Rise of the Hegemon

Welcome to your new home

A man pushing a cart suddenly emerge behind a small building, heading straight towards us.

Huh?

And in that moment, a scent began to waft toward me, growing more potent with every passing second as the cart drew closer to our position.

I glanced at Little Fish beside me, and from the expression on his face, it was evident that he'd felt it too. Our eyes met and I could see the growing grin on his face, he muttered something under his breath before licking his lips.

Murmurs grew around me, it seems the entire group had already noticed it by the looks of excitement and relief in their faces.

There's no mistaking it... that cart, it contains food.

A growing sensation of moisture filled my mouth, accompanied by the rumbling of my stomach as the creaking of the approaching cart filled my ears. I could barely keep myself from launching towards the incoming cart.

Each seconds seems like an hour as we impatiently waited for the arrival of the cart, if it weren't for the guards surrounding our positions, the designated area probably would've been devoid of any humans now.

"I hope it's enough for us." I whisper more to myself as I wiped the never ending sweat dripping from my forehead.

I glance up, shielding my eyes in the process as I look towards the direction of the sun, despite not actually seeing anything, I could still feel the sun piercing my gaze.

This damn heat is unbearable!

It's probably summer right now.. the mere thought of enduring the blazing heat while toiling away in the quarry made my skin crawl. And what about winter? Would they subject us to the same grueling labor, even while everyone's freezing into popsicles?

No, no..

Maybe the seasons here are different from back home, hell, maybe there's a new season here, something that exists only in here.... I really hope that's the case, I wouldn't want to die of hypothermia.

My fist clenched at this.

What's wrong with me..

Why am I finding myself entertaining the notion that the conclusion I reached on 'that' day is true.

There's still someone waiting for me back home, Mother...

I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulders and saw Little Fish pointing his finger towards the man and the cart, they've now stopped a couple of meters before our group.

The man pushing the cart barked something at the guards. Soon after, the guards descended upon us, forcefully pushing and shoving each of us in succession. After what felt like an entire minute of chaotic movement, we once again found ourselves standing in a line before the cart where I was positioned fourth from the end.

Peeking my head behind the man in front of me, I began to observe the procession happening in front of me.

The man is now serving each one of my fellow prisoners with steaming bowls and a loaf of bread from the cart... however, something seems to be missing?

No water?

I sighed at this, a scowl forming in my face.

Should I find gratitude in the fact that they provided us with food, rather than leaving us with nothing at all?

Fuck them! they're the ones who brought me here in the first place.

If their plan is to make us indebted to them by doing this.. then they're making a fucking mistake, it's not going to change.

Or maybe they didn't bother to even give us water? perhaps it was intentional?

Ah fuck this!

I clenched my palms hard, I could now feel a torrent of anger within me.

Breath.. I can't lose my cool in this kind of situation

I inhaled then exhaled.

Breath..

I repeated the process.

Breath.

I Repeated the process again.

It was until I saw one of my fellow prisoners heading back towards the cart, an empty bowl and spoon in his hand... I remember he was one of the very first men in line.

is he trying to get a refill?

My eyes widen at this, such a bold thing to do...

When he arrived besides the man serving our line, I anticipated a scolding or a possible tirade, or at the very worst, calling the guards to subject him to a beating.

It didn't happen..

Instead, the man ignored him as he lowered his bowl inside the cart before pulling it back up, the dripping of liquid from the occasional shaking of the bowl the prisoner held even visible from here.

There's water?

The prisoner proceeded to gulp down the contents of his bowl, then lowered it back into the cart. I squinted my eyes as he lifted the bowl to his lips, observing the occasional splashing and spilling that accompanied his hurried sips.

It's actually water! I feel my heart leap in joy at this.

he repeated the process at least three times before moving away, a satisfied look on his face.

And so, the next hour slipped by as we began to reclaim our lost strength and replenish our energies. During this time, I, along with Little Fish and a few others from our group, shared a meal together. However, I found that eating food with only the use of my free right hand was more challenging than I had thought.

I also couldn't help but stay silent the entire time when they talked with each other because of the damn language barrier, still, the company of laughing and conversation brough small comfort inside of me, even though I was not a part of it.

When the other guys left me and Little Fish alone to join the others, I was slightly surprised when he chose to stay and instead used the remaining time we have in teaching me the names of the food we just ate.

The words felt strange and foreign in my mouth, at first; I could barely get them out right, stumbling over their sounds. But after several repetition, I finally nailed the pronunciation. Still, there's a touch of awkwardness in how they come out, and my accent doesn't quite match, but at least I'm moving forward and making some real progress.

When the guards finally gathered us again, they began leading us towards the gate of the second palisade.

I can now feel my heart pounding as I anticipated what lies for us beyond that gate.

Glancing at the sling holding my left arm, I couldn't help but feel a sense of worry...

Since I can only use one arm, I probably wouldn't be entrusted with physical labor. So, what part will I actually play there? The idea of rousing jealousy among other miners who might assume I'm dodging hard work due to my injured left arm crossed my mind. But then, why even send me here if that were the case?

Unless they plan to treat me just like everyone else...

Our group came to a halt right before a solid wooden gate, its entrance closed tight. Another set of about a dozen guards, decked out in both mail and leather armor, stood before it, their weapons at the read; a collection of swords and spears.

A guard from our group begins exchanging words with a guard that seemed to stand out among the guards in front of the gate, unlike the others, he's clad in brigandine and a green scarf sat around his neck, not to mention the two swords that hung on both sides of his waist.

He's probably a captain or something.

After a few minutes of talking, the captain finally turned from the guard and yelled something to the men in front of him.

In an instant, they began to clear the way as they slowly and carefully open the large wooden doors in front of us.

I stood there, my body seemingly immobilized, taking in the scene that unfolded before my eyes. Beyond the wall, a gathering of several dozen figures, unmistakably miners, awaited our arrival. Their attire consisted of crude, makeshift rags, and a significant portion lacked even the most basic shirts, revealing their grimy and skeletal bodies. In their hands, a mix of pickaxes and various tools were held.

Their expressions appeared empty and tired, yet I could also catch sight of a few grinning at us, seemingly observing the newly arrived fresh meats.

Fuck, I'm going to be living in that condition starting now? a surge of dread and despair was now coursing through me, overwhelming and unrelenting.

I-I can't do this...

I'm going to fucking die in there...

I can't live and die in here... Mother is still waiting.

Waiting for me back home...

I took a few steps back as the group began to make their way inside the gate, flanked by the guards.

There's still a chance for me to escape-

A sudden, tight, yet oddly familiar grip on my shoulder startled me. When I turned around, I met the gaze of Little Fish, and in his eyes, I witnessed a stronger fiery of determination and defiance burning within.

He shook his head.. seemingly taking notice of my panicking figure.

How come you're like that?... I want to.. be like you.

Strong,

Brave,

Unafraid.

Shaking off every negative thoughts within my mind, fueled by inspiration and blind faith, I drew in a deep, long breath before finally taking a step forward.

"Welcome to your new home, Carillus" I muttered under my breath.

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CHAPTER DONE!!