Thick iron bars with a single steel door separated whatever horrors were inside the numerous cells of Searshoal Fortress, and Asher as he wandered the claustrophobic dungeon below.

All guards stationed the depths of this prison were either long dead during his initial siege, or ran away while they still had the chance. Asher's blood-soaked steps echoed across the damp halls of this place, as weary eyes glared from within the darkness of their cells.

"And I thought the Coalslums were bad... this is just cruel"

He pinched his nose at the foul smell of rotting flesh and feces mixing together, as he continued forward going deeper into the fortress.

Finally, at the deepest floor of this vile prison sat a single room with a heavily chained wooden door stained with dry blood. Scratch marks lined the doorway, like an ominous warning.

Despite this, Asher struck down the chains with his sword, and kicked down the door with his blade readied.

However, instead of the god-like entity he thought the Black Bull would be, he found a small child huddled up in the center of a massive box-like cell. Food trays and wooden spoons were scattered and dumped all around the floor as the scent of urine replaced the already nasty smell of the dungeon.

Asher wearily approached the boy, who wore practically dirty rags covered in mildew and dirt. His hair was a faint green, but solidified chunks of grime covered his long shaggy hair. Riddled all across his arms were scabs and scars, not to mention the bruises that seemed fresh.

"Dear gods, what the hell is this..." Asher gasped, scanning the room.

He shone the torch over the boy, who he could see was staring right back at him, with his sullen blue eyes.

Ash stumbled back, spooked by the kid, before steadily approaching him.

"Are you... Damasus the Black Bull?"

The boy stood up, the shackles on his feet clinking against each other as he does so.

"Nope, you got his less cool son. Sorry" the boy answered.

"Who are you and... how did you get locked up in here, if your the son of a Retainer?"

"First. I just told you, but if you wanna be specific, the name's Damian"

"Second." Damian shrugged "Really easy question actually, said Retainer locked me up himself"

Asher was puzzled, "I knew he was sick, not that sick."

The young boy, Damian, sat back down as he showed the heavy chains, "The old man was afraid of his own son. I caused a lot of trouble upon birth... or so I've heard...".

Damian stared outside, peering into the night sky which seemed to be the only connection he had to the outside.

"You've... never been outside this cell, have you?" He examined the rusty iron bars of the cage, as Damian continued staring at the moon.

"Yep, its not that bad once you get used to the smell of the other freaks here though, the food does taste like actual garbage" he joked.

Asher thought for a moment, before sheathing his sword. He looked towards Damian, with an unconcerned and bored look on the boy's face, then back at the filth around him.

Deep down... this place... this kid, all of it felt a bit too uncanny to the past. He bit his lip, and rubbed his temples as Damian hummed a strange tune.

"Ugh... I can't believe I'm doing this"

The metal bars clamored against the cold ground as he cut them down like bamboo with his sword.

Damian sat in shock as Ash walked in with dead eyes, though he could see a tinge of pity and anguish behind them, as he continued on––breaking his shackles next.

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"What are you doing?"

"You're father locked you up in this dump for a reason right?"

"Well... I guess?"

"Then in exchange for freeing you, help me kill your pops. Show me that strength he was scared shitless by"

Suddenly, as the two talked, they both heard the yelling of guards in the distance. "There! The bastard's broken into the master's room!".

The two boys turned toward each other, before turning back with a smirk as the guards approached. Asher readied his blade yet again, as Damian got on the ground on all fours like a tiger.

"Show me what you got"

"Roger that, mister"

Sparks flew from his hair, as lightning crackled and burst from Damian's spine, as his arms and legs were engulfed in blue electricity. His face was covered in a panther mask as his hair become a hot molten white, shaking off the dirt that was once there. The beast-like Damian shattered the floor as he charged towards the group of guards, tearing them apart as his thunderous roars shook the very building. Large chunks of rubble crashed into the reinforcements as he began his savage fury.

A soldier dived into him with a spear, but the boy leapt out of the way before smashing their head in between his claws. The rest backed away fearfully, as the sadistic beast slowly walked towards them. He zoomed forward and pierced through another, turning his body into burnt mush that flew everywhere because of the impact.

"Gods help us...".

Only a streak of white and blue flashed across the hallways of the dungeon, as Damian left a bloody pool of mangled limbs with each guard he grappled. Their screams and yells echoed into the abyss of the prison, as the hundreds of guards sent were reduced to a mere dozen.

However, as the boy closed in on his final kill, his entire body was flung through the air. Damian felt the cold steel of a mace slam into him as he was sent crashing into a wall.

The brute stood over the weak apostleborn, raising his iron club yet again. "Die, you fucking monster".

Damian's life flashed before his eyes, but as he closed his eyes, he didn't feel the heavy blow he expected. Instead, the mace thumped on the ground as a black longsword pierced through the soldier's chest.

"Whoops".

The blade slid down before quickly slicing the man clean down with one strike, as Damian dug into the shrieking soldier's face and really tearing into it.

By the end, the hallway was painted in red, as Damian collapsed to the ground as he panted. A loud thud alerted Ash, who quickly wiped off the blood on his face as he sheathed his sword.

He hurriedly ran over to Damian's side, as the boy looked sickly. He grabbed a flask of water from his waist and offered it to Damian, who drank desperately.

After the drink, Damian smiled and chuckled, still panting.

"Whoops, forgot to tell ya my power consumes a lot of energy" Damian puked blood onto Asher's lap "Probably should have led with that, huh?".

Asher shushed him, picking him up and carrying him down the hall. "Just leave it to me now".

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Damian woke up in an unfamiliar room, filled with fancy vases and decorations. His body was bandaged up and the stiff hair he once had was now clean and fresh. He looked around, getting out of bed, as he wearily explored the place he was in.

"Where do you think you're going" Asher called out, pouring water into a glass.

"I was about to find you, thanks for saving me the energy"

Asher walked over and handed the glass to Damian who hopped back into bed.

"Where are we?"

"We're in the manor of my family, far away from Searshoal or any city in your dear old dad's reach".

Damian took a shaky breath of relief, as he gulped down the water.

"So, what's your plan? You wrecked the fortress, so I bet my pops is gonna be wicked pissed at you"

Asher laughed, standing up, as he walked towards the window and stared out into the plains below.

"Let him be. Smoke them out, and once they're all gathered in a single spot, that's when we tear them to pieces"

"Who exactly is them? Something about Retainers and stuff... gods, all this is making my head hurt" Damian asked, reaching for the glass pitcher.

"A count of Epistaris, the radiant phoenix... the king of Flarespire... he is the man I want to kill. Under him are four powerful individuals known as his Retainers, apostle-appointed knights whom share the strongest connection with the king. Though, they mostly work in the shadow of the bastard, never really showing themselves. Over the past two years, I've been going around and poking around the bear in order to taunt them"

Asher smirked evilly, as his eyes narrowed and turned blood red.

"Hopefully, with you on my side, and the recent fuck-up at Searshoal... that'll be enough to lure out your pops."

Damian let out a gasp, out of shock and admiration as he continued chugging down the water.

"And how exactly do you plan to defeat them? I know you're the whole strong guy and stuff but... these dudes must be crazy strong to survive a war that killed gods"

Asher turned around, and grabbed a knife from his pocked as he slit open his hand. However, the blood swirled around in a spiral above the boy's palm. He flicked his wrist towards the window as the spiral turned into a bolt, speeding through the glass and exploding in the distance.

"One. I have a couple friends" He looked towards a map framed on his wall "And two," He looked towards the explosion in the distance.

"I'm the son of the royal shithead himself, unfortunately. His blood flows through my veins... the same blood that makes the old man so powerful".

Damian nodded nervously, as he saw the menacing look on Ash's face, contorted with anger, hatred and sadistic pleasure.

"Ok, last question... where exactly are your 'couple of friends'?"

Asher threw the dagger towards the mounted map, landing on a city named Coalslum. "Right over there...".