Chapter One (part 1): Arrival

As I awoke to darkness, the stench of sweat and decay filled my nose. I’ve been in this windowless dungeon for a week, I think, and everyday it gets more and more foul. The demons use this as one of their elimination steps, those who can’t survive the disease and decay of the dungeon obviously won’t be fit enough for slavery. Though, at least they gave the men in here with me a chance. The women, the young kids, where both taken first to either get bled dry, or worse. Few of them make it to slavery; they’re normally just food for the dark ones.
The dungeon door was thrown open, and I was instantly blinded by the first light I’ve seen in a week. A small red demon had entered, whose face had instantly scrunched up like something had offended his nose. He wasn’t much to look at, lightly armored, he had a whip attached to his belt and he was probably only waist high.

“All right you filthy bunch of humans! GET UP AND START MOVING” wow, for a short little guy, he could sure yell pretty loud. The others with me must have noticed how harmless he looked, so they, along with me, stayed put. At the last possible moment I’ve realized my mistake for two reasons; first the midget-demon’s whip was encased in fire when he pulled it out; secondly, I was sitting closest to him. Midget demon wasted no time in demonstrating the whip’s capacity for dishing out pain.

Shoomp-BANG!

A Lesser man would’ve yelled at this point, but I exhaled in anticipation; no air, no scream. Deafened and demoralized by both my expression of pain and by the sonic-boom effect of the whip, the men rose and started to move out of the room, with me along with them. Seems midget took a liking to me, because every time he yelled “MOVE IT!” I was the one to get the lash. More and more, I felt hot flames lick my back over and over again. And, thanks to years of training, less and less did pain reach me. As we walked on, I only grunted and jerked, it seemed, out of the necessity of the situation.
As the men and I hauled ourselves through the dimly lit dungeon hall, I noticed a change of surroundings. Walls looked less barren, more lighting, less . . . less blood. About 3 lashes later we where ‘asked’ to stop at a huge set of double doors. After checking to make sure we where all there (don’t ask) he ushered us out (wasn’t me who got the whip this time!) and started talking about this place while walking us onto the auction platform.

“Alright, you wretches, through these doors lays the great hall of-” gee, I sure hope I’m not missing anything important. I tuned out midget-whiper to survey this ‘Great hall’ and I have to admit it’s not bad. Marble floor looks as if it’s seen a thousand fights, but not a single scar to mar its beauty. The ceiling is a minimum 200 yards from my head, supported by columns that look like the UN-leaning version of the Tower of Pisa. Many floors to this castle, I count at least 4. The hall itself right now is set up for an auction, I’m assuming for the Men and I, lots of demons line the seats in from of us waiting patiently. Oh, looks like I’m up next.

“Now we have THIS man” I walked to the middle of my own accord when he gestured to me “Of all the men in this previous month’s catch, this one remained the healthiest and strongest. He has a HIGH resistance to pain” He paused and I surveyed looks of approval from the crowd “and as a kicker, he is an INTELLEGENT human” Most of the demons in the crowd laughed slightly. “We’ll begin bid for this human at 1000 gold”

As I watched the crowd, I instantly saw a problem: too many people where bidding for me, I’d make it hard for Moriarty to ‘purchase’ me in these circumstances. I need to do something to lower the demand. Then I get a crazy idea.

“Michael!” I yelled at Midget dude
“W-what!?” it was obvious I caught him off guard
“My Name is Michelangelo Santana, so STOP CALLING ME ‘HUMAN’!” Dead silence fills the room, which is odd due to the fact that most things in the room are already dead.
“I DON’T CARE WHAT YOUR NAME IS! YOU’RE NOTHING IN THIS PLACE!!!” He raises his whip to lash me across the face, and I watch it’s every movement in the air. As it nears its target, I catch it cleanly in my hand. The heat from the whip was burning, but not scorching, my palm.
“Enslave me if you will, but you will NOT strip me of my NOBILITY!” This last line stung the captive crowd; nobles fetch a better price on the market than others as slaves, due to their implied intelligence and various forms of combat training. I pulled the whip free and tossed it aside, all was silent on stage, until a lone voice broke it.
“5000” said a demon in blue
“9000” countered a lich lord in green
“I’ll pay 12000 for that man”
“20000” said Moriarty, who set the bar high enough to secure me. Midget was still stunned, but eventually he was back to the auction.
“SOLD! To the Lord in back, please come and sign the registration papers” and under his breath, midget added “and rid me of this Wretched pile of shit.”

* * * * *

“You owe me big time for that one Michael” he took a sip from the tea I made him “Ah, Earl Grey . . . best tea all of the northern hemisphere” Sitting before me was my Master, in both ‘slavery’ and training. He wore plain unassuming garments, contrasting to his position, usually just an arrangement of black robes over a partial suit of studded leather armor, he didn’t like having his arms and legs completely covered; it hindered some of his techniques. He is a Historian for Castle Anavrin, who had lost his position on the High Circle a few centuries ago as a result of a duel he lost. But due to his good standing with the High Circle, they allowed him to keep his title of ‘Circleman’, though most of its power has been stripped from him. Being that he is an Historian, his knowledge is a vast as he is old, and he is creeping up on 2688 soon . . .
“Did you get all of the equipment I had sent over?” I asked as soon as I finished my cup of tea.
“Yes, everything is in order and in my possession. But don’t think I’m going to let you go nuts with the load of explosives, and specialty weapons. You’re a ‘Noble Slave’ the most I can have you running around with is a couple of handguns with slightly blessed ammunition, and ONE sword of your choosing that is also modestly enchanted.” There was that irritated ‘teacherly’ tone in his voice. The one he used all the time in my training.
“Well its sucks that I have to be handicapped to play the part. Have anything good to read around here?”
“Plenty of it, there are TONS of book in my library now.” Is expression brightened and he became a bit more animated, “Some on the physiology of the many kinds of demons you’ll be fighting, so you can dispose of them in a more efficient manner. Now I recommend you study the ones on Demonic Law first, they will make your stay here easier”
“Before you go on rambling, do you know if my brother made it in safely?” My brother, Leonardo, is one of the key players in this mission’s success, though he may be a Hell-knight he is still my combat buddy through and through.
Moriarty paused in thought, took a few more sips of his tea, perked up and said, “As a matter of fact, his title as ‘Hell-Knight’ gave him position as a ‘Circle Guardian’.”
“Damn, means I wont be able to get in contact with him” Distraught with this news, I got up and scanned the bookshelves (that took up three of the walls, and most of the floor) for anything interesting.
“Not so, when you are done with your duties with me. I could, send you for more ‘work’ as a guardian. However, I cannot do so frequently so I’d advise you make good use of the time you have with your brother” he set down his tea up and got up from the table. “Could you please clean this up?”
“Yes, sir” as I gathered the china used for the tea I watched him walk over to an extremely cluttered desk, pull out a pair of reading glasses from his pocket and begin to scan through the assortment of papers on the desk. I walked my way into his kitchen, which was just as cluttered as last room, and proceeded to do what I was asked to. How I managed to find the soap in this disaster, I have no clue.
“Michael, get back here! I get some work for you to do.”
“Sir?” I hurried back to side and looked at the papers he was holding up.
“Now, this is a map of the castle and the names of houses in residence in it. Now for a basic breakdown of the castle, the first is full of mutli-purpose rooms, baths, and halls, that sort of thing. Now the SECOND floor connects everything, so it’s the best way to get to places, even if you don’t know were you are going. The Third floor contains most of the manors in this castle”
“Manors, Sir?” I asked
“Think of them as apartments in an apartment complex; however each is about the size of a small mansion. Because of this the third and forth floors are connected vertically in the majority of the areas. The Fifth and Sixth floors contain the majority of ‘Official’ rooms, the High Circle’s Residence is also on this floor. In fact this room is here” He pointed to a small section titled ‘Historian’ on the map “and I’m sending you here” he pointed to a room marked ‘Ordinance’ which was three ‘blocks’ from this room “to get some equipment, some are mine, most are yours”
He handed me a sheet of paper that detailed all of the following items that are to be withdrawn and sent back with the presence of an armed guard. I offered Moriarty a small bowed, to which he gave a nod to, and I was on my way out the door.
“Oh Medina, never go to the lowest level Basement, or to the royal blood baths on floor 2; dangerous folk wander those areas; you’d need to be heavily outfitted to stand a prayer in either location.”

---

“Ah you’re here for Moriarty eh?” Before me stood a Baatezu who was ten feet tall, spiked, red skin, really buff, and heavily armored, clearly the very model of all modern clichés. “The names Brutis and I’ll have to escort you back with all of these items, there are too many weapons for me to have you running about on your own”
I was very skeptical of letting a man stand behind me that looked as if he could snap me in two with his hand. But, being my current status, I kept quiet and moved all of the boxes and cases onto the cart Brutis pulled out. Still, I couldn’t help but remain cautious of something so huge.
He started chuckling suddenly “I’m the least of your worries in this place. And by the look of you, you needn’t worry about me.”
The statement caught me by surprised, didn’t 90% of all demons loath humanity? “And why is that may I ask?”
“Because, most of the older folk see that humanity is a necessity in our races longevity. After all, if we kill of all of you, who’d be left to feed us?” Brutis broke into a booming laughter and continued pulling out cases and loading them onto a dolly.
“I see, so my race will never amount to anything higher than caviar in your eyes?” oh wit at its finest.
“Heh, don’t get me wrong, that’s not the only reason I think your lot should be kept around. You are do have your various uses” He said as he loaded the last crate, “well, enough chattin’, lets get this back to your master.”
I bowed and started to push the cart back to my new ‘home’. The walk back went by uneventfully, and during the silence I started formulating plans to ensure my survival here.

---


I am amazed Master managed to find me armor that fit so well, he managed to get me a full torso Kevlar vest, with an interlaced metallic weave. In short, it’s designed to stop bullets and blades, and this one went so far as to cover the weaknesses in the sides of most protective equipment. Over the armor went my cloths, a bracer on my left arm, which bore the markings signaling to all that I was a slave and Moriarty’s property, a gun belt with a modified 1911 and a couple magazines, and a hip sling for a sword sheath, which I am currently have decision issues over. To everyone else I must look ridiculous, looking over a table of blades to decide which is the best “all rounder” for this situation, however given my current weapon restriction, this decision is getting increasingly difficult.  Completely aggravated at my inability to make a decision Master approached me.

“What is taking you so long!?” he half yelled at me, “Everyone else in this situation would have finished arming themselves HOURS AGO!”
“Well, everyone else in this situation would be an idiot and completely ignorant to the fine art of stab” I felt a look of (what I had hoped to be) disgust drill into the back of my head, but I was too absorbed into what I was thinking on to even turn to face him.

“Okay, let me elaborate on my dilemma. Due the fact that I am human in this place it puts me at a disadvantage in knowing when I may be attacked.” He nodded, “so naturally I would need a blade that is quick to draw and equally quick to cut. However most of those blades are concealed weapons and I need to carry something in plain site.
“So I looked to the ‘hybrid’ weapons I personally created, these” I pointed to a group of mostly straight blades “are balanced for one handed combat, but have the hilt for two. Have a slimmer crossgaurd, to allow spins, flourishes and reverse grips in these tight corridors, and are ideally lengthened for most forms of combat.
“though, due to Someone’s” I stressed a bit of extra disgust on that last word, “decision to restrict the use anything quote ‘too powerful’ I cannot use what would be the best tactically sound sword. . .which just so happens to be my personal favorite.”
I picked up the sword in question, a beautiful and deadly work of art onto itself bearing the engraving the Japanese engraving Jinsoku and presented it to my master.
“At 43 inches long with a bastard sword still hilt, Jinsoku would be the best sword for me to carry. It’s slightly curved to allow for a quicker draw, however its still double bladed. Now the reason this is disqualified as that it’s been heavily enchanted to enhance my swing speed greatly, and a second enchantment to enable it to split anything, even diamonds”
Master continued to inspect the blade, swinging it occasionally. After about 5 minutes I returned to the table only to have him say behind me. “Change the pommel gem”
“I'm sorry master, say that again?” I blink a few times, failing to understand what he was talking about
“Change the pommel gem” obviously he must have seen the blank look on my face because then he launched into an explanation, “it seems to me that the majority of your weapon’s enhancements are kept within the pommel gem of them. So if you change this lovely sapphire with something containing enhancements of lesser power you’ll be able to carry this weapon with my endorsement” Upon finishing that last statement he tossed the sword my way, and I caught it cleanly upside-down I pondered this new solution.
“Michael, once again I am amazed by your utter disregard for the obvious. You always go for these complicated solutions that, while well thought out and effective, involve expending more energy that if you just had taken a more direct approach to it. Though I do understand that someone in your occupation must do so from time to time, you have to learn to dumb things down a bit.”
“So what you telling me, is . . . after calling me an idiot, you want me to act more stupid.” A period of dead silence for a few minutes followed that remark, shortly ended with a good session of laughter.

It’s always nice to end days on a good note.