Democ'Chu

The Demon-child. Taken from his family at five seasons of age and thrust into a life of slavery. Given a label he did not deserve after an unlucky incident that happened during the raid on his village.Ripped from the arms of his parents and sailed to a far-away land and forced into life a life of cruelty, beatings and death. The only memory he has of home is the last time he saw his mother. His mother was beaten badly and being held down on the ground by Outlanders. He is forced to grow up fast, forced to defend himself and forced to deal with his growing anger and swirling emotions.Then, as if his life was not hard enough, he is thrown into the pit to fight for his life time and time again. A story of one slave's life from child to manhood, the friends he makes along the way and the journey, he finds himself on.A journey he never asked for but is undertaking none the less. A journey that will see him dead if he is not careful. A journey that has no happy ending! Or does it?

The former pit-rats have reached their new found freedom after the loss of some of their brother-slaves during their treacherous escape from the Outlanders, their former masters. They have battled their way across the entire Outland nation and have arrived tired, battered, short on patience and worn out. Despite this they arrive ready to begin their new life with an optimism that only slaves possess.Choosing this new life however brings with it a new and deeper awareness of what brotherhood actually means for them as a group, as well as individuals. Their new life will see them learn what it means to integrate as equals in society, as well as learn about time and money as they become paid fighters in the Bloodchildren company.With new experiences comes new responsibilities, and their need to master their own self-discipline to keep themselves free from trouble and keep their new found freedom alive! The freedom they have won brings with it not only new skills to learn, which they will need to adapt quickly as their first season of fighting is fast approaching, but also how to express and govern themselves and each other.Within this new society – their fellow mercenaries – the pit-rats encounter politics for the first time. They need to learn to navigate this quickly or risk alienating themselves within their new life. Will they be able to cope with this new life as they discover their own sexuality, surprising betrayal and what they represent to others? Will they share the stories of their former lives with the other members of the Bloodchildren, or will they keep their past hidden as they continue to deal with the pain and trauma they have all suffered? Will they start to heal from their past, or let the past pain fester in their souls?From in-fighting, dealing with their growing emotions, sailing and finding a place in the world, they need to stick together and have each other's backs when a face from the past shows up and confronts them with their own lack of brotherhood. This face reminds them of where they have come from and reminds them, they themselves are far from perfect brothers. Another step on the road for all of them as they discover what freedom and consequences means.With a surprise rising within the ranks, and using the skills and knowledge they gained as slaves, will they begin to realise just how powerful they truly are, or will they refuse to acknowledge just how much of a gift their past has been? Will they be able to pass on all of the lessons they have learnt in their former lives, or will they keep it to themselves?Where this life they have chosen will lead them – only they can choose, but – will it be together, or will the rising number of deaths and miscalculated political alliances destroy them before they have even begun?Will they carve themselves a legend in the history of the Bloodchildren company, or will they endanger the entire company with their unpredictable nature?The time for all the former Pit-rats is now!Time to change the direction of their lives and accept the consequences that go along with that change.Time to push forward in this new direction, watching each other's backs as they learn what it means to be free.Time to accept others into the brotherhood that grew between them all in a harsh life of slavery and the adjustment that goes along with that acceptance.Time to learn to trust others that are not a part of their brotherhood and accept what it means to be trusted by others.Time to once again fight for their lives as they battle as a group and not alone in the fighting pits.Time to throw caution to the wind and follow each other and their own hearts as they make new decisions that they never thought they would have to make.But they are all ready for it, even if they don't know that yet.

With no memories of his home, his family, or early childhood, SickBoy is thrust into a life he never deserved. No child does. The echo in his earliest recollections is of pitchdark rooms, cold walls, and a smelly, ragged blanket strewn on straw. Around him, children wept in terror, fearful of the night and the drunk master who prowled these halls seeking his next plaything. SickBoy cried too, first in terror at the thought of being chosen, then in bittersweet relief when another child took his place. How twisted, to find comfort in another boy's suffering.Days bled into one another: forced labour from dusk till dawn, relentless beatings, and barely enough sustenance to survive. His existence became mechanical one foot in front of the other, breath by breath. Wake. Work. Be beaten. Maybe eat. Sleep. Cry. The numbness seeped in, blanketing his mind.But one night, something snapped. SickBoy struck the drunken master, his killer's grip steady and decisive. As he drifted into an uneasy sleep, a small smile teased his lips. Killing at such a young age and feeling satisfied. Did this mark the turning point in his life?He was uprooted again and sent to another camp, another life of extreme brutality. This one reared him into a pitrat: running until collapse, fighting other broken youths until only one remained standing. Here, he wasn't a slave. He was a weapon in training. And he excelled.Alone as ever, his only bond the blacksmith who saw him, without judgment, in his muttered self-talk and violent mood swings. Under his tutelage, SickBoy thrived. He learned the art of the pit, the slow, torturous drawn out of pain before the final blow. He became the master's favourite, indulging a dark thrill in these battles.Then the blacksmith died leaving the boy truly alone for the first time in years. In the chaos of escape, SickBoy's vengeance was precise and brutal. When the dust cleared, he was abandoned by former brothers in arms and set loose in a harsh, cold land, walking north in rage and freedom.They call it freedom, but what does it feel like? Reaching Irik, crossing into free lands, but he feels nothing, numbness still cloaking his soul. Anger flares when he hears that others, his fellow Pit Rats, have settled, found community, solace, even joy. He has only solitude. Rejection and abandonment are old friends.Now comes the greatest challenge: life beyond slavery, beyond the pit. His skills are deadly, perfect for a mercenary. But he refuses that path. He is no longer their pawn. He is finally free.Yet freedom carries new weights. Emotion swells where numbness once lay. Questions assail him: Who am I now? Where do I belong? Can I trust? Can I forgive? Can I love? As he stares down these terrifying questions, no blankness to cushion him, he faces the toughest fight of all: reclaiming his humanity.Before him lay open road, a new life waiting if he dares to step into it. A chance to build trust and find loyalty, a family not born of blood but of bond. But can he reciprocate what he's never known? Can he quiet the arousal for violence that still simmers in his veins? Can he renounce his weapons and temper his anger?SlaveBoy, beaten, broken and brutalized, must now walk toward healing. Freedom in Irik isn't just about crossing borders, it's about battling within. Every step forward demands he confronts his past, his capacity for love, and the possibility of redemption.In Slave Alone, the third instalment of the Democ'chu series by Nath Brye, the raw edge of survival sharpens into a quest for identity. Escape was only the beginning. Now, together with new friends, human and not, SickBoy must navigate the delicate balance between the monster he became and the man he might yet be. This is a story of violence and vulnerability, of isolation and belonging, of a broken boy learning that freedom isn't just space, it's soul.