Legacy Of The Golden Wielder: A Novella Prequel to the Void Wielder Trilogy

by Cesar Gonzalez

  Aadi shrugged. “That doesn’t sound too bad. At least I’m free of that man’s clutches.”

  “You mean the short man with the big eyes? The one who sold you to the carriage master? He kept on complaining that you were useless to him and traded you for a few bronze coins.”

  Aadi nodded. “Yes. That sounds like him. He’s a maniac who kills people for his experiments.”

  “You would have been lucky to have stayed with him.”

  “Lucky? Didn’t you just hear me? The man murders people!”

  The boy’s frightened eyes met Aadi’s. “Better dead than where we’re going.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Whoa!” called a voice from outside. The bouncing from the carriage halted.

  “How many new recruits do we have today?” asked a deep scratchy voice. Aadi didn’t like it. It sounded like the man was sick.

  “Ten strong boys, warden.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” countered the warden. “Let me see them.”

  Loud footsteps hastily made their way to the back of the carriage. The sound of a key going into a lock and clicking came later.

  The door opened. A mustached man gazed down at them. “Get out, you worthless vermin.”

  The sound of dangling chains echoed against the eerie silence as the boys slowly made their way out of the carriage. Many, like Aadi, who were not used to walking while tied up, struggled to remain upright as the man lined them up in a row.

  He took a glance at his surroundings and his mouth went dry. The moon provided enough light for him to make out where they were. They stood in the middle of a large opening. From all sides, thick metal walls that seemed to reach to the heavens surrounded them. A series of cabins were lined up in uneven rows. Dark holes, the size of ten horses, had been excavated on the hard ground. What have I’ve gotten myself into?

  The answer came quickly. “Welcome,” called a skinny man with a scratchy voice. He was ghostly pale with sharp features. He wore a dark leather tunic and leggings. Over a dozen men with whips hanging from their waist flanked him. “I am the Warden Padstow, the leader of Kilead Keep prison.”

  Aadi gulped. Prison?

  “From now you will all address to me as Warden. Anyone who does not, will spend a night on the crusher.” The warden smirked widely. “Trust me when I say, you don’t want to find out what the crusher is.”

  The men that surrounded the warden snickered to one another in amusement.

  The warden shared in their laughter before returning to his speech. “I am the law here. No one has ever escaped Kilead Keep and no one ever will.” The gangly man walked down the line of new prisoners and stopped in front of the boy who had spoken to Aadi.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Lin—”

  “You look like you’re good for nothing,” interrupted Warden Padstow. He poked the boy’s stomach with his bony finger. “You sure eat a lot, don’t you?” The men snickered once more. “While the rest of the world is dying of hunger, you’re stuffing your face.”

  “No, Warden, sir. It’s just that….”

  “DID I SAY YOU COULD SPEAK?!”

  The boy’s entire body suddenly began to tremble. He looked as if he was going to burst into tears at a moment’s notice. “No, Warden, sir. I’m sorry.”

  The warden leaned closer, obviously enjoying the torment he was causing. “I think I’ll call you Worthless. Are you fine with that?”

  “Y-yes, s-s-sir.”

  “And you know what I’m going to do today, Worthless? I’m going to allow you to be the first person to enjoy the crusher.”

  “N…no, sir. Please.”

  The grin on the warden intensified. “Ahhh. I see that you have heard of my prison. Tell me, what else have you heard?”

  The boy looked around to everyone else, almost as if he was begging for their help. “I…I hear that no one has ever escaped this prison.”

  “That’s right!” He beat his chest with pride. “No one has ever escaped my watch. I will work you until the day your miserable life comes to an end. Forget about the people you left behind, you will never see them again.” He faced the boy again. “Now tell me, Worthless. How long do you think you’ll last in the crusher?”

  “You’re wrong,” Aadi called out.

  The warden’s left eye twitched wildly. “Who said that?”

  “I did,” said Aadi, taking one step closer. “My name is Aadi and I did nothing wrong. I don’t belong in prison. I have people who are waiting for me.” He closed his eyes and saw Ishani’s beautiful face. But when he opened them, it was the warden’s furious face that was staring back at him. The putrid stench from his breath flowed into Aadi’s nose. It took all his willpower to not gag at the scent. “I will make it back to them. Kill me now if you plan to stop me.”

  “Look around you,” the warden said through cackles. “No prisoner here is guilty of any crime, but they will die here nonetheless.” He moved his hands in a circular motion. “This entire prison is surrounded by giant earth worms. One step out and you’re dead.” He eyed the carriage. “And don’t even think of taking the carriage through the overhead bridge. We have taken measures for that too. Believe me when I say, you will never escape.”

  “I don’t care about worms or measures. All I care is getting back to her. I will do it.”

  The warden nodded. “You think you’re the first one to utter such words? You honestly believe that you’re the first to think you could escape Kilead Keep? In my forty seasons here I have seen high-spirited men come, making bold claims as well. But by the time I was done with them, their strong will was all but broken, their bursts of fiery optimism reduced to a dead lumps of lifeless coal.”

  “Those men weren’t me. Only death will stop me.”

  “Death is much too easy. There is no suffering if you’re dead, and if I kill you, I’ll lose countless years of your service in the mines. No, I will make an example out of you. So everyone can see what hope and strength will get you at Kilead Keep.” He faced the guards beside him. “Wake the prisoners!”

  “At once.” The guards disappeared into the large holes in the ground. A few minutes later they appeared again, corralling what had to be at least one hundred men into the large field of dirt.

  The chained prisoners moved quietly, heads down. All of them were caked with dirt from face to toe. A few of them wore ragged tunics, but most were completely shirtless. Aadi couldn’t help but notice that the men looked to be a mix of all ages. From boys his age to elderly men who could barely walk. It frightened him to think how long some of them had been unjustly imprisoned.

  “This boy thinks he can do what no other man has ever been able to do!” Warden Padstow cried once all the prisoners had been lined up in front of a tree stump. “We all know what that kind of thinking can lead to. But perhaps some of you need a reminder.”

  A guard grabbed Aadi and led him forward. His heart began to beat faster as he was forced to his knees. The two other guards pulled his hands around the tree stump and tied them together. A pair of cold hands ripped his shirt apart.

  They had him facing forward toward the crowd. Some of the men looked up at him with pity, other simply stared at the ground.

  “Aaaaaargh!” There was a sudden lashing of a whip, followed by a burst of immense pain on his back.

  The warden walked in front of him and held his hands up. “I can make it all stop. Just admit that you will die after many years of service.”

  With tears of pain trickling down his cheeks, Aadi looked up defiantly. “I’m going to see her again. I will get out. And so will all of you!”

  Some of the prisoners, who had been looking down, now met Aadi’s gaze.

  “Give him thirty lashes!” ordered the warden. “See if he’s making grand plans after that!”

  Aadi tried to ready himself, but nothing could have prepared him for the immense stabs of pain that whipped his back mercilessly. He screamed into the cold night, time
and time again, hoping that the pain would halt. But it continued for what seemed like an eternity. When the lashes finally stopped, he was only vaguely aware of what was going on. He felt someone drag him through the hard dirt as they laughed. His vision went in and out of focus, giving him a small burst of what was going on around him. He saw a hole on the ground. A second later he felt the air whiff past him as he was thrown into a pit. His head bounced with a loud crack on the rocky ground.

  His emotions toyed with him as he saw her staring back at him. It had been months since she had haunted him, but yet, there she was again, reaching out for him, just like he’d done the day he lost her. His hand extended, but inches from reaching her, she disappeared into a whirl of nothingness.

  That’s when he felt it. A pang of guilt burst within him for failing her all those years ago. The rock from the earth wall cracked and crumpled to the ground as he continued to reach out. He vaguely recalled Zoen telling him once that only earth wielders had the power to rupture solid rock.

  He felt the power of the earth within him, and then his world went black.

  Chapter 9

  Aadi opened his groggy eyes. Immediately, he closed them. He hadn’t expected the morning sun to be so bright, or to be coming down on him so severely. Slowly, he opened them again and glanced around. As he had expected, he was lying in a deep ditch barely large enough to contain him. A pool of dried blood painted the rock under him.

  “I’ll toss you a rope,” said a slow and steady voice.

  He looked up and he saw the dark outline of an unusually long man. A second later a thin rope was tossed down at him.

  “Use it to get out.”

  Aadi tried to get up, but a piercing pain that began from his back and stretched to his neck forced him back, face down, into the dusty rock. He tasted earth as he spit the pebbles and dirt from his mouth.

  “You best be speeding yourself up, boy. Warden Padstow does not like to be kept waiting.”

  Aadi gritted his teeth at the thought of that man. He forced himself to his feet. He gripped the rough rope and struggled up. Every inch was a monumental struggle; the fact that heavy chains bound him added strain to his burden. But he couldn’t quit. That would be admitting defeat.

  When he finally reached the top of the rope and pulled himself out of the ditch, his entire body was trembling and sweating uncontrollably.

  “Stand upright,” said the mustached man in the most bored voice Aadi had ever heard. “I’m going to patch you up and then it’s down to the mines with you.”

  Sure enough, after the man had wrapped some cloth around the cuts, he called a guard to lead him to work. At first, Aadi was surprised they would make him work. He was injured, after all. How much help would he actually be? But after a quick thought he realized it made sense. The warden wanted to break his spirit. This was the perfect opportunity to do so.

  The guard led him into the underground hole. It was wide, with more than enough length for them to walk side by side. The deeper they went, the hotter and muskier the air became.

  “Hurry up!” called the guard when Aadi had slowed down. Despite his brave front, the pain in his back was killing him.

  He picked up his pace. They reached a fork in the road. Without thinking about it, the guard took the center path.

  Aadi wiped his sweaty forehead. As if the natural heat wasn’t enough, torches had been placed on the cavern walls every few feet. He made out the faint sounds of tools hitting rock. With every step he took, the sounds grew louder, which could only mean that they were getting closer to the rest of the prisoners. Sure enough, after a few more minutes, they came upon a dead end. About a dozen men worked, tirelessly bringing their pickaxes down on the rocky walls.

  “I was beginning to wonder whether this dreamer would ever show.” Warden Padstow, who up until now had been sitting on a rock chewing on melon nuts, stood. He circled Aadi and grinned. “With your high spirits, I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting to work.”

  Without saying a word, Aadi trudged over to the stack of pickaxes and picked one up. “Where do I begin?”

  The warden’s grin dissolved, replaced by a wave of anger. “You think you’re so smug, don’t you?”

  “No. I’m here to work not to chat.”

  The warden licked his teeth and smacked his lips. He obviously was having a hard time coming up with a retort. “Just get to work at any spot!” He stomped before Aadi. “But no one here is going to help you. Everyone has to fill two of those coal buckets before the last bell.” He pointed at dozens of large metal tubs that were scattered on the ground. “And if you don’t meet your quota, well let’s just say that you don’t want to find out what will happen to you.” He turned and stormed out of the tunnels, cursing as he went.

  Aadi moved over to an open spot between an elderly man and the boy whom the warden had called “Worthless” the day before. Slowly, he began to dig away at the rock, looking for those small specks of dark rock.

  The work was boorish and arduous. After a few hours, he got the hang of it. He figured out that swinging from top to bottom was far more effective than swinging from the side. The pickaxe dug much deeper this way, which in turn made it easier to find the coal. Unlike the other workers, who swung without much thought, Aadi began to inhale as he lifted his tool, and exhale as he brought it down. He found this tired him less and gave him more power.

  The work around the earthy elements came as second nature to him, and he found himself quickly growing accustomed to it. What he could not get used to were the men. They all wore sour faces of hopelessness. They hunched as they moved about. Not one of them spoke, preferring to work in complete silence. It was as if they had abandoned all hope of ever being free.

  A sudden loud bell rang through the cavern.

  “That’s a day, you vermin. Leave your tools here so we can head out and get our portion of mana.” The white-haired guard suddenly went off in a fit of laughter. “Well, mana for you. I’ll be eating roasted beruda.”

  A couple of the skinnier men licked their lips. Neither, however, uttered a word.

  “Where do you think you’re going, Belio?” The guard asked as he held up his metal stick before the prisoner. It was the same old man who had worked beside him. “You too, Worthless.”

  With his hunched figure, Belio gazed at the soldier. His eyeballs were barely visible inside the hollowed pits. His dry skin hung from his body. “Please. I’ve worked hard for the last fifty years. So I didn’t manage to make my two buckets today. I’m sure you can give me a pass.”

  “You know the rules. You must finish your two buckets or be sent to the crusher. We both know you’re too old to survive that. Your only other choice is to finish your work.”

  “B…but if I do that, I’ll miss my ration of mana.”

  The guard shrugged his shoulders. “You should have thought about that before you slacked off, old timer.”

  Belio reached out for the soldier, but as he did, the guard pushed him to the floor. He moved forward for a kick.

  Aadi’s burst into action. He threw himself in front of the man, taking the hit. “Leave him alone!” He looked around, hoping someone else would help him. However, he quickly saw that wasn’t going to be the case. Everyone looked too frightened to make a move.

  “We got ourselves a hero,” mocked the guard.

  “I’m no hero.” He stood up. “If this man did not finish his work, then I’ll finish it for him. Allow him to go up and eat.”

  There was a murmur of surprise among the men.

  “Have it your way, idiot hero. We’ll see how long you continue with this useless idea of helping others.” The guard pulled the old man to his feet and pushed him forward. The crowd of men followed.

  Once everyone but he and the chubby boy were gone, Aadi crumpled down to one knee.

  “Are you okay?” asked the boy, extending his hand to him. “I’m Linius.”

  “Yes, I’m fine,” he lied, taking Linius hand and forcing h
imself to his feet. His body complained as he picked up a pickaxe and got to work. “So, are they simply going to leave us here unsupervised?”

  “It doesn’t matter much to them,” said Linius. He also picked up his axe and started to carve away. “They have a guard posted at the entrance. There’s nowhere for us to go.”

  The rest of the evening was an exhausting one. Belio had been a whole bucket behind, so it took Aadi a long time to fill it up. Once he was done, he also helped Linius fill his bucket as well. As they worked, Aadi told him his newfound strategies. Linius listened intently, taking it all in.

  When they finally finished, they headed back up, but instead of going to the outside as Aadi had expected, a guard escorted them even deeper into the mines. Not until they reached a large square cell, did they finally stop. The guard opened the metal door and pushed him in.

  Aadi took a seat on the corner of the cell. They were in a massive room. Spiked rocks hung from the ceiling above. Over a hundred prisoners sat throughout. Some were alone, others were in groups. The stench of sweat coursed through the air.

  He closed his eyes and for a fleeting moment he was with his love. They were inside their hidden cave. She ran her hand through his hair as he rested his head on her lap. It felt so real that he could have sworn he could smell the jasmine oil that lingered on her skin.

  “Thanks for the help, boy,” said a calm voice.

  Aadi awoke from his dream. Grim reality welcomed him back as Belio stood staring down at him. In his hands he carried a jar with a thick liquid.

  “It was no problem,” Aadi said, saddened that his vision had been interrupted.

  “Of course it was, youngling. You missed your lunch because of me.” He pointed at his bottle. “I happen to have herbal medicine. Please allow me to use it on your back as a way to express my thanks.”

  He felt a rush of happiness as he nodded. That was the first bit of good news Aadi had heard all day.

  The old man unwrapped the bandages as Aadi lay face down. He gritted his teeth as Belio tentatively spread the lotion on his back. But in seconds, the burning feeling gave way to a fresh soothing sensation.