The Child of Ash

PART ONE: CHAPTER 2

The Man In Red swore he would get his revenge as the Sargi took him and his family to one of the Empire's concentration camps. He knew it would happen eventually: the Empire hated people like him. I have done nothing to deserve this. The Commander led them across the scorching hot desert in which the Emperor had decided to build the convoys. If he is going to torture us anyway, why put the buildings in the desert so we suffer more? Perspiration clouded his forehead. It may have been September but in the desert, the hot Summer air remained.

"I have to stop. I cannot go on anymore!" Anna cried out. Her legs finally gave way and she fell to the floor. The Commander only sneered. He is going to do something. I have to protect her. To the Man In Red, Anna was everything. If the Empire hadn't ripped both of them from their homes, he would have asked for her hand in marriage.

"Get up." The Commander approached Anna, who was currently lying on the ground. His tone of voice was so commanding. There was no remorse in it, nor sympathy either.

"You have made us travel twenty miles on foot. Our journey started in Ederium, one of the Isles of Isolation. This desert is near Etheria. We must stop or we will die before you get to torture us for no reason." Anna spoke foolishly. Her words were not chosen carefully. The Commander looked less than impressed. Please leave her be.

The Commander picked Anna up by her neck. He let her hang, showing her to the group of prisoners like the girl was a toy. "I do not need some filthy bitch telling me how to do my job!" He struck her across the face.

The Man In Red knew he had to intervene. His shackles may have restrained him a little but he still ran as fast as he could. It was a stupid decision, but when you love someone dearly, you do anything to make them keep loving you. I am Ember Zaru, I can win this fight.

"Leave her alone!"

"And what are you going to do about it? With those shackles on you are going nowhere. I am a commander, someone who has a rank in society. You are just a poor, vulnerable boy who does not know the difference between bravery and stupidity," The Commander threw Anna to the floor. The man squared up to Ember.

"What is stupid is the decision you are making right now. Being a Commander means nothing if you have no honour." The Commander's nose was practically touching Ember's young face.

"I strangled that girl because she told me how to do my job. Do I need to do the same to you? Perhaps you will weep just like she did." The Commander was a bulky man at least half a foot taller than Ember. His muscles would be twice the size of Embers.

Ember threw the first punch. It landed directly at the Commander's temple. Red liquid dripped from it looking like red tears. The Commander elbowed him right in the ribs applying more force each time until he heard a crack. I cannot lose this. Anna is watching me. She does not want a coward for a husband. The Man In Red scurried away like a rat. The Commander stood on Ember's back.

"Tell me, farm boy, will you ever touch me again? You are no valiant hero, only the villain, for the villain always loses. Your torturing will be the most painful by far."

"No," The man protested, "I am no villain. I am a hero. I do things that are right. So you can injure me as much as you want but I will never give up."

"We will find a way to change that." The Commander yanked Ember by his chains and pulled him up from the floor. Their eyes were locked onto each other for a split second. Then, Ember entered the deepest depths of the Underworld themself.

***

The cell was like a slaughterhouse: it stunk of piss and shit. Blood draped the once white walls of the dull building, which was so compact despite its enormous size. There were at least five people crowded into a cell at a time. No familiar faces could be seen for if they were not working in the salt mines then they were being tortured or better, dead. I used to be a person before this madness. Now, I am only Prisoner 713. Anna hardly saw him anymore. Every day, they would beat him until he was bloody. No intentions were behind it whatsoever. The thing about the Empire was that if you stepped one foot out of line they would cut your leg off.