Chapter 8: Chapter 8 – Journey

The next day, Grayson was woken up by the sound of the prison door banging open. Rattling chains accompanied the banging door, and when Grayson looked up blearily to see what was happening, the early morning light filtering through the slits in the ceiling revealed a contingent of guards entering the room.

They walked up to the cell closest to the door, chained up one of the occupants and took the woman out of the prison, while a second group started the same process with the other woman in the cell. They methodically made their way down the row of cells. Furthermore, they were quick and methodical, giving Grayson the impression that they had done this many times before.

It looked like they were finally going to be transported to the proving grounds.

It was clear that Grayson wasn’t going to be able to escape now. Four guards wrangled each prisoner, and Grayson was pretty sure he didn’t stand a chance against a single guard. Especially after eating so little over his time in the prison. He was already weak, but now he felt feeble. Even as the thought crossed his mind, one of the prisoners took a swipe at a guard in a vain attempt to escape. His blow did almost nothing to the guard, and he was rewarded for his effort by being clubbed into submission. He was dragged out of the cell in chains, just like the rest of the prisoners, but with more bumps and bruises for the trouble.

If he were ever going to escape it would have to be soon, before they starved him even more, but trying to fight four guards just wasn’t on the menu.

When they reached him, it didn’t take long before they had him in manacles and walking out of the cell. He made sure not give them a struggle. They were rough with him as it was, and he didn’t want to give them a single excuse to beat him like they had the other man.

He was quickly dragged out of the prison, and even through it all, Grayson could appreciate being able to breathe in fresh air again. The prison was quite stuffy, and so many unwashed bodies lying around for days didn’t help the smell.

He saw that the prison’s courtyard was filled with wheeled cages hitched to oxen. All the other prisoners were stuffed into the cages, six per vehicle. The guards dragged him over to the final empty cart and chained him to a ring set into the wall, placed just beneath where the bars were placed.

The general arrived not too long after and was chained to a ring on the opposite end of the cart. Stoney faced as ever; he tolerated the rough treatment with the same long suffering as when he had arrived.

Grayson had expected the carts to start moving, as the general had been the last prisoner. But only a couple moved off, full of men. Grayson figured those were the ones that were being drafted into the army. The carts destined for the proving grounds stayed in place. Even though the wagon drivers were here, the guards seemed to be waiting for something.

What they were waiting for became clear a moment later when a procession came riding into the courtyard. At their head was a beautiful woman in a dark green riding dress, flanked by guards bearing banners proudly displaying a green gull on a white background.

The procession stopped, and the woman called out, looking at the prisoners, her gaze resting on each one for a moment before moving onto the next.

“I am Lady Altera, and through wartime powers granted to me by the Silmian council, I have given you a sentence to serve your city by entering the proving grounds and harvesting ascendant pearls.”

“Your work is vital to the-”

She stopped for just a moment when her eyes landed on General Trest, but began speaking soon after, so barely a pause was heard.

“Survival of our way of life. When the time comes, your families will be given a small token from the city to honor the task you will carry out. I am truly sorry that this is a burden you must bear. Know that your efforts will make a real difference. Thank you.”

Her gaze had passed over Grayson like it had the others, not taking any particular notice of him. She inclined her head toward the cages, and then she was off, wheeling her horse away from the courtyard, back to where she had come from.

Grayson couldn’t believe the woman. She had the gall to come out and look these people in the eye. People that she herself had sentenced to death and said ‘thank you’. He didn’t want to be thanked for something out of his control. What he wanted, was an explanation for why they were going to throw away his life. Grayson wouldn't consider himself a callous person, but these people were fighting for a city that wasn’t his, for a way of life that wasn’t his, on a world that wasn’t his. He didn’t feel like laying down his life in some dubious manner that may or may not even help the league win the war.

Uncaring of Grayson’s thoughts, the wagon drivers hopped up onto their individual carts and they started moving. And from the very beginning, Grayson knew that the trip wasn’t going to be comfortable. Even on the cobbled streets, the wagons bumped and jolted erratically.

Grayson decided to focus his attention on his manacles. They were tight on his wrists, and after just a little experimentation trying to squeeze his hand through, all he was rewarded with was chaffed wrists. He investigated the locks on his manacles next, but it was more in desperation than in any belief that he would be able to pick it or circumvent it in some other way. Certainly enough, his inspection yielded him absolutely nothing. Finally, he took a look at the ring he was chained to, trying to find some kind of weakness. Unsurprisingly, they were bolted onto the wagon in such a way that it would be impossible for a prisoner to get it off from this side. Still, Grayson pushed at the base of the ring to see if it would move, only to find that it was stuck firmly in place, which brought a quick end to that line of thinking.

All of this was expected, but disappointing at the same time. His consolation was that even if he managed to get out of the manacles, he was still locked inside a moving cage. The only way he could see himself getting out of this was somehow stealing the keys to both his manacles and the cage without anyone noticing. It sounded impossible, but Grayson had to hope something unexpected would happen that would allow him the opportunity.

The time passed much like it had in the prison, though it was far more uncomfortable. He was just glad that he wasn’t stuck in a cart with more people. Chained to the wall as he was, finding any position that didn’t leave him feeling sore was hard. With more people in the cart, it would be an impossibility.

They were given a single meal each day, just as before, and now they were taken out to stretch and go to the bathroom twice a day.

Grayson kept looking for his opportunity, but the guards were highly vigilant. They only let the prisoners out a few at a time, and they placed their ankles in chains during the breaks to ensure they couldn’t run. Even after all of that, they wouldn’t allow them stray too far. The guards had obviously done this many times before, and no opportunities for escape presented themselves.

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Grayson had tried engaging the general in conversation a few times, but the man had simply ignored him, seeming to be lost in his own thoughts. Grayson desperately wanted to get Trest on his side, but he knew that pestering the general wouldn’t do him any favors. Instead, he chose to spend the rest of the time looking out the side of his cage admiring at the scenery. It was all remarkably similar to Earth. The first few days of their journey had been full of rolling hills that were covered in healthy looking grass. After that, it transitioned into flat plains with longer grass that flowed in the wind. It was beautiful, but remarkably similar to Earth.

There wasn’t anything he saw that screamed alien planet to him. The occasional animal looked identical to what you would find on Earth. The birds, deer, and even bison that he saw from a distance seemed completely normal to him. If this were a completely different planet, he would have expected the wildlife to be significantly different from Earth’s. He was sure that there would be some similarities as evolution would guide creatures through similar paths, but to be nearly identical seemed strange. Even the day's length seemed similar to Earth’s. It was hard to tell because there weren’t any timing devices, or at least there weren’t any that he had seen. But his own body’s sense of time told him it was close to being the same. There was even a single moon hanging in the sky that looked to be similar in size to the moon on Earth. It all made Grayson wonder if there was some kind of template gods used to make their worlds.

If Velos had made this world on a template, he had gone off it for the place where Grayson had arrived on Selenya. He assumed the place was an aquadome. It was completely different from anything on Earth, which left Grayson wondering why they were confined to small areas.

The wagons continued their slow pace down the road for a week when the ocean came into view. Grayson noticed it fairly quickly, as he didn’t have much to do but stare at the scenery. The small company was headed straight towards a small port city that came into view not long after.

After reaching the city, the company passed straight through towards the docks. It looked like they were going to be travelling over the ocean.

He turned to the general with his eyes raised.

“We’re sailing,” he asked, not really expecting a response after the older man had rebuffed him every other time he had tried to start a conversation, but to his surprise, the general answered.

“Yes, the aquadome is set on an island a short distance from the mainland.”

That was awful news. Some of the worst news Grayson could have gotten. The possibility of escape had already been low, but if they took him over to that island, he would have to somehow steal a boat to get away. That made the task feel impossible.

They ended up waiting in the port for an entire day. During that time, from hearing the guards talk, it sounded like boats only went to the island on a schedule, which meant that it would be that much harder to escape. Not only would he have to bypass whatever security they had on the island, he would have to do it during the short time a boat was in port, and then somehow sneak onto the boat without anyone noticing.

His best hope was to slip away before being taken to the island, and with how careful the guards had been already, that didn’t seem likely.

He knew convincing the general was a longshot, but he had to do something.

“General Trest,” Grayson said, turning toward the general, “if we’re going to escape, it has to be before we get on that ship. Please help me.”

The man looked him in the eyes, but after a few moments he turned away, breaking off the eye contact.

“Please.” Grayson said, his voice wobbling a little as it came out. He knew that he sounded desperate, but he didn’t care. He was terrified.

All he got was silence in return. Grayson began to blink rapidly to try and fight off tears that were coming to his eyes. He knew that even with the general’s help, escape wasn’t likely, but it was far more likely than if he tried on his own. His thoughts darkened as it seemed increasingly likely that he wasn’t going to be surviving much longer.

They were taken out of their cages and herded into a large ship. After descending the stairs into the hold, they were once again chained to rings. Not once did Grayson see an opportunity for escape. He kept looking for even a small opportunity, but there was nothing.

He found himself wondering if he should have tried something stupid at some point, just to do something, instead of placidly allowing himself to be led to his death. But every time the thought came, he would mentally comb over the journey and come to the inevitable conclusion. No matter what he did, he couldn’t have escaped. Trying something at a bad time would have only served to make the guards more vigilant in the future.

About half an hour later, the ship began moving. And Grayson truly felt the noose tightening around his neck. The boat travelled for what felt like an hour, maybe a little less, before it docked, and Grayson was grateful he didn't have sea sickness. Some of the other prisoners had been miserable during the trip, more than a few retching repeatedly over the course of the journey.

The sailors brought them up from the hold. When Grayson walked onto the deck, he had to shield his eyes. It had been dark in the underbelly of the ship, and the sudden brightness of the outside world was blinding, though once they accustomed themselves to the light, he got the first look at the island.

It looked more like a tropical paradise than a deathtrap. The fortress growing out of the island's shore didn’t do much to ruin its beauty. The only thing that looked truly concerning about the island was the dark cloud that swirled around its center ominously.

Grayson was willing to bet he already knew where the aquadome was.

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