—☼—

Weeks went by as they settled into the caravans, spending their entire time in the caged wagons. 

They still had to switch with other prisoners from time to time. On some occasions, Kiur and Xander ended up separated from one another, only to end up in the same wagon again or in a wagon next to each other.

Kiur’s memories still haven’t fully returned to him except for the details of the raid.

He remembered his home city and, in all detail, what had transpired. 

His fears and emotions reached an all-time low. 

Apathy gnawed at his heart. Who else had he forgotten? His family? His friends? Were they taken as well? Kiur couldn’t explain any of his feelings, his turmoil of emotions, or why they still lingered with him.

“What did I forget so badly? What am I missing?”

“Anything new from your side?” asked Xander from the other wagon, his back facing Kiur’s. 

“Same as always. Nothing new.” 

Every two days, Reiszer wizards would come and inspect the prisoners. They clad their mouths in dark cloth, with tattoos lining their arms and necks and around the eyes. An octagon-shaped purple crystal gravitated on the long ends of their staffs, emanating a strange purple or orange hue.

Their sharp eyes assessed each individual. When they found someone, they grabbed them by their chin and stared them into their eyes, and into their souls.

They took them away and put the rest back into cages. 

They repeated the same process over and over.

“No idea what they are searching for. There are at least over a thousand prisoners here,” Xander pointed out the obvious. “All from far away borders and of different races, mostly humans, therianthropes or dwarves. Whatever they are doing, it must be worth the diplomatic risk.” 

“I don’t care for politics. Did you see any of the two kids I described?” Kiur pressed the matter of finding them, but so far, nothing. It was as if they disappeared from the face of the earth. 

Granted, they had thousands of prisoners here, but Kiur was desperate and impatient.

“No, but there was a strange girl. About our age, but younger,” Xander sneered. “She was asking for someone with golden hair. I dismissed her since she was a thrall.” 

“Did you suspect she would tattle on us? Why was she looking for one with golden hair?” 

“Who knows?” Xander shrugged. “Slave or not, I didn’t trust her, so I shooed her away. She had the meanest eyes you could imagine. Typical for someone from the middle-west.” 

As their conversation ended, night had come.

Kiur couldn’t fall asleep. His memories were still in shambles, trying to make head and toe on the scenes and emotions.

There was always this one particular woman in his mind.

He couldn’t make out her features, but her heart was either screaming, silent or boiling with emotions as if she were on fire. 

It was an ordeal having to experience them, keeping any sane person from sleeping. 

Another scene was that of a man. He stood next to the now bedridden woman. His eyes were cold and sharp, devoid of any emotions. He listened to whatever she was saying.

Before Kiur could make out what she said, the man’s gaze flicked on him. Kiur thought he was facing a dreadful wolf, disguising himself as a human and ready to pounce.

The memory was cut short. Kiur realised he had fallen asleep.

Nothing was making sense to him anymore. He could barely keep himself together.

“Leave you damn Reiszer!”

“We don’t know who you are looking for!” 

“Go away!”

Kiur heard annoyed yells from the nearby wagons and a faint trace of light hush between them.

The light disappeared from Kiur’s inferior position of view, so he moved further up in his wagon. 

Everyone was sleeping, even many of the more lax soldiers. When Kiur accidentally startled the black horse, he calmed it down by going over its mane. 

“Do you know where the sound came from?” Kiur asked the horse, not expecting an answer, but the horse snorted in a particular direction and flicked his tail. 

Light footsteps and the rustling of grass drew his attention to a woman with a lantern in hand. 

She was a thrall, dressed in rags for clothes that barely covered her scrapped knees. No shoes or additional clothing to protect from the usual chilly nights. Her long black hair had tints of blue at the tips but was a mess from the lack of care.

She was malnourished to the bones and looked overworked. 

When she spotted Kiur, she quickly rushed to him but stumbled over one of the wagon's wheels.

She face-planted herself on the ground and startled a horse. She quickly gathered herself up and clung to the metal bars of Kiur’s wagon.

“You have golden hair!” she exclaimed enthusiastically with another strange dialect Kiur couldn’t place. Her stormy eyes fixed themselves on Kiur. “I was searching for you.” 

Her free hand suddenly went underneath her clothes. Kiur turned away his gaze from the uncomfortable situation. “What are you doing?” 

“I- I can’t find it. Give me a moment.” She placed down the lantern and pulled out a piece of parchment from underneath her clothes. The material was the same as they used in Navarre, a papyrus scroll. 

It was a secret letter she carried with her.

“He asked me to find and give this to you. In exchange for helping you escape, please, take me with you.” 

Character Profiles

Name: Alexandre “Xander” Galanis 

Age: 23; Height: 175cm; Gender: Male; Race: Human

Magic: Water

Xander, as he prefers to be called by friends, is a wizard from the southwest. Taken prisoner by the Reiszer, he finds himself working together with Kiur to escape back to his home nation. 

Likes: Magic, making theories, winning arguments, shaved ice, cereals with milk and ice cubes