It was afternoon. The sun high up in the sky.

A convoy rumbled on the path, trudging forward slowly. It was made up of a dozen carts, with a couple of wagons at the font, middle and the back. Each of the carts contained a single cage on the back. A tarpaulin barely covered each of these cages, putting on a meager effort to keep away the heat and sunlight. Huddled together in the carts, there were shapes, humans.

The floor of the cages was made up of hay, enough to lessen the impact of the cart as it trudged along but not enough to be comfortable. The humans kept together, huddling close even in the sweltering heat. They formed an island in the centre of the cart, keeping away from the edges, like a child afraid of monsters under his bed.

Guards walked on either side of the carts, their armour making up for their shabby clothes. Each of them had a sword at their waist and a buckler stopped against their back.

The guards constantly rapped against the cages with sticks, stones or any pointy object they could find, making the prisoners huddle closer still.

The convoy suddenly came to a stop as they neared an oak tree. Lying underneath the oak was a boy.

The leader of the convoy, a stout looking man approached the boy warily, signalling for a few of the guardsmen to follow.

The boy was unconscious, lying with his back against the tree. Randal, the convoy leader splashed water on the boys face, stirring him into consciousness.

“Where are you from boy?” asked Randal, looking around with suspicion in his eyes. He signalled a few of the guards closer.

“Look around for an ambush, make sure that we wont be ducks for bandits who have their own plans for our merchandise” he said, directing a few more guards to join the search for possible traps and ambushes in the vicinity.

Randal looked back at the boy who was looking back at him apathetically. The boy was clearly malnourished and dehydrated. He looked on the verge of dying.

“Are you from around here?” Randal tried to reach the boy again.

Seeing that he wouldn't be getting a response from the boy anytime soon, he signalled a few more guards over.

“Feed him some gruel and throw the fucker in one of the cages”.

Two of the guards stepped forward, grabbing the boy’s arms on either side and lifting him up. They half dragged, half carried the boy to one of the carriages in the middle before unceremoniously dropping him to the ground. One of the guards then left, muttering something under his breath while the other prepared a pasty gruel before leaving it at the boys feet.

The boy looked on impassively at the bowl, as if he couldn't register what his eyes were seeing. He just sat there, his eyes distant. Seeing that the boy still wouldn't respond, the guard irritatedly picked up the bowl. he started shoving in spoonfuls of gruel into the boy’s mouth, making him gulp and swallow the slimy substance.

The guard then handed over a pair of clothes to the boy before locking him into the cage.

The rest of the prisoners in the cage looked at the new arrival with interest. A few of the more inquisitive ones prodded him with questions before giving up in the face of his impassiveness. The boy moved towards one of the corners of the cage, resting his back against the bars of one of the sides while looking on through the other side.

The cages jerked back into motion after some time. The prisoners went back to huddling against each other while the guards walked along the carts. The ones escorting the boy’s cart looked at him curiously, prodding him with their sticks. They too, like the prisoners, quickly lost interest in the him, their sadistic game of poking him failing to elicit a response from the boy.

The caravan rolled on for days, the boy losing track of them, before they reached the outskirts of the first city that he had witnessed in a long time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I understand that this chapter is a bit rushed and that I should properly describe whatever is happening in more detail. However, like I mentioned in the previous post, i would be concentrating on building the skeleton of the story before coming back and fleshing these parts out. If you are comfortable with reading this like a first of many drafts, kindly proceed. If you are not though, I urge you to check out this fiction once I redraft everything after chapter 20.

Cheers