1 CHAPTER 1- THE ESCAPE

Bang! The Moor fired his gun and a bullet whizzed past my face like a mosquito. The ropes used to bind my hands were so tight, that they had completely shut off the blood flow to it and the ache at my wrists increased with every pain stricken step I took.

Despite the loud thumping sounds my long legs made as I sprinted away, and the violent roaring of my heart in my ears I could still hear the shouting and excited chatters of the other slaves bound at the trunk of the huge central tree. "stop!" he yelled after me. "Stop I say!". Involuntarily, a defiant groan escaped from my throat and I stopped just in time to maneuver my foot from a huge elephant trap under the canopy of some trees a few inches away from me.

That simple act made me twist my knee, and thrown off balance, I stumbled and fell down a deep gully to my right. The fall was quite serious and I didn't have enough time to get up and start running again. This gave him the time he needed to catch up with me. In moments, his intimidating shadow was hovering over me. This time, his voice was murderously cold.

"I thought I told you that the next time you ran away you'd regret it." He spat evily. Before I knew it, he was on me. Both his strong hands were at my throat strangling me violently. Somehow, the ropes binding my hands had come undone and I struggled for breath clawing at his hands like a madman.

A heavy blow to the face corrected that effort, and for a moment or two I could see nothing but Stars. He laid his hands on me again, this time squeezing more violently, and my freed hands scratched around the sharp, wet jungle sand in hope of anything that would save me from the hands of my attacker. I seized an object from the ground and stabbed deep, deep into human flesh.

A loud scream emanated from his mouth, and I felt his red hot blood squirming down my fingers. In the blink of an eye, the strong resilient man lay deathly still and nothing but the deafening silence around the jungle could be heard. I pushed his heavy body off me, my heart beating quickly. My chest heaved heavily with my fast breaths as I dragged in the air like a glutton. My stomach felt like it was upside down and the sickening smell of blood no doubt worsened it.

I bent over him, searching him for anything that would help me, and I found a small bag of gold coins. I quickly thrust it into my pocket, and limped hurriedly away without so much as a second glance at the dead Moor. I knew that soon, the other slavers would find him and they would come looking for me thirsting for blood, for revenge and I had to get out of this cursed jungle! Quick!

Soon, the sun had receded far into the horizon, and I was blanketed by a deep, dark cover of nothingness. I peered dimly in the darkness in search of a cave where I could spend the night but after hours of fruitless search, I gave up and crouched against the huge roots of a large mahogany tree.

The mosquitoes were voracious, and all the attempts I made to ward them off were futile, so l closed my eyes, and let them bite on. Though I do not know the hour at which I slept off, I was awoken by the warm gentle touch of mild rays of sunlight streaking through the faults in the canopies of trees, and the sound of gurgling water that was sweeter than music to my ears.

I rushed towards the sound and found a clean river to my utmost delight. I quickly stooped and cupped several handfuls of the clean water into my mouth, for I was dehydrated and would have fainted of thirst. After a few moments of wading in the river, my stomach grumbled and then I remembered that I hadn't eaten in nearly a day and half.

I had barely walked a few metres from the river, when I came across a big tree with lots of ripe golden yellow fruit dangling from almost every branch. After filling my stomach with about three of these lovely fruits, I decided that I would continue on my journey out of the forest. I packed about four of them in a makeshift bag pack I created from vines and some broad green leaves, and carried some water in an earthen pitcher I found at the bottom of the river.

I had walked a really long distance when night caught up with me, and as I laid down to rest, the twinkling Stars in the night sky looked down on me.

Suddenly, the past flashed back in my memory. Originally, I was never a slave. In fact, I was a prince. A prince of Valeria. Before the slave traders came, we had lived in peace.In harmony. I even had three older brothers, and a younger sister. But the day they came, they slaughtered, cleaved and tortured the innocent people of our kingdom. We had a tradition that abhorred violence, and the day they set their cursed feet on our land, my father stood in front of them and prayed for their souls, but they slit his throat anyways.

My brothers, my sister, all my loved ones, were massacred. Those whom they didn't enslave, they killed, and whom they didn't kill they sold. I Bren Foster, the last Valerian prince of the once great Valerian royal family, was reduced to a slave. The day my family was killed, I swore to avenge them no matter the costs!

Ever since I was taken captive, it had been a journey from one strange land to another. I suffered hunger, plagues, cold, insect bites, and so many other things. At night, they made us the slaves push the heavy brass carriages in which they carried the chief slaver and his family.

And in the mornings, we were bound, sometimes chained up to our necks, and they beat us up with leather truncheons if we misbehaved. More than thirty percent of the slaves who were there when I was taken captive had been sold. And about a score who could not keep up with the hardships of a slave's life gave up the ghost.

The Moor was the cruelest of them all. The disgusting bastard was a sadist. He derived pleasure from other's misery and he was constantly afflicting all the slaves, especially the womenfolk. Though I was shocked that I was able to do it, I didn't regret it one bit. Killing the Moor was the beginning of my revenge and I would not stop till I put an end to all the slavers. Not just for my family, but for all the tortured souls who had suffered misery at their hands.

*****************************************

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. For questions and to get a glimpse of what the characters look like as we progress, follow me on Instagram@ authorglory.o