Corvin grimaced, another dead guy, wonderful. Despite not only his and Oberion’s objections, he was appointed for interrogation.

The next gang member walked in, his hands cuffed, of course. Not that it would matter much. If the man managed to free himself, Corvin would have no problem killing him. Unfortunately, it seemed the man was nowhere near an escape. The man had been brutally beaten, and apparently lashed as immediate punishment. His red lines wrapped his body, yet he was completely emotionless.

Corvin rolled his eyes at the man. He swung his hand close to his face to see if the man would flinch.

He did not.

Grumbling, Corvin pulled up a seat. It made an ugly screeching noise as it dragged across the floor. Corvin clasped his hands on the table. The man sat down awkwardly in front of him.

Corvin smiled at the man for a second, then immediately corrected his involuntary facial expression. The truth was, Corvin was not very happy with his life, but he had to put on a smile for anyone watching him.

His wife divorced him just a few years prior. Some bullshit about “not being the man she fell in love with,” or something like that. He couldn’t quite remember what she said, it had been years ago, but it still stung. He knew he was an attractive man, so it puzzled and angered him that she left. There wasn’t anything big about it either, one day he came home and she wasn’t there, only a note that said she left and wasn’t coming back. She didn’t even steal any of his money, which to the average divorced man, would be a relief, but to him, the fact she didn’t take so much as a cent, a statement that she didn’t need him, It angered him.

Corvin glared at the man in front of him. He wanted to strangle Oberion. He was supposed to be second in command, not that Pligk.

There had been a bad blood between him and Oberion, It started around the Lead Hill skirmish almost a decade ago, when Corvin was in the army. Corvin had destroyed Oberion in rank, power, and mana capacity, but Oberion rose through the ranks and Corvin did not. Oberion proceeded to use his new authority to boss Corvin and others around, no one else had a problem because they were stupid, but Corvin did.

Oberion would complain whenever something went slightly wrong. Like when Corvin stabbed one of the undercover operatives. Not a damn soul told him to look for the brown ribbon, Oberion eventually honed his powers enough that he qualified for AFHA but he couldn’t get in because of the war.

The man calmly awaited his torment.

Corvin got up and backhanded the man across the face.

As Corvin took his gloves off, the man grunted in surprise at the fine frost that coated his face.

“It’s a bit warm here, let's lower the temperature shall we?”

The snow outside intensified, the whistle of the wind became louder. The room became colder.

The man shivered, but still showed no emotion. “Tell me where the rest of you are, and I won't kill you.” Corvin hoped that threatening the man’s life would be as effective as torture.

“A tarnished brother, does not tarnish another.” The man smiled back.

Corvin slammed his hands on the table. “Fine, have it your way.”

Corvin summoned a blast of ice from his fingertips. The ice enveloped the man like a cocoon.

“Mind telling me your name?” Corvin asked.

The man said nothing, even as ice wrapped around him.

Corvin stepped forward. The man, now completely covered in ice, could only turn his eyes to look. Completely helpless.

Corvin stared at the man, waiting for him to struggle, move, or something. But the man didn’t move a muscle.

Corvin flicked the ice, it shattered along with the man.

“Next.” Corvin waved.

“That was the last one, sir, there are no more of the ringleaders.” the soldier answered from outside.

Fucking Oberion. Corvin thought. He rubbed his temples, he was here, and here for one reason only: To gain the trust of the king, and take documents regarding the Lead Hill incident. Specifically, a Coup d'état.

He clearly remembered the day that it happened and the events that followed.

2450, It was nearing the end of the war, Around the same time Corvin began sending applications to the AFHA, Corvin was excited to get out of the shithole, everyone was.

Unfortunately, the hill they had been fighting over, had been a part of a bigger picture, Paknov send troops east to deal with Keywark forces, while Corvin a company of unlucky souls were sent to defend a fucking Hill. Oberion was also stuck there with the rest of them. Turns out, the war ended a few weeks prior. No one there knew, not even Corvin.

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Then the lightning came. At first it was one flash or two, but as they got closer and closer, Corvin assumed a nasty storm was approaching. Still, he thought: All the easier for us. A little rain wouldn't be too bad. He had been parched, stationed out for so long he was beginning to see little puddles here and there. Finally, the dark cloud completely blocked the sun.

The rain never came though.

He remembered, quite vividly, his trench partner, Dunford leaving the trench to collect water in his helmet. He held it like a cup waiting. He was met instead with a body of lightning, his body disintegrated faster than fathomable, and his helmet glowed a hot red as it fell to the ground.

Corvin has been enjoying A nice scrub tea, when he watched the man evaporate before his very eyes.

The light nearly blinded him, and the sound nearly deafened him. Another bolt came down, then another, then another, and another.

When the cloud passed over and the sun's light broke through the sky, more than half of their forces were gone.

Corvin remembered what he did the next day, He hung up his sword and bow, burned his nametag, and left.

A knock on the door. He opened it.

An elderly man came in, he held a mop in his hand, a bucket in the other.

The man grumbled and began mopping the blood off the floor.

"The room was large but mostly empty, with a few decorations here and there. In the middle of the room were some chairs and... a table.

Corvin scoffed, He had seen a lot of tables, almost every room in the castle had a table.

Leand sat a few seats away from the end of the table. He had his face down for some reason, but when Corvin entered his head shot up.

“Hey, Corvin. The hell are we here?”

Corvin shrugged. “Not sure, maybe Oberion wants us to count snowflakes or some shit. I heard he was really pissed.”

“Oh, yeaaaah.”

Corvin stared at Leand, who shot upright again, scratching his arms.

“What?” Leand asked.

“I didn’t say anything.” Corvin responded.

“No problem, it's all good here.” Leand slumped in his seat.

Lyla entered the room.

“Heeeeeeey…I forgot your name, what was it again?” Leand said.

Lyla rolled her eyes. “Wha- how many tables does this guy have?”

Corvin shrugged. “No idea.”

“Guy loves his tables man…tables…”

Oberion entered the room, followed by a soldier and another commander.

Oberion clasped his palms together. The soldier positioned himself at the gate, as if they needed protection. The commander sat near the head of the table, not before whispering something to Oberion, who straightened his uniform and grimaced, obviously displeased.

“Hendrick… stay put… the… code… she’s gone… witch?”

The guy hesitated, then whispered one more thing, Oberion’s frown faltered, though he kept the expression nonetheless.

“What's this?”

He pulled out a sheet of paper, presenting it to them.

“Glad to see you owning up to your mistakes.” Corvin said.

“Something you are unfortunately incapable of.” Oberion shot back. “Also, I was not finished speaking.”

Leand rubbed his nose, his eyes twitching ever so slightly. His hands were also shaking for some reason.

“As I was saying, while this is partially my fault, Corvin is responsible for most of it.”

Here we fucking go. Thought Corvin.

“I asked you specifically to interrogate them.” Oberion seethed.

“I did.” Corvin said, leaning backward.

“You killed them.”

“Was I not supposed to do that?” Corvin asked.

The room was silent.

“I gave you sixteen gang leaders. You killed sixteen of them, and in return, you gave me nothing. No answers, leads, anything. You didn’t get so much as a word out of them. Saying we are back where we are is an understatement, we are much worse off than before.”

Corvin straightened his posture. “May I remind you, the whole thing was your idea.”

And may I remind you, that you were most qualified due to your skill sheet?” Oberion shot back.

Corvin was silent as Oberion glared at him from across the table. Corvin didn’t lie much, but when he did, he was very good at it. People believed him when he said something. Up until this point, Corvin had never encountered a person who saw right through him. He even lied to the AFHA and couldn’t help but wonder if that was the real reason he was laid off.

“I objected, of course. But the king's orders are final, and he placed you on interrogation duty under the assumption that you were well trained in it.”

“They wouldn’t talk anyway, trust me.” Corvin

“No, I don't think I can.” Oberion replied. “It seems the only thing you're good at is killing.”

Corvin leaned forward. So he was going to be sent to deal with the orcs. Okay, better than being here-

Oberion cracked his knuckles. “I think you would be much better suited defending the king himself.” He pointed his finger downward.

“Right here.”

Fucking damn.

He turned back to Lyla and Leand. “I assume you can deal with a simple hostage situation.”

“Yes,” Lyla said. She elbowed Leand.

“Yeah! Yes… okay.” He responded.

Lyla came to the front of the room and Oberion handed her the documents. Leand was having trouble getting up from his seat. Eventually they both left.

Corvin said nothing, he grumbled and began making his way to the main throne room.