The forest was dark and cold, no light is to be seen unless for use of the guards, there are a couple of guards walking around, checking the trees and the bushes for any escapee, as the sun started rising showing mercy for the camp, the guards started knocking on some worn out houses, the camp was divided by 3, the side of the adult me, the middle where the guards had theirs, the other side where the stable of food and women and children worked and slept.
the guards hit the doors waking up who is inside, both the men and the women exceeded the normal human hight, 7ft-8ft (2m+),everyone was chained like wild beasts, the men were walked deep into the forest, while the other side of the camp was sent to clean the minerals, from the side of the man deep inside the forest they reached a cave entrance, the guards handed them a light each, the first to step forward and take was one with his face covered in bandages, he took his bucket and mining material and entered, the rest followed after him, one after another the dark cave is now a hole of light.
By sunset they were escorted from the cave one after another and back towards the camp, as they handed their buckets, one handed 2 buckets and a half, and got 2 tickets
"I think there is a mistake here," said the man that handed the buckets
"I think not, move to the next line" replied the one in charge of giving the tickets
"No like really, I gave you 2 and a half, I should get 2 tickets and a half" said the man anger on his face is clear
"There is no such thing as half a ticket, now move to the next line before you sleep on an empty stomach"
The man moved to the next line handing over the tickets and taking a one-person meal for each ticket, one after another everybody took their food and walked across the guard's camp towards their families or what is left of them in the stable
A child and his sister were waiting they're for their father, as he got to them everyone went I inside the stable for their meal
As everybody was eating silently the man who was wronged about his food spoke to the boy who was waiting for his sister earlier and said
"So, Jason I heard your entering 14 tomorrow, you're going to be an adult I see, going to the mines and getting your own food, sleeping with the adults"
As Jason smiled and wanted to replay his father stopped him and ordered him to finish his food before time ran out, the man not caring said sarcastically
"Who knows, with enough hard work you will be like your father, such a trusted worker amongst the guards he is"
As whispers started to appear in the stable the man spoke again
"Such a hard worker your father is, even when people got injured because of so called falling rocks, he continued his job"
"And perhaps what did you do Aron? Glare at them from behind your pickaxe hiding your face, at least I'm not a fake like you are "finally the father replied
"At least here I show that I wish to be a slave no longer for these creatures" said the man named Aron as the whispers turned into small talks, and to large noises
From the door entered the guards and their chief, stooping the sound
"Now food time is over, head back to your places and get a good night sleep, you have a long day tomorrow" said the chief as everybody poured their food in the bucket, wither they finished it or not
Jason walked with his father towards his new sleeping bed, the night went by and the sun shined upon their lives once more, the guards knocked on the doors like usual, and Jason went by his father's side towards the trees, in no time they reached the cave and got handed their equipment
Everybody went inside and started working, as they mined and mined an old men dropped out of hunger and exhaustion, the guard in charge of the cave noticed that and went to him
"Pick up your axe" he said looking down on him
The old man showed no replay as the guard said once more "Pick, it, up" before taking big stick and started beating the man down, no more then 4 hits before the old man fainted of pain, the guard went to take a sword as he wanted to finish the old man, Aron stood up and walked towards the old man stopping the guy from striking him down with the sword
"I will take him to be treated, killing him will not benefit you ser" said Aron, the guard without talking backed down and let Aron take him
Jason only watched not understanding anything, so he did not care for he saw his father did not either
As the night closed in everyone left the cave taking their buckets alongside them, as they entered the camp, they saw some weird carriages there, beside them were a total of 6 children 2 girls and 4 boys, and a man with a mask of metal not showing any facial features, there was also some nice looking knights that came with them, Jason did not care much of it as they went to eat their food.
Right before handing the buckets some guards came closer with a horse carriage that handles food, in it was a white cloth covered in dirt and blood, it looked like it had something inside, they dropped down some shovels, and without a word the me took them and went towards a little garden to dig
Jason walked along not understanding, after they dug enough someone hit something, Jason looked to see it's a human hand, he felt speechless as the men uncovered the white cloth and gave back to the guards, beneath it was the body of the old men, Aron and some people took it and buried it
Everybody went back to eat without a word, what can they say? Jason ate silently, just before Aron talked
"Are we really going to stay like this? Dying one after another too afraid to fight back? This camp is a death sentence, and the judge has long since disappeared"
Another one talked "If we accept our fate like this we will live in agony and die the same way"
One after another some people started the talk and the noise got larger, Aron spoke once more pointing at the father of Jason
"If you wish upon living the life of a slave, be his guest, but I shall die a bird"
As everybody got energetic and the noise got bigger the guards stepped in and ordered everyone to sleep
The next morning the guards barged into the men's home, took almost everyone who talked yesterday about freedom, as dragged them out, as everybody watched in horror, The chief stepped up as the men got tied with ropes above wooden planks
"These demons wished upon your distraction; they wanted to sway you towards unauthorized rebellion that will lead you nowhere" said the chief as he was looking at the crowd
The chief took a torch of fire and continued saying "Thankfully for the brave words of one of your friends, we were able to spot the traitors"
As the panic and confusion grew bigger the chief without hesitation pointed into the crowd and said, "All thanks to Aron and his friends for spotting and reporting these people" before lighting the ones caught on fire
Aron filled with fear said "Wait this is not what we agreed upon, you told me you will help me out of here, this is not even benefiting you in anyway" Aron pleaded for the chief
"No, it does not help me specifically" the chief said before going back to his tent inside the guard's camp
Jason was too stunned by the smell of flesh and screams to give a care to the conversation, while the adults who were used to such treatment gave sharp looks to Aron and his friends, after the screams faded everybody went to work, Aron spent the day talking to himself trying to justify his actions
"I was tricked, it was not my fault" when night fell and everybody went to sleep, Aron tried his hardest not to close his eyes, it wasn't long before fatigue caught him, and the people surrounded his bed
The next morning, we buried his body along side some of his friends, but the tension in the camp hardened as everybody was warried of each other
This time the people weren't sent to the camps or the caves, the chief called upon them and spoke
"Your work for the next couple of days will be to fix the stable and clean its surroundings, your numbers have gone too low for you to continue your work here anymore"
The guards handed the people the materials before the chief continued "in a couple of days you will be sent to another camp to join others" before he left the people to work it out
By night time when the people went to get food, they noticed their portions went low.
"What is this? This is half a meal for each person" said one of the people
"You are not working in the mines anymore to take a full meal" replied the guard writing down that another one got his meal
"You are the ones that made us work in the stable for our low numbers" said the man frustrated and angry
"I am not the one that led half my people to their doom" replied the guard "maybe next time you will think twice before trying to star a rebellion"
As people wen to eat in the stable that is undergoing a reconstruction, Jason overheard one of the guards saying,
"The cleaning is almost over in the other camp; it will be a matter of time before it happens to this one too"
He reached the stable to eat and asked his father
"What do they mean by cleaning the camp" everybody in the room went silent, there was no replays from his father either, no spoons moved for a minute, only the children continued eating for they did not understand the horrible truth that have been uncovered by a lucky ear.