Chapter 11 - DUTIFUL NAMELESS AND THE COACHMAN

"Hey brat! You had better get your ass back here on time to finish your quota of work, else, you'll be kicked out of here. But not without a good whipping for not completing your job!" One of the men barked from across the street.

The boy who had been kicked onto the road now stood up shakily, trying his best to wipe the mud off his face and clothes - well, that is if they could even be called clothes. He had been dreaming about something so real and it wasn't the first time he would have this dream. But whenever he got to the part where a dazzling golden light and a blazing emerald fire expanded and caused a huge explosion, he would always either wake up with deep pain in his chest, or someone had to wake him up in an ugly way. Just like this morning.

The strangest thing however was that, few minutes after waking up, he would totally forget about this long and vivid dream.

"Hey, nameless!" Someone called him. That's right, he was nameless. When asked what his name was, he told people that he didn't have one. Soon, the few people who knew him called him nameless.

For someone who didn't even know who raised him up or if he had a home or something, the boy was living quite a miserable life among the lowlifes in that area.

"Here, a basket for you. We'll be working on Count Derbyshire's field today." the person who had previously called him said, passing a basket to the boy. The boy pulled his overgrown brown hair that had been matted with mud away from his face so he could see properly. Following the grownups on his barefoot, he tried keeping up with them.

He watched as they all passed slices of fresh bread amongst themselves, eating as they walked.

He had a tiny hope of having even half or a quarter of a slice of bread, but his small hope was dashed to pieces as they told him to work hard today if he wanted to eat. Casting a sad glance at the market stalls they passed by, filled with food, the boy held his groaning stomach while biting his lips hard.

After hours of walking, they finally got to a deserted area on the outskirts of Pine Town. After waiting for a while, the leader asked them all to drop their baskets.

" Where is the coachman? The count agreed to have us wait for his coachman who would transport us to his field. Why is he not here yet?" The man who seemed to be their leader said.

"He should be here already. Perhaps he missed the way?" Another butted in.

" Nonsense! There's no way he would miss the way. We clearly told him where we would be meeting." The leader replied.

"You know what, everyone split up. We would all go searching for the coachman just in case he really missed the way." The leader said. "No, not you nameless." He continued, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Everyone split up and search! Nameless here will stay right here just in case the coachman comes this way. If the coachman does come this way, nameless will have to stop him and ask him to wait. On the other hand, if anyone sees the coachman on the way, that person has to lead the coachman to this place. Regardless of the result, we are all to meet up here after twenty minutes. Is that clear?!"

"Very clear boss!" The others all responded, with little Nameless nodding his head weakly. He was starting to feel dizzy from hunger but was holding on with his might.

"Then what are you still dawdling around for? Split up!" The boss ordered.

Soon, the place regained its quietness, leaving a boy standing beside a heap of baskets carelessly strewn across the hard ground.

The boy kept looking around for any sign of the coachman or the carriage.

A while later, he raised his head to check the sun which had gone from rising from the east, to comfortably settling in the sky, as he had no way to measure the time. It was almost midday, yet he saw neither the coachman nor the others who had gone in search of the coachman.

Not long after, the rickity-rickety sound of an approaching carriage was picked up by the ears of the boy who had shortly fallen asleep, waking him up.

The carriage came to a halt close to the boy and a man who was huge with his clothes tightly hugging his musclar build, came down from the carriage, looking around. Upon sighting the little boy scampering to his feet beside the baskets, the frown on the man's face lightened up a tiny bit.

"Hello sir, are you the coachman from Count Derbyshire?" The boy asked but all he got was a stare that seemed to be sizing him up from the man. Thinking the man didn't seem him fit to talk to, which was expected, the boy continued. "If you are,sir, please wait a bit as the leader and others will soon be back. They left a while ago to search for you."

The boy said, placing a hand over his face to shield it from the midday sun. He noticed two other men had alighted from the carriage, joining the first muscular man. They all had hard faces with one or more scar on their body which was starting to make the boy a bit scared and uncomfortable.

The boy shifted back a bit as these men seemed to be acting strangely.

"They all never know what's happening with them till the last moment do they?" One of the two men who had just joined the muscular man said to the other.

The other simply laughed. "Worse, most never know they were betrayed by people close to them. Humans will do anything to survive."

The poor little boy wasn't totally getting the hint about what would happen to him soon. He only knew his instincts told him to run. But still....still others could be here at any moment and he needed money to eat. He barely had any energy left. Weren't these people the coachmen he had been ordered to watch out for?

"Sirs, please are you not from Count Derbyshire?" He finally asked, but these men didn't answer and only closed in on him, their facial features turning cold and scary. This was his cue to run.

But how far could he really run?

"He's so dutiful. Let him have a little more air as a reward," the men laughed, letting him run a bit. They gave him the illusion of having a chance at escaping before one chased after him, catching him without stress and roughly carrying him over his shoulders. The last thing the boy heard while struggling to be free was a deep voice saying, "shut the hell up and handle him properly."... and then everything suddenly went black.