Nagan | Broken Time Series: Book One

Chapter 19

Warning: Some violence and mentions of human trafficking

Despite his muted protests and general unwillingness to move, Nagan was eventually dragged into an abandoned tavern of the once lively town. It was still dead silent. Whatever magic the hooded man gave them, it was strong and left an unclean feeling on his skin.

Currently, he sat in a corner, his hands tied behind his back and the dirty makeshift gag pulling uncomfortably against the corners of his mouth, and continued to glare at the leader. The leader paid no mind to him and continued to gorge himself on beer stolen from the bar.

"If looks could kill, Boss, you'd be dead a hundred times over from the glare that brat has been giving you this whole time," the one nearest to the man, probably his right-hand man, mused and gestured towards Nagan with his half-empty pint.

The leader snorted and didn't even bother looking in his direction. "Let him. I doubt he can do anything else at this stage."

The other man continued to gaze at him before sending him a smirk. Nagan had seen those types of looks before and shifted uncomfortably.

"Say, Boss," the man said darkly, "How much do you think we'd get off of him? He has a pretty face, and there's plenty of buyers for the exotic. You sure we can't sell him and just catch another one of those Carvolier students tomorrow?"

The leader slammed his pint against the counter, obviously already a bit tipsy with his explosive emotions becoming more prominent. The other man didn't seem to be fazed in the slightest. "No! For the last time, we will not use him to get money! The man who set us up for the job will be giving us ten times the amount any auction can get us! And the man only gave us enough magic crystals for one attempt." The leader wavered slightly as he also used his pint to gesture to Nagan. "The brat can't be more than 10 years old (Nagan internally fumed, I'm 12 dammit!) and he already put up a fight. Guess Carvolier isn't as much as a joke as I thought it was."

"Um...Boss?" the more timid one of the group spoke up, "What about the other one?"

Others around them murmured in agreeance.

"What about him," he grunted.

"Aren't you worried he'll be back with help or something?"

The leader laughed so hard he nearly fell off his stool. He might have if it weren't for his second in command holding him up. "He won't be able to get out of the maze to begin with! He'd be stumbling around in circles! I bet if we wanted to, we could just catch him again and offer the hooded man two students!"

"...Why don't we?" the timid man yelped and ducked before a pint glass shattered against the wall behind him.

"You dare question me?!" the leader roared and staggered over to the timid man despite his second in command telling him in a bored tone to calm down. "You wanna say that to my face?!

Nagan was no longer paying attention to the conversation and refrained from rolling his eyes. There was another shift in magics, and he felt the unclean magic begin to dissipate. A small smile quirked on his lips, despite the gag, as he felt a few familiar magic presences nearby. Unfortunately, this action did not escape the eye of the second in command.

"What are you smiling about?" his eyes narrowed onto him.

Nagan merely shrugged and looked away. He wasn't able to say anything anyways.

The action angered the second in command and within a few strides, he hoisted Nagan up by his collar and ripped the gag from his mouth. "Don't get cocky, brat. Spit it out. There were no promises made to keep you in one piece."

Nagan continued to smile. "Good luck."

A blast of hot air erupted between them causing the second in command to drop him with a hiss. From the side, the door burst open and in came a familiar wheeze. Never had Nagan felt so happy to see Sir Luxivo.

"What in the world have you gotten yourself into now, Mr. Elvar!" Sir Luxivo spat irritably as he subdued the rest of the surprised(and slightly drunk) men while slowly making his way to Nagan's side. "If it weren't for the air directing me to run into Mr. Arcloven all scraped and bruised and probably with a minor concussion, I wouldn't be here to save you from your recklessness!"

Nagan felt annoyed at the accusations and protested childishly, "Why do you always think it's my fault! You think I can control getting kidnapped?"

Sir Luxivo looked utterly exasperated. "You could have thought of more clever ways to get out of the situation. Why must it always be violence? First, it was the fight with Honoria and now you decide to take on a group of men! Learn your limits!" He continued before Nagan could retort. "Now then, Master Dagmire is waiting for us. Pip pop!"

Without warning, Sir Luxivo reached into his pocket and threw an oily colored crystal to the ground, shattering it. Nagan recognized those colors. Before he could mentally prepare himself for what's to come, both he and Sir Luxivo dropped down into the portal.

Just as the ground reformed at their feet, Nagan keeled over and nearly lost his dinner.

Why did it have to be the hell hole!