PrologueMason was still, paralyzed even, has he tried to make sense of what just happened"( What was that? )""Luke?"No response"( Just who the hell is this kid. )"Mason walked to Luke"Luke, you there?"Soon after getting close, he noticed the blood coming out of his mouth"( That isn't good )"Mason knelt down to check his pulse, it was there but it was weak and slow"( At this rate he could die if he doesn't get some kind of medical attention )"Mason looked away from Luke and stared at the sky as twilight consumed what was left of the sun, taking in the full weight of the current situation"( Sigh he did save me least I could do is try to do the same in return )"Mason took the backpack off of Luke and lifted him up, throwing his arm over his shoulder"Come on, you lucky [censored]""( Plus, it gives me an excuse to use his stuff for shelter tonight )"the two of them got off the peer and ventured into the surrounding woodsAs Mason walked, sounds of explosion rang out just beyond his hearing rangeafter a little bit, Mason finally found a clearing where he could set up a camp, which was easy enough( "Why does he have so much bread" )after he set up the fire disk he turned his attention back to Luke, who he could see clearly now"( Ok, let's see the damage )"Mason lifted Luke's shirt up and over him, revealing red and purple lines running all across his chest,And in some areas, pieces of bone rubbed against his skin( "Well it doesn't take a genius to see that his ribs have been smashed to bits" )( " which makes sense, Alex was one of the strongest people in the templar ")Then Mason noticed the brown rings around his wrists( "Huh, what's that" )Upon closer inspection of one of Luke's arms, he realized that the ring was under his skin( "Body mods?" )the rings, which seemed to be made of some kind of wood, had lines connected to themThese lines of wood ran across the side of his arm, across the elbow, and disappeared behind his backMason gently tilted Luke forward so he could follow the line of wood to their originThe line continued past his shoulder blade and meet up with a thicker piece of wood, lining where his spinal cord wasAlong with that discovery, Mason found three other lines branching from the big piece along his back, one for his other arm and two others lower down, presumingly for his legs( "it's almost like his spinal cord and nervous system have fused with this wood " )( "Whoever did this is extremely talented and must have access to some advanced tech" )( "I need to ask him about it when he wakes up " )Mason picked Luke up carried him into the tent that he had set up earlier( "IF he wakes up" )He then walked back over to the fire and sat downNow alone and safe, he took out a picture of him and Jeremy from when they were kids" {scoff} sorry, the one time I needed to save you most "all the emotions that he had been holding came flooding back and Mason sobbed in the oblivion of the night" I'm so sorry, Jeremy "...No, we are not going to release him!"The sun was on the brink of rising when the Templar messenger walked into the jailhouse"for the crimes that he has committed, he should count himself lucky that I haven't already put an end to his miserable existence""Well, what did he do?""He murdered 16 innocent people, 4 of which were civilians, and burned two buildings to the ground""We lost 3 different guild members trying to restrain him.""O-one man did all that?"worry and dread now seeped from his voice"Man, there really don't tell you guys anything, do they?""I'm sorry, but it's not like you have much of a choice""This is from the top, here read it for yourself"Sure enough, the paper was the real thing, seal and allHello, Guild Master LawrenceI hope this letter finds you wellAccording to your reports, you have captured an incredibly dangerous rogue templar memberTo that, we send our deepest regardsBoth to the town as a whole, but also to the families that have experienced losses, especially to those losses were civiliansWe wish them only the best in their times of hardshipNow back to the matter at handThe man that you have captured, Adrien Allison, has committed terrible acts, and we understand that the people of Wreath-wood want retributionSadly, this request cannot be fulfilled at this timewhile you are a part of the templar order, Adrien was and still is a templar officertherefore, he is the templars responsibility, and our responsibility aloneAlong with that, Adrien's actions may have had some merit to themYou see, It was suspected that the two templar officers situation in Wreath-wood were traitors and were helping the wolf keidran causebecause of this, we do not know if Adrien had acted in self-defense or notthat is why we have sent you this message, the messenger that gave you this is to take Adrien to Morlin Hall where his trial will be held to see if he truly is guiltyThank you for your patienceThe grand templar order( "Are they really trying to say that he's innocent?" )" { sigh }, follow me "Lawernce walked out of the jailhouse and started down the road"Um, not to be pushy but I should take the prisoner and get going as soon as possible""We are going to get the prisoner, he's clearly dangerous and unpredictable""Only a fool would keep someone like that in the heart of town.""Yeah, I guess you're right""I'm going to assume that you didn't come here on foot""No, I came here with a carriage to transport the prisoner""Ok, go get it and take the road that goes north and keep riding, we'll be there"Now alone, the sun rising skimming across the water of Wreath pond and making his shadow mimic the fast pace in which he moved, his instincts screamed at him that something was wrongA little while later, he reached where they had been keeping Adrien"Daniel!, Jack!, Are you there!?""Sir!, over here!""How did go last night, did he try anything?"No, but he did have to knock him unconscious because he wouldn't shut up""But ever since he woke up, he's been quiet""Pfft, knocking him out is generous, you practically tortured him""You say that like you didn't ask me to""Look it doesn't matter what you did with him, just untie him from the tree and link with his cuffs, someone is here to take him to Morlin Hall for a trial""Well that was fast""Hear that buddy, looks like someone's getting prosecuted"" Wait, what do you mean trial? What is there to have a trial over""They're trying to twist it into he acted in self-defense and that Mason, Jeremy, and ALL the archers were traitors""I still can't believe that he killed them all except Benjamin, and hell he lost his arm so we don't know if he's going to make it""They still haven't found Mason's body or that dude who saved him, maybe they escaped?""I doubt it, but you never know""they're also saying that he's the templar's responsibility, and that's why we can't have the trial here in Wreath-wood""Well, it's good to know that we agree on one thing, they never considered us full templars""or at least they haven't ever since Tarron decided to walk himself to death""I'd bet that it's the latter because that's when they cut off our funding""Yeah, what pisses me off is the fact that it wasn't our fault""you never saw when we recovered him the first time Dan, it was like he was a zombie, like the only thing he could do mentally WAS walk till he died""you saw him, right Lawrence?""It looked to me like he was under some kind of hypnosis or mind control""But what was weird about it is that it didn't look like any mana was involved otherwise I would have picked up on the sound.""And regular hypnosis is extremely weak, especially for veteran magic users like he was.""I don't know he pissed off while he was drunk, but nobody deserves a death like that, even if he was a huge piece of s##t""Yeah""The only reason that he got elected to lead the guild was that he agreed with Trace's ideals""Although, in hindsight, it's probably a good thing the templars stopped caring about us, otherwise you might have never been elected to run the guild, Mr. Lawrence.""{sigh} I suppose so.""Also, Daniel, please don't say his name""I was there to see first hand to see the things he did, brings back bad memories""You got it, Mr. Rence""Will you please stop calling me that""That's the one that I can never promise."by the time the conversation was finished, the four of them made it back to the road"Lawrence!""That's your man I'm guessing""did they really send a Messenger to take the prisoner?""Daniel, will you be quiet?""Sorry about him, teenagers""it's fine, I'm used to it by now""Daniel, Jack, get him in the carriage""These two will be going with you to make sure you, and the prisoner make it to Morlin Hall""they should be more than capable in that regard"as soon as Jack and Daniels unlinked the cuffs to load up Adrien, he started to resist the two's grasp"Hoho, we've got a live one!""Daniel shut up and help me get him the damned carriage!""Are you sure about that?""Yes, I'm positive""Plus you won't have to worry about Adrien, not only does he have an MCC on, those cuffs are specially designed to keep people like him restrained.""Using mana, they link to whoever is wearing the corresponding bracelets""Once linked, Adrien can only mimic Jack's left arm and leg, and Daniel's right""The only way something bad happens is if you stop, and the only reason you should stop is if they threaten to kill you or if they do kill you""Otherwise, don't stop, understood?""U-understood""Ok, sorry about that, I don't really like having to put on the superior act""Let me talk to those two before you go"This was followed by footsteps and the opening of the carriage door"did you two hear what I said to I said to the messenger""Yes, sir""Ok, If that event does come to pass, you kill him without hesitation""But if we kill him, we'd be disobeying a direct order""Who knows what they'll do to us if we-""I will take the fall for whatever happened to him""Besides, if Benjamin survives we'll have a first-hand account of what happened and that should be enough for execution or life"'And trust me, I'm going to everything in my power to make sure that happens""Good luck to the both of you""We look forward to seeing you again soon, sir""Goodbye Mr. Lawrence"Lawrence watched the carriage ride off into the distance and started to walk back towards wreath-woodStill in the back of his mind, they still screamed at him, and this sense of overwhelming dread overcame him...The carriage had been going down the road for about 10 minutes straight"Hey so Dan, you know how your 18 birthday is tomorrow "" Of course I do, it's my birthday.""what's with the exposition talk all of a sudden"Jack ignored Daniel's comment and continued"Well I was thinking that once we drop off the prisoner, we could stay in Edinmire till midnight, and then me and you could go drinking to celebrate""Really, Mr. scary ex-integration man with a tragic childhood and backstory, wants to go birthday drinking with me?"the thought alone made Daniel giggle"Yeah, haha laugh it up"but soon after Jack's sarcastic laughter turned into a quiet, genuine laughter"But are you like, actually being serious?""100 percent, I'll even pay to seal the deal""Of course, I'm just surprised to hear this coming from you""I thought that if we ever went birthday drinking, I'd be the one asking you""scratch that, I'd be the one begging you to go""again, haha very funny""Any reason why?""Does there need to be?""you're a good friend, if a bit much at times""that's part of my charm""plus we work well together as a team, so if you need a reason, there you go""Thanks man, yeah let's do it"Then Jack noticed that the was slowing down"messenger! why are we stopping""one of the wheels is about to fall off, you three need to get out so I can repair it""That's a Bad Idea""Ok, well if the wheel breaks, we won't be going anywhere for a while""with your combined weight, the chances of that happening increase""He's got a point Jack""Hmmmmm"Jack thought about the options.They didn't need to give any threats any chances but at the same time, It was day and they were still within running distance away from Wreath-wood so the chances of any outside help coming to get Adrien..."Come on Dan, let's go"in one swift motion, Daniel and Jack unlinked from the cuffs and hopped out of the carriage, pulling Adrien along by the MCC around his neck, and then linked back"Ok, we're out, let's try and make it quick""hm, it seems that I have made a mistake""but then again"all of a sudden, dozen upon dozens of spots all around Jack's body sprang with pain"Don't we all?"the pain was like pins and needles but amplified to be 10 times worsehis whole body was numb, but not limp, it was like something was supporting ithe couldn't move a single inch of his body, the only thing he could move was is eyesout of the corner of them, he saw clear, almost invisible, thread-like wires jetting out of where the main points of pain originatedone look and he could tell that they were mana constructs"well, you two seem to be in a predicament"Jack looked back over to the messenger, whose hands were covered in the wires that held him and daniel in place"But I won't say it isn't one of your own makings"The "messenger" stood up from his kneeling position"looks like I won't be needing this anymore"He took off a mana crystal from around his neck that he had been keeping under is uniformstrange thing was that instead of the normal blue, it was gray as if used but still glowed neverthelessthe messenger dropped the crystal and crushed it with his footit was like the moment he blinked the messenger had disappeared and was replaced with someone else entiretyinstead of a short, blonde man with a messengers garb and bag, a tall and lanky man with jet black hair and a suitthe only thing that seemed to carry over was the full moon glasses he wore"When I have to wear one of those things for a long period of time, it hurts my ears""well, I'm sure you are smart enough to figure out where this is going""so just unlink your cuff things and hand him over, and I'll let you go""Sound good?"Jack stared back, unmoving and unconvinced at his bluffHe knew this tactic, and probably any others he was going to try"Hmm, makes sense that you're unconvinced, according to what the boy said""I am not lying though, just comply and I will let you live"still unmoved, in fact, the only thing that he was convinced of now was his assessment was rightIf he was able to, a smug grin would have come across his facehe radiated the energy though, and the messenger picked up on that" ( sigh, figures ) "" ( if verbal tactics won't work, then ) "" ok, you got me ""You can't trust a thing I say""and if I'm being honest, I can't trust a thing I say either""thought, I do try to abide by a mandate whenever speaking to someone""If a promise something, I always keep that promise"The messenger walked to Jack and got right in his face"Now here's what I promise"Just the way he looked at Jack made him break out into a cold sweat"Have you ever heard of the phrase " human pretzels" ? ""Well, if you or your friend give me a reason to, just imagine that in a literal sense"He then walked back over to where he once stood to gain some distance"I'm going to release some threads now so you can talk""I suggest you chose your next words wisely"the muscles in Jack's face and head relaxedhis head hung down like a bag of rocks from the pain and the strain of staying in place for so longthough heavy breathing, Jack tried to think of a plan" (this is bad, all he has to do is kill us and Adrien is his for the taking) "" (I need to bluff something) ""We're not going to tell you anything"" {sigh} bad choice ""But you can't kill us either"" hmmm, why is that?"" These cuffs are linked to our mana, and by extension, our life force""If you kill us, you kill the prisoner as well"an air of confusion came across the messenger's face"(yes, he bought it!) "the air of confusion disappeared" Would you mind if I test that theory? "the messenger raise his right hand and started moving his fingers as if puppeting a marionette, resulting in putting Jack's arm behind his backAdrien's arm followed suit, the two only unsynchronized by a few fractions of a second"So the movement part holds up"The messenger then started to twist his arm and hand clockwise until he felt resistancewhile doing that, Jack's twisted till it was almost at its breaking point, his face wincing in painAdrien stayed stoic, but some signs of discomfort seeped outOnce the messenger noticed this, he stopped and returned his hand to its original position"{sigh} I apologize in advance for this next test, especially to you, Jack"The messenger tightly closed his pointer finger and thumb together, making wires wrap around and squeeze Jack's handThe force of which severely broke his arm in multiple places, causing him to yell and curse in painAdrien stood unaffected"well, that settles that""if AdrienHe looked at Jack, who had nothing but hatred in his eyes towards himthen over to Daniels, who he had been purposefully ignoring this whole timeHe had the same kind of hatred, but it was overshadowed by the fear and worry for his friend's condition" ( I hate this ) ""This clearly isn't going anywhere"Jack started back with unwavering determination" I'm not leaving without Adrien ""..."" Come on, don't you want to live!? ""....."" (sigh) "" Don't you want Daniels to live "Jack had blocked out the fact that Daniels was even therethe Messenger released the wires around the two of themIt took Daniels a moment to recover from the strain" { huff } { huff } Jack, we shoudn't-"" Just come on Daniels "The two of them unlinked from and uncuffed Adrien" Pleasure doing business with you "as he walked past the two of them, the messenger looked at their faceJack's anger and determination were gone, replaced with defeatDaniel's once-dormant anger was now there in full force" ( I truly am sorry you two, But a job is a jo- ) ""[censored]"A Sharp pain shot up his left shoulder"Daniel!"The messenger turned around and restrained both Jack and Daniel, who was about to stick a bloody knife into his head" Tch, y-you got me goo-"he had his hand right in front of Daniel's face, and he had recognized the signet ring with the number 2 etched into it" {sigh}, you recognize this ring huh ""........""Sadly, that's a reason, you could find us very easily now""I hope where ever you end up, you can forgive me"" and if you can't ""Well I encourage you to curse me down to hell"Talbot kept his promisePrologueMason stonewall's Logif I'm being honest, I don't even why I'm writing these anymorea force of habit I guesstoday, nothing of importance happenedmostly just sat inside studying and tending to Luke's woundsas I assumed, his ribcage was crushed all to hell, so I made some ice wrapped in towels to help with thatI also discover that his left arm had a hairline fraction due to some bruising that I noticedso I use one of my bolts infused with ice mana to help support and cool itgood job methanks, mesomethings that I noticed while taking care of him caught my interestfirst off, his spinal implantsI might have figured out what wood they're made out of, and if I'm right, It gives reason to how he put on that display at the pondspeaking of which, I went back over there to get some fish to eat and the MCC that Luke was wearing was still there, so I picked it up, Might come in handy.some other things I noticed were his jewelrythe earrings are gold, so not cheap, and have etchings and markings unique to some tiger tribe, which implies a connectionalso the ring and chainthe chain is fine on its own, but this ringsomething nagging me about itit's made of black steel and has the number 11 etched into itI feel like of seen it somewhere before but I can't put my finger on itfinally, he has some weird birthmarks, but I don't even know if they are birthmarksthey resemble 4-pointed stars, but they way look, it seems like their scars, like they were branded on to himthe man truly is an enigmawell, he's stabilized, so he should recover soonI'd give it a week or twolet's just hope that nothing happens in that timeEnd logI was about to go sleep when I noticed that lightning bugs have gathered all around Luke's tenttruly an enigma
