Page 34 of Slavic

“Youwill be more comfortable down here with me.Thissleeping platform is the only thingIhave ever spent any credits on for myself.Igive you my word thatIwill not behave in any way unfavorable toward you.”

Ilook away from her as she contemplates the wordsIjust said.Asmuch asIwould love to pull her into my arms and explore everything that makes her different from me,Iknow that some things need time to develop.Eventhough it feels like forever,Iam pleased when she seeks me out on her own.

Slowlyshe crawls over my legs, settling on the other side of me closest to the viewer.Crossingher legs,Iwatch as she pulls part of the blanket over them before looking at me seriously.

“Ido not know where to start, andIam sureIwill miss things that you need to know.Nevertheless, you are welcome to stop me anytime.IfIwas in your place,Iwould be curious to learn about this new world around me as well.

Iam the oldest of the six sons my life givers created.Iam also the only one not born onViri9.Myparental units, along with several other families left our home planet ofUzrulin the search for a better life.OnViri9, what they found was a prison instead.

MaybeIshould back up a little here, so that you will know why they leftUzrulin the first place.Thereis a race ofScientistscalledAynarthat infiltrated our home world under false pretenses.Theyheld rallies and grand parties, promising all that followed a better life for them and their younglings, if they would uproot their lives and go to work for them.Wefound out laterthat they targeted our race specifically because of our known strengths and the high birth rates of our females.Rememberthat specific detail as we go forward.

Mylife giver, sire, and several in the community were tired of the struggles onUzruland fell for theAynar’sfalse words.Iwas just a youngling, butIcan remember us packing up our few belongings and the smiles on both of their faces as they looked forward to the things to come.Mamwas already expecting again withRuarc, we just didn’t know it at the time.

Anyway, they were true to their word in the beginning.Wewere given a nice dwelling and sire was put in charge of the mining operation just like they promised.Wewere there for several risings before things started to change.Sirestarted coming home later and later saying he was having to jump in and help because theAynarwere upping production temporarily.Whathe didn’t know was that it was only a test to see what my race could actually produce if pushed.

Iwas put in guard training soon after we arrived, as were all the others my age, much to myMam’sdispleasure.Iexcelled quickly and moved up the ranks in a short amount of time, even for a youngling.Whenmam started having complications with carryingRuarc, mySireput mam’s care in my hands, butIwas so wrapped up in making a name for myself thatIalmost missed her sudden weakness.OnerisingIfound her on the floor, grasping her stomach andIremember being in a panic whenIrushed her to the infirmary.IfIhad only known thatIwas playing right into their hands with that choice.

Shewas suffering from separation sickness, but as a youngling,Idid not understand the link of a heartbond between mates.MySireloved myMammore than his next breath, but this new jobkept them separated for long lengths of time.Unfortunately, it was playing havoc with mam’s health.

AScientisttook her from me saying that they would give her something to strengthen her and the baby.Ibelieved him and like an idiot, gave full permission to proceed.WhatIdidn’t realize was that they were experimenting on all the younglings before they were born.Genesplicing their essence, trying to create workers for the mines that would never tire nor be easily damaged.Everylunar rotation they would have me bring her back, saying they needed to monitor her and the baby’s health.Foolishly,Inever questioned their word as mam did seem stronger.

Lifebecome a blur afterRuarcwas born.Theywould allow sire to come home just long enough for mam to become bred again.Neitherof them realizing at the time that it was all being done on purpose.Themoment they realized she was expecting again, sire’s schedule would double.Eachyoungling born to my parental units after that was different from the one before.Bythe timeMurgulwas born, all our similarities to each other were fully gone.Butthey were my brothers, andIdid allIcould to protect them.Beingthe oldest,Iwas around theAynarthe most and subjected to their instant disapproval and punished the harshest whenIrefused to bend to their will.

OnerisingIwas in the middle of training when my coach demanded thatItake a lesser fighter’s life.WhenIdisobeyed, he threatened to send me to the mines.Idid not believe he would and refused.Thatwas the risingIsaw them for what they truly were; monsters cloaked in pretty and deceiving colors.

Somecalled them fairies, because most all saw were delicate, fragile, beautiful creatures.WhatIsaw instead of gossamer wings and bright colors were leathery wings, eyes black as night,and layers of razor-sharp teeth.TheguardIoriginally ignored threw me out of the way likeIweighed nothing using hands smaller than your own.Thenhe ripped out the youngling’s throat with his own teeth.

Idid not even react, or try to help, just lay there in shock, convinced my eyes were lying to me.Bythe time my mind cleared, it was too late for the youngling, but that event was the beginning of major change and unrest in the community.

TheAynarstopped hiding their true forms after that, and we were all quickly subjected to their cruel nature.Theworst part was the younglings that had been tampered with in the womb.Thesecould be controlled by their powerful mages.Amere thought in their direction would have them helplessly writhing in pain.Theyused those powers to gain and keep our cooperation.Everytime one of us pushed back or didn’t meet our quota, they would focus upon our loved ones.

Oncethe truth about theAynarwas revealed,Iwas immediately removed from training and placed in the mines alongside mySire.Ruarc, being the oldest still at home was put in place as overseer for our mam and life continued.Themines were nothing like sire had said and once there,Irealized why he had lied to us.Hedid not want us to know the circumstances he was subjected to every rotation, as he blamed himself for why we were there in the first place.

Beinghis son,Iwas pushed harder and given a larger quota to meet.Inthe beginning, my anger pushed me through the hard risings.Aftera while,IrealizedIwas never going to see the sun again as they kept moving us further down and deeper into the mountainside.Islept, ate, and worked so far under the ground that after a while my skin started taking on the darkened hue of the onyx dust.Iam not sure what pushed me from that point on,that is until one rising when they were bringing in new recruits andIfound myself paired up withRuarc.

Theonly positive was occasionally sire was allowed to return to mam on the surface and he would come back with stories of my brothers and things happening top side.Unfortunately, that would not last long either, as both life givers were gaining in age.Mam’sreproductive ability declined after the birth ofMurguland when theAynarrealized this, sire was no longer allowed to go to her.Thisis also whenIwas subjected to the true horrors of mySire’sposition and how they held each one of his sons over his head to get what they wanted from him.

Ihad not seen any of my other brothers nor myMamin so long thatIdid not recognizeEinarthe next time we met in the infirmary.Cave-ins were simply part of the job and had become an issue every rotation.TheAynarwere greedy and cared little for our safety.Barelyescaping one whenIplaced myself between the ceiling andRuarc, sire was able to get me sent to the infirmary to be stitched up.Iknow not who was more shocked,Einaror myself when we saw each other.Notonly had all my hair fallen out, but my skin was now dark; the minerals having permanently stained any part of my exposed body.

OnceEinarrealized whoIwas, he did his best to explain to me how our sire had used the last of his personal favors to have each of his sons put in different facilities.Einarwas in medical,Bikarcommunications,Falonengineering, and our youngest was excelling in weapons design.Throughdeception, they had taken ourMamto their main laboratory and no one knew where she was.”

“Slavic, you mentioned that they could somehow control your brothers?”

Turningaway from her curious gaze,Ilook out the viewer while unconsciously rubbing the scar on my chest. “Themines were not only a place where they worked you until you died, but also where there was little sustenance.Orcsare massive and we require a lot of food in order to maintain these forms.Notto mention the amount of energy it took to mine the onyx and transport it up the many shafts to the loading docks.”

“Ruarchad fallen behind due to a shoulder injury, and when one of the others tried to steal his rations,Istepped in between them.Ihonestly cannot remember how it got so out of control.Butin the end,Ifound myself standing over one of the other workers, a machete imbedded in my chest and his crushed head in my hands.

Mymind was still in a rage when the guards attacked.Ruarctried to block them from me, and even thoughIstill do not truly understand how, with simply a look, he was flailing on the floor, crying out in agony.Distractedby him, thePyrkyneguards were able to capture me.Thenthey decided to use me as a reminder of what happens if you act out.

Iwas hung up, and each member in the crew had to take a turn whipping me, unless they wanted to be strung up alongside me.Beingthe willful male thatIam,Irefused to scream or even react to the painIwas sustaining.Evenwhen thePyrkyneguards started using their knives to carve out souvenirs of my flesh,Iwould not acknowledge the pain.Ican remember the look on mySire’sface when the whip was handed to him.

Whenhe hesitated,Ishook my head no.Themoment that whip crossed my skinIwatched mySirechange.Ihad never seen such rage in his eyes before, even when they told him he could never see ourMamagain.Hesimply powered through the pain of their heartbond to focus onRuarcand myself.Theyleft me there for afew risings for all to see, as a reminder of what happens if you go against them.”

“Slavic, how did you escape?”

“Therehad been whispers of unrest upon the surface, but without any real contact, that is all it was, rumors.WhatIdid not know was sire’s plan on how he was going to get his family away from theAynar.Imentioned before that we had to transfer the onyx up to a loading bay.Normally, that area was empty besides loading containers that were to be put on the transports.Theymade sure that there were never ships in those hangers at the same time we were, even to the point of having auto bots load the shuttles.

RuarcandIwere seldom ever tasked with heaving the massive rocks up the shafts, but this rising, mySireassigned us to this task himself.Wewere almost to the top with the final load, when a massive explosion behind us collapsed the main mine shaft.

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