I faint as on the street without any worry. I've resigned myself to my fate whatever it may be.

"Gah!" I gasp as I wake. My head is pounding and my body hurts. Where am I? Is this prison? Have I died? Hopefully its the latter. Seems like that would be less trouble. After checking my surroundings I come to the unfortunate conclusion that I haven't died. The only positive is that it doesn't seem like I've wound up in prison either. Did Morgana actually save me? Maybe. But it doesn't make any sense. My head drifts to the thought of my encounter with her, and the promise I made to her. Ugh. I shudder at the thought. I promised her anything to get me out of that mess with Reginald and his brothers. But now what's the mess with Morgana I've found myself in?

I open my eyes and sit up. My vision is blurry for a moment but slowly begins to clear as I manage to fight through some of the grogginess I'm feeling. As I look around the room I can't help but think it looks a bit dull. Actually too dull. Is this even a room? Where am I? I take a few moments to try and think, "It's...a...cave...?" I say aloud. The room feels damp and is less than well lit. I notice a dark, green, thick moss growing on the walls. It even has somewhat of a dank smell you wouldn't expect to find in a space like this. One things for sure, this is definitely a cave. The question is where? Celestria doesn't have any caves within the city and for the most part the land surrounding it is mostly plains. Maybe she used her magic to make it? I wouldn't put it past someone as strong as Morgana.

I don't even want to find out. Morgan could be attempting to use me as some sort of experimental pet or something. Is she going to torture me? Too many questions and not enough answers. This is miserable. "Clink....Clink..." I hear the sound of glasses tapping together in the distance. Oh... I wasn't lucky enough to be here alone. I'm assuming it's Morgana and what I know of her...no, mages in general, she'll intend to collect on my promise. Maybe I can lay back down and just sleep through this. "Thump, thump, thump." Footsteps echo in the distance. I attempt to investigate.

I attempt to stand. My father always told me it was better to face my problems head on than to cower in fear. Unfortunately for me I'm often filled with fear. Even with the intense amount of fear I'm feeling in the moment, I manage to wipe my eyes clear and leave the rather uncomfortable bed I found myself in.

I look around the room and a few things stick out to me, there are beakers and various types of glassware strewn all over the place, an intense chemical smell fills the cavern, it's unlike anything I've noticed before, and there is a rather loud and obnoxious clanging coming from somewhere else within the cave. To make it all worse, somewhere in the struggle before I somehow lost my shoes. Terrific.

I run my hands to the wall beside me and attempt to navigate through the dark room. I make my way to the loud clanging I heard a few moments prior but it's exact location is difficult to pinpoint. Everything just seems to echo off of these cavernous walls. But it seems like they're the loudest to my left so I try to focus my attention that direction. I creep forward, following a slender tunnel, my feet sink slightly into the muddy floor below and my hand is grimy from running across the moss covered walls. I hear a voice. Morgana? It has to be.

"Well? What seems to be the issue, Grim?" I hear Morgana's silk like voice echo against the walls of the cavern.

"Nothingggg my missstresss." A strained voice answered back.

"If nothing is wrong then why is our elixir blue instead of red? You know my serum is always red when it's finished its final brewing cycle!" Morgana replied angrily.

"I'mmm sssorry, mistress." Grim replied.

I creep forward in hopes of trying to get a better view of the duo. I find myself at the edge of a large room. Inside was massive, the ceiling has to be several hundred feet tall with a small hole in the ceiling letting in the smallest bit of natural light.

As I lean forward in an attempt to get a better view of this "Grim" that Morgana is speaking to I hear a slight crunch of something beneath my feet. I gasp and cover my mouth as I notice the small branch that cracked beneath me. "Great!" I think, realizing my cover is blown.

"Ah well, Grim. It seems we wont have time to fix our truth elixir." Morgan said with a sigh.

"Misssstresss?...." Grim hissed back.

"Ugh. Kyran! Come out here!" Morgana shouted.

Surely she's not talking to me.

"Yes, Kyran, we know you're there! Come out here!" Morgan said.

Oh gods. My clumsiness has ruined my only chance of escape. Shit. I reluctantly step around the corner into the big cavern where Morgan and Grim were standing. Morgana looked about like what I remembered from the night before, except, for some reason her hair looked a lot different. Almost like she had changed the color overnight.

Grim on the otherhand is unlike any person I've ever seen before. He had the height of a dwarf but none of the other characteristics. He was slender but has a large head. His head is shaped like a vegetable but I can't quite put my finger on which one. He was bald, wrinkled, and sickly looking. Something about him gives me the creeps. Honestly if I had to give an accurate description of him it could be summed up in one word. Unfortunate. He looks dreaful. Almost if all the gods had decided to test his resolve with looks that they'd never dare give to another man.

I feel both Morgana and Grim scanning me from head to toe. I suppose it's only fair since I'm doing the same.

"Hmmmm." Morgan says as I enter the room. "Your injuries seem to have healed quite nicely. Surprising without any healing magic." She scoffs.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Morgana looks towards Grim, then back to me, and smiles. "You were injured quite gravely in our escape. Doria may not be the strongest Fenrir but he is still quite adept in combat." She says.

Morgana's expression is hard for me to read. This is all so confusing.

"Before I was able to teleport you out, Doria landed what I assumed would be a fatal blow." Morgana says. Morgana takes her hand and points at her stomach.

I follow her lead. I reach my hand down and rub it gently against my abdomen. I hiss in pain as my fingers graze an apparent wound on directly below my ribs and near my stomach. I try to strengthen my resolve. I don't want to look weak in front of Morgana. If I have any chance at all of surviving she has to believe I'm still some sort of a threat.

With this in mind, I steady my breathing and lift up my tattered and bloody shirt.

I cower backwards at the sight of my abdomen. A massive, serrated scar went from one side of my stomach to the other in the shape of a wretched looking, infection filled scab. It's revolting. I immediately feel the urge to vomit but manage to hold it back. Doing so in front of a woman would be utterly embarrasing. Still though, I wretch violently at the sight. What happened to me? Did Doria really manage to do this? It was only moments between me hearing Morgana and her teleporting me away. Could the Fenrir brothers be that powerful?

"Do you.." Morgana pauses for a moment, "...Really not remember?" She asks.

"No." I respond quickly in between labored breaths. "Wha-- how?"

"You nearly died. In fact, I was sure you were going to." Morgana says. "As I teleported you out, Doria cast a wind magic spell that nearly sliced you in half. Tsk. If it wasn't for my teleportation spell it would have."

Her speaking sparks a vague recollection of that night. In an instant I receive flashes of blood and pain. I vaguely remember the wind spell that apparently nearly killed me. To my surprise after the initial shock and horror my wound remains mostly painless.

"What... happened? That night.. I mean." I manage to string together a few words that make sense.

"My answer depends on what part of that eveing you're asking about." Morgana replies.

"The part where I nearly died. Let's start there." I say.

"The eldest Finrir brother, Reginald was murdered." Morgana says.

Becoming frustrated were her responses I snap back, "I know. I meant with the scar, on my stomach, what happened?"

"I'm getting to that." Morgana says with a slight smile. "You were caught, with Reginald Fenrir's body. Leading most of the family to believe you were the murderer. When Doria found out he chased you down and shot a blast of wind magic at you. It was concentrated, sharp, and much swifter than I expected."

Grim grunts. His face is covered in worry, though, I'm not sure what for. It's not like he was the one who was almost killed.

Morgana continues, "By the time I had contacted you.. my teleport spell, well, it wasn't quite fast enough. Doria's blast hit you and nearly cut you in half. In fact, if I hadn't cast the teleportation spell when I did, you would've been in two pieces right now. It took nearly all of Grim's knowledge in healing spells to get you to this point."

Grim grunts again, this time he chimes in quickly after, "Yessss. I, er-- Well letsss sssay you've been a bit, difficult. Nothing a month of intensive healing magic couldn't cure though."

I hear Grim groan again. I have half the mind to groan with him.

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"Wait... A month? Wha--how?-" I squeak out half a sentence before I'm cut off by Morgana.

"Yes." She replies shortly. "For a month you've been taking up space in my home. Near lifeless. Grim has healed you and I've kept you safe." Morgana says.

My head begins to spin. An entire month? How is that possible? It feels as if I was just being chased last night. What happened after the murder...after I almost...died? Did they give up the chase? Are the Fenrirs still after me? Thousands of questions swirl through my hand as I stand in the silent room of Morgana's cave. Morgana quickly breaks the silence and cuts my questions short.

"I would like to say this was due to the kindness I've got dwelling in my heart but I hate to fill your head with lies so soon after you awaken." Morgana says.

"Then...Why?" I ask. "Why bring me here? Why go through the trouble of having me healed?"

As I ask the question there subtle but noticeable silence falls over the room. Morgana is twirling her raven black hair between her fingers. Grim's eyes are nearly crossed as he looks her direction. It seems as if it's a question he's been meaning to ask as well. Understandably so, whatever this is, their cave, or hideout, why risk bringing someone who is being accused of the murder of the heir to the phoenix guild. It doesn't make any sense.

"That, my dear, is a good question." Morgana replied.

Her evasiveness is irritating. Of course this is my luck, escape death only to be toyed with by some supremely powerful mage. Great! Only the gods could imagine what her and this creepy servant of hers have in mind for me.

"That's all you have to say? Why not let me die?! It would've been much easier! Now I have to live in fear of the Finrir brothers catching me. I can't imagine they'll grant me a painless death either."

"You're correct." Morgana responds. "I know them too well. Your death will surely be painful."

Great. Even she knows my fate is tragic. Gods why did she save me? I'd have rather died. I shudder at the thought of my up and coming life. I'm going to spend the rest of my time running from sure and certain death. Imagine my luck. I should've stayed at the farm. At least then I was top of the food chain, or at least, for the most part. Here I might as well be a toddler. I'm so out of my league. Maybe I should turn myself in... Give them my side of the story and try to convince them Sebastian is the one who really murdered Reginald.

I quickly find myself lost in thought, my brain keeps running through the possibilities and outcomes of what would happen were I to turn myself in and none of them seem pleasant. Most of them seem to end in violence and not the kind of violence where I'm on the end giving moreso me on the end receiving. How unfortunate.

Morgana quickly breaks my train of thought and brings me back to reality.

"Tsk, tsk." Morgana mouthes. "You know, sitting around and worrying about what's going to happen to you isn't going to help your situation in the slightest."

She's right. It's irritating though she's giving me obvious advice. Obviously worrying isn't going to help...but, I can't do much else. I'm weak...and alone. I couldn't even make it back to the family farm if I wanted to.

"What should I do?" I ask. "Or should I be asking, what are you going to do with me?"

That's the question I should've been asking from the start. What is Morgana planning on doing with me. There's an obvious power dynamic that's skewed favorably in her direction. I don't know why I'm assuming I have any agency here. Morgana could kill me with anything as little as a few words. I'm nothing compared to her magical might.

"I know you saved me for some reason. I can't imagine it was for free. What is it? What do you want from me?" I finally find the confidence to ask. I have to know. It would be better to get it over with now rather than later.

"Can I not have saved you out of the kindness of my heart?" Morgana says with a sneer. "I've been fighting for the good of Celestria for the better part of a century now under the Phoenix guild. Slaying monsters, helping people, why is it so strange that I have helped you?"

What she say's makes sense. I really do want to believe she saved me from Doria's wrath out of kindness. But why would the phoenix guilds most powerful mage, possibly Celestria's strongest mage, rescue someone who was accused of murdering Reginald Fenrir? One of her companions at the phoenix guild. She's been acquainted and friends with the Finrir brothers forever. Well, at least according to the stories. Reginald, Sebastian, and Doria were all close allies of hers. They all fought side by side in countless quests and numerous battles to protect Celestria and explore the unknown that still lurked outside it's walls. Why would she believe me over the words of her comrades.

"That's exactly what I'm asking." My words come tumbling out. "I have murdered Reginald Finrir. Your friend and ally. Why save me? Why not let Doria slice me in half in the Celestrian streets?"

"Haven't we already gone over this?" Morgana replies. "We both know you didn't kill Reginald."

"Even if that's true, saving me... helping me..." My voice trails off. "It...doesn't make any sense. All you're doing is making yourself an enemy of the Finrir's. No matter how strong of a mage you are, they are bad enemies to have."

I must've struck a nerve. I see Morgana's lips quiver for just a moment. It's faint but I can see I've found something that she must have been thinking about. Finally, something stops her incessant and undending coolness. She may have the strength to kill me a hundred times over but that doesn't mean she is strong enough to match the strongest of her guild by herself. Maybe I can use this to get down to what she really wants.

Sadly I am mistaken though as I see the smallest hints of doubt she's displaying disappear in an instant.Her smile returns almost as quickly as it left.

"True, I cannot survive an assault from the remaining Finrir brothers. It would be easiest to just hand you over... Maybe they'd even allow me to watch you be flayed if I played my hand right! Ha!" She laughs again.

I feel my soul nearly leave my body.

"...Luckily for you, we had a deal and as long keep your end of it I'm obligated to protect you because I cannot be both a traitor and a dealbreaker. Grim! Bring out the Contract!" Mrogana shouts.

Off in another section of the massive cavern I begin to hear the sound of Grim's labored steps approaching from a dark corner of the room. The sound of a limp, then grunting seem to come hand in hand with Grim. It's actually quite odd if I'm being honest. Now it's amplified with a loud schhhhck, schhhhck. Gods... That can't be the sound of her contract. Is it really? I gulp a little too loudly as I sit in an extremely unfcomfortable anticipation. As the final few moments pass I realize my worst fears have come true, it is her contract. Out of the shadows, Grim's disfigured head appears between Morgana and myself. Slumped over his shoulder, is a large scroll, It appears to be nearly eight inches in diameter and several feet long. It drags on the ground behind grim as the weight of the scroll pushes his body into and uncomfortable hunch.

As Grim struggles into the room Morgana takes the time to explain herself. Not that I really want to listen but at this point it seems I don't have much of a choice. Grim struggles over, groans, and with a massive amount of effort he heaves the scroll onto the floor in front of us where it rolls and unfurls itself neatly in front of me. On it is the smallest print, some written in elvish, the rest in common tongue. It's thousands of words long and none of them easy. Especially for someone with a surprising lack of schooling such as myself. I have no hopes of understanding half of this thing.

"So, before you sits the key to your freedom. At least your freedom within this room. As of now you'll still be a wanted man within Celestria." Morgana says dryly.

"Only protection here?" I ask. "Am I to live in your cavern or hideout or whatever this is for the rest of my life?" I begin to panic.

"First off. the correct term for where you are is a Guild. My guild to be more specific. I'm the headmaster. And no, not for the rest of your life. Only until your innnocence is proven to the phoenix guild." Morgana says. "Only then will it be safe for you without my protection."

Her guild? Morgana has her own guild? Operating freely of the city guilds? How is that possible? All guilds have to be santioned by the city and I know they're not sanctioning a witch like Morgana who apparently has questionable morals at best. But if she's running an underground guild she's in a lot more trouble than just harboring a murderer. Most underground guilds are doing things like murder and worse daily. So, either she's lying or she's much worse than I could have imagined.

The way she looks at me makes me think I'm in a lot more trouble than I originally imagined. Unfortunately I only have a couple of options right now and all of them seem to involve giving Morgana what she wants.

"What do you mean guild? You've been apart of the phoenix guild for a long time is this some sort of offshoot?" I ask.

"No, not an offshoot. This is a guild I've created recently, due to circumstances within the phoenix guild." Morgana replied. "Circumstances you caused." She's sure to emphasize. "Though in it's early stages, this guild is proving quite promising thus far. It's first goal, proving your innocence. That is... Assuming you sign this contract that is."

"After we prove my innocence... Am I free to leave?" I ask quietly, already knowing the answer.

"Ha! As if I would allow services as valuable as my own be bought out as cheap as a few month's of work. No, my dear, this contract is for good. No, my dear, this contract is permanent."

I try to take a moment to weigh my options, luckily there are so few. Morgana isn't bluffing. If I want to live my only real option is to sign her contract. I wish I had time to read it all beforehand but I'd need to learn elvish so I'd say that isn't an option. The only thing I know for sure is that it is guaranteed permanent. Upon closer inspection of it that is one word that is clearly pointed to time and time again. Until death, until untimely death, if your spirit returns after death the contract is reinstated, if time were to end in an untimely manner and the planes were to shift but leave us in the same plane contract is reinstated. This contract goes on and on forever, there are thousands of possibilities spelled out that all end with me being tied to her guild. I almost wonder if death would be better.

Despite this running through my head, I still think living is better. Even if it is as this psycho's servant.

Nervously, I run my hand through my hair and I dig my heel's into the mud beneath me. "Alright." I respond. "Whatever you need. I'll sign the contract, just keep me alive."

Morgana goes to stand, before her front foot hits the ground she turns into a mist, or maybe, a puff of smoke, I cannot tell. I turn my head, and she's standing next to me, leaning over my shoulder. "Good, I was worried I'd have to see you killed." She says.

I feel a sharp pain in my arm, I look over to see Morgana holding a blade, she's got this devilish look in her eyes. I think one more time that maybe I've made a mistake but its too late now. I get nauseous at the sight of my blood but it doesn't matter. Morgana grabs me by one arm and Grim by the other. They shuffle me towards a section of the bottom of the rolled out contract.

They move me to the top of the long scrawl of parchment paper, my blood drips onto the words mixing and coloring the ink that made of her obnoxiously long contract. I look down to see my blood sizzling as it hits the paper, little bits of steam leave as my blood lands. I hear Morgana laughing in the background.

"I never imagined such reactivity! Ha!" Morgana says.

As my blood splatters and falls to the ground I feel a burning in my arm. I try to scratch it off as the feeling worsens but it won't give.

"Don't fight it!" Morgana hisses. "Everything is going as planned!"

The burning in my arm isn't just a sensation, my shirt sleeves are smouldering and smoking as It continues. What is happening?! A shape is melting into my arm!

"Once our emblem is burned into your skin the contract will be finalized!" Morgana yells.

I manage to rip my sleeve off before it catches fire. I see it. Her emblem. But what is it? A bird? I'm having a bird scorched into my skin?!

"Our emblem, the animal I respect and cherish the most! The raven!" Morgana shouts.

The magical contract finalizes with a loud crack and a flash of multicolored lights. I feel the burning in my arm stop. Morgana is breathing heavily and Grim has all but disappeared. Whatever just happened seems to have been much more than I originally anticipated but to the extent I've no idea.

I look at the magically engraved raven in my shoulder, to my surpise it's rather appealing. I was expecting scars and burn marks but instead its more along the lines of a thick and detailed line of ink. There are various colors but it mainly consists of black. All I can think about is how I've just signed my life away. I signed it away to a guild that I'm not even sure has a name.

"Kyran," Morgana says between deep breathes, "I'd suggest you get some rest, your first day in our guild is going to be a tough one."