Ryn had questioned me a bit more, asking unimportant questions like, “what do you like to do for fun?” I refused to answer any of her questions and she eventually gave up. She then informed me that it was time for bed and I didn’t want to go at first. But then, a plan formed in my head.

  I agreed to go to bed and we walked over to a door on the other side of the room before stopping for a moment. Ryn told me to wait while she grabbed something from another room to the right. She came back holding a night gown and began to take my dress off. Yeah, no, not happening lady.

  I insisted that I could dress myself, and she looked at me skeptically before reluctantly handing me the night gown and began to stand there waiting. Just as reluctantly, I turned around and took off my dress before putting on the night gown. It wasn’t very comfortable, but it wasn’t the worst material I’d worn. After I turned back around, she gave me light applause and grabbed my hand. I rolled my eyes.

  She led me into the room past the door. On the right side of the room there were two bunk beds, on the left was a small play area and what looked to be a changing table. It was a nursery of some sort, and it was inhabited by two girls, both of which taking up a bottom bunk. This made my plan a little more difficult.

  You see, I had planned on sneaking off to the other side of the camp and trying to find my dad so that we could escape. Being on a top bunk just made it that much more difficult to get out of there unnoticed. It wouldn’t be impossible though, and after that it’d be pretty smooth sailing.

  I guessed that in this small body I could probably fit underneath the barbed fence that separated the two sides. After that, I wasn’t sure what was there, but it’d be pretty easy to hide as a small individual during the night time. This might've been my only chance to catch our captors by surprise and escape. I was sure that Dad would be able to smash through the door to get out, the door that probably had all of our stuff in it would be harder though. A problem to think about when we got to it.

  After deciding that my plan could still work, I found myself being helped into a top bunk above one of the girls. Ryn put her hand up to stroke my hair, but I dodged and turned around to face the wall.

  “Goodnight,” I said plainly and waited.

  “Goodnight,” she eventually returned with a slight sadness in her voice before leaving the room and shutting the door quietly.

  I waited for a few minutes before executing my plan, I wanted to decrease my chances of getting caught as much as possible. After my waiting period I began to slowly downclimb the pole on one of the corners of the bed, as no ladder was present. Luckily, I was a good climber, not good enough to outclimb a charging sand boar, but certainly good enough to climb down a pole quietly.

  Once I had lowered myself to the ground without incident, I walked over to the door and slowly turned the handle before cracking it open and sliding through. The once dimly lit room was no longer lit at all, I relied on my memory to find the front door. After finding that door, I repeated the process of quietly going through it, making sure to shut it as silently as I could behind me. A small creak sound came from the door hinges, but not loud enough to wake even a light sleeper up.

  After successfully leaving the building, I hid behind anything I could as I found my way to the fence. The women’s side of camp had become still at this time in the night, all of its residents were likely sleeping. As I had previously thought, I fit underneath the fence. It took a little more effort than I had originally thought it would, but it was doable. Now for the unknown.

  I snuck my way around the men’s side of camp, avoiding night laborers and guards alike. As I rounded one particular corner, I saw two guards chatting with each other coming my direction. I was luckily not seen as the cover of the night had hidden me. That call was close enough for me to slow down my progression a bit, I didn’t have all the time in the world, but I knew where my dad was at least. The shouts and laughter gave it away.

  Eventually, I found my way into a stone hallway. On the other side of the hall was a metal gate, going into a courtyard of some sort. No, it was an arena. I neared the closed gate and crouched down as I watched what was going on. My dad was tied up to a post and was surrounded by many guards.

  Each guard was taking turns hitting my dad with whatever blunt object they had. Clubs, planks, rocks, bottles, and battering rams alike were pelting my dad as hard as they could. One club broke down the middle as it contacted my dad’s abdominal muscle. Shattered glass, pieces of wood, and pebbles surrounded my dad’s feet. My dad just hung there and took it.

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  It wasn’t like he wasn’t feeling any of the weapons that met his skin, just that he was withholding from attacking back. His upper body was covered in bruises and small cuts. He didn’t move, just looking down upon his attackers with a blank expression. Not letting any of them have the satisfaction of making Eindresil yell out in pain. Suddenly, everyone stopped moving or making noise.

  A man walked out from the gate on the other side. His build was similar to my dad’s, but slightly less defined and disciplined. Two men marched beside him, one to his right and the other to his left. Both men carried a shield and pike, and they were equipped with light plate armor that was completely black. They wore full head helmets, completely black except for a white mark over the facemask portion resembling a rock formation in the shape of a man. The man in the middle had the same mark branded on the center of his chest. He wore a smile as he looked upon my father.

  The men surrounding my father moved to the sides and kneeled in front of the branded man as he walked up to my dad. He said something, but I couldn’t make it out over the distance. After my dad responded, the man’s smile turned to a scowl. The man cracked his neck and knuckles before sending a strong punch into my dad’s gut. The shockwave made a cloud of dust fly up behind my dad and the pole he was on fell backward. My dad made no yelp of pain during or after the contact, but he did smirk for a second.

  A hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

  “Would you look at that? A little runt, spying around in the wrong section,” a man spoke from above me as he moved my head out of the way to read my neck, “hah! Come to watch daddy get torn up, eh?”

  “You couldn’t even scratch him if you tried,” I said as I spit at the man. Turns out that spitting on someone makes them a little mad.

  He tossed me over his shoulder and began walking over to the door to the main reception. I beat on his back with my fists, but they obviously weren’t doing any damage. I began to hit his neck instead as we entered the women’s section. That made him visibly angrier, but he just kept walking. As we made it to the building where I’d escaped from, he threw open the door and rang the bell aggressively, smashing his fist onto into multiple times and denting it a bit.

  Ryn came running around the corner, coming from the side room. As soon as she was in sight, the man threw me at Ryn, knocking her down as we both lay on the floor groaning.

  “Get up, caretaker!”

  Immediately, Ryn rose to her feet and bowed down to the man.

  “Why is it that I found this little rat over at the arena? Hmm?” The man practically yelled at Ryn, “You can’t keep track of one little child? This action will not go unpunished.”

  The man waltzed over to the still bowing young woman and grabbed her by the throat, holding her up in front of him. She whimpered as the man held her in one hand and struck her in the stomach with the other. After he was satisfied, he threw her to the ground and kicked her once, for good measure. He then turned his attention to me.

  “You’re lucky, runt," he said, pointing at me, "if you were ripe I’d have done worse to you,” he smirked and licked his lips before turning and leaving the room, not bothering to close the door on his way out.

  I rushed over to Ryn, who was curled up on the ground and coughing up a little blood. As I tried to put my hands on her, she pushed me out of the way. I couldn’t blame her, this was all my fault. She clawed her way back to a standing position, using the desk next to her to support her as she breathed heavily.

  “I’m so sorry,” the only words I could say escaped my mouth as tears ran down my undamaged face. I wanted to kill the guy who just attacked her, but I was too weak, I was always too weak. It was my fault that she was hurt, that beating was intended for me. If only I was stronger, if only I could’ve hit him harder. But it was futile. I was futile. I sobbed as I looked at the mess of blood on the otherwise clean stone floor. Then I heard a voice.

  “It’s ok,” Ryn said as she wrapped her arms around me, “you just wanted your daddy, I’m not mad.”

  Those words made me feel even worse. I had caused her to be beaten, and now she was comforting me. Streams of tears continued to fall as I tried to return the embrace a little. This went on for a few minutes, with Ryn saying, “It’s ok,” every now and then.

  Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a glaring face peeking out through the crack of the door to the nursery. By the time Ryn had decided it was time to lead me back to bed, the door had been closed. We entered the room once again and the two girls were both in the same places they had been. Ryn helped me back into the top bunk I’d been in and this time I was going to stay in it. She smiled weakly and kissed my forehead before turning around and leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

  During the time I lied in the bed, I thought through what I could do to change myself. I was the worst. There was a pit in my stomach thinking about what I’d done to Ryn. I kept getting everyone else in trouble and getting away scot free. From now on, I’d do whatever Ryn said, risking another punishment was an absolute no-go.

  The display I’d seen of my dad’s power had proven to me that he’d make it through alright for the time being, so I just had to do my best to behave. Who knows, they might hurt my dad too next time I oppose them.

  I decided that I’d be the best kid I could be, I wouldn’t cause trouble, I wouldn’t disobey, I’d just do everything the way I was told. It was the best I could do after all, being as weak as I was. I needed to get stronger with any moment that I could spare. I wanted to protect those that I loved. Most of all though, I wanted to be able to get out of here with my dad.

  This was going to be a lot of work...

  ten chapters in! I seriously appreciate all of the support and I am so shocked that anyone spends their time to read something I've written. Seriously. Thank you, reader.