Saveirgn glared down moodily at his chains as he and his fellow slaves were dragged once again out of the mines, dirty, starved, and dejected. Vachesska, who was ahead of him on the slave chain, sighed and hung her head. Zoliir, who was behind him, tripped over a protruding bit of rock and fell to his knees. A slaver cracked his whip threateningly and snarled to Zoliir that he’d better get up.

Saveirgn had long, straight bronze hair that fell past his shoulders, and a good, strong build that made him ideal for slave labor. His skin was also a bronze hue, and he had sharp, chiseled features. Furthermore, he had the most stunning eyes, as they were a deep golden color.

Vachesska was not very feminine, which is not surprising considering she’d led a life of slavery. She had long, wavy, auburn hair and tanned skin, as well as being rather muscular for a woman. She had high cheekbones and sharply slanted eyebrows, accenting her dark brown eyes.

Zoliir, on the other hand, had curly, chin-length black hair and fairly pale skin. He wasn’t quite as conditioned to his ‘work’ as the other two, and was rather thinner and more starved looking. He had blue eyes that were always downcast and crestfallen, and possessed the look of a young man who had been broken. Unlike Saveirgn, he had obviously given up the fight for freedom long ago.

All three of them had been captured as children, and were even now not far from youth. Vachesska was seventeen, Zoliir still quite young at fifteen, and Saveirgn held oldest at eighteen.

They lived in the land of Haë, which had once been plentiful and peaceful, but was now barren, devastated by war, and without faith or religion. Yimmién, a corrupt monarch, had come into power long ago and destroyed the elves when they had refused to cooperate, stealing their magic and driving away those who had survived his terrible agenda. He used the magic he had stolen to keep himself alive for hundreds of years, generations upon generations, taking as slaves all who resented his reign. Still he ruled that day.

Saveirgn started when he heard a metallic clang as his shuffling foot connected with something. He bent down, and, with difficulty, brushed the dirt off the thing with one of his bound hands. His mouth dropped open in shock. It was a knife. He could simply not believe his luck.

“Hey! You! What have you got there!” Called one of the slavers, this one with a mustache so large it should be illegal.

“Just a rock.” Saveirgn called back. “I thought it was something else. See?” He dropped a rock from his hand to the dirt to fool the slaver.

The slaver cracked his whip, grumbling, and moved on. Sighing in relief, Saveirgn slipped the knife into his belt where it could not be seen and moved on.

Soon they were back at the huge stone wall where they would be chained until early the next morning, when they would be dragged off to work in the mines once more. But today was different. As soon as the slavers were out of sight, Saveirgn whipped out the knife and began sawing at his chains. “What’cha got there?” Vachesska asked, interested. Saveirgn shushed her hurriedly before there chatter drew the attention of the guards, and continued his attempt to free himself.

He was amazed to see that it actually worked. His mouth dropped open again as he watched the chains fall in two, this time joined by the wide eyes of his two friends. He knew he would have to move fast now. He began work on Vachesska’s chains now, hands moving faster than he thought possible. In no time hers were off to, and he started on Zoliir’s. Zoliir was scared they would be caught and killed, and kept urging Saveirgn to work faster. After a few minutes those chains fell to the ground, joining those of the other two.

Saveirgn helped Zoliir to his feet, as he was weak and his legs were shaking violently, and the three of them ran. This, of course, drew the notice of the guards rather quickly, not helped by the fact all of the other slaves started crying to be freed as well.

Saveirgn passed them all by until he came to a young man, not much older than Zoliir, who had obviously just been captured and was already on the brink of death. He was frighteningly thin and pale, with very long, straight, white-blonde hair. He simply sat with his head on his knees, bound hands stretched in front of him. Saveirgn could not leave him to his death. He knelt and began to hack at the bindings, deaf to Vachesska’s pleas to give it up.

The pale young man lifted his head and gazed at Saveirgn with dull surprised. “Oh, please,” He said weakly, “Please save my fiancé as well. I cannot live without him, and he was captured to.”

Saveirgn nearly dropped the knife out of shock. He? “Are you female?” He asked, puzzled.

“No.” Whimpered the young man. “Didn’t you know that men could love each other?”

Actually, Saveirgn had heard of such a thing, but it was so strange that he had disregarded it completely. “Yes. I suppose I did.” He said, finally managing to break the chain. He glanced back. The guards were catching up. “Where is he?” He said in spite of himself.

The young man pointed at dark-haired youth of about eighteen a bit down the line. He was also built a bit more like Saveirgn, with tanned skin and green eyes. For a moment, Saveirgn considered giving the young man the knife and allowing him to break his own fiancé’s chains, but he realized the frail youth would never have the strength to do it by the time the slavers arrived.

He knelt again, despite Vachesska’s cries of “You idiot! There’s no time!” And broke the chains in record time.

As the new addition joined them and they all ran, the man who had just been freed turned to Saveirgn. “Why did you save us?”

Saveirgn shrugged. Vachesska answered for him. “Cause he’s the world’s biggest sap.”

The young man smiled grimly. “Thank you. By the way, my name is Dechè, and this is Alex, but he prefers Lexi.”

Saveirgn nodded. “I’m Saveirgn, this is Vachesska, and the quiet one is Zoliir.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

They had more or less outdistanced the slavers by now, by a combination of luck and sheer desperation, but were not yet safe. They made toward the forest surrounding the mines, and for how long they struggled through it, no one knew. They didn’t even know whether or not the slavers had given up yet. They just kept running.

Finally, when Lexi and Zoliir were both on the edge of collapse, and the others were so exhausted that their adrenaline could no longer cover it, they came to a clearing. And it was not just any clearing.

Within it were the ruins of a huge stone building with a tall curved roof. They may have been ruins, but the building was still more or less in a single piece, with few holes. Still, it was in an advanced state of neglect, with ivy covering most of the walls. Fascinated, the six entered the courtyard and looked around with interest. The outer wall was failing, but the actual building was still intact.

Deciding it was a safe place to hide and recover, since night had fallen several hours ago, they stumbled inside the sizable entry hall and fell into a heap, sleeping instantly. In the dark, they did not recognize it for what it really was, something not known to exist in Haë for millennia.

A temple.