As I sat there trying to make a plan, an older-looking man with grey wisps on his face began to walk up to me. I grabbed the hilt of my Talons Edge from under my bag so he couldn't see it, and I was ready to strike. He's recognised me, and he's after the money, I thought to myself. He continued to walk up to me, closer than I was expecting.
"What do you want?" I asked harshly for him to try to stay away.
"Hey, look, kid, I'm not after no money, and I know you're wanted," he said louder than I wanted him to. Looking around, I hoped no one heard what he said.
"They all know who you are as well. You don't sound like you're from these parts, and them bastards were chasin' you right? I'm just here to help you, you see none of us like them lot at the top, larping as conquerors of old. So you see, we want to stick it to them after the hand they dealt us." He stated as he sat next to me.
"So if you trust me, we can help you with getting out of this shithole," he continued.
Shit, what do I do? Do I trust him? No, the real question is, do I even have a choice? I thought for a second longer and then made my decision.
"Ok, look, I just need to get out of here. Once I'm out, I'll be able to handle myself," I let out a sigh as my grip tightened on my Talons Edge.
"Well, ain't no easy way outta her', but it ain't impossible. It's pretty common for us lot to strike and cause a bit of chaos; they would just kill us all when we do it, but then they lose workers, so if they kill us, it will only be a few of us to maintain productive work. These bastards have a well-oiled machine. So, what we can do is riot, act like we're about to call out, then I'll act like I'm calming down the crowd, it'll draw out some of their forces, it might give you a better chance of getting out of here."
This guy, why was he even helping me? He didn't know me, and yet he was helping me.
"What do you want in return?" He laughs in response to that.
"How about you tell me a bit about yourself, kid?"
I looked at him in suspicion, getting ready to fight him.
"Look, kid, if I wanted you gone, you'd be gone, so just humour me, will ya?"
He was right, he coulda already sold me out if he wanted to.
"So what do you want to know about me?" I asked, hoping to get this over quickly.
"Where are you from?"
"I'm from the caves. I escaped after my people were all killed. When I came up, they said it was restricted and tried to kill me,"
I felt tears welling in my eyes as the old man gave me a sympathetic look and patted my back reassuringly.
"Sorry to hear that, we know about you lot down in the mines, you guys must have it tough down there, we only see what the media tells us, so we wouldn't know much of it. The names Vidhya, those jackbooted oppressors, have us coupled up like animals. My daughter hated it, she wanted to fly free," a furlorn look spread across his face.
"What happened to her?" I asked, now intrigued by Vidhya, he seemed a lot kinder than I had given the man credit for.
"She died, she wanted to leave this place, and believed we deserved to live free. She died for that dream, and yet here we are. That little girl meant the world to me, and they took her, not just the soldiers who killed her, but the entire system. The people at the top, Damaris II and her jarls, are responsible for all those children taken too young in the name of being conquerors; so yes, I will help you escape, but please do not falter in what you wish to do. Please remember my daughter's dream, promise me that."
His story hit me hard and resonated with me. What happened in the caves would not be the last of their cruelty and enslavement of people. It needed to end.
"I promise, Vidhya, on both counts."
He smiled in response, satisfied by my convictions.
"What's your name, kid?" he questioned.
"My name is Achiel, named after Achilles."
He let out a chuckle in response, "Well, I'll see you around, Achilles." he stood and left.
I was glad I met the man; it showed that my story was not alone, that people are suffering, and he taught me about the cruelty of the world. It was the same as the caves, just on a larger scale.
I spent another week in this dilapidated, urban area. Vidhya introduced me to many of the people here, including his sister, Arya, and his niece, Itzel. As part of the plan, they would both be coming with me to the border, as they know the lay of the land better than I do, even if I've been shown what it looks like on maps. At the same time, they would start the riot and buy us some time. Vidhya had told me that there is no way we'd be able to buy a ship or earn enough money to buy or rent one. Therefore, we'd need to steal one. However, even if they can't track every ship, if they knew one was stolen, then they could track that specific ship code. Therefore, as soon as we leave Earth, we'd need to earn some money and buy one at that location or cover enough distance to escape the pursuers.
Arya was a hard and harsh woman; apparently, she was very close to Vidhya's daughter and wished for her people to be free. Itzel was a young girl at only 14. Yet she was technically only 2 years younger than me. Vidhya wanted her to have a chance to leave and escape the meat grinder that was this hostile workplace. Whereas Arya wished her daughter to have a better life than she had. Fairly reasonable from both of them, but I still felt scared knowing I was responsible for them. It's one thing to be willing to die in the name of vengeance; it's a completely different thing to also put others in harm's way by doing it.
Vidhya and Arya had also taught me about this world, as I was ignorant of it. Vidhya remembered wars and battles being taught when he was still a young boy, but Arya didn't remember. It was a civil war, apparently, between the Legionary Soverignty and their allies against the Conquerors Compact. After the Conqueror's Compact's latest defeat, they have had a tentative peace due to their weakened position and the fact that the Legionary Sovereignty holds two of the Conqueror's Compact's Paramounts' children; there have been no wars since. Vidhya, however, said that this was all that was really revealed to the public, and so he doesn't know any more than that.
More importantly, though, they taught me how society worked. This society was a ruthless caste system with my people being the bottom and used for slave labour. As you go higher up in a feudal-like society, the more "blood of the conquerors" there is. On average, they are stronger than others, although whether it's true or due to the way they are raised is up for debate. The higher-ups all believe in this idea of being a conqueror, and therefore, this society is rigid and ruthless. It was disgusting how they believed in genetic superiority. I'm glad my grandpa never had to see this world. He was the one who taught me the truth that all lives were created equal, and I believed that to my core. The calculated cruelty of their beliefs grew clearer as I learned more.
I also learned that each person had abilities that weren't necessarily exclusive and weren't limited to what they were born with. For example, Vidhya's and his family's abilities were usually related to knowledge. Vidhya could speak to people in their mother tongue innately, and now he has grown to the point of even being able to read other languages. Arya could innately understand machinery. Apparently, after her niece passed, she dedicated herself to developing her powers, and now she can even understand ships, which is why she needed to come with us to escape.
This helped me understand my powers a bit more, adaptation, and some sort of instinct. As well as this, my vision seemed to be better than others, some sort of Cave adaptation, I'm sure. Apparently, the more knowledgeable you are about your powers, the more efficient you are in using them. Yet again, Vidhya clarified that they don't know much.
Now that I was healed and the plan was well understood, we would initiate the escape after this night. I was worried about the future, so I gripped my Talons Edge for comfort and to feel closer to my people. I tried to find a strength in it that could carry me through tomorrow.