Ryckel shouldn't have said no and he shouldn't have stood up. He'd broken the docile nature he was going.
In a flash, the warmth of the fire flickered. Hood was on his feet before Ryckel could take a second step, his hand gripping Ryckel's shoulder with the strength of a beast.
The air around Hood began to ripple. The shadows on the ground seemed stretched, coiling around Ryckel's ankles like cold snakes.
One of them men relaxed and yawned. "Well, we tried to recruit him, so no take backs ya hear?"
What the… what's he talking about?
Ryckel tried to move but couldn't.
"Where do you think you're going?" Hood's voice was no longer shocked or confused. It was heavy and intimidating. "Don't you trust us? You think we don't have a use for you even if you won't join?"
One of the other men his blonde hair buckling as he leaned in, whispering to Hood. "Captain, I thought you said that when you pulled him up... the holes just closed. That isn't right. He's a corrupted one.
"And didn't I also say that they were Mist-tricks? We're not kids to this. We know the mists can also play tricks on the mind. Hmm? Vega?" Hood dismissed him, but his grip on Ryckel tightened. "Corrupted ones don't exist, they're just tales spawned from wars. Bedtime stories!"
"Still… he's from the Opaque himself! A scourge to the Great Light itself. You're from Nrigav right? I've heard stories that they exist right there." Vega said.
Just from one problem to another… How am I going to get out of this? What Hood did… he's an Attuned.
I'm cornered.
"There he goes again. Our very own devout worshipper of the light!" One of the other men, the burly one with short brown hair, guffawed, he was slightly fatter than the rest.
"Yeah, remember that time the idiot actually tried to convert some of those tree and dirt loving people? Oh how they beat the shit out of him." The fattest one chuckled.
"Ugh." Vega scoffed. "If you can remember that, then you should certainly remember about the money you owe." He said under his breath.
"From the game of cards? Yeah, I'll pay them to you if I somehow reach 50." The fattest one smirked.
"Again with your Koen religion nonsense Vega, I'm a follower of Turhasi and yes, obviously believe stories you heard in bars from people who have never been to Nrigav than someone who grew up there himself." Hood sighed.
"Whatever.. I just hope we can get something good out of him." Vega rolled his eyes.
"So you can go and pay for those harlots right? Our devout Koen?" One of the men chimed, playing with his shirt green hair.
"Shut up." Vega dismissively waved his hand.
"Getting something…out of me?" Ryckel asked.
The fact that they're talking as if they're not kidnapping me.
A cold bead of sweat ran down Ryckel's temple.
"Yes. Maybe some dog of the noble clans or even some rich bastard in Nrigav would take a liking to you." Hood said.
All of what he was hearing didn't make sense.
"How can you be doing all this? I thought you guys were freedom fighters." Ryckel said.
"Well, kid, fighting for freedom doesn't feed empty stomachs now, does it?" Hood said in the low and raspy tone of his gas mask.
"I even need to go back home. The Culling ended a few days ago… what's my daughter going to eat…" One of the men said, looking genuinely worried.
"So you have two choices now." Hood stretched out two of his fingers and showed them to Ryckel. "It's either you behave like a good boy and we won't harm you or do anything to you for as long as you're with us, can't have our merchandise be damage."
Ryckel glared.
"Or, you be a pain our asses and we'll be a pain in yours, tenfold."
Ryckel stared. He couldn't do anything. He remembered thinking back to his he fought Syrion and how he lost badly.
It stung him that he did, but it was the only thing that could happen.
I need to get back to my family… I can't die or let anything happen to me till then.
So with that, Ryckel sighed and said. "Okay…I won't fight back." He loosened his body, though it protested at first.
"Good lad," Hood said, the pressure vanishing as quickly as it appeared.
***
The mud of Wistnan was like a spiteful lover that never truly let go. Ryckel laid facedown in a patch of sludge, his wrists bound by a rope that bit into his skin every time he breathed.
Above him, the Stained Brothers were no longer the stoic liberators of the cliffside.
"Look at him shiver," the one with green hair sneered, kicking a spray of grit into Ryckel's face. "You think the Crows at the border will pay extra for an Ignited soul, Captain?"
Hood was busy sharpening a blackened combat knife. His demeanor had shifted. "Why think that low? There's bound to be others willing to pay higher. If he won't fight for freedom, he can be the coin that buys our winter's grain."
Ryckel didn't answer. He tried to focus, summoning the white flames in the darkness of his closed eyes, hoping maybe there's something within those white flames that could help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Ryckel
Race: Human
Synapse Grade: [Ignited]
Glyphs: [10/500]
Compilers' Hearth: [Not eligible]
Greater Will: ---
Marks: [Exalted] [Mist Walker]
Restrictions: ---
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nothing. Just the same stuff as before.
He tried to summon the energy he'd felt when fighting Syrion, as a way to break free and run. But his fatigue felt like a physical wall.
Every time he shimmied, the ropes only tightened, the dirt stinging his raw skin.
"Still struggling?" A heavy boot slammed into Ryckel's ribs, pinning him into the mud. "Stay down, dog. Or we'll give you a reason to need that regeneration again." Vega said.
The burly one with short brown hair rolled their eyes.
Ryckel went limp. He didn't lash out. He let his face sink into the filth, playing the part of the broken, docile kid that had given up on all hope.
To them, he had lost his parents and was lied to. He had no more reason to fight.
While in actuality, Ryckel didn't believe them when they said his parents were already dead. How could he?
He was lied to and was now being kidnapped. They're the liars. At least Syrion kept his word.
Probably…
Ryckel didn't want to dwell on it too much. Only wanting to see for him whether they were truly dead.
And he needed to be alive and still within Wistnan to do that.
The following days were grueling, each hour that passed making Ryckel feel as if he can't take it anymore.
The Stained Brothers traveled, staying off the roads in fear of patrolling Hussars and instead hiding within tall blades of silver grass and passing through either the wilderness or wet fields used for growing rice.
Ryckel was dragged along, treated like a pack animal. They forced him to dance around whenever he wanted to eat while Vega dangled a tiny portion of food for Ryckel to collect it.
He stayed quiet. Didn't object or complain. But his eyes were wide. He watched them fight a stray Zhenren, a large deer with long yet thin horns.
He noted down their coordinations and fighting styles. He also didn't budge when one of the Stained Brothers died, reducing their numbers to four.
It was the one with green hair.
One less number for Ryckel to worry about.
But he also hates his a Zhenren killed the man…it was supposed to be him to kill!
Ryckel also practiced with moving the energy inside him around. Learning that he can use it to fortify him...to strengthen his body.
This was something he could add to his plan, along side that thanks to his mark [Mist Walker], he felt stronger and faster in the mists.
---The End of Chapter 7---