Reincarnated As The Dark Knight

Artur and Eustace were ready the next morning. For an army like Khan's, slaves were regulars on the battlefield as they were used as bait, messengers, supplementary soldiers or support. Artur and Eustace were not selected to be part of the slaves which were to follow the army but all they had to do was bribe their way in. Easy.

All the slaves were taken to the lower deck of the ship and made to sit in the cramped, damp and dimly lit space. Artur and Eustace were able to hide their luggage in the soldiers' supply boxes beforehand, everything was going according to plan. The summary was to make it to the battlefield and escape amidst all the chaos. He had a good feeling.

The cramped space did not bother him a bit. If it was to leave that shithole he would even face a dragon. Or not.

The ride was a bumpy one and they were there for so long that Artur lost track of time. Being in that deck was the worst experience for him. It was weird to him that Eustace was fine all through when he felt like he was going to explode.

They could hear the soldiers above them moving around and even their laughs as they drank and ate. Was it not abnormal to drink before going to battle, well certainly not for this group. 

The scent of warm food found its way into the lower deck and Artur was reminded that almost day had passed since he ate anything. He was tempted to go up and steal some food if he could but now was not the time to be reckless. It was only a matter of time. As soon as they got to shore he was going to go get their belongings.

***

A few hours later they got to the shore and Artur was already asleep. All that was needed to wake him was the voices of the guards as the came down to the lower deck to fetch the slaves. Artur was elated. He thought that they were going to spend days on water because the journey seemed to be taking forever. He noticed that Eustace was also asleep and he had not woken up even when the guards were already in the lower deck.

'He must be tired, the past few days have really been stressful'

There was no choice either way, he still had to wake up "Hey, Eustace! Eustace!!" He called in a whisper.

Eustace moaned, not ready to give up his nap but Artur was not having any of it. When calling his name failed to work he shook him violently instead. Eustace groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He yawned, asking Artur if they had arrived already.

"Yes, we are in Drakmoor" Artur replied. 

Artur could feel the chill of the place had a feeling of regret when he saw the soldiers wearing coats. The was nothing he could have done a bout it anyway because even with the secret laws of the camp and such, he was still a simple slave who needed to know his place. From prior knowledge he knew that Drakmoor was a very cold place, but knew nothing about snow during this time of the year.

It was still summer in the rest of the continent, maybe even the world so why was Drakmoor this cold? He could feel it in his lungs, tearing at him and threatening to freeze every time he inhaled. They were still just in the lower deck and he was already so cold, leaving him imagining what it was going to be like outside. It would have been better if they went to Wyrmhold or Grimdahl but according to the map those places were farther away from Evershire than Drakmoor. He was starting to regret his decision.

'Damn it all' He thought. At this rate the cold was going to kill him before they could even get the chance to escape. 'Now would have been a good time for a leather jacket and some steaming coffee"

The slaves were all taken out of the lower deck into the open and as soon as they got out Artur was hit by a blast of ice-cold wind which made him temporarily lose his senses. It was so cold that he could scream. 

He could not believe it. He instantly concluded that they were just brought here to be slain because there was no way a human could ever think of staying in that place, not to mention living there. And he heard that Drakmoor was a great place. 

Seeing as Lord Khan's camp was really here in Drakmoor his plan for escape was going to need a bit of adjustment. They would not simply be able to walk away in the heat of battle especially with the cold and they snow. He hoped they had horses in the camp or travelling was going to prove very difficult.

He observed the soldiers and looked to the far end, spotting the ship which had their things on it. Many boxes were being carried out of it and that made Artur pissed because even if he had labelled the box, finding it amidst that pile was going to be a difficult task. When he looked at the risk involved in everything, it was like the gods really did not want him to escape from slavery.

The soldiers separated them into coffles and Eustace ended up in another group. Luckily enough, they were still going to be in the same tent. Before they went there was a situation at the back and whoever it was was being very loud. Artur saw that it was a young slave just like him who was battling to escape from a guard. He recognized the boy from the fights which they were made to partake in and remembered that the boy once lost to Eustace. He was slightly huge and had a lot of muscle mass for someone his size. Probably from having put to work a lot.

Apparently, the cold got him good, and he wanted to run back into the ship, but the guard was not having any of his nonsense. The guard dragged him back but the boy kept struggling and screaming, complaining that he would die from the cold. The guard gritted his teeth.

"I don't think you understand what the word 'slave' means" He said. "Even if you are a good fighter and help me win some bets you are still one"

"Nonsense! Let me go!" The boy screamed again.

"Oi! Kid!" The guard was clearly mad now "For the last time! Get! In!! Line!!!"

The boy still refused "That's easy for you to say when you've got thick clothing and bags of hot water within them!"

The guard lost it. He tried to grab the boy but the boy took a jump backwards. He seemed to have forgotten that his legs were still shackled and when he jumped his legs failed him, making him to fall straight back into the snow. He screamed again and jumped to his feet, still forgetting about the shackles. He fell again.

The boy rolled and got up. He dashed toward the ship with careful strides so he won't fall this time but just before he got onto the gangplank a painful force hit him and the head of a spear grew out of his chest. The guard was standing in the position of an athlete who had just thrown a javelin with his hand still stretched out toward the boy.

The boy fell to the ground and his rich crimson blood decorated the snow in scarlet embroidery, eyes bulging like he had just seen the messiah. He was dead. 

The scene which had just played out struck fear into the hearts of the many slaves who watched, with Eustace and Artur as the sole exception of course. What they were about to do was something far more dangerous. But, even though they were not afraid like the rest, they learned the exact same thing that others did.

While they were here, no matter how good at fighting or hardworking they were, no matter how much they were liked by the soldiers of Khan, no matter the merits they received, at the end of the day, they were all still slaves.