The stench of sweat combined with layers of filth penetrated the air. Hundreds of lives were put to back-breaking work from dawn to dusk every single day. It had been this way for centuries though. But not everyone was in slavery; at one time there was freedom and peace because the land was ruled by a good king, King Kizben the Wise.
There were four countries under the leadership of King Kizben: Pandem, the North country, Zomam, the East country, Gruman, the West country, and Balim, the South country. King Kizben’s throne sat in the country of Pandem in the thriving city of Ware.
Each of the four countries lived in peace and harmony with one another. That was until Kizben’s younger brother, Akaidish, carried a great jealousy in his heart towards Kizben and all of the power that he had.
One night while all of the countries were asleep, Akaidish killed Kizben and took over his reign as king. Akaidish despised the Light and all that was good.
“I will destroy it,” he said as he killed Kizben. The entire sky turned black as coal, the air was as thick as smoke, and the sun was as red as blood when the king died; it was as if even the very force of nature knew what had taken place.
Madness poured out into the streets and everyone was forced to proclaim that evil was their safety and Akaidish was their one and only king now. Anyone who did not believe in the Darkness was proclaimed as Glips, meaning “those who believe against the Dark” and were forced to slavery.
King Akaidish gathered an army of strong and fearless warriors and declared them to be known as Falfreys. The falfreys went out and wreaked havoc amongst the four countries, destroying homes and even entire towns and dragging in glips.
The people feared Akaidish greatly for what he had done to his brother, their king. They followed his orders strictly out of pure fear; he wanted to prove to all people that darkness overcomes the Light, but still some refused. Our story begins in the country of Gruman in the small town call Bef.
The sting from the taskmaster, named Guil’s, whip felt like a million hot needles. Noble Halifer, a strong-willed seventeen year old boy, fell to his knees and dropped the load of rocks he had been trying to carry. His entire body shook as Guil cracked the whip several more times upon his blood-dried back and shoulders.
“Get up and get back to work!” Guil shouted as he snapped the whip a few more times.
The other exhausted men and boys watched the scene out of the corner of their eyes as they continued on with their work. Noble slowly gathered and stacked the rocks back into his aching arms and used whatever strength he had left to stand.
Guil snickered at him and walked away, continuing to whip other slow workers. Noble looked around at the others who were staring sympathetically at him and he continued walking.
Noble had lived in bondage his entire life; his parents continued to bring Noble up in the ways of good, and not only teaching him of the Light but hundreds of others; for this reason, it cost them their lives.
“Don’t stray from the teachings, Noble!” His mother cried as the falfreys carried her and his father away.
Though he was young when it happened, the memory continued to haunt his mind. His two closest friends, Jon Carpenter and Caro Brookenridge, had been through everything with Noble. They, too, believed that the Light would destroy the Darkness and peace would reign over the countries once again. Jon’s family took Noble in as their own son and continued to bring him up in the ways that his parents had taught, never straying from the hope that they once had had.
Jon approached Noble cautiously as they worked; making sure that Guil or any of the other falfreys noticed him.
“Are you okay?” he whispered, walking beside his friend.
Noble nodded his head weakly. Jon looked at Noble’s striped back; blood trickled out from several cuts from the whip. The day seemed as if it would never end for Noble, but that wasn’t abnormal. Every day felt like it would never end.
The two returned to their home along with all of the other exhausted men and boys; the women and younger children were put to work either at home or in the fields with some of the older men.
As they walked along the dirt road to their home, Caro met them halfway.
“What in the world happened, Noble?” she asked when she noticed his striped back.
“Guil…” Jon stated.
That was all that he needed to say; she shook her head.
“I hate that man so much,”
“You shouldn’t hate, Caro.” Noble told her.
“No, maybe I shouldn’t… but you both certainly should!”
“’We break your bodies to bring you to the truth: darkness is our only Light.’” Jon quoted Guil’s words.
“Someone should break his neck for that,” Caro declared.
“Vengeance is never the way out, guys. I don’t like him either, but by hating him you only feed his fire. He wants us angry, that shows the Darkness in our hearts.”
Both Jon and Caro knew that what Noble had said was true… but bitterness still dwelled in their hearts.
“Let’s see if you still feel the same when he kills you t…” but Caro stopped herself. There was still the memory of hundreds of glips being killed by Akaidish’s hand, including Noble’s parents.
As they continued their mile-long trek to their house, a tall rider dressed in a dark-colored holocaust cloak and dark blue tunic rode on a cream-colored horse past the company of weary workers. As he rode past the three, he slowed his steed down and looked at them as he continued to ride by. The cloak covered his face so no one could see it, but he sat tall on the horse and his shoulders were very broad.
Once past them, he kicked his horse into a trot and dust rose and made a path behind him.
“Who was that?” Caro whispered.
Both Noble and Jon shrugged their aching shoulders, wondering the same thing. They finally arrived back to their houses and by this time the red sun had fully disappeared in the distance. Mrs. Carpenter cleaned Noble’s wounds and put a salve on each cut.
“I can’t believe that man, whipping young boys like they’re cattle. I can’t believe they’re allowed to whip people at all!” She ranted.
