Chapter 2 Draft 1

This is the first draft of the second chapter of my novel.

Chapter 2: Enslavement

                Three years had passed since Dakisuma had been taken from his home and sold into bondage. Every day he was subject to his master’s cruelty. He did mostly difficult physical labor making his muscles strong. When his tasks were not completed to his master’s likening he would be tortured with magic flames which scared his back. There was not a day that passed that he did not desire to escape even if only to return to the ruins of Joven.

                Today he was in charge of taking care of his master’s only son who was about ten years old. Jake, as the boy was named, loved to play with Dakisuma. Most of the time they pretended to fight with wooden swords, Dakisuma would pretend to be an evil warrior and would fight against the great hero of the north shore, as Jake would often call himself. They would play in the garden outside the magnificent mansion. Today Jake was especially vicious and began to swing his sword with greater ferocity than Dakisuma had ever seen in Jake.

                Jake swung his sword from the right side and aimed to hit Dakisuma in the rib cage, but Dakisuma blocked the attack just in time. There was a loud crack when the swords collided and Jake became further inspired with the excitement of combat. Jake spoke in his characters voice, “Today you die Morgan!” Jake spun around and swung at the other side of Dakisuma’s ribs. This time Dakisuma jumped back to dodge he blow making Jake lose his balance and fall to one knee. Jake grinned, Dakisuma’s resistance only made him hunger for the battle more. Now Jake leapt into the air and swung the sword directly at Dakisuma’s head. Dakisuma realized that Jake was not going to stop so this time when he blocked the attack he quickly moved in for a counter attack and slammed the hilt of his wooden sword into Jake’s ribs.

Jake fell to the ground and dropped his weapon gasping for breath.  Dakisuma knelt by Jake to make sure he didn’t cause him any real pain. “Are you going to be okay Jake?”

Jake nodded and smiled. He stretched his arms above his head to help catch his breath for a moment and once he did he said, “It looks like the villain Morgan finally killed the great warrior of the north shore.”

“Yes, the mastermind Morgan has killed the great warrior of the north shore and continues to plunder the world of its riches. Killing all those who stand in his way, laughing at those who dare to call themselves heroes and challenge him to duels to the death. May his reign continue forever and ever,” Dakisuma joked.

Jake had a glum look on his face. He asked, “Why would someone want to be so cruel?”

Dakisuma laughed, “Because life is all about plunder and power!”

Jake shook his head, “I don’t think so. It’s just not right. I would much rather be the hero than be a villain like in my story books.”

Dakisuma smiled, “me too.” They stood in silence and reflection for a moment. “Jake, I think that you should become a hero. You could become a man of legend if you wanted to.”

Jake smiled, “I will become the greatest hero the world has ever seen. I will master the way of the sword and slay all of the villains in the world!”

Dakisuma laughed, “You’re goanna be a puny hero!”  Jake was short for his age and hated it when someone would ever call him short or puny.

“I’m not puny I’m just short statured!” he called back at Dakisuma. Jake’s smile had faded into an angry glare.

 Dakisuma patted Jake on the head, “Then you will become a hero of short stature.” Jake couldn’t help but grin. The butler walked out to the garden from the mansion and called Jake inside for lunch. Jake dropped his sword in the garden and ran to get to the table as fast as he could. Dakisuma followed quickly behind, being sure not to let Jake out of his sight. He followed Jake into the extravagant dining room where he promptly took his place in the back awaiting his orders. While he stood in the back Jake and his family enjoyed their time together. Dakisuma’s stomach grumbled as he watched them eat vast amounts of food. Jake offered him a bread roll, but his father told him that Dakisuma would eat his own meal with the other servants later.

Then Jake began to tell another one of his adventure stories, telling his father of how he had finally been defeated by the villain Morgan. His father only pretended to listen focusing mostly upon his food. Only once Jake described how he had been beaten with a blow to the belly did his father take interest. His eyes flared at Dakisuma who naturally felt himself shrink further backward.

The master called Dakisuma to his side and then told to remove his shirt. Dakisuma did as he was ordered obediently. Resisting only caused his master to inflict further torment. His scarred back was revealed to the family as he prepared himself for the pain. Jake told his father not to hurt Dakisuma but his father replied, “This boy is not your equal. He needs to lean that he is never allowed to inflict pain on any of his superiors in any situation.” With this he summoned flames to his hand and placed it upon Dakisuma’s back. His skin sizzled and Dakisuma fell to the ground in agony.

 The butler quickly helped Dakisuma to his feet and led him to his quarters. Dakisuma lay upon his bed while the butler quickly applied some medicine to his back. The green paste has a fowl stench, but it was almost like breathing normal air to Dakisuma because he was burned so often.  He felt its cooling effects almost instantaneously. The butler then left him to be alone with his thoughts and returned to his work.

Alone Dakisuma looked out the small window and looked upon the sky. A flock of birds flew by and he watched them sail upon the winds. He envied their freedom and longed to be free once again. He remembered his home back in Joven as it was before the attack. He missed his brother dearly, running through the grass and being merry. He even remembered the fight that he and his brother had gotten into only two weeks before the attack.  He couldn’t remember what they had fought over because of how petty he thought it must have been. The spanking that his father had given him that night was something that he thought would have been the worst beating of his life had it not been for the torture that he now endured. His father had told him that he and his brother needed to protect each other, not fight over petty matters. Escape from this dungeon that he lived in seemed to be a stupid and childish dream now. ‘What am I thinking,’ he thought to himself, ‘this is not one of Jake’s books. I could spend the rest of my life down in this prison.’  With this thought he closed his eyes and sighed. Within a few minutes he had drifted off to sleep, the only place he was really free.

A week passed and Dakisuma quickly recovered from the burns on is back leaving yet another scar. His life quickly returned to the usual routine of servitude that he had grown used to. The butler told him, “Keep your wits about you from now on.  Your folly is going to get you slain one day.” Though well intended, these words seemed almost like an omen to Dakisuma. If he was ever going to leave this place alive he would need to be more careful.

In the Library Dakisuma organized and cleaned the books while Jake studied. He began by first removing all the books from their shelves, which was rather tedious because of the vast amount of books that were contained in the library. Then he dusted the shelves from top to bottom and then dusted off all the books themselves before returning them to all to the shelf. He also swept the floor and beat the dust from the rug.