The room was dark, only a little light shined from beside the bed, that bed wish can't be compared to the wooden floors they used to sleep in at the slavery camp, it was soft, warm, comfortable, it was the most peaceful moment in Jason's life, until he fully opened his eyes to remember his harsh reality, he looked at his hands and body, all those injuries, the mud that infected his skin, the blood that was all over his clothes, the smell of burning flesh that hunted him for hours when he was walking by the river, all that was switched by clean bandages and the smell of flower, a smell he couldn't even dream of back in the camp, his clothes were ones that aren't his, they were more comfortable then anything he ever wore, he looked around him not knowing where he was at, who broth him here, the room was all rook, as if carved into a mountain, the door was made of a weird plant hanging from outside, its roots not visible for the inside, it covered all the light coming from the sun except for a little that managed to breakthrough, telling whoever it is the sun has shined upon us
To Jason's left he saw the source of the room's light, a small candle in a metal cup, fire danced above it not a care in the world, he stared at it, this small and beautiful fire, slowly his hand reached towards it, from the door a women entered through the plants from the same people as Jason, she was around 1m and 90cm, her clothes were none of a slave, as she entered she said
"Now, now let me check on the boy to see- oh my god" she looked scared as she was staring at the boy who has bathed his hand in the candle's fire, the smell of burning bandages and flesh covered all scents in the room, she hurried getting his hand out of its situation, "What are you doing!" she yelled at the boy, his eyes wide and empty, his mouth shut, as if life left his poor body
With a look of pity, she took some bandages from the shelfs while an old man entered the room behind her checking what has gone there, as she started treating his hand the old man talked
"Poor little thing, those clothes he was wearing was ones of a slave, I heard some camps of their went through a cleaning process he must've witnessed hell" as he came closer with his crutch in hand, "Childe can you tell me where did you come from" he said leaning towards the little boy
"Don't you see his in too much of a shock for him to even talk" said the women treating the boy "Go out of here, he wouldn't be able to answer you any soon, that if he even knows anything about the outside world"
"So, you think he was born inside the camp" said the old man as he got up
"I'm saying you should leave him be until he decides to talk by himself, so move to your own work old man Baro" replied the women with an angry look at the old man, not one of hate, but on of sadness towards the boy
"Ok if little Fara, we can't go against the words of who treats our wounds after all," said the old man leaving the child Jason with doctor of the place
As the old man left towards the light he was being waited by some people with curios faces, a childe spoke asking "Old man Baro, who is that big boy"
"We don't know, but if he gets better maybe he will tell us himself" replied Baro with a bright little smile that warms the hearth as he patted the little girl's head
A man that is setting guard beside the door behind old Baro said," he might've lost his memory, when I found him on my patrol that night beside the river, the boy was dead exhausted, but his eyes were wide open, his hands wouldn't let me take whatever left of what might have been his family"
"Oh, you reminded me Noor" said the old man as he looked back" When the boy gets a bit calmer and can walk around by himself, we will need to get him his last good bye to his beloveds"
Noor stood up with his blade around his waist "Don't you worry, its all in the box by the graveyard" he then continued pushing the children slowly away, "now children, our guest needs rest so let him get in in silence and peace"
The women Fara, was leaving as the old man Baro asked "So? How is his situation going?"
"It doesn't seem to be getting any better, his eyes wouldn't remove their field of view out of the fire, so for his sake I put the fire down and let him sleep so he wouldn't hurt himself by it anymore," said the women
"Anymore?!" asked Noor" so he must've got a trauma from it, a weird one that draws him towards his fears rather than to escape them, that might help him in the future"
"I am saying he hurt himself willingly by fire and you are wondering how you would develop him into a warrior" yelled Fara her tone angry her eyes glaring at Noor
"No, he is right" said old man, Baro
"Dad!" replied Fara
"I am not saying he should be a warrior, what I'm trying to get to is the bottom of his deal with fire" replied the old man calming his daughter a bit
"There is no bottom for this, those demons thought his camp had the sickness so they burned them all, the skull his broth with him is enough proof," said Noor
"But as you can see, the other skull of wish I think is his father's had no burn marks, and the sword cut was quite clean too," said the old man
"Maybe his father was running with what remind of his children, but only managed to get one out, and he wasn't infected so they did not waste fire on him" replied Noor
The old man sighed before continuing "A raven from one of our resistance camps came this afternoon, many other camps were brutally slaughtered, I think the kingdom is going through big changes once more, perhaps this time they think of eradicating us all"
Both Noor and Fara looked at him in shock "and you did not think that it's a good idea to tell us all any sooner?" said Fara in disbelief of the situation
"I thought it is much more efficient to tell you all at dinner rather than stopping every one's work" said the old man as he looked behind Fara at boy, peeking through the green door
"This is not good for your health you need more rest" said Fara as she looked back at him wanting to bring him back
"No let him be, a boy his age needs more sunlight, he looks too small for his age, and his skin looks pale as if he did not get enough sunlight in his camp, and its almost time for dinner anyway, let him meet the children around here and let them get him to talk" said old man Baro
The women sighed before taking his hand and slowly walking him around the camp, houses were built inside the mountains both in air and land, it looked full of life and noise, the setting sun painted the place and a colour of orange he never got to see back in the dark forest, as the table's were being set in the empty middle between the two mountains, food was being broth, a table for men and another for women and children, as the sun sat the men's table is where Jason sat beside the chief, he looked at the people noticing their hights are way smaller than the one's at the camp Baro was the chief of this shelter camp, they made sure no candles or fire was too near him, as they ate Jason munched on his food as if he never got to, some looked at him finding it funny, others were focused on their food, after everything was finished, the chief struck with caution and wisdom his crutch on the ground, you can see the respect that was sounding him by how silent everything went, even the children stopped playing here and went away, Jason wasn't brought away, he just sat their silently looking at the chief the same as everybody else , "I have some sad and big news for you all to share" said the chief going silent for a moment once more his hands pressed together and passed down over his nose and mouth, his elbows are on the table in a reversed V shape, and his eyes not making any eye contact
"The king of the Varish has ordered a huge slaughter to our kin in most of his slavery camps" as everybody's eyes widened in a shock