Chapter 8: Chapter 8 Life of a Warrior slave
"Y-Yes Jaggedmouth! They are all yours!" stutters Finnvid.
After a small staring contest between us, Jaggedmouth looks away to Finnvid, then starts walking towards the merchant guy down the stage. Finnvid grabs our chains and pulls us off the stage. The crowd is dispersing now due to Jaggedmouth buying the rest of us.
Settling the purchase, he grabs our chains and ushers us off into the town. We come upon a medium-sized building with a lot of windows. looks similar to an inn. He makes us stand in front of the doors and turns around.
"Names"
".." nobody talks. The emotionless boy stares off into space, the traumatized boy looks skittish, the 'young warrior' is terrified of the man in front of him, and I'm indifferent.
"Omen" I start. More memorable when you go first.
Seeing me talk first, Jaggedmouth, as well as the emotionless boy, looks at me.
"Johan," says the emotionless boy, still looking at me for a few seconds before looking back into space.
"Thorvald" --said the little warrior.
"..." Jaggedmouth looks at the last boy in silence, waiting for his answer.
The last boy doesn't seem disturbed by the pairs of eyes staring at him. So Jaggedmouth goes right in front of the kid and looks at him menacingly. The kid is freaking out even more, with legs about to give out from under him.
Jaggedmouth stays silent. "L-Lodin...My name is Lodin" said the last boy finally.
Immediately turning on his heels and walking inside, Jaggedmouth says "I am called Jaggedmouth" as he pulls our interlocked chain inside with him. The sun slowly fading behind us.
The interior isn't anything fancy, dirt floors, long dining table in front of the hall, with an assortment of the Norse gods' symbols here and there. There is a huge double door in the back of the hall, which he leads us to. Opening it, we see a dark underground staircase leading us to who knows where.
Pulling the chain, "Move", he commands us to follow him down the dark staircase. Eventually there are some torches lighting the way and some people begin to show up. Some cells with one or two kids ranging from preteen to teenager. He puts all four of us in one empty cell.
"You are now my thrall. Obey me or die." his eyes linger on me for only a moment. Looking at the range of kids here, I think me and Thorvald are the youngest. Once the man leaves, Lodin stands up and starts heading towards a corner, sits down and hugs his legs. Johan goes to the back wall and lays down facing it. Thorvald finds another corner to settle down in, seemingly contemplating something. All of them don't seem like they want to talk so I'll leave them be. Finding my own corner, I find a nice dry area and sit down next to the wall.
[I wonder what life will have in store for me now]
Having that thought, I rest my head on the wall and drift off to sleep.
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"WAKE UP!" My eyes shoot open as I see a man walking outside the cells getting everyone awake. I have no idea what to expect, so I slowly stand up. Looking to the side I see Johan now staring at the ceiling while Lodin is still in his sitting position. Thorvald stood up very quickly with nervousness on his face with slight anticipation in his eyes.
The voice gets increasingly close until they look inside our cell. Opening it, it is a young man standing 5'10 with a clean baby face. He is slim but seems to be starting to develop muscles under his slightly better looking grey rag, and trousers.
He looks at us menacingly, "GET OUT! We are to gather in front of our master!" said the man.
Thorvald in front, we leave the cell. I see many kids gathering in a pit of dummies and wooden weapons. When the last of us gather in front of Jaggedmouth, he finally speaks.
"I bought you all to fight for me as warrior slaves. Win and you live, lose and no one but the God of Darkness himself can save you from your impending gruesome death. Grab a weapon and attack the target until I say so. Don't do it, and you don't eat."
The children look around hesitantly, Thorvald goes first and runs towards a wooden sword. Taking a firm grip, he finds a training dummy and starts attacking its torso with clumsy yet fierce swings.
The rest of the kids start grabbing weapons and hitting the dummies. I see my cell roomies doing the same, attacking at different paces and with their own difficulties.
Taking my time, I walk towards a wooden sword. Taking it in my grasp, it feels incredibly light, and fragile. I find a dummy nearby and take a small stance that I've seen in my previous life. Doing this attracts some attention from the kids and Jaggedmouth himself.
Not caring for the prying eyes, I take a strong steady step and swing the sword accurately at its left shoulder diagonally at its right rib.
*Crrack*
[Ouch!] The sword breaks from the strong contact it made with the dummy and I drop it with the strong recoil. That dummy has a iron base! The sound echoes in the pit and Jaggedmouth looks at the young man from earlier and jerks his head as if to say "Get it".
Shortly after, the young man brings another wooden sword. He looks at me warily yet with arrogance and drops the sword at my feet.
[grrrrr]
Reaching down, I silently take hold of the handle.
[It's heavier now?]
Picking it up with ease, the young man looks at me with slight shock. Ignoring him, I go back to the dummy. Repeating my steps, I take a stance and with a steady step I strike at the same spot.
*DIING*
The sword goes flying as the recoil forces me to drop the sword.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone