When I awoke, I could faintly make out the sound of chains rattling and swinging in the near me from all angles.
Through the indistinct sound of carriage wheels rolling on a bumpy road at a steady speed, I could also tell I was inside of something.
Presumably a cage of some sort.
Where..
Where am I?…
No… Where's Craggle?!?
My thoughts raced as I jumped to life, held down by unknown constraints.
I wokeup from my dizzy state and quickly realized that my wrists and ankles were tightly cuffed with huge iron bracelets attached to countless chains that hung from the ceiling of whatever I was being held captive in; prohibiting me from freely doing as I please.
While also the irritating feeling of a sack covering my face was uncomfortable to bear, but not impossible to deal with.
My head throbbed with pain and my body was stuck in a stupor, so moving was a no go.
Forget yanking or pulling, I couldn't even throw myself forward.
Sat on my knees, the skin on them scraped against the cold, hard surface of the wooden and iron material of the cage. Naked and covered by only a torn rag, I was a caught mutt in the mud.
Lucien…
Lucien…
I thought to myself in the deepest gutters of my mind. My teeth clattering together in sheer anger.
The thought of him infuriated me. The reality of me being nothing but his pawn this entire time.
A growl slipped out as I bit my lip. I tried my hardest to contain my rage but it was futile.
I tugged and tugged around, spreading the pain evenly all throughout my body.
Stupid, yes.
But did I care?
Hell no.
The chains rattled vigorously and I persisted with my attempts in breaking free.
The cage increasingly shook, which should've startled the driver, but I didn't hear a single complaint.
All that remained was the sound of rocks being rolled over and crumbling beneath the pressure of the carriage wheels.
The carrier itself reeked of urine, and rotten blood.
Putrid enough you could taste it.
Shrouded in darkness, the sound of another set of chains rattling, and the sense that someone is nearby where you can't see showed me that I wasn't the only one to be imprisoned in this slave carriage.
And I also assume that just like everyone else here, nor did I choose to be.
None of us spoke, I guess the others may have still been unconscious, or were too scared to speak up and likely bring upon themselves the wrath of our captors.
How many others were there?
One more?
Maybe two?
Three?
Anyone's guess was just as good as mine.
I moved my head and arms around best I could, swaying in all directions from my kneeling position in order to keep my body active and going.
If they weren't going to speak, neither was I, but I surely wasn't going to keep myself uncomfortable.
I was going to think of a way out of this situation as efficiently as possible. I had to.
Or this could very well be the end of me.
"Hey.."
"Anyone there?"
One of the other prisoners whispered out, shattering the silence. It was a male.
He had a voice that was neither too deep nor too light.
His words sounded slow coming out his mouth like he had a mouth full of something solid.
And the added muffling effect coming from the sack over his head made it more difficult to properly understand what he was saying.
"I know someone you're there, I heard you growl earlier. It's not like you were really trying to hide it."
He said mockingly.
I didn't plan on responding, but his voice just had this strange way of getting under your skin, it was actually impressive.
"Quiet."
I told him off.
"Nice attitude you got there."
"Where'd y'a get it from?"
He laughed back.
I wanted to tell him that and move on with him, but I guess I wasn't as blessed as I believed myself to be.
The guy continued to ramble on and on for what felt like hours, speaking to me in muffled whispers.
Using my phenomenal senses, normally I could smell anything from miles away.
Hear the tiniest mistake in the mechanics of a machine.
And see a speck of dust in the dark; but right now my senses have become dull.
They must've accounted for that and blocked off my meridian system to schedule ahead.
Close sounds were the best I was going to get.
Thinking of a way out of here was a done deal, especially with this guy in my ear.
"The name's Kadil."
"Yours?"
The young man asked me.
". . ."
No response was given.
How long was this carriage going to go on? My knees were numb as ever, the muscle tissue of my knees were black and blue.
The carriage rocked from side to side down the road, horses neighed on outside from where I couldn't see.
The other guy had finally shut up, more than likely due to the nature of our conflicting demeanors.
But now that his words were no longer there to provide us with that initial wave of saving grace, we were now stuck in an indefinite state where the quietude of the slave carriage was our only friend.
And the background noises were the music played for us.
No one truly had even the slightest clue as to when we would see sunlight, but we all prayed to ourselves in the back of our minds.
Not to an external force, not to other parties; not to anyone else but ourselves.
It was something we just couldn't help but to do.
Time passed in intervals as we crossed between other roads. Some felt like minutes, some felt like hours.
The journey was long and challenging to bear. It was like the terrain got worse over time.
I foresaw a future where we either get sold and are forced to act as amusement toys for the wealthy.
And another where we become mindless soldiers for whoever deems us worthy.
None of which piqued my interests. But surprisingly, it wasn't fear of what was to come for me that coated my last thoughts.
It was a sense of utter failure.
Like I had been defeated and bested in what felt like a prolonged, drawn out battle to me, when in reality it was a puppet show for an outcome that had long been decided since the beginning of its conception.
Truth be told, I never trusted anyone; the only person who knows where I lay my head at night is Craggle, the man who took me in.
Trust was something I lost since I entered the battlefield.
Lord knows when I lost it, but it's undeniable that I no longer have the capacity to grant it.
All movement came to a screeching halt and the sound of men ordering other men could barely be heard from inside of my cage.
Minutes later and the door to the carriage, or better yet, man-made slave ship, came swinging open as sunlight peered in, forming silhouettes over my vision due to my blindfold sack.
"Hey!"
"Hey! Let me go!"
"Lucien i'll fucking kill you!"
"You're fucking dead!"
I yelled until my throat hurt.
I thrashed in my cage, spewing hate at whoever could hear it through the darkened blind sack.
My chains kept me tied down in the carriage, so technically I posed no threat, but I still did what I could to draw Lucien's attention.
If he was even there.
Our kidnappers were beginning to speak amongst themselves, nobody could make out what they were saying, but that wasn't what was important at the moment.
Starting with me, they quelled my anger with a harsh smack to the skull with a weapon.
So hard I thought I had died then came back alive.
They then unshackled me from my constraints and I was hauled by a set of hands that practically threw me out of my mobile prison onto hard rock, tying my hands behind my back this time with a set of portable handcuffs.
Fighting it was meaningless in this scenario.
I could tell even with my dulled sense of hearing that there were more than at minimum, 3 highly trained guards, meanwhile I was in horrible condition.
I was lugged to my feet by my arms and pushed forward by who knows who.
I walked across the rocky path not knowing when to stop as the tense heat of the sun gave me a warm welcome.
Second after second I grew tired of the unnatural time we spent walking in a straight line with the added curve in our path here and there.
The rocky pathway had now turned into prickly grass the more we walked.
More marching and we were finally at our destination, one I did not have the luxury of seeing.
More shadows loomed in and I was transported back to an abyss of pitch-black.
What was once grass, was now a more rigid material.
I was flung onto the oddly smooth floor, and then shackled in the kneeling position once again by my captors, this time rougher than ever.
The blinding sack was pulled off my head and everything came back to me.
My senses, my clarity. Although I had the wobbly vision of a drunk man, it was still something.
Orange dim lights hung overhead with a whistling swing. I let my head hang at the floor with no support until I built up the energy to raise it.
Raising my head, that is the moment when I saw what I wish I hadn't.
[ CLANG ]