Who knew what would happen after stealing some bread from a street stall? Certainly not Nagan. Nothing out of the ordinary should have happened, considering stealing food to survive was the norm. But fate, destiny, karma, whatever you wanted to call...
Warning: Heavier subjects such as death and a fair amount of gore
It took a few moments for Nagan to realize someone was patting his back as he was crouched on the ground waiting for the dizziness to pass. Lifting his head from his hands, he looked to the side and started to focus on the face next to him. It was Master Dagmire. He looked concerned and held a glass of water to Nagan, which he gladly accepted and drank slowly. Though the glass felt heavier than usual. That's when Nagan realized how exhausted he truly felt now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
"Are you alright?" Master Dagmire asked softly and took the glass from Nagan once it was empty, handing it to Sir Luxivo. "Do you need to be taken to the medical wing?"
Nagan shook his head. "I don't think so. Just a few scrapes and bruises," he paused and let out a huff of laughter, "That, and I think I finally know how it feels to exhaust your magical reservoir."
Nagan didn't move or protest as Master Dagmire checked his pulse and made sure any of the wounds he sustained truly weren't serious. After requesting Sir Luxivo to retrieve a few potions and ointments, he helped Nagan stand to lead him to the chair in front of the desk. Master Dagmire didn't sit down himself. Instead, he stood near where Nagan now sat and leaned back against the desk with his arms crossed.
"What happened to you two?" Master Dagmire began, but his question was ignored.
Nagan's eyes snapped up to meet Master Dagmire's at the mention of his best friend, and he asked urgently, "Where's Az? Is he ok?" He began to stand with the intention of looking for Az himself, but Master Dagmire placed a firm hand on his shoulder to keep him seated.
"He's being treated at the medical wing as we speak. He had a few bruises and a minor concussion, but nothing Nurse Marzi can't treat. He should be back on his feet tomorrow morning."
Nagan sunk back into the chair at the news, and a distinctive wave of relief and guilt crossed his face. His eyes were blank.
Never having seen the usually lively and fiery-tempered boy so defeated and emotionless, Master Dagmire was at a loss for what to do. There was a long moment of silence before he took a deep breath and asked again, though in a gentler tone, "What happened? If you don't want to retell it tonight, that's understandable, but unfortunately, you'll eventually have to tell me so I can prevent this sort of thing happening again."
Nagan nodded in understanding and began to slowly retell his experience, from the strange suffocating fog to the how he bought enough time for Az to get away to how his kidnappers talked about a hooded man who hired them to catch Carvolier students. By the time he was finished, Master Dagmire was already working on a letter to the Council of Thirds to request an immediate investigation and issuing a notice to the rest of the teachers to not let students off the castle grounds until they knew the town was safe again.
"That's how my mom died, you know," Nagan said abruptly, though barely audible.
Master Dagmire's quill made an ugly rip in the paper as his grip tightened at those words. "What do you mean?" he pried patiently.
"One of the men in the group wanted to sell me instead. That's how my mom died. It was our first winter alone after our tribe was torn apart, and the only place that would take us in was a house where they forced her to sell herself." Nagan slowly brought his knees to his chest and nearly choked out his words as his eyes became watery. "Someone took her for the night, and the next morning her body was dumped at the doorstep."
Nagan's shoulders visibly shook as tears started to make their way down his cheeks. The quill was now nearly bent in half as Master Dagmire's blood ran cold at the news. Silently, he set down the quill, walked around the desk, and kneeled in front of Nagan to pull the boy into his arms. It wasn't long before Nagan's hands clung to him and had his face buried into his shoulder as muffled sobs echoed around the room.
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Another tormented scream ripped out of another's throat as he watched each of his men fall one by one. The hooded man had arrived just minutes after the boy was rescued. When he found out they had nothing to offer, that was when he decided to take their lives as compensation.
"I gave you one simple task: To bring me a child. Yet you failed to do such a minuscule task and dare to face me empty-handed!" the hooded man raged, slicing clean through the last of his underlings with an invisible blade. He shuddered and backed up further into a corner when the hooded man faced him sharply. His face was hidden by a shadow, yet his poisonously yellow-green eyes glinted like knives. As the hooded man started to approach, he started to beg for his life.
"Please...please!" he stammered, "S-Spare me! We had one! I swear it on my life! But that damn butler rescued him just before you arrived! A-And that brat had some strange magic! Please spare me, there was nothing I c-could've done!"
The hooded man hummed and halted in front of the cowering man. "Oh? Tell me about this oh so powerful child."
Feeling a glimmer of hope, he quickly shifted to his knees and nodded eagerly. "Of course, s-sir! Whatever you say! First, the brat blew us backward just by saying 'back' and then blinded us by saying 'light'! I-I may not have much magical training, but even I know that that's not something that any kid can do. He must've been crazy powerful to control magic without using the magical language! A-And! When he did use the magical language, it was just one word, but one minute he was standing in front of me, and the next he was to my left with a board swing at my head! He used that same spell a few more times, and the same thing happened! One moment he's there, and the next he's somewhere else!" He grinned and cackled almost maniacally. "Surely you can't expect me to be able to successfully contain the kid, r-right?"
"I agree, I shouldn't have put so much faith in fools like you," the hooded man replied smoothly. "What was the word the child said?"
"So? Sow? S-Soar? Something like that..."
The hooded man leaned forward, his unnatural eyes causing him to freeze to the core. "And his name?"
He couldn't reply for a few seconds. "...Nagan. I believe the other boy called him Nagan."
Though he could not see the man's face, he could almost imagine a grin slowly splitting the hooded man's face in two as he soothed, "Very good. In the end, I suppose you were useful."
He almost cried in relief until the hooded man grabbed him by the hair, eliciting a strangled cry, and slowly lifted him up to where his knees barely brushed against the ground. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he felt the invisible blade at his neck. "Wait! You promised you would spare me if I told you everything I knew!"
He felt the hooded man's grin grow wider. "I never promised you anything."
With one clean cut, the body slammed to the ground in a heap. Dropping the head to the ground as well, the hooded man made his way out of the now lifeless tavern with his hands behind his back, kicking away any bodies that blocked his path.
"Nagan," the hooded man tested the name on his tongue and mused, "Why do you sound so familiar?"
•______________________•
*rolls onto screen in an office chair wearing sunglasses and holding onto a cup of coffee at 1AM in the morning*
...Sup.
...I am ashamed about how excited I was to write this chapter XD
Either way, if the more intense part made you uncomfortable, it shouldn't get any worse (maybe...muahaha...)
Anyways, I'm so happy to have the plot finally thicken! We're officially arriving near the halfway point in the first book!
