But sadly the outside was far from the truth of what lay inside its heart.
The city inside was a festering place of thieves , murderers and the like . Corruption and wickedness spread like plague built on alter and all worshipped it . But one group was worse than them all ; The rich .
Living in mansions of high and large stones , built by slaves and dragged by horses and camels from mountain cliffs , they were a thing to be behold . Their homes were filled with silks , gold , treasures and everything a man could desire , they were homes of greed made flesh . Beautiful to gaze at like a golden tomb filled with human bones .
The rich ruled the city , no political power could function without them and the king knew this . He received their tributes with reverence and made sure to keep everyone of them pleased . He assigned them to be advisors , ministers and men of power throughout the kingdom. Anything they wanted , they received with gusto .
But how could you please multiple dragons that want to feast on one carcass ? The king was foolish because in less than ten years after his reign , a civil war broke out between them and the city was made to suffer for it.
The rich chose sides , supporting who they believed to be better or in their opinion ' in the right ' . No money was going into the city unless someone chose a side and those who did choose , had to sleep with their eyes open from then on , lest they be killed in the night by the opposition .
Blood ran the streets and the city had never been more dangerous and the poor more destitute. Women were rumoured to be cooking pieces of their children and children killing their parents for food . The people were hungry , penniless and a violent energy was flowing below the beauty of the city threatening to explode into fire and burn everyone within the walls to ash .
And yet , people still came to the city from the outside world . Despite its darkness and danger , it remained the centre of human achievement and everyone from South , East , North and West travelled to trade , buy or find employment .
And it was on a certain day that a young man was coming to the city aswell .
....
Carey looked looked to sun with a smile on his face . The sky was a sapphire blue , clear and cloudless , with the sun an orange ruby . There was a high breeze in the air , that shook the trees around him .
He held the rope attached to his sack tight around his shoulders , it contained all his worldly possessions . Barely anything but precious to him as reminders of his village far away .
He had left there a month ago , after burying his sister next to their mother . She had died in her sleep and he had been very glad for it . His mother had died after being injured and devoured by a lion . Her death had been slow and probably painful . The only thing they had found was her head and a leg , they'd put that in the soil and he'd sung her a song to pass into the afterlife .
His sister had gotten ill afterwards and he'd tried to find herbs to heal her but it all came to naught . She'd slowly withered under his eyes and he'd been devastated when she passed away .
He'd dug her grave and placed her gently inside , even placing some of her favourite flowers . He'd sung a song to her aswell and then sang one to all his family who lay dead in the soul . Then with a sad look he'd entered their abode and gave a silent prayer , before packing his things and leaving their home ... never to return .
He had had no choice , there had been nothing for him in that village . They were poor people in the mountains and he had no ties with anyone there. So he'd packed his things and walked away without once turning back .
The first days had been easy , finding fruit and roots to eat . But as he walked father from the mountains and the terrain changed , he began getting less sure of himself . It became harder to find food and he would never kill an animal . He was a perverse boy , not wanting to eat meat and his family had always taunted him for it , especially his older brother . He'd died choking on a boar bone that held itself in his throat and wouldn't move . Casper had thought it a cruel twist of fate but none made fun of him afterwards .
But food , he had needed badly and after three days without a single morsel , his strength gave up and he collapsed on the road . He'd stared at the sky , vulters swirling around him already . Did they know I was going to die , he had wondered before his eyes and mind succumbed to blackness .
When he had next woken up , he had found himself ontop of an animal . It was a large creature with brown hair , and a long hairy tail of onyx . He'd groaned and a hand had instantly held him close to a warm body .
" Hold on , let us get off here ! " A voice had shouted and a moment afterwards the animal stopped moving .
Carey had been hoisted of what he later learnt was a horse and placed on the ground . Three men had looked at him with curious gazes .
They were wandering nomads and had come upon him just as the vultures landed to take him apart . He'd been asleep for nearly two days now .
" Wa... wat...wat-er ... w...wate-r " he'd tried saying and one of them unfastened a animal pouch and placed it on his lips . He'd tasted goat milk and drank it , slurping like a beast and the men had laughed .
" Where do you go to ? " One of them had asked , he wore red around his head to block the sun and it shined in the light .
" The great city ...for work . " He had replied ," I ... I am ... Careius "
" Ca... Carr... Carriesi ? " The other one dresses in blue had asked , his voice heavy .
" No ... Careius . " He had said and the men looked at each other .
" We struggle with this name . " The one in red said , " We shall call you Carey from now on . "
Careius had thought of arguing but that was foolish so had had agreed . The men had taken him in and he had ridden with them for the rest the way .
The man in red , who had found him first was Siri and he was the leader of the group . His other friends were Fadhu and Yahkya , Carey had thought of giving them short hand names but the men took it as an insult . So he'd learnt their names and a bit of their skills .
Although the men had food with them , they would not give it to Carey . Instead they showed him where to hunt but he refused . He said he only ate vegetation and they had looked at him as if he was insane . Finally with a shrug , they had shown him shrubs with edible roots .
That had become his diet for the whole journey and even when shrubs became hard to find he refused to eat with the men when they are rabbit or anything they hunted . He'd spend days without food rather than eat a leg off anything that had a heartbeat .
Along the way , as compensation and because he had no other form of payment to give , Carey would sing to the men . He had always been a good singer and sung at many religious gatherings . The men had loved his voice and Yahkya had even said ' he has a god in his throat .'
As for how they moved about , it was without a doubt very complicated . Carey would ride with one of them for atleast two or three miles but afterwards he'd get down on his feet and walk for four miles . He changed horses and never tried to fight for a longer ride . Although they were tolerant of him , he knew they could stab him through with the daggers on their sacks .
After a long journey they finally made it to a turning point , and there he had bid them goodbye . They were nomads and had no desire to live in a city , their people awaited their return . So it was a rush of dust that they rode away , racing for the first at a speed that Carey had never known the horses could go .
So he had carried on , walking for six days and sleeping in caves or even inside a hollow tree . The vegatation had increased as he neared the river and he'd finally changed his diet to a wider base again . When he are wild blue berries he had almost cried at their sweet flavour . Oh how had missed them !
The next day he could hear the shouts and noises of city even from a distance . He was happy to finally be close to his goal . So it was with a smile that Carey looked back to the road and continued walking .
As he walked he sang a song about a child who went on a journey ;
* He walked the footsteps of a father ,
He was cherished by his mother ,
He feasted with his brothers ,
Laughed with his sisters ,
Before he went away .
Oh weep , cries mother , my son has left me .
Oh why , cries father , did you abounded us ?
Oh soul , cries his siblings , will you return ?
But the man walks away , he walks through the rain and wind , snow and pain .
He walks , he walks , he walked and never came back again . *
Carey frowned slightly , the song was a very dear piece but to him seemed incomplete . Surely the son would try and come back ? He often asked his mother when she sang this song to them before they slept but she had shaken her head . He has nothing to come back to , she had said ,his family would be gone by the time he turned around. It's better to move ahead.
Carey sighed and looked around , he was not looking for food but something else . He got off the road and walked followed the brush until he found a pool of water. He looked around and tested the water with a stone . There were no dangerous animals inside .
He quickly took his clothes off and dipped into the water , cleaning the grime off him . The nomads had not been the cleanest bunch , their idea being men should only bathe once a month . But Carey had almost fainted from the ripe smell of sweat on their bodies and it took him forever to get used to it .
So it was with great glee that he moved in the water and cleaned his body of the filth of travel . He hoped he'd be just as clean when he reached the city , maybe a maiden will choose him for his cleaniness and make him a proper servant .
As he bathed another song came to his mind , this one however was of his own creation and had been born when his mother had washed the fruit and roots for his meal , his siblings refused to eat it . It was slightly sad somg but had a peaceful note of care , the story of a mother feeding her children who won't wake up ;
* Gathered in the nest ,
Placed away to rest ,
Lost to my eyes but not in my heart .
The little ones , sleep forever now .
Mother cries and brings them a meal ,
A taste , she says , my children please eat .
But they sleep , they sleep and never dream .
Mother weeps , mother weeps , mother why do you weep ?
My children sleep , never to awake and now I'm alone .
All I have is their smiles in my heart .
So mother smile ,with your heart , smile with them and laugh .
Let the pain flow away and smile with your children . *
" You , in the water ! "
Carey turned to the owner of the voice that had called him and saw a man dressed in a purple piece of fabric that covered his body to his knees and shoulder blades . He was tall and had a mess of brown hair . He stood on the far shore and pointed at Carey .
" Come here , to me ." He said and Carey saw he wasn't alone but had two men dressed in armour next to him . He couldn't refuse , he realized , or he'd be killed .
He sent a plea to the spirits of his family and rose from the water , with his eyes downcast . If he had looked up , he would have noticed the man in purple gaineda sharp look in his eyes as he rose from the water .
Carey waded back toshore and quickly put his clothes on , ragged and torn as they were. He looked back to the other side of the shore and saw the man in purple still stood looking at him . Atleast he had demanded he come bare and nude , that was something to be grateful for .
Carey walked to the where the man stood with his two guards . The men were taller than him by atleast two heads and one had a scar along his cheek that could not have been made by a human weapon . They regarded him with cold cruel eyes as he neared and he looked at the swords they held in their hands with fear .
" You boy , come here infront of me and kneel . " The man in purple said and Carey did as he was told . The shore was sandy with bits of rock that cut his shins but it was better than immediate execution for defiance .
" Peasant , where do come from ? " The man in purple said and Carey raised his eyes to look at him .
He was stunned to see that the other man was not that older than his sixteen years . He wore a purple garment of material he had never seen before and his ear had a gold ring through it . His face was young aswell with flicks of hair on his chin no more than whiskers .
" Insolence ! " A guard said and Carey received a swat on his head with the flat side of the sword . He instantly fell face down and pain embraced him like an unwanted disease .
" Answer the young master ! " one guard yelled at him and a kick landed on his abdomen .
" I am ... Carey , son of Obad . From ...the western mountains . " He said with tears in his eyes .
" Carey ... I found your voice most likable and your body more so . " The man in purple said ," You shall come with me . Tiris ."
A moment later Carey received a hard bash to the head and everything went black .