The Rise of Belgra

Prologue

The dusty streets of Belgra in the kingdom of Trelashe were at war, albeit a silent war spanning the ages. The Kingdom used to be fruitful and full of magic and life. This changed when a young man named “Vikram “rose to power and outlawed the use of magic in his kingdom. The ones that fought were killed and the ones that didn’t avoided capture and hid themselves away fearing death.

The current king is a descendant of that young man and has had the Prejudice against magic ingrained in him his whole life. It is for this reason that so many in the kingdom see it as a curse as well. Some even going as far as to report themselves for execution if found.

Not many are aware, but the king has many pet magicians. The scarce few that he deemed valuable enough to live. These make up most of his personal guard and are the ones required to execute the magic users that don’t take up with the king to save their lives.

It is also believed that the lack of magic being used has slowly been taking life from the Kingdom. Fewer and fewer children are born each year, the rivers lose depth, and the crops aren’t as bountiful as they used to be. Any attempt to bring this correlation up to the King has resulted in a swift death for the petitioner.

Our story takes place in this age where magic is considered a disease and free-will is nonexistent.

Chapter 1

Choices. Sometimes it feels like everything that happens in your life can boil down to one choice that you made for better or for worst. I like to think that I would not have picked this life for me but looking back was it really my decision.

This was all racing through my head as I ran from the Royal Orchard just outside the palace of Demad with a bushel of apples jammed into the knapsack on my back. There was a trio of the king’s guards chasing me down and yelling thief in the common tongue. They were slightly imposing in their leather armor with small pieces of mail attached, but I was much more worried about the apples bruising with all the jostling my escape was causing.

They really didn’t stand a chance of catching me, no one knew the streets of Belgra better than me. But then again, the chase was always so exciting and at times it felt like the only time in my life I was truly alive. In the future though, maybe less fruit thievery and more money to buy the food afterwards with less chance of potentially ruining the food.

One more turn and I could lose them in the dead end past Saaransh’s Crossing. There was a hidden passage there only known to the thieves in the city. Once I entered the dead end, I tapped the brick that sheltered the hidden passage. It shifted a door open just large enough for me to squeeze through and as soon as I was inside it closed seamlessly. Sitting on the other side of the door breathing heavily I could hear the guards cursing.

“Where has he gone!”, and “I could swear he was down this alley!” but eventually after I didn’t appear before their eyes they left, and I was once again free. Free to distribute the apples anyways to all the poor and decrepit folk that couldn’t fend for themselves. Often people would tell me not to bother and that these people would die regardless of the kindness I showed them.

Rogun didn’t care what other people thought if someone was starving and he had the means to assist he would always be there to help. Especially in the hell that was Belgra nowadays. It often led him to wonder what it would have been like before magic was outlawed by the King’s family. Was it better? Worse? Was this why everything seemed to be going downhill. It felt like the older he got the more he questioned the current regime.

Now that the guards had gone, and his heart had stopped racing he was starting to feel the weight of the apples. Apples are light on their own, but the bushel had to be at least 30 lbs! With a grunt he started back up the alleyway to head towards his home in the underbelly of the city. What the nobles and the guards like to call the Dregs because everyone there was nothing but trash to them.

The dregs were everything you would expect them to be cold, decrepit, rundown. You couldn’t turn a corner without seeing someone begging or sick and hacking blood and other fluids onto the street. This was Rogun’s family, this was his home. He gave the occasional apple to the people that looked like they could eat but the majority he was taking to the center.

In the center he would find Garomphe a mentor of sorts who would take the Apples and distribute them evenly. In fact, there he was arguing with a man who appeared to have taken a heel of bread from a small child. He was an intimidating man a little over 6 feet with not an ounce of fat on his body, mainly due to the fact that there wasn’t enough food to go around.

Not that he was muscular mind you, just all the fat was gone to malnutrition. Stocky shoulders lead to a kind face with a smile, a nose that had been broken multiple times and light blue eyes with a diagonal scar across the left eye that led past a set of bushy eyebrows to a shaved head.

The one he was arguing with appeared to be a sour sort, you would have to be to steal food from a child and Rogun got to hear the end of the argument. “You don’t take from children you bastard, if I hear or see you do anything like this it will be the last time. Do you understand me?”

The eyes of the thief’s were cold pools without an ounce of regret but looking down at the ground he said, “It won’t happen again.” Garomphe didn’t believe it at all but what was done was done and he responded, “See that it doesn’t.” and threw him against the wall and proceeded to give the bread back to the urchin child crying on the ground.

Rogun strolled over to where Garomphe was standing with the child and said “That was handled well, child would you like an apple with your bread?” He grabbed an apple out of the sack before the child finished speaking “… please sir.” The child grabbed the apple and ran off before either of them could change their minds. “I always wish I could do more for them. We’re all barely alive down here.” Garomphe said. Rogun handed over the rest of the sack and with a tinge of hope in his voice said, “These apples could be the tipping point for life or death down here, make sure they are distributed fairly and to those who need them.”

Garomphe looked over at Rogun and said “Got away again boy? I told you the orchard was too risky those guards could have followed you here.”

Rogun smirked and responded, “Those puffed-up fools could never catch me, I’ll be going back tomorrow to see what else I can find. For now, though I need my bed and a good night’s sleep.”

Garomphe snorted “They’ll catch you one day boy and then you’ll know! Get off to bed now so I can get this food to those who need it.”

This left Rogun strolling to his humble abode for the night more of a hovel really. It was hidden in the darkest depths of the undercity towards the back. He had to scale a few walls and leap across a few buildings to get there it was worth it.

When he arrived on his rooftop you could see his threadbare blanket and random pieces of food strewn about the roof. The real prize though was the view he was at the very back of the dregs so he could see all the darkness leading to the lights from the city all the way to the palace. He liked to fall asleep looking at the city dreaming of better things and that is just what he did tonight.

Chapter 2

I woke up to the shining brightly into my eyes through the threadbare blanket I had wrapped myself in before succumbing to sleep. Belgra really was a beautiful city. A desert oasis. The city was the largest in the continent of Reshada and was well known for its colored markets and strict no-magic policy. It was often crowded in the streets in the morning while people hustled to get their chores done and set up their stands for the rush.

This always worked to my advantage as it was easier to lose myself in a busy crowded street if being chased by angry Merchants, other thieves and worse the guards like yesterday. I’m sure they must have had some sort of reward out to catch me by now. The thought was thrilling, that I was causing the Nobility of Belgra enough of an inconvenience that they would offer a reward to have me removed. More situations like this and I would start to be less humble.

What would be on the agenda today? I knew that the guards would be on the lookout for me in the marketplace and the orchards for a while so there were two possible options for me. I could either do the smart thing and lay low until the guards had forgotten about me or I could go somewhere they would never expect to find me or anyone else stealing. It was decided, I would steal from the castle and have enough of a payday that I could relax for a bit.

There were no fresh clothes for me to change into as I only owed the one pair, but I am sure that I still looked presentable. Ratty blue trousers and a white vest. People have told me more than once that I look like a prince out of a storybook despite how shabbily I dressed. Muscular with toned arms, a wolfish face with piercing green eyes and close-cropped blonde locks leading to a birthmark of two circles crisscrossing under my right eye.

Nothing really stood out besides the birthmark, I have never seen anyone with anything close to what was on my face. It was not difficult to cover it, a little mud from a puddle on the rooftop to conceal and I was good to start my way towards the palace.

While I was scrambling my way across the rooftops, I could see that the guards were out in full force this morning. Definitely a response to my thieving from the Royal Orchard yesterday but honestly, I couldn’t see why they would care. A bushel of apples for the residents of the Dregs would be nothing to the Nobility of Belgra.

They just couldn’t stand to have anything stolen from them, ever more having something stolen by a thief from the Dregs. The idea itself would be galling to any of them. That one of us could take from them with all their resources. Sometimes skill is all you need to make your way in the world, not that the resources they had wouldn’t make it much less work for me.

How to sneak into the palace. I know I can get most of the way scaling the rooftops but once I get there my current look would be less then inconspicuous. The Palace was large enough to be considered ostentatious with marble columns that looked as if they had been imported right from Greece. The color was faded due to the constantly swirling sands of the desert, but you could see a hint of gold and a shade of green that were the house colors for the family of Trelashe.

The main entrance to the palace was too risky to try and enter but watching the palisade from my current rooftop across from the palace I could see the guard’s rotations. Two by two every 5 minutes then they would rotate and cycle back through. These were the standard guards of course not the King’s elite privileged Magic slaves.

You could tell because they didn’t have the telltale magic pin in the shape of a white rose on their left collar. That and they didn’t have the look of untethered rage or hopelessness that most of them possessed. It also meant that the king was not close by as they were always in his vicinity to protect from threats.

Still even without the threat of magic taking down two Royal trained guards quietly by myself was unlikely to happen. I have always been a good thief and I know the basics of combat, how to win a fight etc. But I didn’t even have a sword all I had for protection was a small dagger that had had for as long as I could remember.

The handle was gold inlaid with red with two circles crisscrossing towards the top and a blade that never needed to be sharpened or cleaned. The circles were the only reason I had never attempted to sell the blade as I held out a hope that someday it could help me find out who I was. I couldn’t just be another orphan from the slums, there had to be more to me than that.

With the dagger I could protect myself at least but the best play was to sneak in and out without being seen and if I timed it just right it could be done. There now was his moment he could see a patch of shade that the guards were retreating from. Jogging to the back of the building he started to sprint until he got right to the edge and leapt across his fingers just barely grasping the awning leaning off the side of the palace.

I just had to pull myself up unto the ledge and then I would be in the palace, and I could find something worth enough gold to feed the worst in the Dregs for at least a little bit. It’s like Garomphe would always say “Just because you can’t fight for something, doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it.” It had always stuck in my heart as a motto of sorts to look after the downtrodden.

Pulling myself up from the awning and onto the ledge it looked as if some great beast had spewed jewels and splendor everywhere. The decadence was nearly overwhelming to me, and it was just a hallway on the edge of the palace. There was no time to gawp unfortunately I had to stay on pace with the guard’s rotation, yet I had made it! I was inside the palace and the hunt was on.

Chapter 3

As I snuck down the narrow hallway, I was so focused on remaining silent that I almost missed it. The scratching sound of steel on stone behind me. Footsteps. I froze. It was as if all the blood in my veins was curdling, and I could taste copper in my mouth. My heart was beating so fast I was sure it would explode. I let out a tiny gasp and then started inching forward at a faster pace until I could find somewhere to hide until they walked by. Stealing a fast glance behind me I saw a shadow closing in around the corner visible from the light of the fire in the torches lining the passageway.

It was remarkable the shadow had almost a pulse coming from it, and I instinctively felt drawn towards the way I had come. This did not bode well, all my previous experience with this feeling, this apprehension always had to do with magic. I was considering edging back towards it when I felt someone jab me in the ribs. I looked to my left and saw Grinshor smiling up at me.

“I don’t have time for your nonsense Grin! Someone is coming we need to move, and we need to move now.” Grin giggled a little and said “Move? You looked like you were about to walk back towards the guard! You’re lucky I was following you or you could have ended up in Dresgon!” I cringed Dresgon was the Prison for anyone who didn’t listen to the king or was caught breaking any of the laws of Belgra.

I looked down at Grin who coincidentally was smiling again. Hence the shortened nickname, he was a little smaller than me scrawny almost to the point of sickly with a wild mop of unruly brown hair and shaded red eyes. Grin was more than a little manic, but he was the only one I could consider a friend besides Garomphe.

“How did you know where I would be, why are you here?” I asked while dragging him up the hallway. “Garomphe might have mentioned that you would be doing something foolish after your run in with the guards yesterday, so I tailed you to the palace and followed you inside till you froze.” Said Grin.

“We’re going to get caught! Two bodies are much harder to hide then one. You need to go!” I told him. Grin just smiled back up at me and said, “If that is meant to happen, then it will happen.” What a bunch of foolishness. I’d love to tell him where to go and how to get there. A frozen spot in hell was waiting for the people who put me in these situations.

The footsteps were growing closer when I spied a set of stairs descending on the right. I rushed over dragging Grin behind me aware that I had begun to lose track of the way back out of the palace. Too many twists and turns through narrow hallways before I was spooked by Grin. I heard the footsteps above skirt by the passageway, luck was with me today it seemed. Now that the threat of capture and possible dismemberment were gone, we had the opportunity to look and see where we were.

The room they were in ended a few feet from the stairs with what appeared to be a solid gold door, the door didn’t appear to require a key but the etchings on it were extraordinary. Grin appeared to be just as transfixed by the door as I was, something about it felt magical and I could almost feel a little tingle in the pit of my stomach.

“Do we go in?” Grin asked.

“Of course, we go in! Look at the door! There are things worth taking behind those doors!”

“It doesn’t look safe!”.

“What fun would it be if it was? Feel free to head home but I am going in there.”

Grin just sighed and waved his hand forward knowing that I was headed in regardless of what he said or did. The excitement was palpable as I moved toward the door feeling a sense of rightness. The door swung open before my hand finished reaching it. The room was not lit by sconces or any sort of natural light everything had a faint tint of blue to it. It was completely empty except for a stand in the center of the room that appeared to be a dragon’s mouth.

Nestled in the mouth of the dragon was a glowing blue stone which was the source of light for the room. The shade of blue was transcendent, and I could see it reflected beautifully in Grin’s eyes. I reached a hand towards it when I heard Grin gasp.

“What is it?” I whispered back at him.

“Your birthmark is glowing!”

Grin was right, the closer I got to the stone, the more vibrant it and my birthmark appeared. How odd. I wondered what would happen if I touched it.

Grin knew what I was going to do before I did and yelled “Don’t!” but it was too late. I had walked the last few steps and placed my hand upon the stone.

“Voommph.” There was a shockwave throughout the palace. I was lifted into the air by the stone, and it rose out of the dragon’s mouth. What was happening to me? I could feel my body bending back and forth in the air, but I had no control of my movements and Grin looked completed terrified.

The stone was warm to the touch, but the color appeared to be leeching out of the stone and into me making my body and cloths so vibrant. Grin turned away to shield his eyes from the light and I was still shaking uncontrollably while whatever was in the stone finished streaming inside me with a loud “Pop!”

The stone fell to the ground and collapsed into dust and then I proceeded to fall from where I was hovering onto the ground face first.

“Ugh...” I groaned.

“What was that?!” Grin demanded of me.

“Magic… and loud, the King’s guard and the rest of the castle will be on their way here to see what had caused the ground to shake. We need to move.”

“Why can’t anything ever be easy with you?”

“It’s not the way I’m built. Besides if everything was easy, we would never have any fun!”

“Fun with you will kill me someday.” Grin said as we left the room and started back up the stairs.

Chapter 4

As we walked up the stairs back into the castle away from the room, I did not feel any different. Should I feel different? What had just happened? There were a million questions pooling through my mind and I didn’t have an answer for any of them. At the forefront of my mind as usual there was something more significant. Survival. There was a very small chance of us getting out of here.

Grin slowed down when we reached the top of the stairs seeming to realize this as well. “What happened down there, with the stone and the light. We can’t let anyone know” I said.

“Obviously, no doubt the King would kill you for taking whatever it was.”

“How are we going to get out of here Grin? I can already hear a squadron of soldiers approaching.”

“Well we can try to run, my favorite option. But whatever happened here they will hunt us Rogun, you know this. They will need facts; they will want their light back.”

“I want to live, and I know you do too so here is what will happen. Here is what we will say.”

I laid out a brilliant plan to Grin with leaps and turns and beautiful reasoning before we stepped out from the staircase into the squadron of soldiers. Jaunting up to them with a smile on my face and a lie on my lips I went to explain when the closest one hit me over the head knocking me to the ground. I hit hard and I could see black rolling over my vision, the last thing I heard before the world faded was Grin yelling my name “Rogun!”

“Drip. Drip. Drip.” My head was pounding and what was that sound I pondered as I opened my eyes. Where was I? The dripping was water leaking from the ceiling of the room I was in, I made to stand but my hands and legs were chained. With that realization flooded back through me the palace, the stone, the guards. Where was grin?! This place was damp, probably some offshoot to torture us and see if they could get answers about what had caused the shockwave.

Peering around the room I could see other manacles lined up around the brick walls, but none appeared to be occupied. There was no window that I could see but there were blood and other stains spotted throughout with the smell of death and pain lingering. The only light appeared to be shining from two torches across from me outside a metal gate to keep me in if I somehow managed to escape the chains.

Outside the gate there was a solitary guard, appeared to be the standard sort by that I mean what you could expect from the King’s guard. Tall, fit, tunic mail, greaves, helmet, sword, and dagger all embellished with the gold and green of house Trelashe. Just your basic grunt with no pity or understanding in his eyes. This man was paid to do what the king told him to do and that was that, just a dog on a leash.

He noticed I was rousing and left, presumably to tell the King or some henchman that I was awake and ready for questioning. It was hard to focus though as there was a steady thump towards the back of my head where the guard had hit me with the pommel of his sword.

“Ahhhh!” that steady dripping was enough to drive a man to madness, whether on purpose or not it was the worst aspect of this cell. Why was Grin not here? Had he told them what happened? Was he still alive? He was my only friend in this city, in my life. My brain was in overdrive with all these thoughts circling the drain while I waited for the guard to return.

Maybe it had been the wrong choice to try a raid on the palace by myself. It could be that this whole situation could be construed as my fault. I’m sure that Grin would certainly see it that way, wherever he was. How could one person feel all this emotion, I was still reeling from the fact that I had absorbed the essence of the stone into my body and had floated in the air like a luminescent creature out of one of the children’s tales from my childhood.

I was so focused on my inner ramblings that I didn’t realize the guard had returned but he had, and he wasn’t alone. Standing beside him was a man that screamed elegance and royalty. Wearing a perfectly tailored tunic, trousers, velvet cape and a crimson crown. By all the gods. “… you’re the king.” I managed to rasp out.

“That I am, and who and what are you?” he replied with a voice full of contempt.

“What am I? I’m an orphan I snuck into the castle to look at the wealth when one of your guards rendered me unconscious and I woke up here. Manacled in this cell, where is my companion?”

“Your companion is not your concern. What occurred in the room? Where is my stone? What generated that shockwave throughout the castle? If you don’t answer me someone much less friendly will attempt to get the answers from you.”

“Where is Grin? I don’t know what it is you are talking about. Like I said my friend and I snuck into the castle to look around before we were accosted by your guards. “

“That’s it then I suppose. I made the attempt to be civil which is more then you deserve. Perhaps some time in Dresgon will loosen that lying tongue of yours. As for you friend, well you no longer have to worry about him. The royal dogs are finishing off his corpse as we speak.”

“.. you killed him. You killed Grin. Why, why would you do this?”

“I don’t need a reason. I am the King of Trelashe. Its citizens are mine to do as I wish with as you are soon to see. Take him to Dresgon guard. We will talk soon Rogun.”

He smiled gleefully the whole time he was talking as if our lives were just pieces on a game board to him. I was off to prison and my only friend was dead. Maybe I deserved to rot in Dresgon.

Chapter 5

The king departed and that left me with the Guard opening the cell to pull me out and the torrent of emotions pouring through my body. I didn’t understand any of this, just hours ago I had crept into the castle looking for an easy score. Now my friend was dead, his body mutilated, and I was being sent to the worst prison anyone had ever heard of. I’d consider it a death sentence if I didn’t know that the King wanted something from me.

I wonder if the guard had a name, maybe I would just call him Boots as he had a truly devastating pair of boots on and not in a good way. He had a certain smell to him as well, what I imagine to be dried leather, mead, and excrement. Approaching me he said “I’m here to escort you to the prison from this cell as the King ordered. Once you arrive in the prison you will receive 10 lashes for not giving our King what he asked for. If this does not sit well with you, no one will care. No one will speak out, No one will notice. Here, with us in the prison you will be less than nothing.”

All of this he said while unchaining me from the wall. I thought about putting up some sort of fight maybe an escape attempt but there was no energy in my body. Physically and emotionally drained I said “What a king you serve. That kills imprisons and beats his subjects. You must be overjoyed to be lackey to such a man. Lashes will not break my spirit nor will anything else your King will do to me. I am a citizen of the Dregs, and we are not your toys.”

Boots looked back at me laughed and said “Aye, they will beat that attitude out of you boy, mark my words. Ain’t a soul that goes into Dresgon and keeps their soul.” With that I was off the wall and on my hands and knees. He pulled me up and put a set of manacles on my wrists connected to a chain he was holding. It would seem he would get me to the prison regardless of if I walked or if he dragged me there.

Dresgon was not close by any means and by the time boots had me out of the palace there was a horse and carriage waiting to take me to the prison. What surprised me was that there were 4 guards as an escort and one of them a Mage. He had the White Rose pin proudly placed on the outside of his tunic along with an air of authority surrounding him. This one was dangerous. What need was a mage required to escort me? I had no chance with the regular guards. Something about this wasn’t adding up to me.

I had a long carriage ride to ruinate over the thoughts. Boots tossed me into the carriage locked it and I was on my way to the most feared prison in the Kingdom of Trelashe. Cooped up in this dark box for days was still more appealing than the thought of being whipped when I arrived. Not that I was a stranger to scars, cuts or scrapes having grown up in the Dregs. But a whipping was something else altogether, having seen them before heard the whip and seen the splash of blood so red against the grain of the sand.

10 lashings are what I was due, maybe if I let myself succumb to sleep, I would wake and find this was all a dream. That I had dozed off at supper with Garomphe and Grin. Wouldn’t that be lovely? A man can always dream of better things. This was the last thought that I had before my eyes drifted closed and I shifted into the pleasantness that was my dreams.

“Wake up!” I heard yelled at me. How much time had passed I wasn’t sure, but I was still in the dark carriage heading towards my doom. Scratch that. I was there I thought as they opened the carriage door, and I was blinded by the light after being confined in the darkness.

Dresgon was located by the Peak Mountains of Trelashe. A very desperate and decrepit looking place. It was basically a set of little brick huts surrounded by a large stone wall. The wall looked as if the inmates had been made to assemble it themselves. There wasn’t much in the way of buildings and there was only the one entrance that we had just ridden through with a set of solid wooden gates.

In the center of the prison there was a large tent made from silk. This was most definitely where the warden of Dresgon stayed. Then there are the obvious whipping posts spread throughout the prison, easy to see by the blood stains on the ground and the posts. The inmates all appear devoid of hope as if they have been here for years. Then there were the tunnels, which was what was required for the slaves.

Every day from dawn till dusk the slaves were required to dig until they were told to stop and with the meager rations that the slaves received most of them were little more than bones and skin. This was to be my new home; I would not let it break me. I would be stronger than those before me. I was more than this.

The warden strolled quickly enough over to where Rogun was laying on the ground and said “Remove his shackles” to one of the guards. My wrists felt much lighter although the chafed from where the metal had been rubbing against them.

“Remove your tunic.”

Already, so soon. I paused because I did not want the whipping regardless of my mindset. Gods I had heard the screams before from one and knew I had minimal chance of being stronger. I pulled my tunic and dragged it over my greasy hair and then pulled off my undershirt displaying the slightly scarred tender skin underneath.

“Lucius, Demond”. Two of the guards walked over towards me.

There was no need to struggle, it wouldn’t get me anywhere. They held me in a position, so my back was easily visible to the Mage guard.

“Ten lashes wasn’t it, Santo? Enjoy yourself at the kindness of our king. Show him what happens to those who defy him.”

“I live to serve the King.” Santo replied.

I made brief eye contact with Santo and the glee in his eyes did nothing to settle the fear that was starting to rage through my body.

“Demond, count for the mage. Feel free to add a number or two, this one looks like there is some spirit left in them currently and that is not what the king is expecting from us.”

Santo maneuvered himself behind me and I could hear him take the whip from the wardens outstretched hand. I began to feel the earth start to rumble only nothing was shaking but me. Disillusioned fear was making me tremor. The world wasn’t moving, I was.

“You may begin.”

I heard Santo inhale and I could envision him pulling his arm back to snap the whip. I wanted some way to be ready for this, but I heard the crack and then felt blinding pain across my back. There was no resolve on my part I screamed like death. If the warden had whipped me it would hurt, the whip in the hands of a full-grown mage was devasting.

The blood started to run in rivulets down my back dripping onto the ground.

“One.” Demond said.

There was a gleeful laugh from behind me Santo must be enjoying himself I thought before I heard the second crack followed immediately by the third, fourth and fifth. There was no breath in my lungs, who could breathe through such pain.

“Two.” Demond said.

Holy mother of gods. They were going to whip me to death. The sentencing of 10 lashes was a joke to them, here away from prying eyes. Anything could be done to me; I was a slave in the world’s worst prison. No one would care.

It felt like this went on for hours and there was no skin left on my back, The Whip had long since started hitting previous marks notching through the torn skin to hit my bone.

Over and over again. I dared a glance behind me barely able to even move my neck and I saw Santo smiling and panting, drooling from the effort it was taking to bleed me like this.

“That should be enough.” Warden Feldman said.

“Anymore and I don’t believe the little man would live through it. Hard to say if he will as it is. Throw him in with the other slaves and we can get back to the evening meal.”

Demond and Lucius dragged my limp body over towards one of the little huts where the prisoners lived. Leaving a trail of my blood behind me while the warden and Santo went to gorge themselves on food and wine after a job well done.

They weren’t particularly gentle dragging my body across the cold ground and I could feel pieces of my skin catching every now and then on a loose rock in the soil. Needless to say, the pain was so excruciating that by the time we arrived at my new home tears were streaming down my face. They tossed me into the hut, my body slamming into the wall before I drifted into a world of black.

Chapter 6

Once more it would appear I was due to wake up in a new place after drifting into unconsciousness. The pain across my back was there but muted and it felt like some sort of paste had been rubbed into the wounds. Who had done that I wonder? I opened my eyes to see a pair of steely gray ones looking back at me through a pair of spectacles.

The eyes were of course attached to an individual. What looked like a small male about the shape and size of Grin but more weathered and less bright as if he was resigned to his fate. He had on what looked to be a burlap sack with arms and legs cut out of it and worn thongs for footwear.

“Thank you.” I managed to stutter out.

He offered me a glass of water and said “Drink, you must be parched after your ordeal. My name is Olish, and I tended your wounds. No one else in here even deemed you worthy of the effort. You will soon learn that in Dresgon you tend to yourself and play it safe.”

I grabbed the glass from and gulped it down, water dripping down my chest. “Why help me? It will do nothing for you in the warden’s eyes, I am sure. The man seems positively delighted when administering pain.”

“Ol’ Feldman is like that. Always has been always will be. If you were looking for someone with a sunny disposition you’ve came to the wrong place my friend.”

“Friend?”

“Just an expression, a turn of phrase. Unless of course you would like to be. The other prisoners have been here so long most of them no longer even speak. And it is quite lonely. The last prisoner to arrive was myself and that was only a month or so ago so some semblance of personality and human emotion is left to me.”

“A friend would be an unexpected pleasure. I should want you that at some point the King will arrive to put me to the question again. Association with me could prove fatal.”

“Some things are worth dying for. Friendship in a place like this is one of them. Pleasantries aside we should get some food into you before we start for the day.”

The thought of doing any sort of activity made my body being to tremble but there would be no way out of this that I was sure of.

“I will eat whatever you can provide Olish. What sort of work happens here? I’ve heard rumors of digging and all sorts of outlandish things.”

“Fresh gruel it is. The digging is true. We dig from the start of the day till the end. All in search of something that was said to have been lost her a hundred years ago. We haven’t been told what we are searching for, but it must be valuable. It’s the whole reason the prison is located where it is.”

What could the king be searching for? Every time a question was answered it seemed like two more came forth. There had to be a reason for all of this. I wondered if I should tell Olish about the stone, but I decided against it. I’d only just met the man, who knew what his true motives were.

Olish brought over the gruel and placed it beside me on the ground.

“No spoon I’m afraid they don’t trust us with utensils. Afraid we would find some way to slit our throats and end this miserable existence.”

Picking up the bowl with my hands I tilt it towards my mouth and let it slide down my gullet. There was no flavor present. If I had to describe it someone, I would say it was like a slushy mix of oats and water with an occasional piece of meat that had been in the liquid so long all the flavors had been leeched from it.

“What a lovely concoction. I can see why you all appear to be so happy and motivated to go about your days.”

There was a sharp whistle that cut through the air and pierced my ears.

Olish chortled. “Let’s see if that sarcasm of yours can survive your first day. You will hear that whistle three times. One for the start, another for lunch and the final for the end of day.”

He tossed me a shovel. Helped me to stand and then we were out of the tent and mixing into the crowd of prisoners heading towards what I guessed to be the digging grounds. There must have been at least 1000 inmates here. How was it possible that they hadn’t found what they were looking for.

The digging grounds looked like they were inside a massive underground cave system and at the entrance there was a team of 10 Prison guards including Demond, Lucius, and Santo. Seeing Santo so soon sent a jolt of fear through my body. He saw my eyes reaching toward him and pulled his lips up into an earsplitting grin.

“Listen up! We have a new inmate today, I’m sure you heard the whipping when we introduced him to the warden yesterday. This slave is meant to live. Anyone taking action towards him will result in the king’s justice. Is this understood?” Santo asked.

“Yes Overseer Santo.” The collective inmates mumbled.

“Then start digging.”

The crowd started into the cave, and it was lit much more then I would have thought. Lanterns highlighted the rocks that had been carved by many shovels over the years. Every day they had dug a little deeper and a little farther. I had to have walked for at least 10 minutes before I stopped when the group in front of me. I pushed forward and saw that we had stopped against a wall.

Olish walked up beside me and said “Better start digging lad, that scrape on your back won’t stop any of the guards from whipping you down here. Just as bad as what you got yesterday.”

With nothing more to say I hefted the shovel and drove it into the wall. The shovel was light, and the rock was unforgiving. I knew in a few hours the shovel would feel like a thousand tons and it was nearly impossible to lift my arms up to scrape the shovel after the first dig.

“Shreeeeeeee.” The lunch whistle blew.

“10 minutes for rest and some gruel.” Olish said.

“Only 10 minutes, I can barely move.”

“You’re lucky they give us anything. Let’s grab our gruel and then have a seat.”

The overseers had large jugs of gruel that they were pouring into bowls on the ground. Th slaves were required to pick up their bowls and shuffle somewhere to sit down on the rough ground and eat their gruel. There was one man left by the wall and a guard went over to check on him.

“We’ve got another dead one.”

He then pointed to two slaves and said, “Put him in the hole.”

The slaves dragged the body away.

Before I could ask Olish what the hole a whip was snapped and it was time to go back to work. Walking back to the wall and lifting the shovel again all I could think was that dying had to be less pain than this. My arms burned and my back was on fire with blood seeping through the bandages Olish had applied on my back. I was falling apart at the seams, and I didn’t know if I could handle it. Just when I was about to sit down and receive whatever punishment from the guards the end of day whistle blew.

Olish looked over at me pulled my arm up onto his shoulder and we started our trek back out of the cave to our little hut on the grounds. We arrived and I had questions for Olish but as soon as I laid down, I collapsed with exhaustion into a deep sleep.

Chapter 7

The next 3 weeks passed without incident. I woke up had gruel, went to dig, had gruel dug some more and then slept on repeat. It was demanding, unappreciative work but it did have the necessary effect. Hours blurred into days and days into week and still no visit from the king.

I hadn’t made any more friends like Olish but there were a few that hadn’t taken kindly to the proclamation that I wasn’t to be hurt as I belonged to the king. This had resulted in a black eye and a few bruised ribs all from one individual and his gang. His name was Fenrir a tall inmate with skin as dark as night and the temperament to match. If it was up to him, I would have been dead already but the little amount of sense he had had told him to leave me alive.

It was at the start of a new day as we were heading back into the dig site that they issued another proclamation. Everyone congregated together and Warden Feldman approached to deliver a message.

“There has been a dragon sighting outside the prison on the outskirts of the Mountain range. We have decided that to maintain population levels here that it would be prudent to send you to the caves to dig until we can verify it is gone. Most of the guards will be going with a skeleton crew left to watch you. Any attempt to leave the digsite without permission will be met in death.”

What had I gotten myself into? I hadn’t even thought Dragon’s existed any longer. Perhaps it was a joke to see who was gullible or more likely they just wanted an excuse to have us digging for longer hours. This only meant that Fenrir would have more time to abuse me while the guards were away not that they would care to stop him if they were present.

One more push into the cave while they want to investigate. I lifted my shovel as I walked towards where I had finished yesterday. Nothing to do but to push through I suppose, anything that happened afterwards was going to happen no matter what I did.

Olish walked up beside me and asked, “Have you seen a Dragon before boy?”

“... I didn’t believe they even existed until today. Seems like some sort of plot to work us to the bone.”

“You would think, but no I saw the scout come through that reported it to the warden he was shaken. He had to have seen something real to put that fear in his eyes.”

“But a dragon, honestly it seems silly. I’ve read many a tale about them, and every single one of them was written for children. If it is real, I’d love to see it.”

“Trust me on this, something like that. If it’s alive it is not something you would ever want to see. Supposed to be the size of a house, razor sharp teeth and fangs. A tail more forceful than any whip, wings to life it up into the sky and if all of that isn’t enough it can release an inferno from its jaws at any time.”

“Actual dragons, what a world. But back to digging Olish. Today could be the day!”

“And I’ll live to a thousand.” Olish grumbled.

Dig dig dig. It was enough to make one feel like a mole. The caves looked like the excavation of some giant beast’s stomach. The soil was so dark it was like looking at tar and the amount of it that was brought out each day was monumental.

I was about to give up for the day when I felt a pull in my gut and my fingers started to tickle. Intrigued

I followed the sensation and it led me towards the end of the line on the right where there was currently no one digging. There was a shimmer of yellow light flooding through the dark soil, reaching down I gently caressed it with the tip of my finger.

Immediately yellow light flooded from the stone into my body, and I knew if anyone looked, they would see my birthmark glowing. It lifted me up off the ground like the blue stone had but this time no one got to see me as I was out of sight, then there was a shockwave like the one that had happened with the previous stone, and it crumbled into dust. Unfortunately, this time it blew at all the lights in the cave, this left thousands of inmates in the dark.

There were screams and you could hear the thunk of shovels hitting flesh. I huddled against the wall not at all interested in the carnage that was happening. This brutality was not for me, I didn’t belong in a prison let alone a free for all in a pitch-black cave. I was thinking how lucky I was to have been near the edge when I heard my name being screamed.

“Rogun! Help!” It was Olish, Fenrir must have managed to find him in the dark while he was looking for me. My only choice was to get down on my hands and knees and shuffle my way over to the sound of his voice.

“I know you can hear me whelp!” Fenrir roared.

“Come and save your friend if you have the courage! I long to bathe in your blood.”

Gods, he was a vicious man. I can’t imagine having so much hate in my heart let alone the rage that seemed to fuel this man. What causes a man to end up like this I wonder, perhaps once he wasn’t trying to kill me or my friends, I could ask him.

My knees were getting cut going over the rough-cut rock and soil that was the cave floor. Hopefully I would find them before my knees started bleeding to badly. Olish was all I had for comfort and friendship in this hellhole I needed to save him.

I took a deep breath “Fenrir! Where are you?! Leave Olish alone, it’s me you want!”

“Come here Rogun come and die by the edge of my shovel.”

Ahh, there he was up ahead and to my left I could just make him out. The dirt on the floor was now wet with blood and instead of the rocks scratching my knees there were squishy lumps that must be dead bodies.

He hadn’t heard me approaching yet. I silently crept up to feet at swung the shovel at the back of his legs. The shovel sharpened from piercing rocks all day cut through his leg like it was warm butter effectively hobbling the man.

He was knocked sprawling onto the dirt floor. Landing on his hands and knees you could see the blood pouring from the stump that used to be his left leg. The copper tang of blood was heavy in the air. I reached down and pulled Olish to his feet.

It was then that all the prison guards sprinted in with the warden bringing light back into the cave with the many torches they were holding. Santo and Warden Feldman were demanding to know what had happened. What had caused the shockwave and why so many were dead. No one had an answer for him.

Chapter 8

There had to be at least a hundred dead slaves in the caves butchered by the sharp steel on the tips of the shovels. And then some like Fenrir were only missing limbs and were being attended to before they bled out, not that anyone would be particularly bothered if they did but good labor was hard to find nowadays, and the slaves were broken in like a pair of well-worn shoes.

The slaves remaining were bloody and down-trodden but most look very pleased with themselves at what they had accomplished.

“What in all the hells has happened here?” Feldman demanded.

“We were on our way out to see if a Dragon was actually present in the range when a shockwave blasted by us and spooked the horses. Santo say’s that it appeared to originate from the digsite and then we arrive to this mess. With no light you turn to animals in the dark. Is that it? What caused the wave to happen? Every minute I am without an answer Santo will kill one of you.”

Olish perked his head up and said “We was digging sir, just the way we usually do when we begin to feel the wave like you mentioned. There was a brief flash of yellow light that illuminated the cave and then a strong wind that blew out all the torches and left us in the dark. Didn’t get to see what caused the light because as soon as it appeared the light was gone with the torches. After that, well you can see what happened. No one else should die today sir.”

“Is that so? No one knows what caused the flash of light? No unexpected finds digging today? There must be more to the story but you lot are useless. Guards light the wall sconces. Slaves, carry the dead to the pit and then resume digging. Lunch is cancelled today.”

Olish had capitulated to the warden very easily. I suppose he had his reasons, like not wanting any more inmate blood to be shed today. Still, it felt like my friend might be a bit of a coward. The warden was a powerful man in the confines of his prison and Olish had saved lives. I should be applauding my friend in his courage talking up for us, for our lives instead of looking for some ulterior motive on his end.

With the warden on his way out Olish and I both grabbed a shoulder of a dead inmate and started to drag them towards the pit at the front of the cave. I looked back and could see Fenrir glaring at me holding his amputated leg in his arms like a child. The rage in his stare was palpable and I held his eyes until we rounded the corner, I wouldn’t let him frighten me any longer. This took the rest of the day, dragging bruised battered and bloody bodies to the pit.

The horrifying part was no matter how many bodies were dropped in the pit you could never hear the bodies hit on the way down. It appeared to have no bottom, circular with dimensions of about 5Ft it was cut the whole way down with smooth polished stone. Almost as if some gigantic worm with razor sharp teeth had opened its maw and tunneled downwards until it reached to core of the earth and died.

More of the inmates believe that it waited down in the murky depths and enjoyed the feast of bodies that were always deposited its way. The feast it would get today if was there would be sure to leave it sated for months.

Covered with blood from head to toe and headed back to dig some more I glanced at Olish.

“Did I do the right thing today? I didn’t want him to hurt you, but something took me over and the next thing I knew I was standing over him with a bloody shovel and he was on his knees in the dirt leaking blood with one of his legs no longer attached to his body.”

“Brutal it may seem. But I called to you, and you came, you saved my life today Rogun and that is not something I can forget. If I followed the old ways and I have been considering it then I would owe you what’s called a life debt.”

“You’re my friend, there was nothing else to do. What is a life debt?”

“Friendship is an unfamiliar concept to me nowadays. A life debt is something special given to someone who has saved your life at great risk to themselves. It means that I would follow you to the ends of the earth be your companion, your confidant, and your champion until your journey ends.”

“Based on what has happened in my life so far Olish, I don’t know if you would want to chain yourself to someone as volatile as myself. Only 17 and I have met the King, lost my parents, had a close friend die and ended up here in Dresgon all within a few months. It would not be an easy life. Is it possible to refuse the debt?”

“Life is not meant to be easy. To refuse a debt is to die slowly on the inside with the knowledge that someone has saved your life and you have done nothing for them. It would eat me up inside. There is no use. With these words the bond is made, a life saved, and a promise gave.”

I sighed. “Guess I’m stuck with you now.”

Olish just smiled. “Till my last breath leaves my lungs I am yours.”

Slightly invigorating to know that wherever I went from here on out that I would no longer be on my own. No matter what Olish would follow me through thick and thin. Maybe there was a chance that he knew what was happening with the stones, what they were and how I had somehow absorbed the yellow and blue essence. As always, I had more questions that I needed the answer to.

“Olish how does one clean themselves here? I have been her over 3 weeks and there has been no mention of it. My body is becoming pungent, and it will only be worse after the blood and gore of today’s activities.”

“That’s an easy enough question to answer. Once every two months, when the smell becomes too much for the guards, they will take us outside the prison. There is a small lake just outside, we are given a single bar of soap and 5 minutes in the water to clean. After that there is no drying, just put your burlap back on your cold wet skin and proceed back to the dig site for the day.”

“Seems foolish to me. Infection, disease even rot could catch a person and lead them to their death.”

“You’re treating the Guards and the Warden like decent people in your mind. You need to disillusion yourself with that idea. They do not care who lives or who dies as long as they still have bodies to dig at the end of the day. Nothing more and nothing less. It is just the way it is here at Dresgon.”

“Still, cleanliness is a way of life. I was clean more as an Orphan living on the streets of Belgra, how foolish is that. I’ve heard prisons are lovely places, 3 meals a day, outdoor exercise, and full bathroom facilities.”

“Dresgon is not other prisons.”

I became aware of this face more every day. Dresgon was a den of impropriety.

“Screeeech.” The final whistle blew.

The day was over. Time to head back and dream of being anywhere else in the world. A nice bed with silken sheets and food. Imagine I could even have a family to call my own, anything better than the waking hell my life was.

Chapter 9

I believe I was starting to think comfort was non-existent after waking up another day on the cold hard floor of the Prison hut Olish and I shared. Crudely mad out of what seemed to be some dried clay mixture all it would do was keep the wind from blowing in our faces, it did not keep the heat in though.

Laying there on the ground listening to Olish snore I decided I would bring up the topic of magic and see what he could tell me about it. The worst would be that he just didn’t have any knowledge although I didn’t think that would be the case Olish had some years on him. He had to have seen/heard something is his years.

“Screeeeeeech”. There was our glorious herald signaling the start of another day.

“Up and at ‘em Olish! Wouldn’t want to miss a lovely bowl of gruel before we start for the day!”

“Bah, too early for this. Let’s go but not so loud, I’m still half asleep.”

“The early bird gets the worm. Gruel in this case but you know what I mean. Once we get to the dig site, I have some questions I would like to ask.”

“Sounds like an eventful day, lucky me.” Olish grimaced.

So off we went to dig again and to get our morning meal. At this point in my incarceration, I had developed thick calluses on my hands and feet due to all the labor. Curiously I didn’t think I would be comfortable wearing shoes any longer. It wasn’t unenjoyable to have my toes always touching the ground. If anything, it let me feel more grounded and connected to the earth. A little tingle always let me know if there were roots or a large rock and I could sidestep it before tripping.

A second sense more than anything but I chalked it up to good luck. I was looking forward to the gruel today, starving the last meal I just needed something in my stomach to settle it. Hunger could do awful things to the body.

Arriving at the site we went over and grabbed our two bowls of gruel and proceeded to eat them with our hands.

“Olish, what do you know about magic?”

“Magic? Why would you ask about this? There hasn’t been a free Mage in years.”

“Call it curiosity of the young. I’d like to know more about it Anything I can find out really. Do you know much?”

“I don’t know much more besides the basics and the odd rumor I’ve heard from the other inmates. There is someone here who could answer your questions though. His name is Emran, and he is the prison’s oldest guest. We will dig with him today so you can ask your questions.”

How exciting the prospect of finally getting some answers was for me. After finishing our breakfast, I followed Olish while he looked for Emran eventually pointing him out to me. Emran was a small man extremely old looking with withered skin. No hair on his head but he did have a bandana of sorts over his right eye, the left was a stark white and a little manic. His smile was quite large, looking pleased to be started with another day and his shovel.

We walked over and Olish said “This is my friend Rogun, he has some questions he would like to ask you.”

“Why should I answer questions? That’s all anyone ever seems to want from me now.”

“It would be greatly appreciated. Olish has told me you are a very wise man with an infinite amount of knowledge.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere. Ask away.” Emran giggled and started to dig.

“What do you know about magic?”

“More then most and less then some others. Definitely more than any here.”

“What happened to it?”

“ Now that is a tale worth telling.”

“Belgra was once a very different Land. Full of magic, wonder and excitement. Host to all manner of creatures. Elves, Dragons, Dwarves and more.

There was a human King named Vikram and he was envious of the abilities the other races had. The elves and their supremacy with magic. The dwarves and their ability to mold stone, he even envied the Dragon’s for their ability to fly.

Vikram wanted the other races gone, Belgra was meant to be populated by humans he would say. Magic is a sin and a curse on the populace he recited over and over during his reign until it was believed by the vast majority of humankind.

He became determined that they needed to be removed from the continent and stated as much to everyone who would listen, and the country was slowly turned from anyone with a drop of magic in their blood. The magic users were not going to leave without a fight though. They rode in on their dragons and enchanted horses to fight and remove the king unaware that the king had somehow received magic of his own in the form of 3 glowing stones.

When they attacked the king the stones physically sapped the magic from the user’s reservoirs leaving them human besides their appearance. The king’s army capitulated on this weakness, and it was a slaughter. The elf King Sharu and many others fell victim to the king and seeing the stones they realized that there was a traitor in their midst that collaborated with the king making the stones to sap them of their power.

The traitor was never found but the remnants of the Magical army escaped with two of the stones. One yellow and one green flush with stolen magical power. No one is sure of where they went when they ran but they left a prophecy behind.

Raised alone.

Hardships to bear.

Touch the King’s stone.

Dresgon Beware.

Flesh and cleaved bone.

Power in the air.

Northward towards Throne.

Long live the heir.

”

“Well that was certainly a lot of information.”

I said my mind reeling with all the newfound information. Magic was real the creatures were real, and the stones by the gods I had absorbed two of them. What were they doing to my body and what would happen if I ever managed to find the last one? It really sounded like I was the one mentioned in the prophecy. Many of the points I had already hit.

Raised alone. Check. Hardships. I was a literal orphan. The king’s stone I touched in the castle which led me to Dresgon. Now that I was here, I had cleaved Fenrir’s flesh and bone with the shovel and the yellow stone had released another burst of power in the air. All that was left was for me to travel northward and find the other stone with the Magic users that had ran after they lost.

Should I confess this to Olish, did he deserve to know now that he had entwined his life with mine?

“That’s all I’ve got, and I don’t know what the prophecy means so don’t bother. But there has to be more to life than this.” Emran said

“Screeeeech.”

Gods, his story had taken up the entire first half of the day. It was always difficult for me to discern this in the caves as there was no natural light. Just the flickering of the torches on the wall and the ever-present guards lurking in the background begging for an excuse to hurt an inmate. The smallest things seemed to set them off.

Towards the evening gruel we went leaving Emran behind, but I could feel his one eye honed directly on me as we walked away from him. Almost as if he could sense that there was something different about me.

Oddly enough, I didn’t want things to change. Sure, I didn’t want to be in prison any longer but having a prophecy hanging over my head pushed me from a regular man to someone that would have songs wrote about him. It was a lot of responsibility to give a young man, this is what I thought while I ate my evening gruel.

Of all the things I had learned today I still didn’t know anything about how magic worked. The only way to figure it out would be to find someone who practiced magic in this day and age? Did I need a spell book? Maybe a wand? Where did the magic come from? Were there limits? There was so much more to learn about myself and magic. Possibly I could even find out where I came from and why I was abandoned in Trelashe.

Finished our gruel and back again to the task at hand.

“Olish, how did you come to be in prison?”

“Is this something you really want to know? Knowing changes perspective. For anyone. For everything.”

“I really want to know, would help me to understand you as a person.”

“Long story short, I was seeing a woman who I found out was being abused by her father. The man is dead, and I am here so you can piece together what happened on your own.”

“You killed a man.”

“I did, and I don’t regret it for a second.”

To kill without regret, I wonder if it would make you stronger or if the fact meant that it would be easier to do the next time. Possibly setting up a scale for a lifetime of meaningless violence that only escalates farther. Does the death of one person necessarily lead to more, was there an animal lurking behind the friendly visage that Olish presented when he smiled at me? No, Olish was a good man who had done a bad thing true, but it was done for a noble reason.

“This doesn’t change my opinion of you Olish. You’re a good man who was forced into a bad situation and took the only way out you could see. This doesn’t make you a murderer, you saved that woman’s life.”

“Saving a life by taking one doesn’t seem too chivalrous to me Rogun. She hated me for killing her father. It didn’t matter that he beat her, that he would leave bruises all over her body. The man was her father and he had more of a place in her heart then I ever could.”

I decided there and then that Garomphe would have told me to embrace Olish. That one deed wasn’t the total sum of a man’s parts. He must think that I have perished by now for sure having disappeared into the King’s castle over a month ago. Without Grin or I there to steal food, the urchins would be going hungry with just him to provide. It felt like I had abandoned them, but I needed to remember that I had been taken and forced into this prison.

“Time for bed!” Olish said startling me out of my inner machinations. Most of the prisoners having already filed out towards their huts. What would tomorrow bring us in our lovely encampment, fun filled shovels for everyone.

Chapter 10

Waking up felt different. My body was energized and restless, I felt like I could life a mountain and swim across the oceans. Heading across the prison encampment to the digsite we were stopped suddenly by the warden.

“You will be having a visit today, from the King. You are expected to be cordial and polite and respectful. Any deviation from what he expects will result in a lashing. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, sir.”

“As you were.”

Back to the digsite we went but now my mind was racing, I did not want to see the King again. I did not want him to find out that I had not only absorbed his hidden stone but the one here as well. That is what he wanted from me, I was sure; he wanted the lost power of the ancients, and I was the only one who could give it to him. It must be the only reason he had left me alive after I had absorbed the first stone in his castle.

“Olish, we need to get out of here today. I can’t be here when the King arrives. I will not give him what he wants, and he will not have the satisfaction of breaking me.”

“What do you mean? What does he want? How are we to escape? No one escapes from Dresgon Prison.”

Memories flickered by of an escape attempt we witnessed a week ago. One of the inmates had just sprinted for the wall after the morning whistle. He was climbing it successfully before Santo walked up behind him. The mage summoned a ball of fire in his hand and pushed it out towards the inmate until his body was fully covered by flames. The screams were piercing, burning to death is not an easy way to die.

I was warned that escape attempts weren’t taken lightly but I didn’t care there wasn’t any more time I needed to get out before the King could get his hands on me. The pretentious slob thought the world belonged to him. He would see just how defiant I could be.

“We are leaving the Dresgon today. Somehow. He wants me, and what I’ve taken from him. We can escape together.”

“What did you take from him? There is no way out. The guards will stop us.”

“The stones. Olish there is no time. We need to start a rebellion against the guards. There are more inmates then Guards, we just need to convince them that they have a fighting chance. Once we do that, they will be an excellent distraction while we slip over the wall and away towards freedom.”

“... I will help you in this because our lives are bonded together, but this conversation is not over Rogun. You will explain everything to me once we are safe again.”

“We will never be safe again. I promise that once we are away and there are no longer signs of pursuit. Everything I know will be shared with you. Now who can we get to stir up a distraction for is?”

“This is foolhardy but if your mind is set in this let us ask Emran first. He has been here the longest and knows all the guards and inmates. If anyone can make a plan it will be him.”

With that decided they headed towards the mines hopefully for the last time, fully intent on escaping and never returning to Dresgon prison. The thought brought a smile to my face, I could do with a change of scenery.

As I entered the site, I saw Emran huddled off to the right. Grabbing Olish’s shoulder I steered him towards where he was sitting.

“There is our man, think it would be any easier if you started the conversation rather than me?”

“This is your plan, your adventure, your life. You do what you want to do Rogun, I’m just along for the ride.”

There was a hush in the air as I walked towards Emran almost as if the very molecules around us knew that something monumental was going to happen on this day. Emran locked his one eye with mine on the way over and he knew what I was going to ask.

“Morning Emran, ready for the day?”

“None of that boy. What is it you want? And be quick about it.”

“Well, I need to get out of here. Today. Before the king arrives. Is it possible to rile up all inmates and create some sort of diversion so Olish and I can escape? It would be bad for all of Belgra if the King finds me here today.”

“Why would I do something like this for you? You have done nothing for me besides pester me for answers to questions that shouldn’t be asked.”

“There are things I need to do that can’t be accomplished in this prison. I need to see out the remnants of the first army and if the King finds me here today that will never happen. I will be tortured and more than likely killed when I don’t supply him with what he is looking for.”

“Ominous tidings indeed. If I do this for you, you will need to do something for me. Once you are done with your quest and find whatever it is you are looking for. Come back here, return to Dresgon, free me and burn this place to ash.”

“It shall be done, what’s the plan?”

Plotting throughout the morning in the cave, thinking that this would be the last time with a shovel in my hand and admiring the glint of steel from the firelight. Emran had left a few moments ago to get things started when Fenrir hobbled over towards us. Using his shovel as a sort of crude crutch he spoke to me with anger in his eyes.

“We need to talk you and I, unfinished business we have.”

Perhaps I should have been more hesitant, but I strode over to where he was standing too focused on the what the day could bring to notice his intentions. Had I been focused maybe I would have seen the dagger clenched in his hand instead of sauntering over with a smile on my face.

“What can I do for you today, Fenrir?” I asked.

His ragged arm flew up lightning quick and stabbed the dagger into the underside of my throat. I dropped to the ground. Fenrir looked puzzled, as if I should have put up more of a fight then that. But laying there bleeding onto the ground he gave me his answer.

“You can die.”

Chapter 11

My life blood was leaking out of me onto the ground, and I could see Fenrir walking away satisfied with what he had accomplished. The world was diminishing into darkness, and I could barely breath past the blood congealing in my throat. Short choking gasps were all that could be heard from me.

Olish was by my side on his knees looking lost, too caught up in the moment to see me reach up and pull the dagger out of my neck. Blood squirted out like a geyser, as if some giant was squeezing me like and orange to get all of the juice out of me.

It was then with almost no fluid left in my body that I heard a voice.

“Live young Rogun, we have need of you yet.”

What was I doing? Was I giving up? I would not, there was more to do, more to see. With this admission in my head my body rose off the ground floating lightly above Olish. The light was blinding I wasn’t able to see outside the light and no one was able to see in, but I could feel a change occurring that was nothing natural.

The world was a beautiful hue of blue and yellow. My consciousness seemed to be floating in a pool of dreams. I was frantically trying to reach the surface of the pool where Olish and my life was waiting. The close I got to the top the more my body burned, taking away all the traces of the man I used to be.

With a gasp, I pulled myself out of the pool and saw Olish looking up at my body which appeared to be hovering a few feet over the ground.

“I’m alive. I feel different.”

“... Rogun you are different. Your ears are pointed at the end like an Elves’ and your eyes are glowing a fierce blue. Not to mention the aura of power you now seem to be exuding.”

My body had changed, and I felt stronger faster with a thought I raced towards Fenrir’s retreating backside. His life was mine to take if I willed it. The power in me demanded to be let out I couldn’t hold it any longer.

“THOOM!”

A blast of golden light slammed from my outstretched hand into his body. Fenrir didn’t even get a chance to scream, once the light hit his body it ceased to exist slowly turning to dust that drifted slowly towards the damp ground.

I killed him, and I it had been so easy. The power fluctuating through me had allowed me to reduce him to ash with nothing more then an outstretched hand. The King was wise to fear this power, too much left wild would destroy him. Fenrir had been a bully, and I do not doubt that he would have killed me given the chance. But that death, to be wiped so thoroughly out of existence. No one deserved that.

It was so quiet; I thought the prison walls might be closing in on me. The air was deathly still. The soldiers were beginning to enter the cave in their leathers while Emran was distributing the inmates to fight them. In some cases, a shovel could beat a sword. At the edges of the fight, I could see the pale focused eyes of the guards. Looking back towards them I started to make my way towards the exit with Olish. Our feet making no noise on the damp ground while we watched soldiers and inmates alike fall.

At the opening of the digsite Santo stood waiting, watching me approach. His sword was out in his left hand sharp as ever, and he had a fireball hoisted in his right. I could tell that he had been waiting at the entrance for me, possibly even expecting the outcome from today.

Anger filled my body. This man had administered the lashes that had caused me so much anguish. Now was my chance to let loose the hounds of hell and destroy him while I was bloated with power. So much anger was flowing through me, and I still had to watch more inmates die just so I had this chance to escape. I let loose a scream and it rumbled throughout the cave as I leaped towards Santo.

Santo dodged out of the way and threw the fireball towards my body where it was absorbed by whatever magic was currently flowing through me in a brilliant flash of light. Magic was not going to see him through this fight. Luckily for him I wasn’t looking to fight. I was looking for a way that Olish and I could get out of the Prison. Taking his chance, they sprinted past a stunned looking Santo out into the daylight and started racing towards the gate.

“Rogun we can’t possibly make it out the gate, its barred with steel.” Olish panted.

“Have some faith Olish! I can do this!”

Finally making it to the gate, I slammed my shoulder against it trying to wrench it open by sheer force. Glancing backwards I could see the guards were getting close to us. Starting to panic I screamed, “Rottura!” Then with an unholy boom part of the door flew outwards while the rest of it was broken into wooden shards that fell to the ground. Grabbing Olish’s wrist I dragged him through the gate and started running again feeling whatever magic had risen inside me fade and seeing the glow retreat from my body.

Once we reached outdoors and the scent of freedom the alarm bells started to ring. Soon enough the warden would become aware that his prize had escaped. Things would not go over well for him once the king arrived looking for me. It was all wastelands I could see besides the mountains behind the prison and the Forlorn Forest to the left. Thinking I would have a better chance of remaining hidden I dragged Olish towards the forest.

I must have run for over an hour before Olish begged me to stop so we could breathe and maybe find some water. Not convinced that there weren’t Guards behind us in the forest I quietly scouted until finding a large stream. I reached in to grab a handful of water while Olish dived in drinking the water like a fish and panting.

I was considering all the things that could have gone wrong and still could while he splashed in the stream. If we were caught, they would either throw us back in the prison or outright kill us, I couldn’t let that happen. If it had just been Santo at the prison, I might have been able to best on him on my own but with the multitude of guards we wouldn’t have stood a chance.

There would be rumors about us now though. The glowing man with tapered ears and his Life debt accomplice that escaped from Dresgon prison besting the guards and the mage onsite. It didn’t bode well for being unnoticed on the trip northwards. Once Olish was done in the water I continued northwards following the shine of the sun that filtered through the tree leaves. The farther we progressed the more the land seemed to change. Leaving the barren wasteland behind it was now lush with greenery and the occasional blueberry bush.

The berries were wildly taken advantage of and there was juice dripping down my lips while we continue through the forest. Beautiful clear blue sky and not a sound to be heard besides the pitter patter of our footsteps. It would certainly not make the day better but if the skies were to darken and a raincloud or two appeared it could clear the trace of their tracks from the forest leaving only mud in their wake.

Eventually the sun went down and thy had to stop lest they get lost with only the stars as their light and guidance. Not much of shelter in the forest and they couldn’t risk a fire, so the night was shared huddled together while they ate blueberries gathered on their journey. The heat was temperate enough to make no shelters or blankets only mildly uncomfortable.

After our bountiful meal, Olish asked “Where do we go from here?”

“We need to go northwards. That’s all I know; you were there when Emran told me. We will keep going northwards until we find them, and they can tell me what is happening to me. The magic I could feel it so strongly before, like it had awakened but now it is gone again, and I don’t know why. There is so much we could learn from them.”

“Well, wherever we are going we can’t go backwards. The King, the warden or even that mage will surely kill you on site. It’s no longer safe for us in the kingdom or Trelashe. But now isn’t the time for such discussions we need to sleep and after the disruption we caused leaving one of us will need to stay awake and be on watch till morning.”

“You make sense Olish, I will take tonight, and you can take the watch tomorrow.” I stood up intending to stretch my legs before I hunkered down to watch when I saw something out of the corner of my eye, movement at the edge of the forest. I slowly shifted that way casually to see if I could get a better glance.

“Do you see something?” Olish asked standing up as well.

Looking into the darkness I decided my eyes were playing tricks on me just caught up with the chase and expecting people in the forest hunting us down. “It looked like there was something out there, but I don’t see anything now. A sharp sting then hit the back of my neck and I heard Olish scream as I fell to the forest floor immediately knocked unconscious.

Chapter 12

I woke up to the sound of blood pounding through my skull. Not a particularly pleasant feeling to wake up to. Opening my eyes, I could see a bright lantern on the wall across from, I tried to stand up but found that my hands and feet were tied together.

Looking to my left I could see Olish also in the same situation as me. Bound and imprisoned again. Such a common occurrence in my life it would seem. Olish wasn’t awake yet, but I could see the gentle rise of his chest as he lay beside me breathing.

We were alive so that was something I looked to the right and saw a pair of fine boots that I knew all too well. Looking upwards right into Santo’s smiling face. I grunted as I tried to summon some vestibule the magical power, I had wielded yesterday to blow him away, but it was hopeless. Without any magical knowledge I could have all the power in the world and not be able to use any of it.

Santo laughed at his efforts. “It’s not so easy to call to the magic now is it mage? No more of the display I got to see yesterday. It matters not, you’re to come back with me and work for the king.”

It was hard to get the words out of my mouth, my body still felt stunned. “I will never work with anyone as despicable as you or your king. One day you will die by my hand, this I swear.”

More laughter. “As if you could hurt either of us little mage. Both of us are stronger than you by far.” Suddenly Olish groaned, he was starting to wake up. “Perhaps I should kill your little friend here, I’m sure you’d be more agreeable then. If only the king didn’t require both of you alive. Such s shame.”

“Why would the King need Olish? He is innocent in whatever this is?”

“He is needed to coerce you idiot. It is obvious you care for the man. That doesn’t mean that I can’t bruise him a little before we head back though.”

Santo dragged Olish in front of me turned so he was facing towards me. Olish looked exhausted and terrified, not his idea of a proper wake up call. Shaking with rage I tried to get free of the ropes holding me, but they were tied too tightly. “Your struggles will only make it worse for him,” said Santos.

Pulling back his fist he went to deliver an uppercut to Olish’s face when there was a shrill squeak followed by the sound of metal piercing flesh. There was a silver dagger in Santo’s left leg, it had come in through the back and you could just see the tip coming out of the flesh in the front of his leg. Santo crouched to the ground while I yelled “Get down!” to Olish and he proceeded to lay on his stomach.

The daggers were flying freely know by Santo was adept in dodging them behind trees or other obstacles now that he was aware. The daggers paused for a moment before they started coming from the left. The assailant was moving so quickly they were unable to track him properly. Due to the change in direction Santo’s received two more daggers, one in the chest and another landed with a meaty thunk into the flesh of his arm.

Starting to look like a pincushion Santo must have decided the odd were against him. He managed to punch Olish in the face before he races away into the forest into the space the daggers weren’t appearing from.

With Santo’s disappearance a female strode into what remained of their camp. She was radiant, with flowing brown hair that curled above her ears allowing you to see the tapered points. Glowing green eyes all that led down a very sculpted boy dressed in very tight green leathers to blend in with the forest.

Another Elf! If I could consider myself to be an elf. I didn’t use to be but the similarities between us were too strong to resist. It was possible she could teach me if she was friendly and if she had magical knowledge. That or we traded one cruel overseer for another.

“My name is Bretagna, and I am here to take you home. We go Northward to Guidara!” She said with a voice that rang without the harsh melodies of man. Now we had a heading and a guide now, we would make it to the Guidara, and I would learn the ways of magic so I could protect myself and others.

Chapter 13

Bretagna was so beautiful and confident, and there was this sense of confidence surrounding her. You could tell that she had been in her fair share of fights and had won most of them. There was a bow strapped to her back inlaid with gold and the green leathers she was wearing had daggers spread throughout in little pouches. She had a grave face but friendly eyes and didn’t look to be much older than me but looks could be deceiving with the Elves or so I’d heard.

She cut our binds and then stated we needed to move before Santo came back with reinforcements.

“Why help us?” I asked.

“I watched you escape from the Prison glowing and you’re an Elf. No Elf can stand by and watch another Elf be hurt. It goes against our creed.”

Olish stirred slightly on the ground.

“Why do you travel with a human? They are not known to be friendly to our kind.”

“Would you believe I was human just yesterday?”

She scoffed. “I have seen many things; Dragons, Dwarves, Elves and humans wielding stolen magics but never have I seen a human transformed into an Elf.”

“Well seeing is believing! How badly is my friend hurt?”

“Bruised and beaten but he shall live. Your captor took out most of his aggressions towards him rather then hurt you. Let me take a look at you and see what the damage is.” Bretagna pulled up my shirt and saw a large yellow bruise crisscrossing my chest. “Mmmhph, that couldn’t have felt too pleasant.”

“Almost feels worse now then it did when it happened.” The skin was cracked and swollen, Bretagna went to place her hand on my chest and the pain caused me to scream.

“Broken bones seem likely, hard to really tell without seeing inside the skin, but you will need to take it easy for a while and let the bones heal.” She tore off a length of her cape and wrapped it around my chest forcing the bones into the appropriate positions.

“Do you have anything to eat? It feels like I haven’t eaten in days?”

“Just some elk soup from yesterday, can’t afford a fire to heat it up and we will need to move after you’ve finished lest your enemies come back to find us.”

Who was this beautiful stranger? Why were the helping me? It was obvious that they were an elf that hated the king and his empire, but it was safe to assume that all of the elves felt that way.

I ate the broth quickly then motioned that we should leave. “How will we carry my friend Olish? He is hardly able to walk in his condition.” Bretagna put her fingers up to her lips and released a shrill whistle. Moments later a white stallion pranced into the camp with a brilliant silver saddle.

“This is Lecy, she will carry your friend until he is able to walk on his own. Anything you are unable to carry can be placed on her as well. She is a warhorse of the finest quality able to bear incredible weights and run long distances. Bred not to flinch in battle but to persevere and fight back against the enemy whilst protecting her rider at all costs. She has saved my life many a time.”

I worked with Bretagna to lift Olish onto Lecy, he gave a silent groan of approval as he was lifted and then we strapped him onto the saddle. “An odd sight we will make. Two elves and a wounded human on a warhorse. Not something one see’s anymore.”

“Times are changing, magic is coming back to the world.” I replied.

As we started walking, I looked towards Bretagna and said “You don’t have to come with us, we will be chased and the journey across the continent is sure to be fraught with peril. The help is appreciated but I don’t want someone else to be hurt because of me.”

“Silver tongue on you, but I go nowhere. We go to the homeland and see what the combined magical races think of you and your story. And it’s not like you have any other form of protection out here. You need me.”

I didn’t want to travel with this comely stranger and expose her to all the risks that seemed to accompany me. But she was right I was weak and unable to fend off anyone on my own and there was the matter of her knowing the way to our destination. “Lead us then, but if you get hurt, I will not accept responsibility.”

Bretagna laughed and strode ahead. “I will not be hurt.” We continued walking farther into the forest. The sun was starting to set but there was still enough light to see clearly which was helpful for us but also anyone attempting to follow our tracks.

There were more thoughts rolling through my head about our guide and why she was outside the prison coincidentally when we escaped and needed help. It was much more important to focus on getting out of the forest and away from anyone who wanted to take us back to the king. We walked for what seemed like hours before Bretagna sighted a small cave and pulled me towards it saying we would stay there for the night.

As we got closer the cave appeared to be much larger then I though with a rough limestone surrounding the entrance to the cave with other smaller caves surrounding it. I couldn’t help but imagine the internal system of the caves and how they all interconnected. It was more then large enough for all of us to fit inside with room to spare. The cave system seemed to get larger when we walked inside but the entrance was tiny. This was good as it would be easily defensible, but it wouldn’t allow much light to enter either. Towards the back I couldn’t see anything at all it was just a black with no hue to it, almost as if to follow it would lead you to hell.

“Are you sure this will be safe?” I asked Bretagna.

“Safe enough, stay here and I will go grab some fallen branches to start a fire.”

While she left to do that I went over and pulled Olish off the horse and laid him on the ground with his head resting on a little stump towards the front of the cave. I stared at him for what seemed like an hour before I sighed and went to help with the firewood.

After we had gathered sufficient wood for the fire we retreaded back into the cave where we could see that Lecy had settled down beside Olish. Bretagna piled some stones in a circle and then arranged the wood in the best position and then finally pulling out a rock and flint to start the fire.

She pulled out more soup and we ate but Olish couldn’t stomach any and ended up spilling it all over himself. Not pleased with that I pulled a blanket from the saddle and cuddled up beside Lecy for warmth and closed my eyes for the night.

Chapter 14