I stepped out of the bunks and into the night. It was cold again, and I could tell that the guards were reluctant to stay outside. A few of them waved at me as I passed, which I reciprocated. Over the past few nights, I had also spent some time looking to see if I could spot Nicole, but it didn’t appear that our paths crossed in our nightly work.

Before I entered the armory, I heard the worst possible voice I could at that moment.

“Hey North! You mind visiting my office?”

Galen…

***

“Nothing to drink, I presume?” Galen was already pouring himself a drink into a small glass by the time I had gotten up to his desk and taken a seat. I had dealt with him a few times before, but something felt different. The air around him had changed.

“I think I’ve learned my lesson with alcohol sir.”

Galen laughed in response, sitting down and placing his arms on the table, moving to face me.

“I want to make a deal.”

“What?” I was generally trying to hold my composure around the man, but the sudden statement had caused my mask to slip.

“Well, to be more accurate, I’m extending a deal to you. It’s pretty simple, actually.” Galen simply swished the drink around in his hands, not even looking at me. There was something seriously wrong going on.

“I know you hate me. I’ve seen it in you from the second you first talked with me. You’re not hard to read. I don’t blame you one bit. Arlin needs to hold strong, and this camp is one of the sins we must commit in order to protect it. I am but one of many who has wronged you in the name of progress. But I think you have a purpose beyond this place and can do things for Arlin that aren’t just wasting away here. Elm was right about your skills with magore, and I could easily see you becoming a great technician if given the chance. All I want you to do is to get Elm to agree to the deal and come back to work for the Empire. His talent is wasted here.”

There was a clear smile on his face as he spoke. This felt like it had been practiced over and over again in his head.

“He clearly cares for you. I’ve never seen him think about someone at this camp as much as you. Something in you has made him want to save you specifically. So my deal is simple. Get him to agree to help our empire, and I’ll let him take you as an apprentice and give you full citizenship. I’ll even allow Sera to get citizenship. You and your lady friend will be safe and Elm will live. Of course, with a few restrictions. A man who has committed crimes against the Empire cannot go unpunished, but I’m sure he’ll live a comfortable life.”

It was too much. The offer was one that would save both me and Sera, but would come at the cost of everyone else at the camps. That wasn’t the main thing. I knew Elm was a part of the military, but I had no idea why he seemed so adamant on getting him. Even if it put everything at risk, I had to know.

“Why do you want Elm back so much?”

Galen’s response was to laugh.

“I really thought that if there was anyone he was going to tell, it would be his apprentice. Elm truly is a shrewd one.”

“Excuse me sir, what exactly are you talking about?”

Galen looked at me, a deep look of condescension on his face. HIs mask had finally dropped for a moment to reveal just how he viewed me.

“North, you’re currently working under Major Elm Grayson, one of the greatest minds in magecraft and magore technology.”

***

It was a lot. I knew that he was part of the military, and I knew that he was a good technician, but nothing like this.

“Wait, Major?”

“Indeed. If he wasn’t a slave, I’d be saluting him everytime he walked through the door. If I didn’t have to keep up appearances, I’d probably do it anyway. He’s a personal hero of mine.”

I was still stuck there in shock, unable to really comprehend his words. I wanted to not listen to him and believe that Elm was just some random magore technician and mage in the military, but there were too many things that made sense. His knowledge of the camps, his relationships with the system and his deep understanding of magecraft all fit together.

“That look on your face is adorable. I’ll tell you more if you want. I’ve done a lot of research on the man. This is of course depending on whether you extend my offer to him later.” His eyes were that of a predator staring down prey. I’d hated his facade of friendliness, but this was just as sickening. Against all of my better judgment, I nodded.

“Thank you. I think I told you Elm was alive during the 3rd campaign? Peroa is one of the longest in our history, and was a beautiful turning point for Arlin. After he’d grown up, he found he had an aptitude and decided to join the military to help our nation. Joined in on the 4th and 5th campaign. In less than 10 years he got to the rank of Major, and when he arrived home he was met with the love and adoration deserving of that title. Lot of ladies too, if the stories he told me over drinks are true. He was one of the first true magore tech specialists in the military, which had helped him rise through the ranks.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I only slightly knew of Peroa, since it was considered one of the pieces of “true Arlin”. My knowledge of history was extremely limited and only came from the guards who bragged about it during holidays or other slaves who were interested in teaching me when I was young. Before my mind could wander off, Galen continued.

“He decided afterwards that he would take up the study of magore tech and magecraft, and became one of our leading minds. We’d already had the basis for several of our central machines such as the burner or igniter, but they were much more unsafe. He was one of the people who helped to build protections on them, to find ways to keep our soldiers healthier over longer periods of exposure. What I’ve read of his work is impressive, although I can barely understand half of it. He was ahead of his time in almost every aspect and was an integral part of our growth.” He turned to me and smiled. “Working as a camp technician to him is as easy as breathing.”

I leaned forward and attempted to interject.

“But-”

“Let me finish North. You want to learn his story?”

I sat back, my hands toying with the timekeeper.

“His greatest achievement comes later. During the 7th campaign, our empire was still struggling to mine magore. The armor to protect from poisoning was only good for so long and would kill a person from exhaustion before mana poisoning if they tried mining in it. We had been using those with aptitude, but keeping them under control is hard when they could use their magic to fight back. So, Elm spent 2 years working on what would be his greatest accomplishment…” Galen leaned forward over the table to get nearer to me. When he stopped, he pointed his hand towards my ankle.

“The cuff.”

***

What…

No. That was wrong. It all felt completely and utterly wrong. I wanted to believe he was lying to me, to believe that he was obscuring the truth, but it clicked together too well. Elm knew a lot about them and understood more than anyone else. He knew that they were imperfect, and understood how mana circulated through the body.

“I see that look on your face. It’s the woes of betrayal, right? Elm, you truly are the worst.” Galen was already leaning back in his chair, sipping his drink like he had said nothing important. This was amusing to him, watching me flounder in confusion.

“But why is he here?” I had to know. I couldn’t walk away from this now.

“That’s a story I can’t tell myself. You’d have to ask him.” Galen said as he stared up at the ceiling. “But I can tell you what they told me.”

I nodded. He’d been dragging me along, and even though I knew I was playing into his hands, this wasn’t something I could walk away from.

“The cuffs were a revolutionary invention. They increased our efficiency in the mining process tenfold, and we had a much easier time managing the camps. He oversaw the production of them in the capital in a workshop that he managed. Whatever he used to make them was completely incomprehensible to other people who worked in magecraft, and he was fairly good at producing them himself. The empire of course tried to make him share his designs or process with others, but only a small handful of people even understood a slight bit of the machinery and tools he was using to make them. So he kept making them, until one day he stopped.”

“He just stopped?”

“He never felt fit to tell me why, but he stopped. Destroyed his entire workshop and burned every single tool and blueprint that he used in the process. Went on a warpath and tracked down every single person he worked with who knew even the slightest bit about the cuffs and killed all of them. They sent about half of a platoon after him to try and capture him and they all turned up dead. It took an entire garrison just to make him surrender and to get one the cuffs on him. Clearly, his skills from the military never faded.” Galen opened one of his drawers and pulled out a cuff and an odd looking key, which appeared to be covered in complex patterns. “There’s only around 10,000 of the cuffs the military has right now, and even fewer keys. We can’t make them anymore because the one man who understands how refuses to work with us.”

That’s the key? Galen’s this confident he’s willing to show it to me?

“The normal citizen assumes he’s dead, but he’s been in the system for the past 7 years, refusing any offer we’ve given him so far. That’s where you come in North. You want Sera to live and I don’t want to see yours or Elm’s talents go to waste. Elm clearly cares for you. Honestly, if he told me you were his bastard son or something like that, I’d believe him. All I want you to do is tell him what I told you, and try to get him to take the deal. There’s a supply delivery coming after tomorrow. If he says yes, I’ll send a message and I’ll get you, Sera and Elm on that transport where you can then head to the capital. I’ll have a few friends get you the documents you need and you’ll act as his apprentice while he helps us restart the production of the cuffs.” Galen gave me another cocky smile as he leaned forward.

“I’d suggest you try and get him to take that offer sooner than later. Your lady friend has less than 2 weeks if memory serves me correct. Of course, I’ll extend the offer even past that date, but it won’t be as sweet.” As he spoke I was reminded of the venom that dripped out of Nicole. Just like her, he wanted something and was willing to use others to get it. His actions made a lot more sense now.

“You were being nice to me so you could get to Elm, right? That’s why you gave me this?” I lifted up the timekeeper in my hands to show it to him. His casual smile was unwavering despite my direct accusation.

“You’re not as dumb as I thought. You’re not wrong. I don’t care about you. I care about the Empire’s future, which I think you can benefit.”

Finally, the mask was truly gone. Nothing about me was special to him other than the fact that I was his way to secure his goal. It was how he viewed all of the slaves at this camp. It was a lot, but I needed to keep moving forward. Even though the deal would save Sera, I was already committed to saving as many people as possible. This wasn’t something I could stop with and I wasn’t going to do so for a piece of shit like Galen. He wasn’t wrong in one area though.

I had questions for Elm that I needed answers for.

“I’ll go ask him.”

Elm placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair.

“Good kid.”

As I walked out, I turned to find Galen with that shit-eating grin still plastered across his face.

He was a monster, and I knew for sure that he was a person who deserved death. That wasn’t what was on my mind at the time. Instead, I needed answers from the man I called my mentor.