Pillock could still remember the last words that her mother said to her.
"Life won't ever give you anything." Her mother said with a cough, "So you have to take it."
Those were the last words that she had ever heard coming from her mother. Those were the words that stuck with her every wretched day. Her feet used to be sore from all the unless work but now they had so many calluses that it became a protection for her feet. With every new scar she earned, those words burned in her mind. Her eyes looked to her left to the other slave kids. There was one boy who was holding a heavy bag of supplies while another little girl was holding all of the blankets that Marcov was wanting to bring. They called him master. But they didn't have a choice. Anything else would result in lashings or worse. Pillock behaved just like the rest, but internally she always called him Marcov. It was his name and she was going to remember it.
Pillock was holding a crate of food and water, which was given only to the most trusted kid. Despite her burning hatred for Marcov, she had always acted like the good little slave. She knew that the kids who behaved got extra food and were treated somewhat nicer than the others. But recently, Pillock had another reason to behave. She had a plan in mind but couldn't figure out what to do after the plan was carried out. Planning for the here and now was fine but she needed to figure out how she was going to survive without money or any support. That was the hard part.
Marcov was bringing a group of soldiers, friends, and many slaves down into the Umbral Depths to go visit the dwarves and to trade with them. The slaves would be left at the camps inside the depths when the trades were made. But first they had to make it to the dwarves. That was where the slaves came in. They were the ones who were tasked with all of the hard labor and were to be used as shields if something attacked. They had been travelling for a while and many of the soldiers were growing weary. If the slaves were too tired to walk, they were to be dragged by the others. But since the "important" people were tired, they could set up camp for the night.
"Pillock! Get over here. NOW!" Marcov shouted.
Pillock. Stupid. The two words were one in the same. She had been known as Pillock her entire life. The name burned within her mind and she wanted nothing more than to be rid of it. The little girl ran over to Marcov with the crate of food in her hands, waiting for her next orders. She had to be quick about her response or else she would receive less food and harsher treatments. That was another reason she was so trusted, she was fast and responded quickly.
“I want you to give that to the chef.” Marcov said, “The rest of the day you will help the chef with whatever she needs. When we head off to sleep, you will stand outside my tent in case I need something. Do I make myself clear?!”
Pillock nodded and ran as fast as she could to the chef’s tent, delivering the food as instructed. The chef had her running from the kitchen to the people with their food. The soldiers and noblemen had gathered around a small fire to gamble. Suddenly, one of the noblemen proposed that they gambled with their slaves. A soldier decided that it would be fun to gamble with their lives, to make it more exciting. They were all too bored. The unlucky two slaves was a man and a boy, both of which Pillock knew. The young boy was the unlucky one in the gamble and ended up getting stabbed with a sword. Pillock rushed back to the kitchen so she could avoid showing her disgust. The chef, pitying her allowed her to leave the camp to take some time off.
Pillock didn’t go too far from camp as she had no way of defending herself. But she did go far enough to wear she could be alone. The child picked up a stone and flung it against the wall in anger. Why them? What did they ever do to deserve this? Even when they obeyed and did everything they were told to, they still were tormented. She reached down to pick up a new stone and noticed that this one was a shade of blue. Realizing that it looked valuable, like the stones that the nobles would wear, she pocketed it in her long shabby tunic that had one pocket. Just as she was about to reach for another stone to throw at the wall, she spotted a person with a black cloak leaning against the wall in a corner. Pillock stared at the stranger for a moment then grew concerned, as she wasn’t supposed to be here and was supposed to be working with the chef.
“The chef said that I could be out here.” She explained quickly.
The cloaked person looked up, revealing an older woman who appeared to be in her sixties. The woman looked at Pillock with a little bit of confusion before looking calm again.
“Did you pick up the blue stone?” The woman asked.
Pillock swallowed hard, she would be in so much trouble if Marcov found out she had a gem. He would assume that she had stolen it.
“…Yes.” Pillock responded.
“Good.” The woman responded, “My name is Yvette. I believe that we can help each other. But first, I want to get something across. I am a spirit, not a living being.”
Pillock had a look of doubt so the cloaked woman walked over to the child and moved her hand through Pillock’s hand. The child’s eyes widened in surprise and alarm, taking a few steps back.
“I’m not going to hurt you child.” Yvette said sounding annoyed, “I want to make a deal with you. I’ll help you with whatever you need and in exchange, you will help me move to the afterlife.”
“You're trapped?” Pillock asked confused.
“Yes. In that stone you picked up.” Yvette explained, “The one that allows you to see me. You see, I died around the time that the transition between Goddesses happened. After Dalensca died but before Serafina had fully transitioned into her godhood. During that time some mages tried to save me by binding my soul to this stone. Even though I told them specifically not to. They planned to create a new body for me to inhabit but I suppose that they ended up dying or something else before they could. So I was left in here trapped to this stone, unable to move onto the afterlife.”
Pillock listened intently to the spirit’s story as she explained why she was there. It seemed that they were both in similar positions, the only difference was that Yvette was dead.
“So I’ll make a deal with you.” Yvette continued, “I’ll help you with whatever you need. I have extensive knowledge about many things. In exchange, you’ll help me get to the afterlife. But there is a catch. In order for this to work I would have to be possessing your body. I wouldn’t be controlling you or anything like that. Its more like I’m catching a ride inside your mind.”
“Why can’t you just stay in the stone and let me carry you that way?” Pillock retorted, “How can I know that you just won’t take me over and torture me or something?!”
“I’m not letting you carry me in that stone because it is a stone.” Yvette replied, “It can be easily thrown away or lost and I’m not willing to risk the rest of my afterlife on one kid carrying a stone. And if I was going to find somebody to take over, wouldn’t I just go to an adult? You know, somebody who actually has strength? Besides, I can tell just by looking at you that there is nothing I could do that hasn’t already been done to you.”
Her words were biting but they rang with truth. Pillock looked to her feet, trying to figure out what to do. Taking this spirit in would be a huge risk. However, the lady might just be what she needs to survive in the world outside of her chains. The alternative was to continue waiting for a day that might never come. Pillock looked back up to Yvette and held out her hand to shake on the deal.
“I’ll agree.” The child said, “But only if you promise to be loyal to me and to help me in whatever I do. Even if you don’t like it. Then I’ll help you to the afterlife.”
“Deal. And I can’t shake hands…remember?” Yvette said, “Now let me show you what I need you to do for this to work.”
With that, the spirit began to show Pillock what she needed to do. First, Pillock began drawing a circle into the dirt with a stick before putting little symbols that she didn’t understand on the inside and outside of the circle. Then she placed the spirit stone in the middle of the circle. Finally, the child stood in front of the circle and began to speak the words that Yvette was telling her. The circle began to glow as the spirit was pulled into Pillock, binding them together. When the glowing died down, Pillock looked around to try to find the spirit.
“I’m here.” The spirit mentally said.
“Inside my mind?’ Pillock asked out loud.
“Yes. Now, I can see what you meant when you said you needed help. First off, you’ll want to know how to pick locks. If you go further down the tunnel you will find my bones and a sack filled with pick locks. Along with a dagger. Those two items are what you will need. I’ll send you visual instructions on how to use both of these things. Hide them both under your tunic and go back to the kitchen. Keep your head down and don’t arouse suspicion.”
“You do know what I’m planning to do, right?” Pillock asked, “And you are okay with it?”
“Yes. If I were in your situation, I would have done the same. Besides, I've been watching Marcov and he is a bastard. He deserves what's coming to him. Are you having second thoughts?”
“No. Never.” The child quickly replied.
Pillock began to follow Yvette’s instructions. She headed further down into the tunnel, careful to avoid being seen by any of the camp people, and found the corpse. The corpse was nothing but a skeleton with a bag and a cloak. The child went through the bag and picked up the lock picks and dagger before heading back to came. She was carefully hiding the dagger underneath her tunic, using her armpit to hold it by the hilt and carefully walking to where Marcov’s tent was. She was supposed to stand outside the tent tonight. So she waited until the moment came and everybody was starting to head to bed. Nobody even looked twice at her. Marcov, tired and drunk headed off to his camp to sleep. Pillock waited some more, to ensure that everybody was sleeping before entering the tent herself, dagger in her hand.
“Before you do anything, you’ll want to tie him down and muffle his voice.”
The child nodded and looked around the tent until she found some rope that Marcov had been saving for the adventure. Marcov was drunk and in a deep sleep so she was able to tie his arms and legs together, tying the knot tightly. His mouth was already opened due to snoring so she stuffed it with cloth.
“Now remember what I showed you. Strike him right in the solar plexus. It will damage his breathing the most.”
The child raised up her dagger and plunged it into the man. She stabbed him several more times, each time more vicious than the last. Angry tears were falling down from her cheeks. This was the one who didn’t care when her mother died. This is the one who tortured and tormented her and many other slaves for years! Now she could finally end him!
“Enough. He’s dead.”
Pillock stopped and looked at her dagger. She went over to a chest and opened it. Taking some clothes out, she also took food and a satchel before closing it. Anger was still flooding through her mind as she slipped out of the tent and headed to the slaves tents. She slipped past the guards, as they were drunk and unable to notice her. When she entered, many of the other slaves looked at her and stared. Pillock was covered in blood and was holding a bloody dagger.
“You’re free now. Marcov is gone.” Pillock said to the rest of the group before leaving the tent.
She began to run as fast as she could. Pillock knew that the second that the other nobles awoke, they would be after her. She needed to disappear for a while. She had already heard of Vilpamolan and what a good place it was to vanish from sight and mind. As she was walking through the tunnels, trying to make her way out of the Umbral Depths, she thought to ask the spirit something.
“Why don’t you mind dying?” Pillock asked.
“Well I suppose that has a lot to do with Dalanesca. When I was younger I used to hate death and considered it the worst thing imaginable. That is until I met a Dalanesca worshipper. The worshipper explained to me that death would always come and was inevitable, even to gods. So from then on I did a lot of thinking about my situation and began to learn more about the worship of Dalanesca and the goddess herself. I think you would have liked her if you both met.”
“Why?” The child asked as she continued to run.
“You both have terrible lives that only seems to be getting worse, yet you both still charge on. Stubbornly. Neither of you gave up.”
“Then that's what my new name shall be.” The child declared, “I’m going to be just as strong as the goddess. Lets see, I’m not gonna take her full name. That might be disrespectful. But I will call myself Dala. Hmm Dala Asher. No…How about Dala Asher Nesca. There. That is my new name!”
The child finally found the exit to the Umbral Depths and headed out into the world, ready to start her new life as Dala Asher Nesca.
