Kopii slowly opened his eyes. An unfamiliar place met him with an empty gaze. He remembered only hatred and thirst. An attempt to rise turned into sharp pain throughout his whole body. Every cell of his body responded with suffering, leaving not a single untouched spot.
«Why am I so unlucky? Why…» – Kopii exhaled, vainly trying to still the trembling in his body.
«Am I truly not destined to live normally? Or is this my cursed fate?»
After a few minutes, he began to make out extraneous sounds. Voices reached him muffled, not allowing him to discern a single word. Only one thing became clear: he was in a cart. But the main question tormented his soul.
«Where to?»
The bitter truth crashed down on him: greed can manifest not only through murder, and this case confirmed it. This thought brought no relief; it only tangled him further. Kopii began to fear a little that every feeling of his could provoke its awakening, albeit at different levels. Sometimes he suppressed it instantly, barely noticing a flicker of madness. In other cases, he only felt a light tingling. But most of all, he feared the complete loss of control.
This was already the third time he had lost power over himself. The situation was becoming critical. If he did not find a way to rid himself of it, the consequences could be catastrophic, up to death, or the death of someone he did not want. Kopii tried to drive the dark thoughts away, but they insistently returned. The most terrible thing – his appearance changed. He vaguely remembered the events of the previous night, but he had clearly imprinted in his memory the faces twisted with horror and the cries about his black eyes.
Deciding to set these thoughts aside for later, he focused on a more pressing problem: where was he? The cart jolted on every bump, and pain shot through his entire body. With difficulty propping himself up on his elbows, he tried to see where he was. Through the gaps in the boards, trees flashed by, a dirty road, and the backs of people walking beside the cart.
«Who are these people? Could it be that bandits who trade in people caught me?»
Kopii refused to believe his worst fears. Could fate really be so cruel?
The cart stopped. Kopii froze, listening; his heart stilled. The voices grew louder, clearer. He heard crude jokes, fragments of conversations about trade and profits. His suspicions were being confirmed: he was merchandise, a captive in the hands of human traffickers. With every step of theirs, his heart beat faster, echoing in his ears.
Then someone tried to open the cart. His heart froze in horror, and his eyes flew open.
«I don't want this! I can't defend myself in this state!»
Thoughts raced through his head at the speed of light. But whatever he did, it all proved useless; he could not even stand because of the severe pain.
Finally, the canvas was flung open, and he saw a boy around his own age. Seeing a new face, he calmed down a little, but did not dare relax.
Seeing that the boy they had found had woken up and was looking at him, the lad simply smiled.
– I see you've come to. I thought you'd die. With wounds like that, ah-ha, – he laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. He climbed fully into the cart, and now Kopii could get a good look at him. He was dressed in a simple shirt and trousers, no different from those he had worn at the orphanage. His light hair immediately caught the eye. His face was quite ordinary. Too ordinary, and because of that, he seemed strange to Kopii.
Kopii tensed, studying the boy. The smile seemed sincere, but after what he had been through, he had stopped trusting anyone, especially strangers. After all, the slavers had also seemed like ordinary people at first, but that had been a deception he had fallen for. He silently looked at the stranger, expecting a trick. Pain shackled his movements, depriving him of the ability to defend himself, even against an ordinary person.
These thoughts made Kopii frown even more. The boy, noticing the change in his face, grew a little embarrassed.
– I'm not your enemy. If it weren't for me, you'd already be dead. See, I'm a hero, – he said, striking himself on the chest. But Kopii continued to drill him with his gaze, not trusting a single word. Yet a drop of doubt crept into his head.
«Maybe he really did save me?» – But he immediately rejected this.
– Oh, sorry for not introducing myself right away. I'm Raven Hartlight. Remember this name, the name of a future hero, – he smiled, raising his head. Kopii did not understand what was happening, but continued to look at Raven with suspicion. Raven grew sad, seeing the same distrust in Kopii's eyes. But before he could speak, Kopii interrupted him.
– Where…? Kh… kh… – Kopii coughed. His voice was hoarse and foreign, and it also hurt, which further worsened his already bad mood.
– Careful, don't strain your vocal cords. But as for your question "where to?" – making a thoughtful face and stroking his chin, he spoke after a few seconds. – I didn't understand what you meant. – Then he smiled, finally understanding Kopii's question. – Where as in, where are we going? We're going to Orario! – he shouted. From the loud shout, Kopii's face filled with pain.
– Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to, – but he quickly returned to his cheerful mood.
– Orario, – Kopii rasped.
– Yes, yes, the city of gods and heroes! Don't you know about it?
After his confirmation, Kopii's face softened a little. But before he could ask the questions that interested him, Raven was called away.
– Oh, sorry we got to chat so little. But it's no big deal. I'll be back soon, I have work. So I'll step away for a bit, – Raven said, climbing out of the cart, waving to him and smiling. Kopii followed him with his gaze until he disappeared.
– Ah, – Kopii exhaled with relief.
«Probably, these are not slavers. But even so, I can't relax.»
Kopii closed his eyes, trying to calm the throbbing pain throughout his body.
«Orario… At last, I'll return.»
This had been a difficult and failed trip, for he had achieved nothing. On top of that, he had lost all his belongings; he had completely failed on this journey.
This trip was supposed to be something they could save money on, not the opposite.
Kopii opened his eyes again; he did not want to think about sad things anymore. After Raven left, the cart grew quieter. Only the creak of wheels and the clopping of horse hooves broke the silence. He tried to sit up, but his body responded with sharp pain. He had to lean back onto the wooden boards again. Kopii closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing. Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale… He tried to distract himself from the pain and anxious thoughts. He needed to calm down and gather his strength.
Time dragged slowly. Kopii kept drifting into oblivion, then coming back to himself again, feeling the same pain and weakness. He did not know how much time had passed since Raven left, but it seemed to him that time moved very slowly.
He wanted to learn more about where he was and how much longer they had to travel. The more he thought about the situation, the more he doubted. After all, that family of slavers had also not aroused suspicion at first. However hard Kopii tried to drive these thoughts away, he could not.
«What if this is a deception? Just a show for amusement?»
A shiver ran through his body at this thought. Kopii tried to stand, despite the pain. He had to be ready for any turn of events. Gathering his will into a fist, he slowly propped himself up, leaning against the wall of the cart. Every muscle protested, but he kept moving until he managed to sit up, barely keeping his balance, with tears in his eyes. But because of the uneven road, he lost his balance and fell.
«Even if this is true, what can I do? I can't even move properly» – Kopii thought, trying to calm down. After a while, he managed to pull himself together and calm down.
«This is just my paranoia and nothing more, that's all» – he thought, hoping it was only self-suggestion. He hoped that at least once he would be lucky. But Kopii's reflections were interrupted by the cart stopping.