Aspects: The Monsterlands (2)

Chapter 3: A Boy and his Lizard (First Draft)

The Yeltan sun's rays peered through Galan Stormborn's cage as the caravan carried him and the other orc children to an unknown location. Despite the peace ensured by king Firbull and the unlivable conditions of the Monsterlands, raiders started crossing the borders ever since the world shook. Because of the event some started calling 'The Rupture', more and more lawlessness took place close to the Monsterlands borders.

Galan had been surviving alone for the past six years. Almost alone. The wind guided him wherever he needed to be. It was his friend. It showed him to shelter during storms and cooled him from the sun. but the moment the world shook, the wind vanished.

He looked around his cage he shared with two others. They left the other kid's belongings with them, but his kidnappers took his spear. not that it would be much help here, he could still hardly swing the thing. Whoever these people were, they were careful. Galan could only manage to see bits of sunlight during the day, but they removed the cover at night to let them use the restroom.

Not every kid could navigate by starlight, but he wasn't like every kid. He could summon power from his scarred hand like a superhero. He had been watching the stars to figure out where they were being taken. By now they were headed west and had passed the town of Ui. He was hoping they'd be stupid enough to make a stop in Ui, but they went around it. Galan recognized their path and surmised their destination.

The raiders were bringing them to the center of Yeltic. To the Monsterlands. A place filled with ash, death, and the unenlightened monstrous races. When he let himself be captured, he thought he could take them out quickly and save the other kids. But for unenlightened, they were careful.

These people were exiled to the Monsterlands and haven't raided in years. But Galan knew all too well that meant nothing. It was raiders like these that burned his home. He had only just arrived in Hagst when the children were being thrown into a cart. For Galan, what to do next was not a hard choice.

So, there he was. A few days into being a willing prisoner and he hadn't found his opening. He's had a few opening now to blast them with a bit of lightning and break free, but anything he could do would only hurt the prisoners. There were more raiders than he was prepared for. The cart joined a larger caravan outside of Hagst.

Maybe they are stocking up on supplies? He wondered.

His stomach was uneasy the closer they got to the Monsterlands. If they were to cross that border, he and the captured kids would all be goners. He had to act. If not him, who?

Galan went for the cage door when the small orcish child spoke up. "Stop that, you'll get us killed." She whispered in a hush. This was the first either of the kids spoke despite Galan's relentless reassurance.

He could sense her worry and created a small gust around her. "You feel that." He gestured to the wind. "It's telling us to go." Galan placed his scarred hand on the cages lock. "Have courage and stay quiet. I'll save you."

He didn't wait for her acknowledgement, while the guards were gone, he jolted the lock until it broke. Something about cold metal meeting lightning shattered it. Galan stumbled as he hopped free from his cage, other than some knee pain he was fine, the raiders made a point of not hurting anyone without reason. He started to pull the tarp over the cage. "I'll be back." He promised. Before anything else, he needed to find his father's spear.

Every time they stopped, they'd lay out the camp in roughly the same pattern. He knew where the spear was being held. The guards returned with drink in hand and Galan dived under the cart. He watched carefully as the guard approached the tarp, but left it be. Rain began to trickle from the sky as he crawled out from under the cart staying just out of sight.