"What are you doing now?" The voice was calm, and sounded more like a statement than a question. It was as if the man behind the voice had seen this a couple times past a thousand, so knew exactly what to do to stop it.
The men froze in place as if time stopped. The pain stopped, but the boy's eyes were still heavy, and his stomach hurt from more than the usual stomach acid. Sleep would take him, and very likely death soon after.
The man was behind the boy, so he couldn't see who they were, not that he would recognize anyone important anyway. However, the man saw the boy who was clinging to life even now and thought to himself, 'maybe...' The men around the boy started to tremble, as if vibrating would shake their fear away.
The boy heard the fat man's response but the meaning of the words left out of the boy's exhausted mind. Giving up on understanding anything else around him, the boy simply stared at the wall. The boy's face reflected the mindlessness in his stare as his eyes slowly shut, but just before he could close his eyes they found the dull, lifeless eyes of the muscular guard looking into his own.
'I guess it's my turn mommy...' the boy thought before sleep took him. The boy felt comfortable as he dozed off feeling warmth crawl around him. The warmth seeped into and filled him like a full course meal. This only served to plunge him deeper into his slumber.
*****
The boy didn't quite realize that he woke up even after moving. He never felt so comfortable or so... not hungry that he thought he had to be dead already. It was then that he heard the voice again but this time it was against him.
"You might sleep like the dead, but you aren't. Get up." It was as if strings were bound to his hands and feet. Trembling as they may be, his hands removed the coat of what was a mighty beast. His stomach that once felt full sunk to the floor along with his eyes.
The boy was removed from a comfort he never knew existed and was forced to stand. Fear gripped him greater than when he ran from the beast in the field, and this time he knew there was no escape.
"You're still breathing that's good, very good." The boy's ears burned as if caught in a lie, and he was unable to speak, as the man continued. "I was right in picking you; youngsters have no foresight or gifts of appraisal. Tell me, do you have any siblings, boy?"
The boy shook his head as the pressure was lessened, but as soon as he did it was held still in open air as if in a press. "Alright, any parents still alive?" The boy shook his head again, unblinking focus on the floor trying to catch any shadow, but the boy found none.
"Fine, what is your name?" The boy felt the pressure on his tongue and jaw loosen, but still hesitant to say the wrong thing stuttered, "I-I was c-calle-d Lan-crael b-by m-" The boy was silenced and bit his tongue as the pressure returned. The pressure multiplied around to the point he wanted to fall to his knees, but it was also keeping him straight.
The boy finally saw a shadow, but it only made things worse as he heard the man pacing back and forth. "Th-THOSe pigs, worthless garbage the Lot of 'em! Wasting everything given to them and now this! Very well then, it's time to prune the tree again!" What the man said next shook the whole room, "WOMAN TAKE THIS BOY TO THE OTHERS; I'M GOING ON A HUNT!"
With that the pressure disappeared as if it was never there. The boy fell to his knees, but he was picked up by the scruff of his tunic into the air. The boy held down the edge of his tunic with his now free hands trying to hide what was underneath.
The boy hung there like a kitten held by its mother unable to resist. They passed through halls illuminated by the sun until they came to a staircase leading downwards. Lancrael said, 'goodbye' to the sun once more as they went into this abyss. They continued in the dark until a light appeared behind him, so he turned and saw light pouring from the woman's hand. Mesmerized by it he momentarily forgot his tunic as it slipped from his fingers and choked him. The woman let out a raspy laugh as she watched him struggle back up for air.
As they got deeper, voices became audible. They came in waves getting louder before getting quiet, and the cycle continued until the woman dropped the boy whose knees crumbled and fell on his face. The boy pushed off the ground and stood straight once more.
He looked around and found children of various ages from as young as 5, and as old as 14. One thing that caught his eye that he never noticed in anyone before, their eyes glowed, all of them without fail. Then he heard, "Looks like we have a new one." Then another replied, "So it would seem."you