Shards of Old

It was a young woman, I would guess in her early twenties. She had pale skin and short, black hair. It looked like she used to have a buzz cut not so long ago, but she forgot to maintain it. Still, it was clearly showing her ears. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something felt wrong with them. Contrasting to every single person I saw thus far, she was not wearing heavy armor. Quite the opposite. She looked like she just escaped some kind of party, she was wearing a long red dress with no sleeves. What did not fit though, were fingerless black leather gloves and a red leather belt with a small dagger hanging off it, along with a brown linen bag that looked very similar to one I was given when I was sitting in the cell, although smaller.

What caught me off guard was on her neck though. She was wearing a necklace that looked awfully familiar.

As far as I could tell it was exactly the same as the one I was given by Melle.

She looked at me, judgingly.

-So you are the one that has given me so many problems lately.

She sounded annoyed.

-I…

-Silence. You will talk when asked and only when asked.

Oh for fucks sake, a bossy one. I could already tell she’s gonna be a pain to deal with.

-So. Who sent you?

-Sent? You are the one who captured me. I was just minding my own business when your people arrested me. Still don’t know why to be honest, and…

-Answer the question - she interrupted me. - Who sent you here?

-No one.

She looked surprised for a moment, but a split second later she returned to her resting annoyed expression.

-Is that so… Then who do you work for?

-Many people. Don’t think that matters for you though. None of my employers have anything to do with you, as far as I am aware.

She squinted her eyes at me.

-I know you are not lying. Despite everything you are a smart man… Let’s go at it differently then.

From the small bag she had with her, she pulled out a small piece of something gold, a bent metal plate.

-My people are telling me you were trying to smuggle this somewhere. There is absolutely no way that belongs to you. What is this? And why do you have it with you?

I took a closer look. Indeed, that looked like a part from the destroyed armor set we were carrying.

-Believe it or not, I found it. It is a piece of junk, that most likely would go to be melted somewhere and remade.

-Found it, huh? You randomly stumbled upon it while casually strolling through the forest?

-Of course not. I knew where it was hidden, I just came to retrieve it. As far as I am concerned, you are the one stealing it right now.

-Don’t get too clever now. And stop avoiding the answers.

-Then start asking direct questions. Not like it's gonna change what I am gonna tell you or not.

-Listen here, smartass - she leaned towards me. - You are now under my control, and there is no way you are getting out of here without my direct order. You either cooperate or will be put in that cell without any food and water until you feel like being more talkative.

-Oh, I am very talkative. You are just pretty bad at questioning.

With a quick swipe she pulled out the dagger and pointed to my neck.

-Oh, I see I struck a nerve. Alright, alright.

-Why are you impersonating a member of my Guild?

That one surprised me a little bit.

-I have information from a reliable source, that you are proclaiming yourself as “a wandering traveler, mercenary and a Red Mage”. That is clearly a lie. What is your game here? Speak, or this knife will be the least of your problems.

I had a sudden epiphany.

-Oh… so THAT’S what it’s all about. I mean… is it really that hard to expect that there are more people using fire than you think? - I looked at her, doubtedly.

-Use fire?! - she looked absolutely furious. - Listen here, you son of a bitch, you use the name of MY GUILD without any permission, clearly get some shady deals - she shook the pouch from where she took the piece of Goldie’s armor - thanks to OUR NAME, and above all else - she pushed her dagger closer to my skin, to the point when I felt a small drop of blood roll down my neck - you disrespect other Guilds IN MY NAME AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SIT HERE LIKE…

At the end she was positively shouting.

-Wait wait wait wait… - I started, trying to get the knife away from my neck - Guild? Your people? Do you own the term “fire mage” or something?

-Red Mage! And yes I do!

Well at least her outburst made sense.

-I believe I can explain.

-Oh please, be my guest! I am sure that this will definitely clear everything up and I won’t put you back to the cell for…

-Yes, yes. First, I am very, sorry, I did not know that was your guild’s name. You see, I am a traveler and just thought that it's just a weird way you people call mages using fire.

-As if.

-Second. I have never called myself a “Red Mage”. Not once.

-Obvious lie. There are multiple witnesses claiming you used our reputation for your own gain.

-Miss, I think we both know that I am not lying. Not a single time I have called myself a “Red Mage”. It is just straight up one big misunderstanding. True, I heard people use that term talking about me, but I never did that myself. I can not be responsible for people gossiping about me.

That stopped her outburst for a second. She apparently remembered that I was supposed to be drugged and that calmed her down a bit. For a while at least.

-That does not make any sense. The more you talk, the more annoyed you make me. A random person, claiming to be able to use fire magic is by sheer accident assumed to be a member of one of the most prestigious Guilds. Without any proof. That is just… impossible levels of stupid.

-I mean, it’s true though. And they did try and test me.

-Who? How? - she immediately started asking. - Who was that fucking stupid and belived your farse?

-I thought you already knew. The “disrespect other guilds” part? Weren’t you talking about those ice users, or rather “Blue Mages”?

-What does that have to do with anything?

-Well they did not believe me that I was a so-called “Red Mage” . As far as I knew I thought they were talking about me not being able to use fire, so I agreed to their “test”. Long story short, they were incompetent and I called them out on that while casting their stupid spell and they agreed that I was indeed a Red Mage.

-What the… I did not hear that part - she added quieter, and for the first time she sounded slightly concerned. - Who was that? Who did you get tested by?

-I don’t know the name of the guy who wrote the spell, they all looked the same. But the one supervising was Harsh. I think it was their leader? There were a bunch of other people present, but I don’t think I am able to repeat all their names.

-You managed to fool Harsh? Are you joking right now? What in the hell was that test even?

-Yh, believe it or not, they wanted a green ball of fire, I don’t know why they made such a big deal out of that.

-A green fireball. You made a green flame.

-Yep.

-A green fireball is the reason for all this bullshit.

-I don…

-Shut up. I am not asking for an opinion.

She looked a bit confused and maybe even surprised and started pacing around the room. After a minute she went to the door.

-I swear if they forgot the Infusion and you are spitting bullshit, heads will roll… - she said under her breath, just as she was about to leave the room.

-They didn’t - I yelled behind her as the door closed and I was left alone in the room once again.

That didn’t mean that it worked of course.

What I told her was pretty much all the truth, but I did not need her Infusion for that. Judging from my earlier experiences, it tends to loosen your tongue quite a bit, and since I wanted to avoid that I took some precautions. In fact, what I drank was just pure clean water.

While I was unsupervised I just boiled the so-called truth-infused water. Usually, to break an enchantment like that you’d have to distill the concoction for a good while, but with their subpar methods even that was enough for the effect to be nullified. “Prestigious guild”, my ass. They can’t even secure their prisoners correctly, nor interrogate them.

Speaking of, guild. Yeah, that made sense. It seemed weird that they kept calling me “Red Mage”, but can you blame me, everyone I’ve met had been weird in some way, so I just thought that’s just part of it. That would also explain why people suddenly were so cooperative and showered me with gold ever since they learned that I used fire, or rather was a member of Red Mages.

I did not get much time to think though, because not even a minute later, the woman was back. And she was angry again. This time she was carrying my bag with her.

Like it was not enough to look at her once to judge her mood, she slammed the door of the cell so hard behind her that the gems lodged in it blinked, like a lightbulb that was about to burn out, but not before long they came back to life again.

Without a word she slammed my bag onto the table between us and started rummaging through, tossing the contents out. Finally, she found what she was looking for. With surprising care, she carefully pulled out my notes, along with the journal I found at the “accident” site.

-Do you realize what this is? - she pointed at the papers in her hand.

-Emm… my notes?

-Your notes. About what, please indulge me.

-I mean, you can read them, I’m not shy about…

-Oh I will. But first I would rather hear what you are gonna say.

-Some of my spells… and some others that I managed to discover recently.

-Discover. Yeah. Sure.

She started going through the papers, but the longer she read, the more confused she started looking.

-You wrote this.

-Well, mostly… some is copied from…

-Copied? From where?

I pointed at the journal.

She immediately turned her focus to the journal. The recent anger and confusion on her face disappeared and got replaced by bewilderment.

-Copied? It is completely different…

-Of course I didn’t bother rewriting all that crap, only the parts I found interesting, why would I even…

-You can understand that?

That question threw me off the mark completely. That was what she was confused about?

-Of course? How else would…

-All of it?!

-Emmm… mostly?

That for some reason calmed her down.

-Stop scaring me like that.

I just looked at her, puzzled.

-Can you explain?

She went back to her annoyed expression, but this time it was weaker, and mixed with something that I could not put my hand on. Hesitation? Nah, couldn’t be it.

-Are you really that ignorant? Where the hell are you from?

-I said I am a wanderer. Don’t really have a place to call home any more. Let’s say I'm from across the seas.

-Seas? You’re an elf?

-Do I look like one?

-Well, I’ve seen many things that people like you do to hide their identity, including self-mutilation. I am not gonna make you strip just to prove a point, so I prefer asking.

This discussion started getting weirder and weirder.

-What in the fuck that has to do with… you, know, never mind, I don’t want to know. No I am not an elf, just a regular human male with crappy luck.

-Hm. Well then. I don’t need to answer your question, but I will humor you. The language you said you were able to read and write, are not very public knowledge. So for someone like you, casually using them to write notes…

She leaned closer to me.

-Who are you, really? An agent? Elven spy?

Oh boy. Is the magic research here that primitive? How the hell are they even able to write spells without that being a common knowledge?

I sighed.

-I am sad to say, that as I told you, just a random person that just was minding his own business. I have nothing to do with elves, or their agents. Actually I have never seen an elf in my life.

-Is that so… So why do you have something that belongs to King Axelrod’s mages?

-Excuse me?

-Don’t play dumb. This - she pointed to the journal - belonged to one of His Majesty’s Mages. That you are supposedly not a part of. Am I right?

-Well yes…

-So you did steal it then. For who? And more importantly: how?

She started to sound excited. That did not bode well. At least she was not a fuming ball of rage any more though.

-Well, can you really say that you stole something if its owner was dead…

Her face turned pale.

-You managed to kill a…

-Oh hell no, they were already dead when I found them. Not like they were gonna be needing it any more…

She did not look convinced, even though I am pretty sure she was still thinking that I was under the influence.

-And who, pray tell, did kill them then?

-Who knows - I shrugged. - Why do you care? They were not your people I don’t think.

-Don’t ask unnecessary questions.

-Look, I am willing to cooperate, I don’t have much to hide anyway. But it would be nice for once to at least explain why I am being interrogated in such - I looked around the cell - unpleasant circumstances.

-I am not taking any chances. I already did once, with your friend. Did not end well.

-Friend? - I laughed. - Nah, just met him not so long ago. We were traveling together by coincidence.

Suddenly, her face changed expression. She suddenly started staring intently on my face, like she saw something that was not supposed to be there.

-Oh?

-What?

-Nothing, I am just curious about that coincidence. Care to elaborate?

That definitely sounded more menacing than she intended to, but despite my better judgment I decided to answer anyway.

-Ah, nothing special. We met while I was traveling through some sort of town, can’t remember the name. It just sort of happened that we were traveling together, apparently having the same destination.

-Uh-uh.

She was looking at me intently, like she was deciding on something.

-I guess we are done here. For now. I have been told that your… acquaintance is also ready for questioning - she stood up. - So I have to hurry. If you excuse me.

-Not like I have a choice in the matter… - I shrugged.

As she was about to leave she added:

-This is not over just yet. But I agree, we have to meet in a bit different circumstances.

The door closed.

Well, that sounded ominous.

I was left alone in the interrogation room, without any visible supervision. This time though I had a lot more to think about, and even maybe be worried about. If what she said was true, Eicam let them drug him and was about to tell everything about our “quest”. Or at least more than she found out from me. I did try to at least not flat out lie because I assumed that she would interrogate him before me and would sniff out the lie instantly. And since I was supposed to be under influence, it would also instantly raise some red flags for them. I would rather leave them in the dark, for now at least. In the worst case scenario, the knowledge about those weak points could be critical.

I sat there for a good hour, maybe more even, but no one came back for me. Nor to follow up on that vague threat of hers, or to just drag me back to my cell. I didn’t even dream of them forgetting about me, so I assumed that this would be the place where I was being kept for a while and decided to take a bit of a nap.

Or at least try and fake one, not like I could sleep anyway.

I stretched out and tried settling down, as comfortable as it got in this sorry excuse of the furniture I had provided to me. It proved pretty hard, and soon I started missing the forests that I was starting to get used to resting in. It made me think. How do they even manage to hold prisoners here? I guess the room I was earlier in had to be a holding cell, but still. It was just four walls, a floor and a ceiling, nothing more, nothing less. I bet solitary confinement was better than that. Don’t prisoners have some sort of rights or whatever? The present room I was being held in was infinitely better, but still, not by much. It made me feel glad that I no longer had most of the biological needs of a human, or it would get really awkward here, especially… well, better not to think too much.

I started realizing that before, especially when I was traveling with Eicam, but now I was completely sure. With how much time has passed, there was no mistaking it - the crystal wedged in me changed a bit more than was initially obvious. It wasn’t all that bad, but I must admit, not having to sleep had its negatives.

Another hour passed. Multiple times I considered getting out and at least trying the escape, but every time I stopped myself short of casting the spell. I still had faith that this stupid misunderstanding could be resolved peacefully, although when I was visited again, the situation did not look very good.

Once again, it was the same woman who visited me. This time, she was sporting a full black leather armor very similar to the one I’ve seen on the man who teleported me here, although the distinct lack of jingling betrayed lack of chainmail underneath. She still had the same belt, along with the fingerless gloves.

And speaking of the devil, the one who accompanied her was indeed the same guy who warped us here. Neither of their faces looked hostile, although the fact that this time she brought backup did not fill me with confidence.

Without a word she sat down and the man in black stood right behind her chair, on the right. She motioned towards me to join, which was a surprising change of pace and I think the first gesture that I could count as non-hostile.

Sitting down, I noticed that the man was observing me closely, but not you would expect a guard to look at the prisoner. It was more like I was some sort of a specimen, on a display.

I stopped my sudden urge to scratch my arm-stump and just waited on whatever’s gonna happen next.

-Well - she started - here we go again. Let me start from the beginning once more. Who do you work for? Any governments?

I inhaled deeply and sighed. Again with this?

-I already said, not really. Not anymore. All my friends are most likely dead or missing. The current ones, I’m not even sure who they answer to.

Wait, what the hell? I definitely did not want to say that much. Both the woman and man in black looked at each other like they confirmed something and smiled. Then I realized the obvious - I was under the effect of some Truth Infusion. As if to confirm my suspicion, I noticed that the man was wearing a necklace similar to mine and the woman’s, but his for a change got a crystal that looked like glass, and that was slightly glowing.

That’s why she brought this guy. Not as a bodyguard, just as a way to force me to talk. Should’ve known better.

-So you are a government agent. Which one? Some free nation?

I looked at them, amused. SInce they already had me under control, why not give them what they want? I sort of wanted to see what kind of response they would give me, hearing the truth.

-Do you really want the answer? It will only confuse you.

-Try me.

-I am, or rather was, a member of MIRE, an international government agency responsible for containing failures of experiments and research into magic and weaponization of it. As far as I know it no longer exists.

She sighed, annoyed.

-See? I told you it’s not gonna work - she said to the man in black beside her.

-But I don’t get it… - he sounded confused, looking at his neck and the glowing shard of glass - the spell was successful and it is still holding… Maybe the component was damaged somehow…

-I extracted it myself. That is not possible. He’s just one of them.

Them? The hell were they talking about? I expected many reactions, but this was not one of them.

-How in the hell did he end up in your cell?

-It’s Harsh’s fault. He… - she stopped short of finishing the sentence, remembering that I was still in the room. - We can talk later.

-Right… - he looked at me and suddenly swayed on his feet, almost falling down, but managed to hold onto the woman's chair.

-For fucks sake, stop the damn spell, I don’t need you fainting on me.

-Yeah, yeah…

He muttered something and the gem on his neck stopped glowing.

Suddenly I felt like someone just dumped a full bucket of cold water on my head. My thoughts cleared out and I realized that they were clouded all the time, even before those two entered the room. I already knew that I was under some sort of spell but him dispelling it made it painfully obvious and hard to even imagine that I did not feel the difference when it was cast on me.

I fought off the sudden need to shudder and instead asked:

-Was that really necessary? I told you I am not…

-Yeah, yeah, whatever, stop your acting - the woman interrupted me mid sentence. - As you can see and hear we know, you are immune and we can’t do shit about it.

For a second I wanted to correct her, but it was most likely just the remnants of the spell washing away from my brain. They would not believe anyway, as demonstrated before.

-Sure… So what happens now?

-Yeah, what happens now? - asked the man, still holding onto the chair, clearly having difficulty standing.

I swear people have no mana here and flaunt fancy spells without any thought.

-Of all things you could make up, why me… - she said, clearly annoyed.

I just shrugged. It was not my idea, but I was not gonna tell her, obviously. Not now, since the spell still didn’t dissipate completely from my head.

-Like I didn’t have anything better to do right now, I have to deal with this mess…

-I don’t think you can keep him locked up like this… if someone would hear about… even this place… they…

-I didn’t ask for any comments! And I am well aware!

Once again I was mistakenly being categorized as part of something I had no idea about.

-Okay - I interrupted the silence that suddenly filled the room. - I see this situation is strange and definitely not comfortable for any of us. Can I at least leave this… dungeon, for lack of the better word?

She gave me a dirty look.

-This is one of the most secure rooms in this place. I am not stupid enough for this.

Most secure… oh boy… so they were that ignorant. But that was also a good thing. That gave me an idea.

-Secure you say? I don’t see any guards and besides that, your doors are so weak that a decent fire spell would completely melt them.

They both laughed.

-You sure he is immune? Every time he speaks he sounds dumber and dumber.

-Immune or not, it doesn’t make you smart it seems - replied the man. - But I admit, that is jarring. No one would be able to even cast a spell without permission here.

-You both are insufferable - I sighed. - Okay then. I propose a deal.

-Deal? - she went right back to being focused and suspicious - And what in the hell someone in your position has to offer?

-Are you familiar with the Law of Triple Binding?

-Of course! Who do you think I am? We are still in King’s Axelrod’s dominion after all - she said, clearly offended.

-Well good then. You are so sure of this place’s security, right? Will you agree to let me go and leave this place as a free man, without any strings attached, if I show you how wrong you are about this place’s security?

-And how the hell would you even manage that? - she went back to laughing.

-That is for me to show. Do you agree then?

-What about if you fail? What do I gain? Just so you know, I do not care for the stains…

-I thought you knew how that works? I am going all or nothing, obviously.

-Bleh, I don’t need a servant - she waved her hand dismissively - there are more than enough here already.

-Sure they are. But if I was a servant, let’s say, it would definitely be more likely for me to say who sent me here and why.

That caught her attention.

-So someone did send you.

I just smiled and looked at her, waiting.

-Are you sure about that? - the man chimed in suddenly. He looked a bit better already, or just did not let the exhaustion show.?

-Do you think it will work?- the woman questioned him. - Since he is immune, why do you think he won’t be to this?

-Well, if my thought process is correct - he scratched his chin - the deal can technically avoid that. If you won’t make him tell only the truth, instead, for example, only punish him for lying.

-A slave immune to Truth Infusion… - she said, now visibly excited. - That's something.

She thought for a second.

-Let me get this straight. The deal goes like this. You are to show me the weaknesses of this dungeon’s security and successfully escape the cell. If you are to fail or break the deal, you are to forfeit yourself to me. Is that agreeable?

-The last part seems a bit redundant… - said the man, now slightly concerned for some reason.

-Better safe than sorry. Do you agree? - she asked, turning to me.

-First get this on paper. Not that I don't believe you or have faith in those kinds of deals, but I’d prefer to have physical proof of this.

-Works for me - she turned to her companion. - Can you arrange that?

-Sure.

He left for a moment what felt like it was too short, considering the amount of steps I had to go down to get here, and returned with something that looked like a stack of yellow-ish paper, a quill and a small bottle of ink.

Woman didn’t even bother standing up, just gestured towards the table. The man looked visibly annoyed, but did not say a word, instead he placed the tools he brought in front of us and started writing, leaning on the desk in a very uncomfortable-looking position.

-What’s your name?

-Oh, right, forgot about that one. Mor.

He started speaking as he was writing.

-I, Mor, am to show the weaknesses of this dungeon’s security and successfully escape one of the cells. If I am to fail this task or to otherwise break this contract, I agree to forfeit myself, as is written in the Law of Triple Binding. If I am to complete the demands, I will be granted the free and safe pass from and through The Red Edge.

Signed, Mor and For.

-Hah, it rhymes.

He did not respond, just pushed the paper towards me.

Just to be sure, I read it again, in case he wanted to sneak in something, but no. Everything looked in order.

-You first - I moved the paper towards the woman, whose name was For apparently.

Without hesitation and even reading, she took the quil and signed and looked at me in anticipation.

There was no time for second thoughts, so I signed. I sort of expected some sort of… I don’t know, effect? It was a magically binding contract after all. But no, it was just as mundane as it gets.

-So - she stood up from the chair, picking up the paper and waving it gingerly, to dry the ink. - Be my guest - and bowed in an obviously mocking manner.