IMPERMANENCE

chapter three - the deal

The voice was chilling and impatient.

"Answer me, boy."

"Wasn't it you who had filtered through my memories and saw for yourself?" Dagger retorted, his voice filled with snark he had no idea he was capable of.

The translucent male gave him a wicked smile. The man's teeth matched his eyes. Cold and cruel, pure darkness.

"Make a deal with me, Dagger. Become the Emperor's dog and I can promise you something in return. I see how little you value your own existence, but how much would you value a shot at revenge?"

Dagger's ears perked up. Revenge would perhaps be the next best thing to death.

"I'm listening," Dagger replied softly.

The man waved a hand and the metal bars of his cell faded away. Another wave of his hand over Dagger's broken body left a tingling sensation all over. His bones were mending back into place, his knuckles popped back into their sockets, and his cracked ribs smoothed and filled the missing pieces. His muscle aches and pains began to slowly subside. With the pain taken away, Dagger now focused on his dehydration and empty stomach, something the man's extraordinary gifts couldn't fix. Maybe if this man had been on the battlefield, he could've saved them all. Why wasn't he there?

"I can't fix the hunger or the wound below your eye. It'll fade into a nasty scar, but you won't go blind," he said.

Dagger reluctantly began to rise again, carefully trying not to disturb his newly healed body.

"King Mikah wasn't leading his army. We were fooled at our own game. Whether the King is truly sick or not, we'll never know. What we do know is that someone had replaced him in leading Kintu's army. In fact, you met with him face to face."

Dagger's skin had gone clammy and his ears buzzed frantically at the perpetuating silence as a revelation came over him.

The soldier, covered in armor from head to toe that had allowed him to escape. The man had highlighted the encounter when he filtered through his memories.

"The Commander of Kintu's army, a new leader, is in possession of a weapon deadly enough to wipe out an entire army; Gunther's army," the man began. "This won't be the last we see of him. Kintu won today, and they can enjoy their victory for now."

The man took his pale hand and brushed Dagger's messy hair out of his face. After his hair was delicately placed out of the way, the man drew his arm back and paused in between their bodies. An extension of his word. An alliance.

"All in due time, Dagger. Someday you will be able to destroy the Commander for all he has done. That is my bargain."

Without hesitation, Dagger took hold of the man's eager hand and shook it firmly. He didn't care about his fragile bones or the ice cold hand that lay inside his own.

"It's a bargain."