Gavin took another step towards Cormac, clearly enjoying the power that came with his trick.

"Stop it!" Carl yelled angrily, but all his tries to tackle Gavin weirdly failed. He fell out of nowhere, he turned to the side rather than run straight. The oath kept him from hurting the man. Much to Gavin's pleasure.

Gavin stopped only to flash Carl a satisfied grin. "Don't worry, these won't last forever, but I think we have ample time to enjoy ourselves here, don't we? Let's see. I will answer three questions, before I kill our little ruler here. Oh, I should point out that this is no oath, so you can't save him just by not asking."

Carl stopped and glared at Gavin.

"Thought…you told us…everything."

"Well, that is the thing my fried. I haven't said that I will tell you everything I know, did I?" Gavin started laughing, obviously proud of his genius. If Carl did not have enough reasons to cave his skull in already, this would have done the trick nicely.

"Who are you working for?" asked Cormac.

"Now that, that right there is a great question. A group of power hungry madman." he eyed Carl with a stifled laughter. He threw his hands in the air when he got no reaction from him. "Alright, yes. That answer would not be fair. New Order Society. If you must now." He took a big step towards Cormac, closing around a third of the distance between them.

"Why…him?"

"Eh. I don't really know myself. I don't ask that many questions, all I need is a target." Gavin looked at Cormac, his eyes changing from easy going to blood hungry in but a wink. "The fatter the rat, the better. And someone from a sacred family? Ah! I had no idea what prime rodent meat I was dealing with when I started." He jumped again, getting awfully close to Cormac. If he really tried, he could have reached him

Cormac thought about the last possible question. What could buy him as much time as it could. What could make the bloodthirsty assassin stop in his tracks.

They could not hurt him, they could not even defend themselves. Both Carl and Cormac…Cormac looked at Obscurno standing on his knee. Only Carl and Cormac could not hurt Gavin. Obscurno was bound by no such oath. Cormac gently sent his intentions to the crow, in hopes that it will understand. The crow ruffled its feathers a little in response.

Now he really needed time, enough to come up with a plan that would allow the crazy idea that popped into his mind.

What might get Gavin talking, what might persuade him to lose his guard even for a little bit?

Cormac knew a person obsessed with themselves when he saw one. He was the adoptive son of Melissa after all.

"Why do you hate nobility so much?" asked Cormac.

The question seemed to scrape Gavin wrong and Cormac immediately realized his mistake. Obsessed people might have loved talking about themselves, but not about the things that they regretted.

"Stand!" Cormac quickly shouted at Gavin. He felt a hit on his conscience as he did so. He was weak, so the command hurt him more than it actually did something. Still, he willed his eyes open and saw that Gavin actually had problems moving.

"Carl…hold…him…carefully…" Cormac felt his mind slipping from his grasp.

Carl did not ask any questions as he understood Cormac perfectly. He quickly wrapped his hands around the stunned Gavin and held him tight. Enough to restrict his hands and movement.

"What, how?" Gavin screamed as he struggled to get free of the grip. "Let go!"

"Not…hurting…you." answered Carl. Though the moment of victory turned bloody, when Obscurno left his Masters knee.

The crow hurled itself at Gavin's head, pecking at his undefended face. Gavin screamed. Blood splashed from him, as Obscurno pulled his left eye from its socket. He quickly chanted a thing or two, before falling to the ground. Limp and lifeless.

Carl dropped the bloody mess to the ground.

Cormac was out of it. Lying on the cold stones. The crow again at his knee, watching his master sleep.

Carl could not leave him there, with a dead Gavin. He was wanted know and he could not imagine this situation working out for him. Additionally, you could say they were brothers in arms. And to top it all off, Carl felt bad for the first hit he delivered to Cormac. The fight might have gone completely different, had he waited and observed the situation more.

But before he could pick up his body, he heard the hurried steps of someone behind him.

"Son? Are you ok? I was looking every…" his father looked upon the corpse of Gavin, as it lied there, lifelessly. Then he frantically looked to Cormac lying in much the same way on the opposite side of the street. Then back at Carl.

Carl did not wait for his father to speak. He did not wait for all the rational reasons, nor for the lesson that they were vassals, sworn to another, loyal in their ways. He had nothing left of the life he enjoyed before he was forced into the academy, forced by his family principles. The same principles that forced his father to stand aside when it came to the fight for his dreams.

Before all of that could flood from his father, Carl ran and punched the delicate man. He fell to the ground quick, moveless. Carl quickly checked the breathing of his father and calmed itself once he was assured of its regularity.

"You seem to have gotten yourself into a pickle." said a male voice behind him. Nonchalantly. Carl twisted in surprise to look at the man. He had long brown hair, a black suit with grey pants to match and o fine grey leather boots.

"Who…are…"

"Your future man at arms. Now, let's not dilly dally. I am certain that your father is not the only one about to find this place and unfortunately, I doubt that you will be able to deal with them in your condition." the man walked over to Cormac and gently picked him up from the ground. To Carl's surprise, the crow put up zero resistance. Instead, it flew at the man's shoulder, nesting itself calmly on it. "My goodness, why do I have to always find you minutes before, or after a thrashing? Hm? You may be a ruler my liege, but you are still mostly a child." he talked with the knocked out Cormac.

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"Where…are…"

"I believe I made myself clear. Either you come with us, or live on with your life empty husk of a life."

"How…do…you…"

"I just do. Let's not worry about unimportant things for now. A certain lord is on his way and unless you can convince him that you were bird watching when you stumbled upon a bloodied body, I would recommend you come here and hold my hand."

Carl eyed with doubt in his mind.

"Believe me, this won't be half as fun for me, as it will be for you. Now…" the man gestured for Carl to come closer. "Unless, you have somewhere better to be?"

Carl…Carl had nowhere better to be. He walked over to the man and grabbed his hand. The man smiled and nodded at the decision, content with Carl. Then all the light disappeared. It took all smell with it and suddenly. Carl was falling.

He was falling for too long. He could not hold his sense of time enough even to count the seconds it could have taken, but it was definitely in the count of tens of minutes. He would scream all the while, had he the option to. His throat still fought him at every opportunity. Even now, he could not scream for his life. Which might have been good, considering the smirk the man who teleported him gave him already. He would have been laughing wildly if he screamed too.

"Let me correct myself. It will definitely be more fun of me than for you."

"Where…are…"

"Safe. That's all you need to know and all I will tell you. There are…rules." The man walked freely and it took Carl a minute to realize that Cormac was sitting on a rock. Conscious.

Before Carl approached though, he had to look at his surroundings. They were in an open field, the light of day escaping in the distance. There were hills all around them and a small house sat in front of a thin stream of water. It was…cozy.

Carl walked over to Cormac and sat down next to him. Cormac handed him a handful of berries the moment Carl made himself comfortable.

"Obscurno brought them for me, brought quite a lot actually." Cormac moved from the way to reveal the pile of berries next to him. "Eat your fill and then some if you want."

"Thanks…"

"You are welcome."

They both sat next to each other, neither finding the words to share.

"Alright, you nervous pair you." said the voice behind them, earning a glare from both. "Let us get to business. Carl, will you or will you not become a Cormac's vassal."

"What?" was the simultaneous reply from both boys.

"Do not beat around the bush. Cormac has a responsibility he has proven to me and to himself he wants to pursue, but you Carl, you can go if you want. Thanks to my help, nobody will ever associate you with what had happened and your dear father won't remember much after getting punched either. It is your turn to make a decision. I can take you into a calmer part of the capital and you can take your time finding your father and living the life you would have normally. Or you can stay here and help us with saving the world."

"With what?" Cormac half-shouted.

"You heard me." replied the man, turning to Carl. "Now answer Carl Stonefist."

"Want me to…serve?"

"It's fairly exaggerated. It can be quite refreshing to have a master to answer to. Life changing you might say. And unfortunately, with what we aim to do….blind faith does not get you very far."

"You don't need to, Carl." Cormac stood up abruptly. "I do not know this man, I don't trust him yet."

"Oh!" yelped the man, gripping his heart. "Have I not proven myself helpful, my liege?"

"Why do you insist on calling me that! I don't have any servants!" lashed at him Cormac.

"Sorry, but you are definitely wrong my liege." said the man while looking at Obscurno. "You have at least one officially and then well…you have me." winked the man back at him.

"You have helped me twice already…"

"Thrice." interrupted the man.

"Yes, yes. Thrice. I do want to trust you. But you have to reveal at least something, if you want me to accept any more help." glared Cormac at the man.

"I do not mean to offend, but I am well capable of forcing my help. But still, my name is Emwin. Myy first name that is. As a servant, I would bear the name of my lord as my second, but something tells me that La Bor is not going to stick with you, my liege. "

"That…that we do not know yet." Cormac sat down. Then he looked far somewhere, resolute. "I need to get to my family. I need more answers."

"Yes, that you do. Just not…yet." answered Erwin while stuffing a pipe. "I apologize, but I will be plain. You are weak, my liege. Too weak to do anything now. The fact that you managed to survived up until now speaks volumes on your potential, as it does on your luck. But I will not let you out of this place, until you can command me to."

"What?" Cormac stood up.

"Unfortunately, I am still bound by some orders of old. And I plan to keep them." Emwin puffed out one circle of smoke after each other.

"You are rather defiant, considering that you pronounce yourself my servant."

"Thank you." replied Erwin.

"I…it wasn't a…"

"Why…should I…be a vassal?" Carl interrupted.

Erwin looked Carl up and down. It was the first time Cormac had enough time to see the man's eyes clearly. They were piercing yellow. Yet something about them…something seemed off. The man glanced at him quickly, then smiled again.

"Why, for all his qualities. Perceptive, adaptive with a little cunning sprinkled in. He may have not shown you these things too much, but you should see what I see. But ultimately," the man took another whiff of his pipe. Cormac suspected it was just for a dramatic pause's sake. "The main reason why you ought to serve is you. I do not like repeating myself, so I won't. But you certainly know why a life for another might be fitting. And there is always the fact that Cormac can relieve you of your service. Should he wish it so."

Silence took hold. Cormac had enough trouble to follow the conversation, as his mind flooded with the weird remarks that Erwin had. He seemed to know so much, understand it all. Cormac feared that he might be a pawn, someone put into their place for a specific purpose. But he had no choice in the matter and Erwin's words promised strength. Something Cormac could definitely use.

Carl came to the same conclusion.

He stood up and turned to Cormac. He got down on one knee and looked up at him.

"I swear…to serve." he said, than he let his hand down in a simple bow.

Cormac was not prepared for this. Honestly, he though Carl would resent him for what happened that day.

He remembered the fight, the pain he must have inflicted onto him. Their small bouts in the arena, where he was always running from a hulking mass of muscle.

But he did see who was in front of him. A man quick to act, though bringing a somber mood wherever he was. A man lanky and weaker than he ever was, though still possessing some kind of strength many would envy.

He was strong, but he could become much more than that.

And that man offered him loyalty.

"I…accept." was his only reply.