Slave Knight

Prologue

Yule held fast to her big brother's hand on one side and her mother's on the other. She looked in awe at all that was around her. The marketplace seemed to stretch from horizon to horizon and the buildings to the sky.

No structure was quite as impressive as the wall that encircled the capital city. Her brother had informed her that the wall stood two-hundred feet high. He had also shared that it had been raised with magic in a time long past. Yule longed to see this magic. She longed for the Age of Magic's return.

When Yule told her brother of this, he had told her that far to the north lived a race of people with skin fair as paper. It was said that these Fair Ones still wielded magic and lived in harmony together with nature. It was also said that the Fair Ones and humans could not live together. Yule had shed tears, thinking she would never see magic in her lifetime.

Suddenly, a strange fruit caught Yule's eye, pulling her out of her contemplation.

"Oh, Joel, what's that?" she exclaimed, briefly releasing her mother's hand to point.

"That's a fruit from the southern islands of Derne. Tropical, they call it," Joel replied. "I don't know its name off the top of my head."

"Aw, I thought you knew everything."

"I do! Just give me a minute!"

Their mother laughed slightly.

"Okay, it's getting late, little ones," she said. "We had best find your father and get back to the inn."

"Aw, but I want to see the top of the wall!" Yule protested.

"We'll see it tomorrow, promise."

Yule nodded excitedly.

"Then let's get to sleep so tomorrow can come!" she exclaimed.

Her mother giggled once more and started leading the search for her father.

They finally found him haggling with a merchant over some rare variety of fish.

"I'll give you two silver for it," said Yule's father.

"This fish is worth at least one gold!" protested the merchant.

"Honey," Mother said, "You're no good at haggling. Just pay the price."

Father grumbled something under his breath and pulled a gold piece out from his pocket. He paid the fish merchant and grabbed his fish.

The four then started toward the inn they were staying in, Yule bidding the marketplace a silent farewell.

"Can we come back here tomorrow too?" she asked eagerly.

"Of course," said her mother.

Boom! A thunderous sound echoed throughout the city from the north side of the wall. All eyes in the marketplace turned to the source of the sound. Then, the boom sounded again and again. Yule squinted and made out a crack running up the wall. There was one final boom and the northern part of the wall collapsed. Small black shapes, like ants, started climbing over the rubble. Larger shapes with a metallic gleam merely flew over the rubble. Similar shapes swarmed over even the unbroken part of the wall.

One of the metal shapes landed in the middle of the marketplace. Its shape was an approximation of the human form. A massive sword and a weapon Yule could not name lay on its back. It drew the unknown weapon and pointed it at the crowd. Projectiles flew forth from the strange weapon. Though they were faster than Yule could see, they were visible after hitting the ground and in the way they mowed down the people of the marketplace. People ran in a blind panic. The guards rushed toward the metal monstrosity, but their spears broke on impact.

Yule picked up a rock and threw it at the metal man. The thing turned and regarded Yule. Then, claws emerged from its fingers and it stabbed at Yule. Her parents both leapt between the monster and her as Yule stumbled backwards and fell. The claws slid through her parents' bodies with ease, but the claws stopped just short of Yule and Joel.

The metal thing flung Mother and Father off of its claws and went back to firing into the crowd.

Joel pulled on Yule's hand as Yule wept, dragging her away from the metal thing. Then, someone bumped into Joel and he lost his grip. Yule stood and looked around for him, but he was lost in the crowd. By then, the ants were there, revealing themselves to in fact be men, wielding swords. They hacked into the people running. One of them came upon Yule and raised his sword to attack.

Yule covered her eyes and sobbed, praying to the gods to let her live. Then, she felt herself lift into the air and sling over a shoulder. She opened her eyes. The man who had been about to attack was carrying her towards the hole in the wall. He threw her in a carriage on the outside of the wall and shut the door. There was a single barred window in the door through which sunlight poured in. Looking around, Yule found herself in a small metal carriage, all alone. She sat down and wept some more until she was claimed by sweet sleep.