The Journey to Astan

"Urgh..."

I woke to the sounds of creaking wheels and jostling of chains.

"My head..." I tried to reach up and rub the back of my head but stopped when I saw what was on my wrists.
I looked at my surroundings and saw a grim scene. Dozens of people, chained together, crammed into this covered wagon. I looked out of the back of the wagon to see a trail of a dozen or more similar wagons.
Did the entire city fall? How long was I out? Did my parents make it out? Did Kuno?

I turned to the lady next to me. "How long have we been on this wagon? Did they take the city?"

"..."

She was completely silent. Looking around, the whole wagon was like this. Everybody looked lifeless and disheveled.

"We've been in here for around one and a half days ... give or take."

I turn to look at the person across from me. There sat a boy who looked around my age, maybe a few years older, with short brown hair and dark eyes.

"Woah ... You're a Ular."

I forgot to avoid showing my eye and didn't have my eyepatch. Quickly, I looked down.

"Don't worry, I don't really care about that stuff. Plus, we aren't in a position to judge anyone." He waved his chains around, showing what he meant.

"What happened to the city? How did they get in?" I asked.

"The Amir army had a light cavalry force that went out way ahead of the main army. The outer wall was incredibly underprepared because most of the guards were stationed at the inner walls to protect the baron. Also, everyone thought that they would be there a week later. The cavalry simply rode in through the gate and kept it open for the main army."

"I think the inner city is still standing, but I'm sure it will fall any day now. Serves them right," he snorted.

As I was thinking, loaves of bread were thrown into the back of the wagon. Chaos erupted as people fought for the bread, biting and scratching each other. By the time I snapped out of my confusion, there was nothing left.

"You have to be faster than that, or maybe you're not desperate enough."

I looked over to the boy, who had a chunk of bread in his hand. Maybe he felt bad because he tore a small chunk of it off and handed it to me. As I reached out to grab it, the woman next to me lunged at it. He quickly pulled his hand back before she could grab it.

I looked directly at her. "What are you doing!?"

"Hey, you can't blame her; look, she has a kid."
Ah, that's what he meant by being desperate enough.

I thought about it for a few seconds. "Give it to her," I said.

"Really?" He tilted his head slightly.

I just nodded. He tossed the piece of bread over to the woman and gave me a side-eye look.

"I am sure that you will regret this later when you're trying to sleep," he scoffed.
Ugh, I am already regretting it, but it's done.

The woman immediately gave the bread to her child, then turned towards us.

"Thank you so much," she said, clasping her hands together.

"It's ok," I give her a weak smile, then turn to the boy.

"Do you know where we are going?"

"Yeah, first we are going to the port city of Karne, then from there they will put us on a ship to cross the Ionian Sea to the capital of Astan."

"Do you know how long that will take?"

"I dunno, I heard it will take a few months."
A few months? Living like this?

Night came, and it turned out the boy was right. They give us bread once a day, and now I have to wait a full day until then. It was almost impossible to sleep. It was cramped, it smelled horrific, and I felt like I was starving. I stared out of the back of the wagon.
This can't be what the rest of my life is like. I refuse to believe it.

"By the way, what's your name?" It seemed like the boy was still awake, too.

"Sern ... what about you?"

"Rean."

Talking with someone made it more bearable. Weeks have passed, and I've gotten a little more used to everything. Rean and I have become friends, and I talk to the woman and her child, too. Something I can't get used to is the looming sense of death. Every day, when we wake up, another person is found dead in the wagon train. I see them just throwing their bodies off the side of the road, letting them roll away.
I can't let that happen to me. Never.

A month later, after coming back into the wagon after relieving himself. Rean showed something to me.

"Look at what I found," he whispered. Rean opened his hand to show me a small metal nail.

"Ok ... What are you going to do with it, though?"

"Really? You have to ask?" He gestured at the lock on his chains. He started to fiddle with the lock, but nothing was happening.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" I gave him an amused look.

"Watch, I will learn in no time."

I knew it was dangerous, but I was glad. Rean had the will to escape from this situation, and it gave us both a much-needed distraction. It was the first time I had enjoyed myself in a while. I watched out for the guards whenever they came by.

One day, in the afternoon, while he was working on the lock at his feet, I heard a "click!" and immediately turned to look at him. We both looked straight at each other.

"Tonight," he said.

"Tonight," I responded.

I was excited but nervous at the same time. There were so many things that could go wrong, but that wouldn't stop us from trying.

"Hey," he said to me. "Thanks for everything ... I don't think I would be able to bear it if I were alone."

"Yeah ... I feel the same way."

"Oh yeah... I have something for you." He pulled at a string hanging around his neck. On it was a bronze-colored ring.

"Here ... Take it."

"Why are you giving me this?"

"... So you can remember me."

"Why are you saying it like something's going to go wrong?"

"Nothing's going to go wrong; I just want you to have it."

I reached out and took the ring. It seemed pretty important to him, as it had engravings around the entire ring. It was nighttime at this point. After he said that, he started to work on the chains around his hands. After a few minutes of messing with the lock, it popped open. He quietly put the cuffs on the floor of the wagon and slowly crept over to my side.

He whispered, "Put your hands out." As he started to fiddle with my lock, I heard a scream.

An old man at the back of the wagon, farthest from us, with thinning hair and almost no teeth, screamed out, "Guards! Guards! He's escaping!"

I was in shock. I couldn't believe someone would do that.

"Just run! Go!" I yelled, pushing him away.

Rean stood there for a few seconds, like he was debating.

"I'm sorry," he said. Then he leaped out of the back of the wagon, running off the road towards a treeline in the distance. He hadn't run in so long, he kept stumbling over himself. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't; my eyes forced me to watch. I could hear the sounds of guards shuffling around the wagon, getting to their horses. Rean had made it to the treeline, but the guards followed quickly behind. As Rean disappeared into the treeline and then the guards, I held my breath. Minutes passed, then I could see the guards emerge from the treeline. I didn't see Rean with them and let out a sigh of relief.

Then I saw something. Behind one of the guards, a horse was dragging something tied to a rope. I couldn't breathe. Rean was there, his hand tied to the rope, with a massive gash across his waist. I wanted to throw up, but couldn't. Tears streamed from my eyes as I put my hands on my face.

"Who's the one who alerted us?" one of the guards asked.

"Me! It was me!" The old man responded excitedly.

The guard tossed a loaf of bread to the back of the wagon, which the old man started devouring.
A loaf of bread? Rean died because this man wanted a loaf of bread?

I curled up, clutching the ring.

Rean

I learned how to lockpick a long time ago. I knew that I could get the locks off of Sern and me in around five minutes. But I didn't want to, not yet at least. I knew that there were desperate people in the wagon with us. I mean, we were now slaves, so it made sense. I was sure already that someone would alert the guards to us for some food, but more so because the others wouldn't be able to watch us escape. To see people escape this fate and leave them behind while they suffer.

I wanted to spend more time with Sern. Even in the situation we were in, she didn't give in to despair; she gave me the energy to continue. I wish I had met her earlier, I wish we didn't have to meet like this, I wish I could have stayed with her. But I knew that it was impossible. We would soon be at the port in Karne, and from there we would probably never see each other again. I would rather take the one-in-a-million chance to escape with her than live as a slave for the rest of my life. When I heard the old man scream, I knew it was over. When Sern told me to run, I ran, but my legs kept wobbling. As I made it to the treeline, I heard the sound of hooves approaching. The sound was getting louder and louder, like rolling thunder, until it was upon me, and I closed my eyes.

I'm sorry for lying, Sern.