Urbstrina, Kingdom of Ignatius, Mourner’s Isle.

“That him?”

“That’s a woman. And, her hair is blonde. Are ya stupid or somethin’?”

“Hmph, you’re the stupid one, stupid. Go get your eyes checked. That’s clearly brown, not blonde.”

“Even if it is, it ain’t black, and they ain’t a man. We’re lookin’ for a man with black hair, so you tell me, is that him?”

Two men in dark clothing whispered to one another in an alleyway of Urbstrina’s lower Noble District, bickering in an absurd manner as they examined the aristocratic men and women who passed them by. They were very much out of place, what with their low quality clothing, dark hoods, and unkempt facial hair. The dark, dull and tattered robes they wore were dreary and peasantly in comparison to the vibrant colors and tidiness of those aristocrats.

However, despite their appearance sticking out so clearly, none of the individuals who passed the alley seemed to notice them. It was as though they were in a world of their own, or were behind a sheet of one-way glass. Even their whispering, which was arguably too loud to be called as such, went unnoticed.

“Oh, what ‘bout that one?”

“No, he’s too short. And look, he’s got that big ass mole on his chin. The boss didn’t mention any moles, you stupid rodent.”

“Who the hell are ya calling a rodent? You’re the rodent. Ya mother’s a rodent. All of ya ancestors, ya entire family, they’re all rodents.”

“What the hell did you just say about my mother? You little piece of —”

“Wait, what ‘bout him?”

“Huh? Yeah, I think that might be him! Good work, brother. I knew your eyesight was the best.”

“Mm, mm. Ya can say that again. Nobody’s got better eyes than me.”

“Let’s nab him.”

…

Callum awoke to an excruciating headache and a blinding darkness. He could feel that he was restrained, with binding holding him arms and legs to the chair in which he sat. In a brief bout of panic, he struggled violently against the bindings with all his strength, chafing his skin slightly against what felt like rope.

Callum quickly realized the futility of his struggle, and stopped. He forced himself to think, despite the white hot pain in his head, taking deep breaths as he did so. It doesn’t feel like it’s been long since I was captured, so I can’t be too far from where I was taken. So, I’m definitely still in the lower Noble District. He strained his eyes in the darkness, but it was useless. There was no light at all in the room, not even from cracks in a door or boards overhead. Callum continued to think. I might be wrong. It could very possibly be night. Otherwise, there would be at least some light coming through the ceiling or a doorway.

For an unbearably long time, Callum remained in the dark and silent room, with nothing to do but think. However, it truly didn’t faze him. He knew that it was just a meager attempt to break his will, so he insisted upon resisting it. He didn’t know who it was who had kidnapped him, but he would not let them get what they want easily. That’s the only power he had in the situation, and he’d be damned if he didn’t use it.

…

Inside of a large and nearly barren room, two men in tattered and ugly clothing kneeled in front of a desk, behind which sat a very wealthy man. The faces of the two men were distorted in great amounts of pain, despite visibly being utterly unharmed. Their eyes were cast downwards, perhaps as a result of the pain, or maybe out of fear or even reverence for the man before them.

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“You absolute fools!” The wealthy man shouted, causing the two men to cower and tremble. “Not only did you get the wrong person, you got one of the only people we absolutely did not want you to get!”

The two men said nothing in response, silently quivering before their master. They very nearly pissed themselves out of terror, and one of the two collapsed forwards, prostrating before the man in a show of absolute submission. The other quickly followed suit, not to be outdone.

The wealthy man sighed and rose from his seat behind the desk. “Enough.” His tone was harsh, but most of the anger in it had faded. He frowned deeply as he thought. “It seems…” He hesitated for a moment, only for him to rouse his determination immediately. “It seems that we’ll have to abandon our original intentions with Callum. There is no amending the situation, chances are he’ll have suspicions about the Crusade if we release him now.”

He turned his back to the two, and approached a window behind him. He glared out of it in an imposing and regal manner, which only served to further contrast against the two fools in peasant clothes behind him. When next he spoke, his harsh and angry tone had disappeared, and in its place was an unnatural calmness. “We’ll need to make use of him in another manner.” He said slowly. A gleam of viciousness appeared in his eyes, only to vanish as suddenly as it had appeared. “I hear that Caleb’s new recruits have been inducted finally. Bring Callum to Caleb, have him see what he can do. Tell him that I am allowing him to be… wasteful.”

…

Callum’s eyes opened in a squint as light flooded the room through an open door. It was blindingly bright in comparison to the darkness he had been within for hours, but he didn’t avert his eyes. He knew it was petty, and that it was likely useless, but he was determined to put up a strong front, and to prevent these bastards from getting their way for as long as he could.

He could make out two silhouettes approaching him from the doorway. I see, so they’re going to use the darkness to make it more intimidating. Callum had already prepared himself for the impending interrogation, and so he understood exactly what their intentions were. Or so he thought.

“Huh? He’s awake already.”

“What’d ya say, brother? He’s awake?”

Callum’s expectations quickly dropped away, and his detailed preparations became all but useless. More than that, though, was the sheer annoyance he felt. The two men’s raspy voices were annoying, especially with the way it sounded as though they were whispering. Their confusion didn’t seem to be falsified, which only worsened it.

One of them leaned towards Callum for a moment, their head tilting slightly as though they were examining something very interesting. “Huh. Would ya look at that. Didn’t ya use ‘Sleep’ on him, though?”

“You were there when I used it, are you stupid or something? It must’ve worn off.”

“But ain’t it supposed to last a long time? And who are ya callin’ stupid, ya damn rodent?”

“The fuck did you just call me? A rodent, you think I’m a rodent? Fuck your mother, I’m going to kick your ass here and now.”

The two men launched into another quarrel, while Callum watched on in a daze. His every expectation had long since turned to rubble, and his understanding of the situation had been turned upside down by now. However, the biggest source of his woes was the fact that one of the two fools in front of him was actually capable of using magic, something highly respected in the Kingdom. And yet, the man was clearly nothing more than a common thug, and a stupid one at that.

Eventually, his daze passed, but the bickering continued. It wasn’t long before Callum became annoyed, and it took even less time for that annoyance to become anger. After a while, Callum decided that he’d had enough. And so, he shouted, pouring every ounce of his anger into it.

“When are you two going to shut the fuck up already?”

Silence. The two silhouettes stopped moving abruptly, and their bickering voices trailed off. Callum’s anger had been vented by his shout, and now the silence was stifling, as he cursed his foolishness. At this point he had since realized that it had likely been in his best interest that their attention was not on him, and yet he had purposefully drawn their attention. Now, the torture and interrogation would begin. Am I as dumb as they are? Am I in a rush to be beaten?

After a while of being silent, one of them hesitantly began to speak. “Hey, brother… Do ya think he’s able to see us?”

“Seems like he can, brother…” Said the other, just as hesitant, followed by yet another stretch of silence. Callum’s head was reeling. He did not know for certain what sort of joke this was, but he had long since grown tired of listening to the two fools. Unfortunately for him, they weren’t done talking yet.

“How do ya reckon that is possible?”

“Dunno. Do you think that our Gift isn’t working?”

“Maybe. Ya think we should test it?”

Another brief pause. Callum, at this point, was all but praying that they would just leave. Please, go. Leave me be. I would rather rot in the dark and silence than listen to you.

“Good idea, brother. We better bring him to Caleb first though, before boss gets mad again.”

“Oh, right. Ya got a point, if we don’t hurry up, boss might get real mad this time.”

Callum could only hope and pray that the individual named Caleb was nothing like these two.