Chương 2: Shadow Land
A year had passed since Lyonel was born and spirited away by Jaime, and now, Lyonel is in a place that is far from his birthplace. Lyonel has been sold to a man named Inik at Asshai, and now Inik is trying to sell Lyonel to a man wearing a red mask over his face and a black cloak around his body.
The man held Lyonel and asked the Inik "Are you sure that he is past his first name day?"
"Of course I am. The sailor I bought him from said that he got him from his father himself over a year and month ago." Inik replied.
Squinting his eyes, the masked man asked "Was there any problem with the child, for his own father for giving him away to the sailor?"
"Of course not. He came all the way to Assahi and the sailor said that they haven't met any kind of disturbance in the sea. You think if the kid is cursed or something, he'll be able to come here without facing any kind of trouble? I think not." Inik said with an offended face.
Looking down at Lyonel, the masked man said "Alright. I'll buy him. What do you need?"
"I want some dragon eggs. You see I have a customer in Esoss who is looking for dragon eggs, if you have any please trade the child with a couple of eggs." Inik said with a sly smile.
"Alright. I have three dragon eggs that came from the West. I will give it to you for the child, but know that those eggs are petrified and it has been preserved for over a century like that." Saying so the masked man handed Lyonel to the sailor and went into the carriage that he had come from, from inside the carriage, sounds of caged animals were heard. A couple of minutes later the man came out of the carriage with a box. Handing the box over to Inik, the masked man said "Handle it with care."
"You too. It's too fragile after all." Saying so, Inik handed Lyonel to the masked man and left the camp of the masked man.
Lyonel, who is in the hands of the masked man, thought to himself 'I wanted to escape on our journey here, but that bastard kept me in a locked room with a slave girl he purchased to look after me and for him to have some fun. If I get a chance to escape from here then I'll do so.'
The masked man looked at Lyonel and said in a different language that he was speaking with Inik "You know you're lucky that you're past your first name day. Now that you are past your first name day, I can only use you on your seventh name day as my sacrifice to bolster my magic."
Shaking his head, he looked up and said to himself "I will have to find someone to look after him until he is of age for being the sacrifice. Hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha."
'Alright, I should definitely find a way to escape from this maniac. At the same time I should finish him off if possible. But, for that I will have to wait until I am at least at the age of four.' Lyonel thought as he heard the man talk to himself.
The masked man looked at the carriage driver and said "Let's leave. My business here is finished."
He took Lyonel to the carriage and placed him on the seat while closing the door. As soon as the door was closed, the carriage driver started to pack up the camp items. As Lyonel was seated, he noted that he was surrounded by one large tiger-like animal, two small tiger-like animals and three hawks in cages. The small tiger like animals and hawks had stopped making noises as soon as he was seated in the carriage and kept on looking in the direction of Lyonel and he also felt some kind of connection with them. The masked man noticed this and mumbled out "Interesting."
Sitting down opposite Lyonel, the man removed his mask and Lyonel observed that the man had asian features, with slanted eyes and dark hair. The man in turn looked at Lyonel and said "Curious child aren't you?"
"Ba bu gu ga" Lyonel made baby noises while pointing at a large tiger-like creature that was the odd one out.
Looking at the animal Lyonel pointed at, the man said "Even though you won't understand what I am saying, I will inform you what that is. That is a Shadow Cat, one of the most dangerous animals in the world, it's a wild animal so don't go near it, right now it is safe as I have put it to sleep." Then placing his hand over Lyonel's head the man said "Now, sleep."
As the words left the man's lips, Lyonel fell asleep and saw that the man nodded while mumbling to himself "My magic is potent on infants, but it won't do anything on anyone that is above seven years old. For that to happen, I'll have to sacrifice this child and some other things, like the water from Stygai."
The carriage travelled peacefully up north of Assahi without any troubles. Because of that, the man closed his eyes and started to sleep as the journey was comfortable for him.
A couple of minutes later, Lyonel opened one of his eyes and looked at the man. Confirming that he was sleeping, Lyonel slowly climbed down from the seat and moved towards the caged shadow cat. Extending his hand through the gap of the cage, Lyonel poked the shadow cat with his finger. As if a jolt of electricity passed through its body, the shadow cat opened its eyes and raised its head, then looked straight into the eyes of Lyonel.
From that eye contact itself, Lyonel felt some kind of connection forming with the shadow cat. Taking his chances, he spoke to the shadow cat through the connection ~I am going to free you from your cage. Help me get outta here.~
~If you promise me to free my children, I will gladly help you Beast Master.~ The shadow cat replied through the connection and that made Lyonel's eyes go wide in surprise and thought to himself 'I can understand animal language? Do I have powers similar to Dr. Dolittle? But I can understand the languages spoken by Jaime, the sailor, Inik and this masked man. Then, does that mean I have the power to understand every language that there is? Sweet!'
Looking back at the shadow cat he said through the connection ~I will free your children and you. In return help me slay this man~
~As You wish, Beast Master.~ The shadow cat said and waited for Lyonel to free it.
Taking the keys of the lock of the cage from the man as stealthily as he can, Lyonel unlocked the cage of the adult shadow cat. The shadow cat got out of the cage without making a sound and in a swift motion it killed the man with a swing of its paw. When the man's head turned all the way to the back, Lyonel started to unlock the other cages, climbing back on to the seat he unlocked the infant shadow cat's cage, the infants licked his cheeks as soon as the cage was opened and went to their mother. Next he unlocked the cage of the three hawks, they also showed some affection towards him.
Feeling all these connections he formed with the shadow cats and the hawks, Lyonel concluded in his mind 'The shadow cat called me Beast Master. Must be one of the powers I have similar to the power to understand every language, All Speak. Are there more powers dormant in me or are they all active and I just don't know about them?'
Shaking his head, Lyonel conveyed his idea to his companions ~Let's get out of the carriage and find a safe place to reside. The hawks will take the skies and inform us of any dangers, me and the kittens will ride shadow cat.~
~Aye aye!~ ~As you wish. ~~At your command.~ Lyonel heard three different sounds in his head, and he immediately knew that they belonged to the hawks.
~Before we depart. I want you to give us names, Beas Master.~ The adult shadow cat said.
Looking intently at the adult shadow cat, Lyonel said ~Since you are a female, I'll call you Felicia. And your children will be Felix and Fenix. The hawks will be Clint, Katar and Shayera. Now let's get out this carriage and get our freedom back!~
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