"Because of them, I spent a majority of my years in turmoil. Finally, I took the chance and ran like the petching wind, letting no man nor animal stop me lest they end up dead or close to it."
Lance cannot remember anything before being six but reader, these were happy times for him. He had a wonderful family including his mother, his father, his brother, and he even had a sister. Lance was happy and was carefree as they had a home in Sylira. He was closest to his brother who was 1 year older putting his brother at this time to be six and Lance at 5. However, once he turned six, he had a clear memory and it shows. One day he was playing hide and seek with his brother and sister when they were called into the house which rarely happened. At this time, his father had passed away from a heart attack. His mother entered depression and his siblings weren't their old selves. To escape what had happened, they would play hide and seek from the early morning to 7 o' clock at night.
But one day, he was now 8, it was his turn to count and he just so happened to be peeking when he saw two black cloaked men fling the sides of their cloaks open and capture his brother and sister as they closed the sides of their cloaks. Their arms were big and burly and you could barely hear the muffled cries of the children and you could barely see them struggling underneath their cloaks. Lance was small and wouldn't dare be able to take them on alone however, his siblings lives were at stake and no one would believe him. Or at least his eight year old mind thought that.
With no thought, he grabbed the closest weapon he could find which was a small discarded long piece of wood. He waited behind the barrel he was counting at and clasped the wood tightly then watched as they passed his hiding location. Quickly, he lurched forward and hit one of them in the back of the neck, who instantly fell to the ground, stunned. This allowed his sister to run back home to safety where she would yell at her mother about what had happened. The other quickly whirred around at the sight of his fallen partner and when Lance threatened to hit him with the board, he turned his brother loose, allowing him to scoot out from under the man's cloak and run back home like his sister.
Disgruntled at what the young Lance had done, the man grabbed him and instantly pinned him up against the wall. Lance managed to catch a last glimpse of his brother running, then looked his captor straight in his evil gleaming eyes. The man slammed him against the wall then held him there. Soon, his partner got up, still somewhat stunned, then approached applying an extra force to keep him suspended against the wall. If you were to ask him about it, and if he were to actually answer, then he would say he doesn't remember exactly what they whispered in his ear but he recalls that their tongues were heavy with hatred and spit covered his turned cheek when they shut up. They took him away, explaining to concerned citizens that he was just a misbehaved boy trying to escape them and of course no one came to his aid.
They left the gates of Syliras, with him being dragged through brush and thorns despite his dying efforts to escape. He was then tied to a tree and surrounded by the two men along with four more comrades. His anger was causing his blood to boil but he could do nothing for the ropes and chains that held him caused severe pain when he moved. He heard the men say things such as he'd make a good slave once he was older and how he could be beaten to work for them and one even said they should kill him for his exposure to the organization.
The third option was never put into play but the second one came first. He refused to do their tasks and got whipped with sticks, chains, and even leather. His back contained so many wounds that several scars are still there today. However, this caused him to form a decent muscle tone and he soon became accustomed to the familiar beating and soon became a decent worker at the age of 12. When he reached this level, he was soon transported to Ravok and got entered into the slave trade where he was quickly purchased for 50GM to a man with a mule, a cart and a whip. The man made a living by transporting goods by loading and unloading them then traveling. Lance built trust with the man even after being whipped to the point the man wouldn't chain him to the cart to sleep anymore which took three years. After working for the man, his body had taken quite the beating and had been overworked for someone his age. The man had even taught him how to ride the horse and drive the cart so the man wouldn't have to do it himself. Being 15 now, his mind was ruined and all he focused on was escaping the whippings and beatings at any cost.
He was left unattended to load the cart with bags of flour as his "master" walked in the building to discuss payment plans and as soon as the door was shut, Lance dropped the sack of flour, unhitched the old Tiaden Warhorse/Colorsplash mix and rode bareback away from Ravok. It took the man a hour before coming out and realizing that his horse and slave was gone. However, the man purchased a new full bred Tiaden Warhorse and word spread fast that his slave was on the run with his horse. He was soon captured again and attempts to bring him back happened but he managed to fool everyone of them and even killed one man who single handedly tried to bring Lance to his knees before him.
He spent five years running from the people whom he thought was chasing him. He managed to reach all the way through Taldera and fled into the Spires. After staying for a year, he decided he was finally safe and began to make his way back down and cross the Suvan Sea to get to Syliras once more, which is where he found himself bumping into his brother Collin.