Broken - Part VI

GAME: WORLD OF WARCRAFT
CHARACTER: KALEYEN

His world was black yet oddly he found comfort in this, he could feel every inch of his body as he tried to stir. Slowly one eye opened, followed by the other, as he lifted his head as his eyes began to take focus on the sights around him. He was in one of the many cages that seemed to go on forever, unlike those around him, he was the only occupant in his metal prison. Grasping the cold metal, he attempted to stand to his feet, but found that it took all of his strength just to get to his knees.

An almost silent voice spoke to him. At first he thought he was hearing things as it was too quiet to be a whisper. Turning his head as his eyes attempted to focus on the cage next to him, filled with children and the elderly, he noticed an old woman looking his direction, words forming on her lips.

He opened his own mouth to inform her that he didn’t hear her, yet when nothing came out. Coughing as he tried to find his voice, the woman spoke again.

“Take it easy; don’t waste all your strength.” She inched her way closer to the edge of her own enclosure as she held out a small tin cup with just a sip of water left in it. Kaleyen greedily took the cup between both his hands and drank what was left. The water was warm but it felt so good going down his dry throat, as he closed his eyes to savor the feeling, fully standing on his feet.

Offering the cup back to the woman, Kaleyen nodded in thanks before getting a better sight of the situation he was in. He looked out throughout the encampment and saw his men scattered throughout the cages, even more of their dead bodies in a pile. The entire camp seemed to be circling a center ring that had several wooden tables next to it. Not fully understanding what was taking place, his gaze went to the woman.

“What’s going on here?” he tried to put authority and confidence behind his words, but instead they came out shaky and the pitch was off. He swallowed hard, trying to find the voice he recognized as his own, but before he could say anything else a man walked up to his cage with several armed guards. The man’s arm stretched out as he pointed at the young man, “This one”. Two guards unlocked his cage and entered, each grabbing an arm as they dragged him from his cell.

Kaleyen couldn’t follow the path they took as they moved throughout the maze of cages. Some filled with people, others empty and awaiting. His armed escort stopped once they reached the center. He looked around taking everything in of what seemed to be smaller cages surrounding a larger one with tables covered in blood and flesh.

A tall man cloaked all in black stood at the end of one such table, a book in one hand and a quill in the other as he made some notes on the parchment. Turning around, his eyes glowed as he walked up to the young adept. “About time you woke, I paid handsomely for your unit’s potential. Thus far I have been less than satisfied with my purchase.” His head nodded towards a pile of bodies, some remained intact, others looked to be taken apart at the very seems. Kaleyen’s eyes widened in horror as the faces became familiar to him, his friends…his unit.

“Now…” Kaleyen sharply turned his head to look back at the man as he began to speak again, “Lets see if you can change that hmm?”