Kaleb The Slave - Story

Once there was a prophet and he walked the land far and wide during times of strife. His name was Kaleb and he was the hunter for escape. He wanted to forget his past, his present, and the world around him, but forgetting was not easy. Where Kaleb walked war was immenent and he was forced to defend himself with his mighty sword. Kaleb was a fine fighter but there were those who challenged him and in the end he was forced into servitude with the foreign army of Labradore.

Kaleb hated army work as it was hard and used his energy and thought. However if Kaleb did not do his ducty he was punished with whips, cuts, and burns. Once Kaleb would not fight a royal who had posed as peasant and his toe-nails were burned until he had none. Kaleb was scorned for his inability to just fight with the army and defeat the world, but when Kaleb did pick up his sword to fight there was only praise.

Kaleb was one of the best fighters only Markus and Timbol challenged him. They were front line fencers when the army needed strength and they held more then just scratches - their skins had been stained red from having had hacked so many men! Kaleb felt indone when in argument with the royal patriots and at nightfall he would even cry as he swore that he would one day break away from the army to be able to live the clean and free life once again.

However breaking away took years. The army didn't stop at one village it walked on, and on, then it backed into the land it had defeated to defeat the rebels, and then they would continue. It was an endless war and battle and in the end Kaleb wanted to scream!

One night Kaleb was invited to a meal by Gertrude the royal leader's daughter. She sat on a throne made of wood and she smiled as she looked to Kaleb who was fit, strong, and had the body of an immortal. Gertrude invited Kaleb to a seat and he sat as a dog would have sat under their owners command. Kaleb looked at Gertrude and thought her wonderful, however his heart was not lenient and he only grew disgusted as he was forced to endure her presence.

“Kaleb the great warrior;” teased Gertrude with a smile. “You are great;” she added. “Your reputation says so;” she told.

“Thankyou;” told Kaleb unable to break his jaw from its concrete mould.

“I have a task for you;” announced Gertrude unable to shake the shivers that raced under her skin from having had heard the rough tone in Kaleb's voice. “You are to choose a meal fit for your liking;” she added before she raised a hand for the nearby men to bring forth the plates of gold, silver, and earth.

The men brought forth three plates and their laid them down in front of Kaleb. Kabel wanted to groan at sight of the plates, however his fingers already wanted the gold that laid to the right of his right hand.

“The righteous plate;” told Kaleb inside of his mind as Gertrude looked on.

However something inside of Kaleb warned him that gold was the embled of all things good and evil and so Kaleb paused.

“Is there a purpose to this task?” he asked. “Am I supposed to hand pick what is good, evil, made from foreign source;” he questioned.

“Just choose which one you would like and eat it;” told Gertrude as she smiled to herself.

“Then I choose the gold plate!” gasped Kaleb before he picked up the plate and began to consume the meal.

The meal was good, more then good, it was made of all things holy and delicious at the same time. There was nothing immoral on the plate, no beast had been slaughtered, it was just good food and Kaleb enjoyed it to the brim.

“Why you chose the gold plate!” gasped Gertrude as she smiled. “That meal was made for me;” she added.

“I thank you for allowing me to taste a royal meal;” told Kaleb as he licked at his teeth. “It was good, very good;” he added.

“Then you shall have such a meal every day!” gasped Gertrude in a tone a little hysterical.

Kaleb knew then and there that he had crossed a line that had altered Gertrude's royal psych and he became weary. However he didn't want to just bow his head, he wanted to walk away. However Gertrude stopped Kaleb with her next remark.

“Eat the other two meals and go back to your tent;” she ordered as though she were thoroughly bored.

Kaleb nodded and ate the silver platter whose every meal had been made from slaughtered beast, and then he ate the earthen platter whose dish was a soup made of barley, wheat, and rye. Kaleb ate all and by its end he felt as though he were filled with the strength of three men. Gertrude smiled a little as she looked at Kaleb, she knew suddenly he had been starved as his looked brightened and turned into what a king would call his son's holy image. Gertrude laughted and then she told the nearby men to escort Kaleb to his tent. Kaleb was escorted and when there he was beaten until the three meals he had eaten laid in a pool of vomit on his floor.

“A royal meal of any meal is unfit for your belly!” one of the men jeered before he fled.

Kaleb sighed as he gasped through a world of pain. He had been used as a tool in a wicked game and he did not like it at all.

That night Kaleb picked up his sword and escaped. He raced out of the tent to the rocky hills which were too steep for the horses to pass over. Kaleb darted fast to its face and began to climb. No royal army had seen him and so he clumbed alone until his eyes spied a cave. Kaleb wandered inside of the mouth og the cave and met bats, spiders, and small hungry beasts; however none were able to do anything but scurry away as soon as Kaleb had shown them his sword. So Kaleb was allowed to wander deepers, and deeper, inside of the cave and he walked far. However when he reached the other side he met Markus andTimbol who had journeyed around the mountain to re-capture their lost fugitive and they greeted Kaleb with several punches untilhe was too weak to move.

Kaleb was taken back to the army who had moved on a fair way since his departure. Back in camp he was forced to meet Gertrude who spat on his face before she witnessed the burning of his skin with the mark of the slave. Kaleb was no longer able to break away to eescape, he had been ,marked as a man to be captured or slaughtered on sight.

From that day on Kaleb became slave to the army and was easier to handle. He no longer complained, not even when half of the army entered his tent to beat him before he was able to sleep. Kaleb stayed good and true to his army duty with the mark of a slave on his arms and back. He was unable to erase the marks and his blood burned, however his mind stayed cool; he had at last been forced into subdue and he remained good.

After many months of fighting the army was forced to settle to create a kingdom. They chose Erosia as it had the greenest of land, and the cleanest of water. Erosia provided the royal army a good home, however at times rebels broke their walls to try and destroy them and the army was forced to defend until the grass grew grey from the blood that had been spilled on it.

“The ground is dying;” told Markus as he looked at the grass that had turned into weed. “We shall have to move;” he told;

“Nonsence!” cried Timbol. “We have only just finished these walls;” he objected.

“Then I will move;” told Markus. “I don't like the look of the land, it is sick;” he told.

“I will gladly move with you;” told Kaleb who had listened from the near distance.

“Strong Kaleb! I salute you;” cried out Markus. “I shall like your arm very much, but you must be my friend and not my enemy!” he stated.

“I shall be your friend;” told Kaleb as he tried his best to smile.

Markus shrugged.

“Very well you come;” he told. “I am going to move west;' he stated to Timbol.

“I shall tell the royals;” muttered Timbol before he ran to the royal quarters to tell all who was able to listen that Markus was going to leave.

Markus left that night and he walked with Kaleb and two of his army friends. They wandered for a day to the next village and when there they helped themselves to a meal at the town bar. The bar-man wanted to poison the royal army however he knew better. He looked at Markus and knew he was able to see poison a mile away and so he fed the group clean food and asked not a penny for it.

Markus looked at the bar and saw what could be a slave market, and he spotted some fellow women who he wanted to play around with. However his blood was not excited enough to asked the barman for a room and so he lounged as the village people talked around their shoulders in whispers.

“It is a good day to leave;” told Markus at last after several hours. “My bones are in ache for a horse ride” he added. “A fast one;”

The two army friends Edem and Edwarz cheered and the group left. However outside Markus blocked the entrance door with a barrel of beer, and told Kaleb to do the sameat the back door. When the doors were blocked Markus ground a stick against the wood of the entrance door and rubbed until it caught on fire. Soon the whole building had smoke all over it, and it flamed as screams cried out from inside. Markus watched as the fire climbed high, and then he smiled as the screams finally died. Kaleb looked to Markus and wanted to call him evil, however he knew he could not and so he turned his head to the fire and watched it until the sky grwe black.

Within days the small cluster of royal arm found a new village and setted themselves there. They ordered who was allowed to live to and fro and were given all they coud desire. Then Markus told the village that they were going to build him a home, and so the craftsment began to build a construction that was a mansion among village huts. Markus paid the craftsmen with gold he carried inside of his pocket, and then he settled inside of his mansion with his friends and Kaleb.

When settled the cluster began to talk and soon they began to create books to spread the word of faith, knowledge, and history. The villagers passed the book around, and soon it was declared that a new kingdom had been made.

Kaleb wandered around the village every day. All seemed at peace but inside of the houses Markus and his friends tortured the villagers. They taunted them with threats, they ordered them to give them more, they tried to tell them what to do and when met with disdain a man or woman was fast slaughtered. Kaleb could take no more of the violence and so he walked around in an attempt to try and stay apart from the feud of the royal army gone mad.

When walking around the village Kaleb met Olyve a village girl who had escaped blood-shed by a hairs length after her own sister Arabelle had tackled Markus in an attempt to spare her ife. Markus had hit his face on a table and turned red as fire - in his fury he tore Arrabelle's head from its neck until even the air screamed that he had killed! Olyve had raced away as Markus ordered for her sisters body to be stewed, and with the smell of human meat on the cook Olyve had found her way to the grass where her knees had turned into water.

“Hello;” muttered Kaleb as he smiled at Olyve.

“Hello;” replied Olyve with a well-set tremmor in her tone.

“A fine day;” told Kaleb as he began to enjoy the scenery.

“My sister was killed today;” told Olyve before she began to weep inside of her head.

Kaleb saw only black in the world as he looked at Olyve and he knew that she was fresh in despair. However a cry from Markus broke Kaleb's attention and soon Markus circled around Olyve as he held a dagger inside of his hand.

“Your sister's meat is on the stew, I thought you would like to join her!” he hissed as he felt a bead of blood dribble off his chin.

“Why are you cooking human meat!” cried Kaleb started.

“It is what we do when upset!” raged Markus unable to keep his temper. “I was about to kill this one when her sister had tackled me to the floor!” he barked. “The insult;” he added. “She only won because I was off my guard;” he declared.before he leaned over Olyve to slice off her right ear.

“Can you leave this one alone?” asked Kaleb as his heart began to wince. “I was talking to her;” he added.

“Two rescues in one day?” asked Markus as he glared at Kaleb. “Why the mercy?” he asked.

“I lost my heart to her;” told Kaleb as he began to show some strain.

“Poor heart;” told Markus as he glared at Kaleb as he tried to assess whether his temper would break out of he slit the pesants' throat. “Choose another;” he then muttered as he glared at Kaleb. “Any other;” he added.

“I choose her;” told Kaleb as he began to sweat.

“Well she is fit for the pot, choose another;” muttered Markus as he eyed Kaleb up and down.

“I choose her;” told Kaleb as he began to strain.

“Any other!” gasped Markus before he grew fury himself and slit Olyve's throat so dreastically Kaleb fell down onto his knees at sight of so much blood. “Any other!” raged Markus before he picked Olyve up and carried her back into her home for the boil.

That night human meat was tasted and Kaleb was unable to cope. He threw a fit of rage and killed more then half the village and then he destroyed the mansion with his own arm before he ran away. Markus only just survived a battle with Kaleb before he fled and his sword had broken in half, it was only his dagger that had saved him as he threw it at Kaleb's face enough to pierce his eye.

Kaleb walked away with blood on his face and he wandered far. He dissapeared and when amongst strange dark villages he asked for food and water and was given only poisoned ale until he fell to the ground almost dead.

However Kaleb was not dead, and so he was picked up and passed into a trade vehicle which carried him to the black market where he was sold into slavery. Kaleb's skin was sick and poorly and he needed to be given good food more one month before he was fit to work again. However when fit he managed to fight and break away from his slave-home, and when he felt it was with ransom on his face.

Kaleb wandered far and was given no hope to live, and so he walked further until he found a stream to suckle on. The water could only feed him so much before he began to feel weak.

“I'll drown myself in water one day;” told Kaleb before the light from a farmhouse brought him luck.

Kaleb knocked on the door and let himself inside when a woman opened the latch. Inside Kaleb began to eat fruit and bread and the woman watched from the distance as her children slept inside of their beds. The woman wanted to run away however she grew less scared when she realized that Kaleb wanted food more then anything else.

“You are a poor man?” asked the woman as she gulped on her breath.

“Yes;” told Kaleb before he began to eat more fruit. “I do not eat meat;” he added.

“We have none;” told the woman as she glared at Kaleb with curiosity.

A silence lingered as Kaleb continued to eat. The woman wanted to know more about him but his slave marks told her his life. He had been condemned to a legion and when escaped he should have been slaughtered on sight. However he didn't not wish to kill Kaleb, and so she watched and waited for him to leave.

“Do you have a bed?” asked Kaleb all of a sudden. “I would like to sleep;” he added.

“There is only one bed;” told the woman as she began to grow some tense. “It is my husbands bed and he is far away;” she added.

“I shall use it for one day and night;” told Kaleb. “Show me to the bed;” he ordered.

The woman knew better then to try and coax Kaleb in another direction, and so she showed him to the bed, and when there he fell on it and slept. The woman was startled at how tired Kaleb was, and she left him alone.

True to his work Kaleb left after a night and a day, and when gone the woman was visited by a traveller and she told him that a stranger had stayed in her home. The traveller nodded and heded off - he was not to discover Kaleb untl six months later when he was being trialled for treason.

Kaleb walked far and at every village he became ever more welcomed as word was spread that a wadering slave was on the march for food and a brief stay. Kaleb grew more liked and at some houses he was oftered clothes, baths, and even money. Kaleb accepted more and became stronger and encouraged that he was on the righteous path. However he could only escape for so long, at oen village the royal army was already settled and he met Markus once again after he knocked on a door.

“Hello;” cheered Markus as he grinned. “Looking for food and board are we?” he asked.

Kaleb wanted to run however his feet were made of lead as Markus pointed a sword at his chest.

Come in;” told Markus as he stepped to the side. “Or I shall chase you;” he added.

Kaleb walked inside of the home and found a small family who had been ordered to act under Markus's orders. They had washed every room from top to bottom, spent their money on candles, and had cooked vegetables and meat for Markus's belly. They were in disdain for their new lord, however their quiet smiles failed to show the scorn inside of their minds.

“My friend would like dinner!” cried Markus. “Made from the scraps of what I eat;” he added before he showed Kaleb to a table.

The family nodded and make Kaleb a stew made from the skin of the animals they had skin, and from their raw and bloody bones. Kaleb at the stew and grew warm before Markus picked up a pot and banged it on the back of his head so hard his eyes turned black.

When Kaleb woke he was in a cell and there were royal army men on the taunt.

“You are going to your death;” they declared.

Kaleb didn't even want to ask why, he knew he had turned against the royal army for freedom that was shortlived and he was yet to pay.

Kaleb spent two days in a cell and then he was beaten for two more days. When bruised from top to toe he was led out onto a market stage and chained tightly to a plank of wood and skinned alive. Cried and shouts echoed through the village as red blood ran down the sewer drains. At the end of the skinning Kaleb was lit of fire and red smoke filled the sky as men and women fainted in the street. Markus glared at the attrocity and shook his head.

“You could have lived forever!” he shouted to the wind that slapped hard against his face. “It's a shame that you could not turn into anything but a slave wishing for freedom rather then a man wishing for blood;” he added before he walked away.