Scarlet Soul

Chapter 1: Convict

It was not his place to do anything about it. It wasn't his place to care. The guard was determined to fulfill his duty and there was no reason he would not be- it was survival of the fittest and only the strong could afford to care for another person's well-being. Why would he waste his thoughts on a stranger? A child or not, Edrich meant nothing to him. A man has to protect what he cares for, and the guard was already struggling with that; there was no way he'd even spare the child an extra thought.

When they reached the end of the long hallway, the guard opened a hidden door and pushed the boy through it roughly. Edrich was momentarily blinded by the bright light but his eyes adjusted to it soon enough, allowing him to examine the room: there were three hooded men sitting by a long wooden table that was clearly much older than the ages of the three of them combined. A chandelier was shedding light on the otherwise boring room and making it seem much more welcoming than what it actually was, comforting Edrich a little.
There were two small sacks on the table, right in front of the man sitting in the middle. One was overflowing with soul gems and the other contained twenty or so essence crystals. Although both were originally the same, telling the difference between them did not require any experience or prior knowledge- even a fool could tell the crystals that were shining magnificently apart from the dull gems from which they were crafted. It was a beautiful yet horrifying sight. On the one hand, the crystals were astonishingly gorgeous. Gold and purple and blue lights flowed through their surfaces, as if playing a game, not mixing with one another.
On the other hand, they were created using the souls of many, some just as innocent as Edrich if not more so.
The mana of around ten adults was enough to fill a grade VII soul gem and that of a hundred could fill a grade VI. Soul gems of higher caliber could only be filed with a soul much purer than a human's, for humans did not have much to offer when it came to purity.

Normally, crystallization would not kill you. The... process would be excruciating and terrifying, sometimes even traumatic, but seldom lethal. A soul gem will not take any more than what you have to offer... unless you do not possess even the minimal amount that must be sacrificed. If you cannot provide even that much, it will consume your soul.Normal humans do not have essence regeneration so a second crystallization would certainly be their doom.
These were the simple facts of crystallization, no more no less. As Edrich approached the men slowly, he realized something that he should've figured out long ago- there was no future for him. A child surviving crystallization was unheard of and he was not naïve enough to believe that he would be the sole exception.
It was a dead end.
"Sit down, lad." It was more of an order than a request but the boy did not protest. He positioned himself on the cushioned chair and he cherished the feeling of safety it provided. "Your name?" The same old question again. Edrich glared at the man in the center from under his hood, not sure whether he noticed his reaction or not. After a few moments of silence, the wizard proceeded: "I see, so that's how it is," he sighed, slightly upset. "Very well, so be it. Reach out your hand."
Edrich could not help but be bothered by how static and emotionless the man's voice was. Was that what a murderer sounded like when he had to kill once more? Was that what it was like being forced to take lives for money when you do not see justice in your own work? It must be cruel, too cruel for one man to bear.
The other two did not do anything the whole time- not a single unnecessary move. They were obviously guards of sorts, men of no significance whose current assignment was to protect the one who spoke to Edrich. These were the men who restrained those who resisted when their time has come- well, them and the three who thought they were hidden in the back. The thirteen year-old spotted them as he was entering the cramped space and resisted the urge to let out a bitter chuckle to mock their obvious inexperience.
Edrich did not fight the men. He was too proud to lose a fight right before he departed from this world, yet too stubborn to simply let his life be taken away from him. There was one way he could fight and it was to simply focus all his willpower on staying alive. One thing was certain, this world was run by greed, lust and willpower. Thank the gods that he could at least count on one.
He reached out his hand and it was instantly covered with the warmth of another, a rough, nostalgic sensation of skin that has known labor for many years. A tiny object was placed in his palm, something that was cold and surprisingly heavy.
That was it.
The warmth was gone and Edrich could now feel numbness take over his hand. He could not drop the stone, could not resist its power. He never thought that he would actually be able to feel his essence sucked out of him and he sincerely hoped that he would not- it was just as frightening as he thought it would be. Essence, the material form of a person's life force, flows through one's body in a route similar to that of their blood, so if 'having the blood drained from your body' would not be enough to describe the sensation, 'having your soul sucked out' definitely would.
Suddenly his determination was gone. He was not aware of his surroundings anymore and despite the lack of pain, Edrich wished that it would end. He felt no fear, just void, and it was worse than anything he would've wished upon his worst enemy. Edrich wanted to die.
He did not scream this time. He did not sob. Edrich just sat there, his hand shivering visibly through the heavy robes, unaware of the panic of the six people watching him.
"Get the gem away from him!" The man who spoke to Edrich, Hadvar, ordered frantically, his chair screeching as he got up in a single swift move. "It won't budge, sir! I can't!" his companions were just as terrified as he was, knowing even less about the situation than him. The boy has been gripping the gem for nearly five minutes now although a normal crystallization would only take one. Not only that, but the previously empty gem was now shining brighter than any of the others, something that should not have been possible unless the boy had essence that was too high-quality for a common soul gem to contain.
Hadvar was too late in realizing what was going on and was caught off guard. He knew it was impossible to stop the process at such an advanced stage and he could already guess what was to follow. "Get behind me, now." His men obeyed without hesitation and only several moments passed before they were all huddled closely behind his back. Hadvar did not have a staff with him so he was forced to settle on one of the crystals from the sack they were trying to fill at the moment. He did not know if he could make it in time. The boy was a ticking bomb but it could explode in a moment or in an hour, depending on how rich his mana was. The man believed that the truth was closer to the former. "Far gurnal lun-kor, kuthol se!" It was a basic spell yet a very dangerous one- an emergency measure for scenarios just like this one. The incarnation was short enough for Hadvar to pull the shield up in time, right before the gem in the boy's hand was shattered and a giant wave of essence emerged from the explosion, pushing the wizard backwards along with his shield. The spell was somehow kept up and when the air was calm again Hadvar was pleased to see that no one was hurt. The boy was lying on the ground, unconscious but clearly not dead.
None of the objects in the room were moved or harmed in any way, something that surprised the guards but not Hadvar- he knew that pure essence could not affect anything that has no life in it. The crystals were protected by the enchanted leather from which the sack they were in was made so they were not sent flying like they should have been. The guards were protected by the shield Hadvar created from of his own precious life force.The only thing indicating that a disaster occurred in the room were the remains of the plants previously blooming there; The walls were repainted with green and yellow and the leaves were lying all over the floor, torn to pieces.
"Sir, are you injured?" The guard who was sitting no to his right up until a few moments earlier helped him up immediately and the other four surrounded the boy with their swords pointing to his neck. They were waiting for orders to eliminate him, assuming he was sent here to assassinate Crimson Cane Hadvar, their employer. "Do not touch the kid." was the command that followed, catching the men by surprise. "But sir-"
"He is no assassin, just an unfortunate child. He is no doubt a human but he definitely has dragonblood running through his veins. "
"A mage?" Carozan was the first to understand what Hadvar was talking about, a feat that was not a shock to anyone given that he was the smartest out of the five. "Indeed," the bearded man confirmed, "and I cannot help but wonder why he was here in the first place."
"He could've escaped or simply avoided getting caught," Carozan continued. All mages were nobility, after all. For one to appear in a regular prison was... Odd.
"He could have also used his connections to get out." another guard pointed out, returning his sword to its original position on his hip. The room was painfully silent when the men slowly realized what just happened and why things turned out that way and Hadvar was focused on what should be done next.
As soon as he realized that the child was a mage, Hadvar knew that he was not a murderer. Had he been one, he could have used his authority as a noble to clean the dry blood off his hands and roam the world free once again. In the unlikely case that the victim was also nobility, it was impossible that he would be sent into a regular prison. The wizard could now tell that Edrich's inability to speak was not just stubbornness but a seal of sorts; the boy knew something that a certain entity does not want revealed.
His conclusion surprised all six men (including himself): "I will take him with me. Find a different crystallizer as soon as you can and rest for today." The boy was pulled up from the cold ground and into the old wizard's embrace. "You may think that you have taken no damage. I assure you, you will soon be too weak to get up from your beds. Rest assured, you will all be fully recovered in a day or two and there will be no lasting effects." He felt obligated to add the last part because, just like him, the guards were risking their lives by accepting this job and he respected that.
With the boy in his arms, Hadvar let the hood fall backwards and expose the child's face for the first time. His skin was a very light shade of brown, so light that Hadvar could not tell whether it was his original skin color or was it the sun that granted him said beauty. There was also a strange, healthy golden glint to it that amplified the foreign pink of his thin lips. His hair was darker than the midnight sea on a moonless night and it rested on his left shoulder in a single thick braid. Several shorter strands of hair covered his forehead. He was so thin that his collarbones were sticking out of his body, almost as if they had never truly been a part of it, and there was a tiny, pale scar on the right side of his neck.
All in all, the boy was truly the definition of 'fragile'. Hadvar could tell that with a single miscalculation he could break the boy in two and the thought frightened him more than he would care to admit- he had almost killed this child once and he certainly would not like doing it again.
Hadvar left the room and the guards that were yet to come to their senses. He moved slowly to avoid shaking the child too much and ignored those who dared ask where he was going as he hurried down the spiral of stairs. In a matter of minutes he was already in his office, packing the few belongings that he brought with him. That, too, did not take long and he soon left the prison with a bag on his shoulder and the boy still in his arms.
"Halt, Crimson Cane. Where is it that you're going?" It was the warden, Achvanzel Kurthos, that interrupted his escape. "I have more pressing business to attend to." Hadvar ignored the rudeness of the man and replied honestly.
"We had a contract," Achvanzel was not pleased with the answer he was provided and he was now slowly approaching the wizard who angered him.
"That contract included a guarantee that no mages will be brought to me. You did not fulfill your part of the bargain so I shall not fulfill mine." Hadvar did not like where this was going. In fact, he was certain that he will engage in combat with Achvanzel's men sooner than he'd like unless he secures an escape route immediately.
That would have been a simple task had he not used a major mana-consuming spell just a short while earlier but it was too late for that. He had to maintain conversation long enough to find a way out but not long enough to have the guards surround him. As Achvanzel came close, accompanied by two guards, Hadvar browsed his surroundings. He was standing on a bridge that connected the island on which the prison was located and a forest growing on another one. There were enemies on both sides of it and the only directions left open were the sky and the river under them.
With his mana supplies this low, the sky was not an available option and the river was flowing too fast to serve as a safe escape route. 'Think, Ferthe, "he urged himself. 'Faster.'
"A mage?" The warden seemed surprised. "I find it hard to believe-"
"It's true, sir." Carozan interrupted him, breathing heavily, clearly going through what Hadvar had warned him about earlier. "The boy is a mage," with these words, the brave guard collapsed, falling face first onto the stone surface.
That was the distraction Hadvar needed so desperately.
Without a moment's hesitation, Hadvar raised his infamous Crimson Cane, barely holding on to the child, and spoke: "Erthol o crain, haor tu prutto, rahaan, zaarthul-agan!" Hadvar never had a very deep understanding of the element of water, rahaan, so the incantation was relatively long. In the several seconds that the wizard took to prepare the spell, Achvanzel figured out what he was planning. "Stop him!" his voice was louder than the chatter of the guards and they all heard he perfectly well.
The command was given too late, though- Hadvar had already jumped off the bridge and into the safety of the boat-shaped icicle that he wasted so many precious seconds creating. The impact was painful, especially with the extra weight, but he did not have time to complain- he put Edrich down immediately and focused on keeping the raft steady as it sailed across the harsh waters.
Soon enough there were no traces of the fortress they left behind. No man dared follow them through the river and the prison had no means of matching the boat's speed in any other way.
The escape was far from perfect but it would have to suffice. Crimson Cane Hadvar smirked.