The Celestials Prison: Envoy of the Damned

Act 0 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Jack; Vagril 5th, 343SR; 15:08

'Another day of mining... Well, whatever, this is what we were born into this world for...' The pickaxe slammed into the wall of rock, it's surface lit orange by the lantern in Jack's hand. Several crystals of logorite shone green as the light reflected off.

"So- uh... Ben, how long have you been in Logos?" Jack stuttered as he tried to make conversation for the fifth time.

Jack stood behind Ben, the bulkier man swung the pickaxe down and a crack rippled through the cave followed by the pellets of dust trickling onto the floor. Jack looked down and noticed the light reflect off drops of sweat, the smell of it stung his nose. 'Another eight hours of mining...'

Ben raised the pickaxe and flexed his muscular arms, the sweat ran down against his light brown skin as it reflected off the light. He exhaled before he swung down, cleaving a big chunk of rock off. Ben had long black hair tied back by a band, his face was long with small features. He was always serious and never said much, he barely ever made eye contact. 'I didn't think slaves could keep that much hair, he must have been here for a long time...' Jack rubbed the top of his flat head, brushing his fingers against the tiny amount of stubble that remained after being shaved several days ago.

On the ground was a shirt like the one Jack wore, a dirty white full-sleeve T-shirt. They also both wore loose brown pants held up by a simple black leather belt. The pickaxe went down again and chunks of grey rock and dust scattered around the air. Ben squinted and shielded his narrow eyes to avoid the dust, droplets of sweat leaked down his head. He stepped back huffing, catching his breath as he twisted the pickaxe in one hand.

In one motion, he brought the axe overhead, grasped it with both hands, and swung down. With a frustrated grunt, he cleaved off as much as he could. The metallic thud echoed through the cave as the pebbles sprinkled onto the cave floor. Several chunks clashed against the wall as they rolled over the pebbles on the ground. The same noises echoed repeatedly throughout the cave from other miners.

"Why do we have to do stuff like this anyways!" a voice somewhere else in the cave shouted.

Jack turned his head and looked off towards one of the lights in the dark. He saw the silhouettes of two people, the disobedient slave, and an angel with a staff. The angel raised his weapon and swung down. An audible thud echoed through the cave, the slave only cowered from the hit, but then cried out in pain after the next one.

"Stop, ow! Stop!" the slave wailed in pain.

'There goes that idiot Carol, can't just take orders and not cause a commotion...' Jack shook his head. "Ben, do you want to bet who works the next shift on who can guess who's getting beat?" Jack tried to make conversation with Ben once more.

Ben set the pickaxe down, then picked up his shirt and threw it over his shoulder. His brown pants were drenched in sweat and his hands shook from constantly striking the rock. Ben proceeded to fill the bucket with the ore on the ground. Once he was done, he turned and picked up his lantern with the other hand.

"I don't care," Ben walked away.

Jack stood awkwardly as Ben walked away, a lonesome chill embraced him. 'Well if there's one good thing about Carol she's the only person I can talk to around here... Everyone else here just ignores me...' Carol weakly stood up, she looked at the angel who walked away. He could tell even from this distance she was sticking her tongue out to mock him.

Jack put his lantern on the ground and then gently dragged his shirt over his scrawny body. He dropped it on the dusty ground next to the light. The soothe cold air licked at his skin as he reached for the iron handle of the pickaxe. 'Vagril just started but it's this hot out... I'm sweating just on my way here...' Jack struggled to lift the tool above his head. The muscles on his back pulled his skin, he shifted the weight of it to keep it from tipping. Jack held his breath, then pulled the pick down with all his strength, slamming it into the wall. As the end of the axe hit the rock it sent a ripple through him. His bones rattled uncomfortably, the vibration lingered for a few seconds. Jack huffed and readied for another strike as someone approached. The familiar clicking sound of the guard's boots grew closer.