After being sat down on the opposite side of a desk with the ghoulish-looking man, Gant realized, based on what the man had said, that the other prisoner with him was marked as well.
The man's welcoming smile slowly faded while they were being seated, and his eyes grew slightly more beady as he focused on them. "So what do you guys say? Would you like to explore the White Tower?" A short pause of silence came over the three, only interrupted by the breathing of the guards and keepers in the room. The ghoulish man spoke up again after a small cough. "By the way, 'no' is not an answer; I just prefer cooperative soldiers to executed ones."
The last part of the man's ultimatum echoed loudly in Gant's ears; the pit in his stomach felt like it was forming again. Without hesitation, he plastered on a smile, stood up, and seemingly forgot his hands were shackled as he tried to shake the man's hand.
Within just a few seconds of his movement to shake the man's hand, he was suddenly close enough to the floor to make out the bumps in the stone used to build it. His arms were held in a very tight armlock, and he could feel one foot on each of his knees.
"Sorry, you don't get to where I am in this dangerous country without some... wariness." Gant strained to look up, his mind racing. The man's smile, now a mask of forced politeness, reappeared as he signaled his guards to stand down.
After he was let up, there was an awkward silence as the ghoulish man walked, and the guards stared at the red-haired man. As he was bound with six shackles, there wasn't any way for him to even get up by himself, let alone shake the man's hand. But, after a few minutes, the red-haired man's lips curled into a sly smile. "I'll do it; knowing the White Tower, I'll get plenty of things to experiment on along the way there." The guards looked pleased, but the ghoulish man had a ghastly look on his face. The red-haired man simply smiled, and it took Gant a few seconds to realize what had happened. There was a long, thin red needle sticking out of the man's forehead, right above his eye.
"By the way, my name is Ruk, and would you please take these shackles off? I could have already killed you; these just make my muscles ache."
The ghoulish man coughed out a reply: "Of course, now that you're working for us, you're a soldier." He motioned for the guards to take off the man's shackles, and after a bit of hesitation on their part, they ended up complying. "And, sorry for not introducing myself. You know the type of power people here hold with names; mine is Sigil Si'Dra. I'm assuming you don't have a name of power?" Gant noticed the man visibly calmed down after hearing Ruk's name and seemed to trust him a lot more, even after his stunt. He never understood what power names held but occasionally heard people in the streets talk about them. It was always something about a noble name that got spoken out loud or something.
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Ruk replied, "No, my clan believed just our given name held its power." After they had exchanged names, they both looked at Gant.
"Umm, I'm not sure about the deal with names, but mine is Gant, and I don't believe I have a name of power; I was just told this was my name at the orphanage."
The two men seemed almost annoyed by what Gant had to say, almost as if he gave the wrong answer to the simple question, "What's your name?"
Sigil decided to break the silence first. "This scenario is quite common among low-born people, as usually a formal education is required to understand the names of power." The way he said this very much annoyed Gant, but he couldn't refute it as he, in fact, lacked a formal education. The man continued, "When you are born, the legend says that is the moment all of the gods are watching you, along with all of the ancient and divine beings. As far as that goes, it is largely up for debate, as this nation has long since refuted the existence of gods and now uses them more as placeholders for ancient beings that gained a lot of strength. But what we do know is that the name given and designated by your parents as the name of power can, in fact, physically change you and give you power. Take my name of power, Si'Dra; the Si is what many nobles are, and one of the many common god denotations is meant to carry the strength of the god. And Dra refers to the old dragon we continue to take power from today."
As the last shackle clattered to the ground, Ruk flexed his hands, a predatory smile spreading across his face. "Now we just need to figure out what your name means."
Sigil did another cough; Gant had noticed it seemed to be his way of getting their attention. "You two will hopefully figure that out later; for now, let me explain why we are sending you to the White Tower."
Ruk almost looked annoyed; his face may as well have said, "We all know why we are here," but after a few seconds, it seemed he realized not everyone present actually would know why. This seemed to almost excite him. "Well, you see, our new friend Gant, who has yet to find out what being he was named after, we are going to the White Tower for..." He turned toward Sigil and analyzed him briefly. "Based on his sunken eyes, we are going there because the goblins have decided they feel like trying to open the old tower again." The man ended his speech with a smile directed toward Sigil, who seemed unfazed by being read.
The man scoffed in retort, "Anyone with an ear outside the wall would have known that's why, but I was referring to why YOU are being sent." His emphasis on the word 'you' sent a small shiver down Gant's spine. "The reason we are sending you is because of that mark; we haven't seen a marked one in hundreds of years. The last time we saw them was the group of walking disasters who stepped out of the tower. Now suddenly, there are people having it appear on them. But we believe you will be the key to keeping the goblins out of the tower." After a short pause, the man continued, seemingly pleased with the tension he had built, "By locking yourself in there from the inside."