Hadwyn woke up in a dimly lit room. The metal bed creaked as he stirred.

He felt stuff sticking to his skin. Bandages, he thought. Now where the hell am I?

He was in the hospital for sure. He recognized the minimalist interior synonymy with a patient room.

“You hit your head pretty hard. Do you remember who I am?”

Hadwyn was startled by the voice. But he didn’t flinch. Maybe he was under some sort of sedative.

That voice…

A lamp was lit, Illuminating the room.

Peter.

Hadwyn nearly rocketed out of his bed. He wanted to tear off his bandages and jump out the window. But alas there was no window to exit from, and Hadwyn didn’t know if you could even put his legs to use.

“Peter!”

“Yes.”

Hadwyn stopped wriggling. He must have looked ridiculous.

“Who- what-”

“You were brutally attacked by E-GOAG-M Dale.”

“Huh?”

Peter sighed. “You were attacked by an ex-guild member named Dale. He attacked you with a whirlwind barrage.”

“Who… who brought me here?”

Peter scratched his neck. “NAT-Teresa”

“N.. NAT?”

Peter grunted. “Force of habit. You were rescued and brought here by Teresa.”

Then it hit him. Teresa was the same woman who had knifed Alice a few weeks ago.

“What do you want with me?” Hadwyn questioned.

Peter put up his hands. “Nothing. Well, I just wanted to ask a few questions.”

“Okay…”

“Do you know anything about demons, Mr. Hadwyn?”

“N-not much… I mean, the demon king and stuff, I guess.”

“Have you heard of the Divilamu?”

Hadwyn tried to shrug, but it hurt. “I mean… yeah… primordial evil, right?”

“Good. Have you heard him?”

Hadwyn paused. He suspected the man was hard of hearing. “Yes… I-”

“No.” Peter leaned forward. “I said, have you heard him?”

“I- what?”

Peter continued to stare at him, waiting for a real answer.

“No.. No, I didn't- have not heard him…”

Peter sighed again.

“Wait, what happened to-”

“Dale?” Peter scoffed.

“Is… is he…”

Peter got up and cracked his knuckles. “No, but he was definitely a couple of inches from it. I told Teresa to not be so aggressive…” He muttered to himself, trailing off. Peter wiped his nose. “He recovered a few days ago… got discharged…” He trailed off again. “We expected you to wake up around the same time, or earlier, but you seem to be a heavy sleeper, cause your injuries weren’t as bad as his.”

“What about Teresa?”

“What about her?”

“Where is she?”

Peter paused. “She’s in the waiting room outside.”

Hadwyn grunted, lifting himself out of the bed. He struggled to stand, but he managed to pull it off. He limped to the doorway, and opened it.

Teresa was sitting on a chair outside. She grinned when she saw him, like he was an old friend. Hadwyn had never met this woman in his entire life, excluding the mast month.

She wore a military style outfit with a badge.

Peter stood behind him. Closing the door.

“Alright, who the hell are you people!?” Hadwyn blurted.

Teresa got up from her seat. Her smile faded upon seeing him.

“Did you tell him?”

“No.”

“You promised me, Tom.”

“I did, but he didn’t ask.”

She rolled her eyes. “God! Why do you have to be so specific? He’s the perfect one, you said it yourself!”

Peter made a zip it motion with his hand across his lips. Teresa stopped talking.

“Said what? What’s going on?!”

Peter directed his attention to Hadwyn. “Hadwyn, do you know how phantom wolves… Do you know what a phantom wolf is?”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Yes.”

“Good. Then you should know that they keep demons and evil spirits.”

Hadwyn growled. “Enough questioning, If you don't let me out, I’ll see myself out then.”

“Hadwyn’s threat of leaving seemed to put Peter on guard. “No offense, but I don’t think you’re in the condition to see yourself out.”

“Your… You’re keeping me here?”

Peter narrowed his eyes. “Yes, we are. In fact, we've been looking for you since some new information came up about the incident at the S-games. We went to the guild office to find you, but as luck would have it, you unregistered the previous day. Teresa here,” He motioned to Teresa, who nodded. “She found you and kept you alive until we came to retrieve you.”

“Wait…” The person who had been gripping his money was Teresa?

“Now you must answer my questions.” Peter asserted. Think carefully, your answers will determine what happens to you next.” he cleared his throat. “Did you study law, Mr. Hadwyn?”

“L-law?”

Teresa and Peter exchanged glances.

“National laws, international laws, Aetlan laws, international laws. Did you study any of them?”

“N-no?”

“Trivial bookworm!” He cursed under his breath.

“Just let me go!”

“Loyd was to be killed!”

“W-what!?”

Peter composed himself. Gritting his teeth, he said:

“Killing a phantom wolf is a capital offense. In most nations, the death penalty will be enacted on any individual who kills one purposefully. Nations that don’t will be forced to give their prisoner up to Aetlan judgment. Even I think it is a bit too draconian, but nonetheless these are the rules.” He raised his gaze to Hadwyn. Hadwyn saw something odd about his eyes, they looked like they were made of glass.

“Do you know why that is, Hadwyn? Do you know why that is the penalty for such a crime?”

“B-because… because phantom wolves are endangered and beneficial?”

“Correct Hadwyn.” He closed his glass eyes for a moment and reopened them. They were just normal eyes now. The drugs must have been really messing with Hadwyn.

“Because…” he stepped closer until he was a few feet away from Hadwyn.

“Because it should be impossible to kill a phantom wolf inadvertently! Your friend Loyd-”

“He’s not my friend!” Hadwyn snapped. “I wouldn’t care if I walked by a bridge and saw his head on a stick!”

Peter was obviously taken aback by Hadwyn’s response, but he recovered from this quickly; “Sorry, I misspoke. I meant your partymate.”

Hadwyn clenched his teeth. A nasty ache began to reverberate across his body. Even the word partymate stretched it a bit.

“He was to be put to death.” Peter asserted. “I and I know you don’t care, and you shouldn’t, but this isn’t about you, or Loyd. This is about the way people view conventional laws and special treatment… And there are certain things I can’t tell you. Not yet…”

“What things?!” Hadwyn spat. “What things won’t you tell me? Why is Loyd queued for execution?”

Peter looked at him pitifully, then he glared at Teresa.

“You know what? Fine. You can go.” He waved his hand at the door.

Teresa twitched, like she wanted to say something. She curled up fists.

Hadwyn wasted no time stumbling out of the office building. Turns out It wasn’t actually a hospital, the building had a weird design, kind of like a guild office. But there were no signs or designs of any kind to identify it as one.It seemed to be under construction, tarp here and there. Scaffolding lined the exterior of the building.

“...I told you he isn’t ready!”

“You didn’t even try!”

Hadwyn froze. He crept back to the window. There weren't even any sills,

“I did. I told him everything I promised to tell him. If he does not want to be involved, that is up to him… That’s his choice to make. But I know that the Aetlans won’t be so forgiving…”

She shook her head. “No. You let him leave. You know how much we need a person like him? I went to school with him! He was two grades below me and still helped me with my homework.

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Homework? Which school did you go to?”

“Rorin College.” She grabbed her hair. “His skills a- are incredible! You know it too.”

“I agree that he has one of the highest intelligence quotients of any applicant. “Frankly, I don’t even know why we’re even here. He should have been hired already.

“We haven't completely been active here in Graunvilk yet, so it makes sense.”

“Ah, you are right Teresa. Blades sharpen each other, eh?” His smile faded.

“East is Aelten territory, don't forget that.” He sighed. “You’re still in training, despite that. But things are a lot more brutal here. Graunvilk’s law enforcement has a bad reputation here.”

“That's why we exist.”

“...”

“No.. that's not the entire truth.”

Peter shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t like keeping secrets from my trainees, but I have no other choice.”

“When will you tell me?”

He shrugged again. “When the higher-ups allow it, or…”

“Or…?”

“Or… or if another incident happens.”

Hadwyn could tell they were talking about something that he wasn’t even involved in. Something really serious. But he didn’t know what it was yet.

A determined look spread across Teresa’s face.

“I’m going after him.”

“Teresa…”

As Teresa approached the door, Hadwyn stumbled away, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t listening. But the fact that he was still there to begin with, wouldn’t help much.

The door flew open. And a surprised Teresa yelped. “What are you still doing here?”

Hadwyn leaned against the fence. “I, uhh… I don’t really know where I am…”

“You’ve lived in this town your whole life… and you’re telling me you’re lost?”

“Uhh…”

“Her shoulders slumped. We- I want you to join our organization.”

Hadwyn laughed. Maybe it was the drugs messing with his emotions, or maybe he was losing it, but whatever the case, he let out a cry of laughter, followed by a whimper.

“Really? What are your requirements? I doubt I’ll fill any of them.”

“The same as any. You have to be fit, competent, polite…”

She began to list off behaviors that no guild member Hadwyn ever met exhibited.

“...and…” She looked him in the eyes. “A sharp mind.”

Hadwyn looked up. “Thanks for the compliments, but I think I’m done…”

“Fine! You want to go back to your little alleyway, if you want to go back to being a failure, go ahead. But I won’t pity you this time. You want to serve a purpose. You want to make a difference? You want to do anything besides mindlessly cutting through monsters and measuring dicks with those bastards, fine again! They don’t care about you! You have no community. You have nothing!”

“So you want me to join your guild-”

“Not a guild.” Peter stated. He had made his way outside so quietly, Even Hadwyn, who was facing in that direction, didn’t notice.

“Teresa, get off his back.” He called out. He then turned to Hadwyn. “Not a guild.” He continued.

Hadwyn felt puzzled.

“A federal organization.” Peter asserted. “That’s all I can share with anyone who doesn’t work with us.”

“And what If I work with you?”

He paused. “Will you?”

Hadwyn felt punished by the last few weeks. He was tired, cold, and hungry. So far, these people seemed nicer than the guild teachers at GOAG. They also seemed to see some sort of potential in him. Hadwyn decided in his exhausted mind, that in the worst case, the AFHA would be even less appreciative of his abilities. And that beat being on the street.

So Hadwyn did what any rational human would do.

“I accept.”