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

by Cesar Gonzalez

  He took in the aroma of mint. “That feels much better.”

  The man continued massaging him, and before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

  ~~~

  The following morning Aadi woke up feeling more refreshed and energized than he thought possible. He ran his hands across his back. It still felt a bit sore, but it no longer hurt.

  Beside him, a ragged set of clothes awaited him. It was a dirt-covered shirt and short trousers that had countless holes. Aadi was sure it once belonged to another prisoner, one that probably was no longer with them.

  As he slipped it on, he thought back to those years as a child he had spent with his mother, begging for scraps of food. Back in those times, he had worn very similar clothing.

  “Line up, vermin!” A guard yelled as he opened the gates.

  Aadi slipped on his clothing and marched down. Again they arrived at many forks on the road. Guard after guard broke apart, each taking a dozen or so prisoners with him. The third time they arrived at a fork, the same guard from the day before motioned for Aadi and ten other men to follow him. They marched deep down a musky trail until they arrived at a pile of pickaxes.

  “Well, get to work. Remember, two buckets each or you don’t eat.” The guard sat atop a rock. He took out dried strips of meat from his pocket and stuffed them into his mouth, making sure to savor the meat loudly for everyone to hear.

  Aadi noticed that the group of men was not the same as the ones from the day before. But, nonetheless, they had the same hopeless look on their faces.

  That’s when it occurred to him. Many times Ishani would hum and sing lullabies to him. It had always rejuvenated his spirits to hear her soothing voice. Perhaps he could do the same for the men. He voice wasn’t as good as Ishani’s, but it would have do. Maybe he could at least give them a good laugh.

  He cleared his throat. “Little wielder boy resting under the spruce!”

  The men froze and looked at Aadi. The guard coughed loudly as he suddenly stopped chewing.

  “What are you doing, my little wielder?” He brought down his pickaxe on the rock. The rock burst in a web of deep cracks. “You took your mother’s love and ran away with it. Oh, my little wielder boy….” He stopped mid-verse. “C’mon, men. Join me. I know you know the words.”

  The men looked at each other in confusion.

  The guard, who was now done with his fit of coughs, stood up. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Aadi continued to work as he addressed the guard. “I’m working and singing.”

  “Who told you were allowed to sing?”

  “The warden clearly said that we had to finish our work by the end of the day and I think we will all work harder with a few songs.” Aadi narrowed his gaze. “Are you saying you’d rather us not get more work done?”

  The guard shuffled his feet. He was clearly unsure of what to do. After a moment of indecisiveness, he nodded to himself. “I suppose there are no rules against it.” He sat took a seat back on his rock. “Now get to work or I’ll whip you all.”

  Aadi returned to his melody. The rest of the day he would burst out in a song from time to time. No one joined him, but toward the end of the day he noticed a few of the men following along with him under their breath. A few even cracked a smile, especially when Aadi would purposely go over the top with his voice in hopes of urging them to laugh.

  That day every man filled his two buckets. Aadi and a few others had even done three, which meant extra rations of mana for the crew.

  Aadi smiled inwardly as they headed back to their cell. Everyone had gotten to eat their portion and then some. It had been a good day

  CHAPTER 10

  The days turned into months, and the months crept into years.

  In the five seasons Aadi had spent there, word had spread of his singing. It also became common knowledge that whatever crew he was in would get their work done. It wasn’t long until every man and boy wanted Aadi to be in their group for the day. This in turn had made him a leader of sorts. The men looked up to him and constantly came for advice on different matters.

  “I wish you would have been in our crew today,” said Linius after a particularly hard day at the mines. “Three of the men were too tired to finish their two buckets. They were forced to go with no food.”

  Aadi lay back down on the hard ground and gazed at the ceiling. He hadn’t seen the sun in ages. Despite his optimism, he sometimes wondered if he would ever see it again. Or Ishani. Not one day passed when she wasn’t in his thoughts.

  “Va’siel to Aadi,” said Linius, waving a hand in front of him.

  “Oh, sorry. What were you saying?”

  “I was saying that many in our group did not get to finish their two buckets.”

  “Why don’t you sing then?” Aadi asked.

  “Me?” Linius pointed at himself.

  Aadi nodded. He couldn’t believe that in all this time he’d never thought about that. “Yes, from now on you will sing too.”

  Linius scratched his head apprehensively. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I don’t know how to sing.”

  “Neither do I,” Aadi countered.

  Linius nodded. “You’re actually pretty good.”

  “If you’re not good, it will be even better. That means the men will have something to laugh at. Don’t you see? The purpose of singing is to get their spirits up. This way they don’t lose hope.”

  “Still with that dream,” came the sickly voice from behind him. The lock in the cage rattled as the warden pushed the key in. After the lock snapped open he barged in and took Aadi by his chains. “Hurry up!”

  He led Aadi out of the cage. A guard slammed the cage door shut.

  Without being told, Aadi got on his knees and took off his shirt. There was no use waiting for instructions. The warden had repeated the same routine, every month, for the past five years. The whips to his back came in quick bursts. But he did not cry out or shout. Seasons ago, he’d learned to drown out the pain to the point where he had become numb to it.

  “Are you ready to admit that you will never leave Kilead Keep?”

  “No.”

  “I thought you might say that,” sneered the warden. “Get Worthless.”

  Aadi’s eyes widened as the guards stormed into the cage and forced a trembling Linius beside him. “No, he has nothing to do with this. Leave him alone!”

  Padstow marched up to Aadi and struck him across the face. “You do not make the rules here. I do!” He faced his guard. “Remove his shirt.”

  “Leave him alone!” Aadi repeated. He was burning with rage. He needed to break free and help his friend. He got to his feet, but before he could take a step, something hard hit him on the back of his head. He crashed to the floor. Groggily, he watched as the warden whipped Linius.

  Every whip was followed by his friend’s soul-churning screams. Minutes later the beating stopped. The guards let go of Linius and he crumpled, facedown, to the ground.

  By now Aadi had forced himself to his feet, despite the blow to his head.

  “It has become apparent….” said Padstow, standing directly before Aadi. “That you will never give up this dream of yours. As hard as it is for me to admit, you have more willpower than I initially thought possible. No one has held out this long.” He snapped his tongue on his mouth. “No matter. If physical pain will not subdue you, then I will inflict it on your friends until you give in.”

  With those words, he stormed off. Aadi picked up his injured friend and carried him back into the cage. The old man, Belio, tended to Linius’s wounds, just like he had done for him years ago.

  “It hurts!” Linius cried as Belio put yet another dose of lotion on his back.

  “I’m sorry,” said Aadi feebly. “This is all my fault. I never thought he would resort to this.”

  “N-no,” stammered Linius, tears dripping down his cheeks. “You’re not to blame.”

  But despite Linius’s words, Aadi couldn’t help but feel
guilt weighing down on him like an anchor. Today it was his friend, next time who knows who Padstow was going to choose to be whipped alongside him. It might even be Belio. He was sure the ancient man wouldn’t survive such a beating. He pondered on what to do, but deep in the night, when sleep finally claimed him, he had yet to find a solution.

  ~~~

  The following day, something happened that Aadi couldn’t have anticipated. After their hard day at work, the men were back at the cage. The evening was going as usual. Some men slept. Many conversed. Others played games that involved tossing rocks into holes.

  Suddenly, a prisoner came up to Aadi. He was skinny and bald. A long, dirty mustache extended down to his neck. “Here.” He held a piece of dried meat.

  Many of the men around them noticed the food and stood, creating a scene.

  “Where did you get that?” Aadi asked. He was sure he wasn’t going to like the answer.

  “Me and the men from my crew snatched it from the guard. He fell asleep midday.” He took out a wrapped cloth from under his robe and opened it. Inside were countless pieces of meat. “There’s enough for everyone. C’mon. Everyone take a piece.”

  Aadi stomach growled as he took a whiff of the peppered meat. Nonetheless, he held his hands up. “Don’t eat that.”

  The man shook his head in surprise. “What do you mean ‘don’t eat that?’”

  “I mean exactly that. That doesn’t belong to us. We shouldn’t be taking it. Besides, we already got our rations for the day.”

  “I hope you’re not referring to that mana. That tasteless garbage Padstow forces down our throat is not food.”

  Aadi sighed, trying to keep his emotions in check. “Mana is the reason the people of Va’siel have not starved to death. It is a gift from the earth itself.”

  “You can’t be serious.” The man rolled his eyes. “Anyone agree with this earth-loving fool?”

  “Listen,” insisted Aadi. “Don’t eat it. Mana will provide us with the nutrition we need. You don’t need to steal.”

  “I thought you were a leader,” said the man. “But I see you’re just a scared pushover. We’re all going to die here. There is nothing wrong with enjoying ourselves a little before they work us to death.” He covered the meat and stomped away. “Anyone who wants some, come with me.”

  Many of the prisoners followed him. However, more than half of the men remained by Aadi’s side.

  Linius looked on with hungry eyes as the men bit away at the dried meat. He rubbed his stomach. “Are you sure we shouldn’t eat some? I mean, it’s only a little bit.”

  “Yes, I’m sure. We already had our fill of mana for the day. There is no need for meat.”

  Despite his confident words, Aadi felt bad for his friend. First he had gotten him whipped. Now he was denying him his food. He sighed and lay down, confident he was doing the right thing.

  As he closed his tired eyes, he thought of his beloved Ishani. What had she been up to these past five years? Had she moved on? He saw her smiling back at him. She told him she was waiting for him. That she couldn’t wait to see him again. With thoughts of her, he drifted into a tender sleep.

  “Get up, all you lot!” Padstow demanded. “Get in a line and march.”

  Aadi opened his eyes to find dozens of guards moving around the cage, waking the prisoners. What’s going on? Did we get new recruits?

  They formed two lines of about fifty prisoners each and marched out in order. Dozens of chains clanked against each other as they moved through the cold cave. The temperature had dropped in the night. Belio looked back at Aadi and shrugged. He was obviously as lost as him.

  Finally, they came upon a large room, almost as big as their prison. This one, however, had a much lower ceiling. The sides of the walls dented, almost as if people had taken a pickaxe to them long ago. But what surprised Aadi most were the thick holes that dotted the room. It looked like a beehive. At the center of the room were oval-shaped rocks that glowed a bright green.

  Many of the older men, including Belio, appeared worried. Their heads darted around nervously.

  “This is a sandworm hive,” declared the warden proudly. “By now they have already sensed our presence. Soon they will be here to protect their young.”

  Aadi took another good look at the green rocks and realized they weren’t rocks. They were eggs!

  “I, of course,” continued the warden, “will be perfectly safe, thanks to my friends from Yangshao.”

  Two men Aadi had never seen before marched into the room. They wore long gowns with cross collars, a wrapping over the right lapel, and loose sleeves. On their gloves they carried a deep red emblem.

  Fire wielders.

  “Now. Some of you thought you could steal from me. And now you’re going to pay.”

  The man who had offered the meat to the prisoners shuffled his feet nervously.

  Padstow rubbed his hands together as if he was about to enjoy a delicious meal. “I’m sure that many of you would never admit to having taken the meat, but we have other ways of making you talk.” He rubbed his chin. “The meat was bait. It was tainted with a very special spice. Why, whoever ate of it should be feeling the effects any moment now.”

  No sooner had the warden stopped speaking than the man who had stolen the meat fell to his knees in a fit of sickly coughs. Another two-dozen prisoners followed him.

  “Push those men by the eggs!” Padstow commanded. At his command, the guards took hold of the coughing prisoners and threw them atop the eggs. The nervous-looking guards quickly darted back behind the fire wielders.

  The earth trembled and the prisoners who had not been singled out took a step back.

  “Please, no!” the thief cried. “I only wanted to eat.”

  “Oh, they want to eat, too,” mocked Padstow.

  Before they even appeared, Aadi sensed the two masses of energy moving through the earth. A second later, the duo appeared out of the two largest holes. The worms were unlike anything he could have ever imagined. They had three sets of circular fangs around the tip of their “heads,” if they could be called that. They had no eyes to speak of. With loud shrieks, the duo moved over the prisoners who lay on the eggs.

  Some of the men stood frozen in fear. A few tried to run, but they were no match for the monstrosities. The worms took large bites of the men. Some were bitten from the torso, leaving only their legs dangling uselessly.

  The main thief held up his hands. “No!”

  The first worm recoiled its head and then, with lighting speed, drove forward. It snapped its fangs around the man’s head. The gargled scream came to an abrupt end as the worm sucked the man’s entire body into its mouth.

  The meal lasted mere seconds.

  Aadi watched in horror as human blood dripped on the eggs. He knew the warden was evil, but to resort to such acts was unforgivable.

  “Let’s go,” Padstow ordered.

  The guards and prisoners did not hesitate. They all rushed out of the room without looking back. Aadi, on the other hand, moved out slowly. He did not feel any fear toward the worms. They were just trying to protect their young. They weren’t the monsters. Padstow was.

  The worms slid in front of their eggs protectively. Aadi sensed an urge to press their attack. The fire wielders stepped up and fired two waves of scorching flames. The worms recoiled back, keeping their distance.

  With rage still flowing through him, Aadi stormed out of the room to confront Padstow.

  “How dare you kill those men?”

  The warden shot a bored look at him. He then marched up to the fire wielders. “You know what to do. Put up a fire wall. The worms will be gone by morning.”

  Aadi took hold of the warden’s arm and forced him around to face him. Instantly, three guards wrestled him to the ground.

  Padstow kicked Aadi on the stomach, causing him to recoil in pain. “How dare I, you ask? This is your fault. The whole trap was a ploy to catch you. To prove that you weren’t as strong-willed as you p
retend to be.” He swallowed hard. “I’m a bit surprised to see you didn’t take the bait. But that’s fine. We have plenty of time. And soon enough, I will break you.” He kicked Aadi a few more times, laughing as he did so.

  As he received the blows, all Aadi could hear was the dying screams of the men. A voice in the back of his mind echoed sinisterly. It’s your fault they’re dead. You killed them. You killed them all!

  CHAPTER 11

  “You have to end this,” declared one of the men as soon as they stepped back into the cage. From the few times he had worked with him, Aadi recognized him as Destro, an old man who had worked in the mines for over a decade.

  “End what?” asked Aadi, even though he had a good idea to what Destro was referring.

  “You know what.” He pointed an accusing finger at him. “You must stop this little battle of wits you have going on with the warden. It was admirable when it was only you taking the brunt for it, but now we’re all in danger. Any of us could be the next victim.” Many of the men nodded in agreement.

  Despite Aadi’s apprehension and doubts, he knew he couldn’t allow himself to be scared into submission. Hope was the only thing keeping him going. If he lost that, he would truly go mad.

  But before he could voice his opinions, Linius, of all people, spoke up in his defense.

  “You’re wrong,” he said. “Aadi cannot give up. He’s the only one among us with hope of ever leaving Kilead Keep.”

  “Leave?” Destro chuckled out loud while he pointed at his surroundings in grandiose fashion. “Look around you. We’re not going anywhere.”

  “Not with that fighting spirit we’re not,” added a young boy, taking a stand behind Aadi. He was one of the newest prisoners, barely having arrived months ago.

  Half of the men now stood behind Aadi. The other half stood against him. Many of them had their teeth clenched and their fists rolled.

  Feeling the tangible violence in the air, Aadi stepped between both groups. He held his hands high. “Hey, no fighting. We’re all on the same side. Padstow is the enemy. Save your energy for surviving him and getting out of here.”