BOUND AND BROKEN
Melas: Book One V.A. Lewis
To my wonderful mother,
Thank you for supporting me
And my passion for writing.
I wouldn’t be here
Without you.
Disclaimer
Copyright © 2020 MelasD / V.A. Lewis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form possible without permission from the author or publisher. For permissions, contact the author or publisher through email at [email protected]
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Cover art version 2 design and typography by Boboplushie
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Table of Contents
Contents
BOUND AND BROKEN, Melas: Book One
Disclaimer
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Prologue - Murdered
Part One: Paradise
Chapter 2: Magic
Chapter 3: First Step
Chapter 4: Stranger Danger
Chapter 5: Monster Attack
Chapter 6: Leaving
Chapter 7: Standing Prayer
Chapter 8: Fall
Chapter 9: Destiny's Child
Chapter 10: Interlude - Villamcreek
Part Two: Escape
Chapter 11: Free Lands
Chapter 12: Slave
Chapter 13: Hunger
Chapter 14: Troublemaker
Chapter 15: Nightmare
Chapter 16: Light Bump
Chapter 17: A Brief Reprieve
Chapter 18: Bys, the Free City of Slaves
Chapter 19: Live
Chapter 20: Shaken
Chapter 21: Abominations
Chapter 22: Deus Ex Machina
Chapter 23: Interlude II - Hunters
Part Three: Reality
Chapter 24: Begging and Stealing
Chapter 25: Dark Crusader
Chapter 26: Outpost
Chapter 27: Starved and Stronger
Chapter 28: Test
Chapter 29: Annoyed Learning
Chapter 30: Feeding Hunger
Chapter 31: Iron-y Golems
Chapter 32: Sneaky Escape
Chapter 33: Close-quarters Combat
Chapter 34: Choices, Choices, Choices
Chapter 35: Fort Conon
Chapter 36: Compromise
Chapter 37: The Right Decision
Chapter 38: Interlude III - The Saint
Author’s Note
Chapter 1: Prologue - Murdered
When I woke up, there was nothing.
A pure white empty space that seemed to stretch for all eternity was all that I saw; an expansive blank canvas filled my vision, nothing else in sight—
“Greetings.”
“What the—“ I spun around to see the source of the voice. A man appeared in front of me, a sudden figure amidst the eternal whiteness. “Um, who are you?” I asked.
The man seemed to ponder over my question. As he did, I took that moment to note his features; at first, he looked handsome. His golden-blonde hair fell to his shoulders, and his pale skin gave off an inhumane glow. His piercing blue eyes flickered as his gaze turned heavenward.
But as I continued scrutinizing him, his appearance gradually became more indistinct. His skin blended into the white background, and his eyes seemed like it held no life in it. He still looked handsome to me; almost unnaturally so.
He’s like a mannequin with a wig!
The man finally seemed to finish thinking over my question, as if I had asked him something so profound. He lowered his head to face me, and opened his mouth to speak.
“So, due to the circumstances surrounding your death, you have the opportunity to start your life anew in another world. Of course, you can reject this offer and just pass onto the afterlife. But if you decide that you want to be reincarnated into another world, you can make a single demand for your new life.”
The man just ignored me!
He completely ignored my question and started rambling about… my death? I don’t remember dying…
Actually I remember something— something about a truck? It was all a blur, and the more I tried to think about it, the more my head hurt.
Wait, if I’m dead, does that mean—
“Are you God?” I asked.
The man once again seemed to put effort to think over my question.
“I am similar to your understanding of God, yes.”
Oh good, he actually answered my question this time, even if it was in a roundabout way. Similar to God, huh? I guess I really was dead, though I still have a lot of questions. If he was what he said he was, let’s hope he can answer some of them.
“Um,” I began, trying to figure out what to ask first. “Do you maybe know how I died?”
“Yes I do.” This time he replied directly without any deliberation. Why couldn’t he have just done that for my other questions? Oh well, as long as he answers my questions properly now.
“So… how did I die?”
“I killed you.”
“Ah, you killed me… wait, WHAT?”
Did this god-like being just admit to murdering me? And he did it without even missing a beat. It’s like he’s treating my death like it was nothing. No, actually, he IS treating my death like it was nothing!
“Why the FUCK did you kill me?!” I snapped.
“As I said, your death was a result of the circumstances of the situation. You see, an out of control truck was headed in the direction of a child who would later on in life find the cure to cancer. So, I redirected the truck to avoid crashing into the child, and it just so happened that you were on the sidewalk directly next to the child.”
Oh, that made… sense? Of course if you had to choose between saving a kid who would cure cancer and save millions of lives, and little old me, you would save the kid every single time; it was a typical moral dilemma.
I was sure that if I had to choose between myself and the child, I too— with some apprehension— would save the kid… wait. I remembered something else.
“Y-you do realize that…”— I grimaced as the memories flashed through my head— “that I was about to save that kid, right?!”
A boy fell while crossing the street, and I watched as a truck came at him full speed without stopping. I ran over to grab the kid, when suddenly, the truck sped up and swerved— I flinched as I recalled the impact.
Upon hearing
