Chapter1 part two of two

                 It was late in the afternoon before Hawkasuma again gained consciousness. He opened his eyes and saw an elf standing over him making sure that he was alright. The elf was from the Koosha clan which was obvious because of his appearance. He wore a wolf’s pelt around his waist and had a large tattoo across his chest which marked him as a merchant of the clan. He was one of merchants that were supposed to arrive within the next week to trade with the people of Joven that always came around at this time of the year. There were several of these elves, two of which were pulling their boats on to the shore.

                The man spoke, “You must be one of the boys from Joven. Why are you so far away from your home?”

                Hawkasuma lifted himself up and rubbed his face. Then he slowly recalled the events of the night before. It was almost as if the events were a dream to him, he didn’t want to believe that they had occurred nor did he actually think they had. Never the less he told the man, “Yesterday I was attacked.” He stopped talking for a moment. He choked on the words for a moment and continued. “I saw my father die trying to keep the men in dark clothes away. Then they killed my mother and took away my brother.” Tears erupted from his face and he sat back down with hid head buried in his hands.

                All of the elves stopped what they were doing and looked at Hawkasuma. The man standing next to Hawkasuma asked for his name and introduced himself as Lugon the merchant. Lugon called to his men to help calm the boy as he thought of how to handle the problem. They wrapped a blanket around Hawkasuma’s shoulders and brought him some food to help calm his nerves. Hawkasuma ate it quickly. Having not eaten anything the entire day he realized that he had become very hungry and enjoyed every bite of it.

                As Hawkasuma sat alone he could hear the hushed voices of Lugon talking to some of the other elves. Hawkasuma couldn’t make out much but one of the men mad a small gesture in his direction making it clear that they were talking about him.  He overheard them whispering about a clan of bandits called the Serpents. After a few minutes of conversation Lugon walked back to Hawkasuma and kneeled in front of him. “Can you tell us if these men who attacked you wore a serpent upon their breast?”

 Hawkasuma nodded his head, “they all had a white serpent on their chest. And they all carried large weapons.” There was a slight look of fear in Lugon’s eye as he exchanged glances with his companions. All of the others simply shook their heads and gave Hawkasuma a look of pity. Hawkasuma’s heart dropped, ‘what more is there to know?’ he wondered.

Lugon tried to tell him easily, “Child. I am afraid that you may be the last from Joven. These men are known for leaving none alive. Your brother may never be seen again.” Hawkasuma returned his face to his hands and began to weep again. “The dead should be honored. Come with us and we will help you bury those who fell.” Hawkasuma nodded and they all returned to their boats and began their journey to Joven.

They traveled for the rest of the night and into the rest of the next day before they arrived in the burnt remains of the town. The bodies of the dead lay everywhere and the grass had been painted red with the blood of all those who used to live there. Hawkasuma’s stomach churned as he saw all of the carnage. The elves began to pile up the bodies and dig graves for all of the dead while Hawkasuma searched through the wreckage of his home. Host of his old belongings had burnt to ashes, but amongst the rubble he found his sword and his mother’s flute still intact. His mother used to play it for him all the time when he was younger and the very sight of it brought a small sense of happiness to him. He placed the flute in his pocket and threw the sword onto his back. Once they had buried all of the dead they gave a small pray to usher them onto the next life before starting their return journey to their village.

For three days they followed the current of the Joven River to their home taking Hawkasuma with them. Lugon had decided to take pity on the child and raise him as his own son. Their village was located deep within the heart of the forest where the trees grew to a dizzying height and were nearly as thick around as a house. As they approached a small dock on the river Lugon pointed above them into the tops of the trees. For a second Hawkasuma was puzzled, but when he looked up he was both amazed and surprised. Not only did the elves live in the forest, but their homes were built in the tops of the trees. Wooden bridges linked the homes together in what looked similar to a spider’s web. Lugon and the others got out of their boats and tied them to the port. “Are you coming?” asked Lugon. “You don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to.”
                Hawkasuma answered quickly, “Yes I want to go. I just can’t believe my eyes.”

Lugon smiled, that was the first time in days that Hawkasuma had noticed anything other than his feet. “Good to see you’re getting better.”

Hawkasuma shook his head, “I will never forget what happened.”
                “Just don’t let it rule your life Hawkasuma. You should do what your parents would have wanted to do and live your life.”
                Hawkasuma looked at Lugon and replied dryly, “you speak as if you knew them.”

Lugon replied somewhat sternly, “all parents want to have their children live a good life.”

From above a large platform was lowered to the ground. The large space allowed for several people to be carried at a time and goods to be transported up and down the trees. Lugon and Hawkasuma stepped onto the platform and were slowly hoisted up into the sky. Hawkasuma watched as the elves who were still below began to look like ants. He felt slightly uneasy, but seeing the others as calm as they were he hid his discomfort with a false smile. When they reached the top Hawkasuma saw the families lying in wait for the return of the merchants. They had expected a great number of trade goods to have come home, but were sadly disappointed to hear the tragedy of Joven. Hawkasuma was quickly recognized as the sole survivor and Lugon announced that he would be taking Hawkasuma as his own child.

Lugon then introduced Hawkasuma to his wife Faelbes. She was about the same height as her husband, five feet tall and had long dark hair with exotic violet eyes. That was quite common for an elf, usually they could grow as tall as five and a half feet tall at the most and their eyes existed in exotic colors compared to that of humans. Hawkasuma was also introduced to Lugon’s daughter Gelien who was his age, and his twin sons Himion and Uerion who were three years older than he was.

                Himion and Uerion sized Hawkasuma up and examined him closely in curiosity. Neither of the twins had ever seen a human up close. They looked into Hawkasuma’s green eyes and touched his blonde hair gingerly. Hawkasuma backed away from them nervously, unsure of what to think of these strangers. “Want to play?” asked the twins.  Hawkasuma nodded his head slowly. The twins then grabbed him and pulled him along with them. Gelien followed them close behind.

                They walked across the web of bridges to a platform which had been built for children to play. Faleon, one of the twin’s friends, was waiting for them. He had short dark hair and bright green eyes. He introduced himself to Hawkasuma kindly. “Hi. I’m Faleon the son of Saelon. What’s your name?” Hawkasuma introduced himself calmly. “Come on, let’s play!” Faleon threw a ball to Hawkasuma and they began playing keep-away.

                Dakisuma struggled to keep pace with the other children in front of him. It had been three weeks since the attack on Joven.  He was bound by the neck to the other children and forced to walk when all e wanted to do was rest his weary legs. In front of him was Drake, a fat and sluggish child that was having an even harder time than he was. Drake stumbled and fell to his knees.

                One of the bandits noticed Drake slowing down the others and pulled out his whip. He began beating Drake with it commanding him to get up and walk. Drake tried to lift himself, but his weak legs gave out underneath him and he fell back to the ground. Dakisuma rushed to Drake’s aid and helped him rise to his feet. Drake whispered a thank you and they continued to struggle along.

                Just on the fringes of the horizon Dakisuma could see a large bustling city. The bandits seemed to relax a little more than usual. One even cheered, “Finally I can find some real comfort.”

                “First we need to make sure these little runts fetch as a nice price,” replied another. They continued to march into the city. A large crowd formed as the children were herded through the city. The bandits guarded them closely to make sure no one tried to take one of their slaves before they received payment. They were led onto a stage and a type of auction began. Each child was displayed one by one at the front and then forced to stand next to the rest of the children again. Dakisuma hated the feeling of all of the hundreds of eyes inspecting him, judging him, evaluating him.

                Then a man wearing very elegant and expensive attire walked through the crowd and greeted the leader of the Serpent clan warmly. “As we agreed, you may have the first pick my lord Baltizar.” Baltizar grinned widely and began to inspect each of the children closely. He checked everything from their teeth to their eyes and limbs. After a long period of inspection he chose to purchase two of Dakisuma’s friends. Jennifer and Marco, whom he had selected, were unbound from the rest of the children and given new leashes which were handed to Baltizar. Jennifer gripped onto her brother who had not been purchased tightly and cried. Though she struggled to keep her grip on him they were pulled away from each other and she was dragged away.

                The rest of the children including Dakisuma watched in horror as she disappeared from sight along with Marco. Soon after more men came onto the stage and inspected the children. A man wearing fancy clothes similar to that of Baltizar took a special interest in Dakisuma and bought him quickly. Dakisuma’s wrists were bond together and a leash was wrapped around his throat. The man pulled him along firmly to a carriage on the other side of town.  This carriage was pulled by two magnificent horses and just behind them sat the driver. Dakisuma was pushed into the carriage and forced to sit across from his owner.

                The carriage lurched forward and began the journey to his owner’s home. Dakisuma could not help but wonder why he had been purchased so once a few minutes had passed he asked, “sir, why did you pick me?”

                The man said nothing, but began to stare at Dakisuma and would not even move his eyes for a long period of time. Dakisuma didn’t know why, but he began to feel an ice cold shiver going down his spine and the feeling only grew stronger the longer his owner stared at him. The man then diverted his eyes and pulled a small veil from his hip, it contained a light blue liquid that was thick like ooze, and drank deeply from it. He wiped his mouth and put the veil back into his pocket. He began to smile slowly and looked into the palm of his hand. A small flame erupted from his hand and flashed into an array of colors. He turned his gaze to Dakisuma and said coarsely, “If you ever disobey me your punishment will be to face the torment of my magic.”

                Dakisuma’s heart jumped into his throat. He wanted to get away from this maniac, but didn’t know what he could do. He decided that he would escape the first chance that he got. Until then however he would need to behave himself and make sure not to cross his owner.

                The carriage kept moving north until they had reached a small inn late that night. His owner pulled Dakisuma by the leash into the inn with him. He ordered the inn keeper provide him with the finest room that he possessed. The inn keeper obliged him and charged a large fee for the room which was paid easily. Dakisuma was then ordered to retrieve all of his master’s baggage and bring it to the room. His owner released the leash and promptly watched as Dakisuma began to retrieve the baggage from the carriage.

                The baggage was found in the trunk and there was a massive amount. Dakisuma looked at the road for a moment and considered running for his freedom, but then he remembered the flames that his owner produced from his hand and instead began hauling the baggage to his master’s room.  He would have to be patient and wait for a proper chance for escape.