“Walk.” The man stood for a moment in silence, seemingly rebelling against the simple command. Even with his arms securely tied behind his back, he held his head high as though he was the one in charge. Jevith slouched forward, pulling the hood of his robes higher over his head and repeated the command. Nothing. With a sigh, Jevith took a step behind the man and quietly stood there, absently rubbing at the bloodstains on his robe.

The man began to squirm in discomfort, probably not feeling as bold now that his mind was considering what a mage could do to him back there. His head flicked to the side for a moment before he faced forward, staring into the distance. Jevith almost smiled at the man’s reaction if he didn’t understand that same fear himself. The prisoner was afraid and Jevith knew fear all too well. He knew too many things too well.

Still, fear served his purpose. Let the man, the soldier simmer in his own fear and he would become a little more… pliable. At least it would get him to walk. As the man nervously tried to pretend that a sunspawn wasn’t standing behind him, Jevith took in a slow breath, deciding to let the man simmer until the count of five.

One.

Birds flew high overhead and the sun beat down mercilessly. The white robe covering Jevith had been made to distinguish him, not protect him from this heat.

Two.

A moment’s thought diverted some of his own power to reflecting some of the day’s heat away from him. It was simple and needed very little focus, at least not enough to distract him. He didn’t need more distractions, not with the sound of buzzards in the distance behind them.

Three.

He glanced at the prisoner again, seeing that the man was now standing still, though his breath was coming fast. The man was stubborn, but wasn’t putting on as good of a show as he thought. He was sweating profusely and Jevith doubted that it was just from the heat. He was afraid.

Four.

The man didn’t take a step, even though he was afraid. Was this courage or just pride? Jevith didn’t know and the battle they had just been in wasn’t making him feel very philosophical right now; just sick.

Five.

Blight take the man, move!

Jevith grimaced and brought his hands up, bringing them together in a short burst of noise. The man jumped in place and let out a short, undignified shriek, whipping around to face the young mage as he hastily began walking. Jevith simply followed after the man, hands slowly clapping out a marching rhythm. The man’s faced reddened, seeing how the boy had scared him so easily, but he just turned forward and continued marching. Jevith thought he heard the man mutter under his breath.

They quickly followed a small trail in the sun-dried grass as it wound over a tall rise and dropped down to the other side. There, the ground flattened considerably, unlike the foothills behind them. Also, in the distance they could both see campfires burning.

“Stop.” Jevith hadn’t meant to speak, but he was feeling queasy. Was it from the heat? Maybe it was the memory of dead men, so many dead men. It was the first time he had seen so much killing.

The man stopped and stood in silence, sweating once more. His back was turned to Jevith and the younger man stared at him, trying to figure out what he should do.

“What is your name?”

Nothing.

“Should I clap again?”

After a moment’s pause, the man spoke without turning his head. “Gyrfils.” His voice was terse.

This man didn’t deserve this, he wasn’t some monster. He had a name, albeit a strange sounding one. He was big, but he didn’t move like a soldier. What was he before he had become one? Jevith’s eyes flicked back towards the distant camp and swallowed. Would they leave him in one piece? Would he be able to go back to his old life once they were done with him?

Maybe he did deserve this. Gyrfils’ men had killed his men. Wasn’t that how justice worked; this for that? His men had their futures taken away, so wasn’t it fitting that his own be taken away?

Would that bring back the men that Jevith was supposed to protect?

Gyrfils shifted in place and Jevith looked back at the man. He stood with his hands tied behind him and silently stared at the camp in the distance. Did he know what was awaiting him there? Jevith stood, inwardly debating what to do. He couldn’t decide.

“Do you know what that is?”

The man nodded. “Your army’s camp.”

“Do you know why I’m taking you there?”

“You wish to question me.”

Jevith took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to offer his enemy. “Tell me now and I’ll let you go.”

At that, the man turned, staring at the young man in confusion. “What?”

“You don’t know what they’ll do to you there. If you tell me everything that you know now, I’ll untie you and let you go your way.”

Gyrfils stared for a moment until comprehension slowly dawned on his face. Then his face went red again. “This is another of your tricks.”

“No.”

“You’re trying to break me, give me hope just to take it away, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“I’ve heard some of the others talk about torture, about how it’s supposed to loosen tongues. I’ve heard them say that the worst torture is when you give someone false hope.”

“Look, you just tell me what your men were doing up behind the ridgeline and I’ll let you go, it’s as simple as that.”

“Like I’d trust a sunspawn.”

“You better, because I’m all you’ve got right now. You may not realize it, but…”

“Taunt me no longer. Lash me all you like, I won’t talk.”

Jevith stood for a moment in stunned silence as Gyrfils’ face slowly turned back to its normal color and he stood, glaring at the young mage in cold silence. “You…” He paused for a moment to calm his own anger, his own frustration. “You don’t get it, do you? In that camp, they won’t lash you. They won’t break your bones or burn your skin. They won’t lay a finger on you.” He stepped close, staring up at the taller man with pleading eyes. “They won’t because they don’t need to. They can break you with a word, with a glance or even with a thought. They can pull all of your hopes and dreams out of your heart and crush them before your very eyes. They can and they will. They…” He swallowed his words, quivering with emotion. He stepped back, eyes still locked with the prisoner’s. “They don’t need you to say anything. They will pluck it from your very mind and will only cause you pain simply to make you an example for the rest of your army.”

Gyrfils sneered, though his eyes were less certain. “We don’t fear you. You are an abomination and we are here to purge you from this world. Only then can this world move on and become what it was meant to be. Only then can the Creator…”

“I don’t care about your Believer doctrine, I’m trying to help you.”

“Like a sunspawn would ever help anyone without taking their soul in the deal. Even if you were to set me free…”

A small bird landed on a rock behind Gyrfils, cocking its head to look at them. Jevith abruptly threw his hands out before him, letting power rocket out in untamed force until it struck Gyrfils in the chest, hurling him backwards through the air. He landed on his back a few feet away, unconscious. The bird watched his still form for a moment then cocked its head to look back at Jevith.

“Got on your nerves?” Its voice was raspy.

Jevith stepped forward, surging power through his arms and legs as he hauled the still man from the ground and threw him over his shoulder. “Yeah.” He turned to face the distant campground, but the bird fluttered forward to land on another rock ahead.

“You know that Shuv doesn’t like it when you hurt her toys.”

“I know, Tirill.”

The bird peered at him for a moment then glanced around. “Where’s the men that went with you?”

“Dead. We wandered into a Believer ambush. I think we’re the only two that came out alive.” He hadn’t been able to save them, any of them. Not even his enemy.

X

Hey everybody, I bet some of you thought that I’d forgotten all about you. Guess again. As I’ve said, I’ll be slowing down since I won’t have such open access to the internet as before, but I’ll be trying to get posts up every so often. I’m in Cairo right now and will be flying to Amman, Jordan in a few days time where hopefully things settle down a bit and I can get more writing done. We’ll see. In the meantime, feel free to check out my blog:

sthrw36. livejournal. com

Being that the story will be slowing down, feel free to give me feedback on what you think so far. You don’t even have to leave a review, just send me a message (you do that by clicking on my name and then selecting “Send a Message” on my page). I would love to hear what everyone thinks.