Bird of a Flock (Bow 2)

Chapter 10

The sun shined down without mercy on the hot sands, the air dry and every wisp of wind throwing sand into it. Eyeri's skin was red and sore from its harsh glaze, the masters uncaring as they continued to beat the slaves around them. Eyeri could hear the screams but was numb to them by now. Not quite numb enough to not scream when he, himself, was struck on his own vulnerable back. Sand clogged his nose and scratched in uncomfortable places.

This was hell, Eyeri knew it.

A rough calloused hand grabbed his arm and dragged him forward. His head was yanked back by his hair and a foul smelling piece of cloth was tied around his nose and mouth, making it harder to breathe. Eyeri didn't fight it. Death was a reward, not a fear here. In truth, he knew what was about to happen and death would have been a far kinder fate.

"Time to greet the desert slave," a man chuckled darkly by his ear.

Hands shoved Eyeri forward. He stumbled and fell, sands engulfing him as they swallowed him up. Surrounding him and gripping hard. Panic surged inside and he screamed. He thrashed, struggling against the grip of the sand but he only seemed to sink further in, the heat from the sun making the sand feel red hot against his skin. He could hear the master laughing and telling him to stop struggling. It was useless.

Eyeri had learned this lesson before, like all slaves. Struggling was useless. It only caused more pain and yet there was still something in Eyeri that fought. Something inside of him that still burned for freedom. The cloth came loose and sand threatened to fill his lungs. The reason for the cloth suddenly became painfully clean. It was a mercy in its own way.

Hands grabbed under his armpits and yanked him upwards out of the sands. The harsh desert releasing him from its grasp. He sobbed and strangely instead of being struck, arms wrapped around him.

"Easy. We have you now," a kinder, soft voice murmured. "We won't let them hurt you again," it promised.

Shifting, Eyeri tried to look at his saviour but before he could see their face, the sun blinded him.

"Sorry boys, but time to wake up," a female voice called, and the world shifted. The dream ended, and Eyeri found himself looking up at the stone cracked ceiling, early morning sunlight beaming brightly into the room. Harsh certainly to those who had just awoken but nothing compared to the sun of the desert.

His face was wet. It had been just a nightmare, but it had left him with his chest tight and his heart beating in his ears. Adrenaline running through his system and his muscles aching from having been tensed up. Sometimes Eyeri thrashed in his nightmares. Sometimes he was deathly still. He reached up and rubbed his face as Ryraso and Aw'endo groaned beside him. His father shifted, turning over, unhappy with being woken up.

"Come on," the voice commented unimpressed, Eyeri also noting now that the person was speaking in human tongues. "Prince Aw'endo you have training. You may have skipped out on the last two months but now that you have returned, you will go," the woman said strictly.

Aw'endo made a noise of complaint but shifted so he was sitting up on the bed. He was on the other side of Ryraso, and his short hair was just long enough to look sleep ruffled now. He glared at the woman k'nairi unhappily. "I've only just got back. Surely training could wait one day while I show Eyeri around the palace," he commented unhappily.

The woman looked at Eyeri with a look of mild dislike. Eyeri felt himself curling slightly under her gaze. A master or possibly an overseer didn't like the look of him. That was not good. That could get him in serious trouble. "Healer apprentice Eyeri has his own jobs and tasks to attend to today," she said curtly. "As does Healer Ryraso. You are the one who ran off and now it is time to return to your normal duties Prince Aw'endo."