Know that vengeance is Tal’Lal’s own property. Justice, however, is the property of the people. Remember those who have sinned against you, and when the time comes, there will be a terrible justice on those who have enslaved us. That time will make itself clear when the winds of war wage in Solom once more– The Torment, Chater 1, Verse 1-3

A few hours later we found a cave that had once been a bear’s den but had been cleaned out by Kingsley a few months back. She knew places to stay and hide between Bull’s Head and the boarder. We cramped into the small cave and talked a bit.

Horace seemed nearly mute, and he appeared to be withdrawn and sullen. Shalin was quiet as well, but not in sullen way. She would shy away from Grimshaw and me anytime we would accidentally get close to her. My heart beat in sympathy for her, and I made sure to stay away from her and be gentle around her at all times. Cas, who was the only talkative one, told me their story.

“We used to have a harsh master named Gyles. He separated the families without a second thought, as he treated the Gar’shan as cattle, to be bought and sold at a whim. He would whip the men who were slow in their work or dared to even look at him or his family. He would hit the women if they were sullen, as he put it, or even worse in his opinion, lazy. Life under him was frightening and terrible. But, as bad as it was, it was almost survivable. But then he sold Horace, Shalin and me to Master Unther. And life went from a painful and dreadful burden to a hell in days.

“From the beginning it was clear that Unther was different. He never got angry or mad, like our previous master did, or take out his frustrations on us. Instead, he was always calm, cool, and collected. At first, we thought we were in a better place, until we met the Gar’shan on his property. They were… well, almost indescribable. They all acted numb and uncaring, and there was no life in their eyes. When alone, they would never talk to each other or joke or tell stories. There was never any quiet weeping or prayers to God. No scripture was read, and the men let their hair grow wild and unbraided. Teachers were forbidden to visit. When we tried to find out what Master Unther was like they would get pale and back away just at the mere mention of his name.

“It was Horace who was the first to find out what Master Unther was really like. Horace was commanded to carry dead bodies of Gar’shan away from the basement of the manor where Unther’s ‘laboratory’ was. The bodies were more than mutilated. Their torso’s would be cut wide open from right below the throat all the way to the pelvis. Their innards were removed and each of their organs sliced up, almost as if made for eating, though we never found evidence of cannibalism, thank God. The utter disrespect to the bodies of the bodies he disposed of was shocking, to say the very least. And there were a lot of dead Gar’shan. As many as five per day. He would have Horace bury the bodies in mass graves behind the manor.

“Horace told us this, and we were shocked. But it was Shalin who saw the worst. He was keeping some of the Gar’shan locked up in prison. He was testing poisons on them, venoms and diseased on them. Some, he left to have no food or water to see how long they could live. Others, he would have exotic snakes bite them and watch their reactions. He would drain the blood of the prisoners and see how long they lived. He would amputate limbs off while the Gar’shan were strapped, awake, to the table. He did this, and more, all while making Shalin feed the poor souls or clean up after them. She… she saw it all and told us about it. I could slowly see the lights go out of her eyes, her will to live was being drained by what she witnessed and was forced to participate unwillingly in. I had promised Shalin’s father, my brother, that I would protect her and here she was, her soul was dying right in front of me. It was then that I started making plans to escape.

“I started watching the vigiles and their patrols. I looked for times and days where they were lax. I had time every day to do this, as I was given no work to perform and extra food so that I could fatten up. Shalin said Unther needed me in good health so that he could… do whatever that madman wanted to do to me.

“While Unther was a madman, it was even more unsettling to see the transition he made when he was around his friends, family, peers and superiors. Then he was a warm and sincere man, always smiling and laughing and telling jokes and stories. But when he was alone or with Gar’shan, he got that emotionless and detached demeanor that was just terrifying.

“Finally, the day was coming when I would be placed in Unther’s laboratory. Only God knows what he planned. We would not wait. We couldn’t. So, we escaped. It was relatively easy to escape from his property. But we didn’t have a writ of freedom. We had to hike with no food, water or supplies. We have come far, over 200 kilometers, we reckon. But then those slavers caught us while we were sleeping. We never had a chance. We are exhausted, hungry, cold, and thirsty. We didn’t have a chance. And the way those slavers treated Shalin… I couldn’t do anything to stop them. I failed my brother”

Cas dissolved into weeping, and Shalin clung to him, alternately crying and comforting him at the same time. Cas would try to apologize for not stopping them from doing whatever the men had done, and she wouldn’t let him apologize. It was heart wrenching watching them like this. Horace, though, Horace never said a word. He just sat there quietly, watching everything and taking it all in. He was angry, though, even I could tell that. Unther had made an enemy in Horace, and if Horace ever got a chance at revenge… well, I didn’t let myself imagine it.

I had never heard of such treatment. When I thought of Master Palion, I couldn’t imagine him abusing us in such ways. It was almost impossible to believe. But I did believe them. Their looks and demeanor spoke to the horrors they had seen, almost louder than their words.

We sat in horrible silence after hearing the words. Finally, Kingsley spoke up. “The Teachers and the freed Gar’shan have little power to do anything in Taurus. But accidents tend to happen to slave masters when they are as horrible as that. We will report this, and Unther will face justice.” This was said in a cold, but inflectionless manner. There was no doubt in Kingsley, justice would be served,

Before I started my mediation that evening, a meditation I was looking forward to as I was going to let God have a piece of my mind about Unther, Grimshaw asked to speak with me in private.

We left the cave and I asked what was going on.

“Vin, why did you join the fight?”

“I was worried about you, it was 5 against 2- and I-“

“No it was 2 teachers against 5 regular men. They were nothing to us. Instead, you put yourself in danger, making us worry about you, the slaves and staying alive. We have training, training you do not have yet and you need to let us do what we have been trained to do.

“And to make it worse, you used your zeal when you didn’t need to. I understand using it on yourself- please, always shield yourself when danger comes. Do not, however, waste it on us.”

“Why not, I mean a shield is useful?”

“At level one, your shield is worth only 2 damage for 1 zeal. Regular zeal is worth one. But I have Heal at level 5 that heals up to 10 damage all at the cost of 1 zeal. Your shield will be powerful, and it is better than Heal in many ways. It stops damage from happening, whereas Heal only works after the damage is done. And I am sure as you go up in levels for that shield, it will add other useful benefits that will make it even more powerful. But for now, it is weak. You will take three days to regain all your zeal. What if we get in trouble and need every bit of help and zeal we can get? What if, now, you must protect yourself and the newly freed Gar’shan while I and Teacher Kingsley must fend off another patrol? Use your resources wisely. Stay out of trouble. Protect yourself and those who can’t help themselves, yes, but do not get yourself into unnecessary trouble.”

“Yes, Teacher” I responded, my eyes downcast.

Grimshaw’s face softened. “I know what it is like to be a new teacher. You want to help, you want to be useful. You want to use your new power, and you aren’t afraid of death. But Vin, death is still terrifying. First off, it hurts and is mentally scarring. But there are things your spirit must do to get back to your body… well, death is traumatic. All parts of it are. And death is not the end for us.”

I looked up in curiosity. “What do you mean.”

“Words cannot describe the horrors of death- I shall let you see it on your own. No one can prepare you for what you will see when you die. But I will say this- it is like a fever dream, one in which you must journey from the lands of the dead to the lands of the living. You will experience it, someday, and you will learn to try to avoid it at almost any cost.”

I shivered at the seriousness of what he was saying.

“You are lucky, your shield might help prevent death, and it might take a long time for you to discover what it will be like. But in the meantime, do not invite death in.”

“I will do as you say, teacher.” I was embarrassed. I had acted foolishly brave, not realizing the risks I was taking and wasting my resources when I should not have. I would do better,

That night in meditation, I yelled at God. Why was he letting us live through The Torment? Why was he allowing torture and death and slavery and all the thousands of horrible things that he allowed to happen? I didn’t get an answer, that night, but I did feel a little better after my argument with God. I barely noticed the message:

Through mediation, you have gained 1 zeal.