Jax, the Demon

Chapter 1, Jax the Demon

            James Marcus wiped the sweat from his forehead. The autumn air was nice and cool, but the work was still bringing moisture from his pores. James was a handsome slave, owned by the wealthiest man in town, Jason Nelson.  James had short brown hair and an eye color that was a glowing sort of blue. James was at the age between adult and child, twenty-two.  His twenty-third birthday was still half a year away, but it did not matter much if a slave became an adult or not. The children still had the same amount of work as the adult slaves on Nelson’s farms. Many of the salves hated working for Nelson, but James did not mind it at all.

            He was raised here in the orchards of his master and had lived to respect the man who owned him like property. James never got into trouble with his master, and he was well liked by the other slaves. James took on the defeatist attitude of they were never going to escape slavery so why dream about getting free. Besides, James did not really mind the work. He received food and a place to sleep each night which was more than some people had.

There were also certain characteristics of James that made the other slaves respect him. James was very charismatic and intelligent. James was intelligent thanks to Jason’s young daughter, Maria Nelson. Maria was a beauty, her eyes like emeralds and hair like veins of gold within the brown clay. She had taught James everything he knew up to the point when she became a woman and he became twenty-two and they were not allowed to visit each other anymore.

            James stealthily picked an apple and stashed it into an inside pocket of his self-made tunic.  He usually did not steal the apples he was picking for the punishment for thieving was death, but James always knew when he could and when he could not get away with the thieving.  The apple would come in handy later that night when he was alone in his bed. James was part of the management staff, organized by the slaves for the older and the wiser slaves in the orchards and on the farms, who all got their own rooms.  James was the youngest manager within the slave family on Nelson’s farms. He happened to be the only one under the age of fifty.

            James was just finishing up with one tree and about to descend his ladder when he caught glimpse of someone walking through the shade of the apple trees. Strangers were not allowed in the orchards, and it was dangerous to upset the richest man in town. James climbed halfway down the ladder he was on and jumped the rest of the way to the ground. The man was followed by a horse that was a dirty white color and had a large black spot on its left eye. The man had on his head a straw hat that was bent low in order to keep the sun from his eyes. The shadow of the hat shielded his face from James’s gaze.

            James looked at the man’s body and felt instantly alarmed that this stranger was not someone to mess with. The stranger stopped walking and looked up into James’s face. The first time the man looked at James, his image was etched into James’s mind for eternity. The stranger had a face that looked like it was crafted from marble of the whitest color. On the left eye the man had a scar that ran straight down through the eye from the forehead. Over the scar was a tattoo which was a plain black line. At the top of the line was the infinity sign and on the bottom were two parallel lines that ran through the scar line.  The man’s eyes were red, a blood red color that haunted James with their vision.

            The man’s body was clothed in a large black tunic that appeared to have once belonged to a muscular man for it was quite large. The man did not fit into the oversized tunic very well, however. The man’s arms were bare of muscles, the skin clinging tightly to the bones beneath showed the arms that were like sticks. The whole of his body was like this, skin pulled over the bones so tightly, as if no muscle was attached to the man. He had on a belt that was made for a child, tightened all the way to hold up the incredibly tight pants that he wore, which seemed to have once been on a tall man with very large legs. The autumn wind blew the clothes of the man and James was worried the light wind would be enough to blow the man away.

            The thing that caught Jame’s glance the longest though was the weapon the man dragged behind him. On the man’s left side was a sheathed sword that was at least seven feet. With the length of the man’s arms, James could not figure out how the man drew his sword, but did not care to find out. The sheath was black just like the man’s clothing, but the handle was red, just like the man’s eyes.

            “Excuse me sir,” the James said, “this is property of Jason Nelson and is off limits to citizens.”

            “What is your name boy?” the man said, peering into James’s eyes. A strange since of trust washed over James.

            “My name is James Marcus.”

            “Are you a slave here?” asked the man.

            “Yes,” James answered simply.

            “How long?”

            “How long have I worked here?” James asked and the man nodded. “I have worked here as long as I have been alive, sir, forty-five half years. “

            “You have been enslaved here for twenty-two years?” the man asked.

            “And a half, yes.”

            “Do you like it here?” asked the man.

            “I do not mind it. I could be in worse places and in worse care or worse health.”

            “You could also have your freedom,” suggested the man.

            “it’s a foolish waste of time, dreaming about my freedom. I am a slave and nothing can save me from that fate. My parents sold me to master Nelson as soon as I was born so they could afford a house and land. A slave raised by a master can become nothing else.”

            “You are a very educated young man, aren’t you,” said the stranger.

            “I learned all I know from my master’s young daughter, Maria. She is a well articulated miss.”  

            “I could really use a traveling companion like you.”

            “I am sorry sir, but that is out of the question. And I advise you to get off the property. If Master Nelson discovers you in the orchards he will release the hounds to kill you.”

            “I do not think we will have to worry about dogs.”

            “They run fast,” James said simply.

            “They run fast?” the man repeated as a question, “That’s all you have to say to describe them? I’m not too afraid of them running fast.”

            “They are vicious and they run fast. They will track you down in a manner of seconds and tear you limb from limb.”

            “That’s a bit more descriptive, but I’m still not worried. Anyways I must be going anyways. Do you happen to know the way to Oshlam? I am looking for someone that is supposed to be in Oshlam.” James pointed the direction that the man came from. “That’s a shame,” the man said, “I just came from that town and I didn’t find anyone there that fits the description.”

            “What was the description? Perhaps I know him,” James asked.

            “If you’re a slave, why would you know someone from town?” the man asked, “Anyways, all I know is that it was someone who was in need of, but didn’t want, help. A bright child who would be a great companion to me on my long adventure.”

            “Sorry, but that isn’t much of a description sir. I don’t know anyone like that.”

            “Although, I think I found who I was looking for here in the orchard,” the man said with a grin. The grin inspired James with a sense of confidence and determination to trust this man with his life, even though he had just met him. “What do you say, boy?” asked the man, “You willing to follow me?”

            “I’m sorry sir, I can’t leave this orchard.”

            “Why not?” the man asked, “I can grant you your freedom from your master. No fear from him or the hounds he has under slavery as well.”