"Get up!" a shout came, and ice water sprayed on Caden, followed by an uncomfortable throat pain.
Caden opened his eyes, he was lying in a small room lit by several torches. There was a heavy stone collar around his neck. Above Caden stood a man in a uniform, whom Caden had never seen before, it's colours were impossible to discern in the poor light.
"Get up already! You're not here for a medical stay!"
Caden stood up, with tight chains on his feet almost impeding the flow of blood to his feet and the chain that connected them also did not help on mobility to Caden.
"Welcome to your nightmare, princess. Let's go see your new home, what do you say?" the man laughed.
"Do you even know who I am?" Caden asked.
"Even if you were an Emperor himself, I don't care. Here you will listen to me, and now move!" the man shouted.
The man led Caden into a mine-like area with lots of other people with similar but smaller collars.
"I'm a watchman, and these are your roommates, get used to them. Your work will be to mine different ores and expand the corridors,” the man thrust a pickaxe into Caden's hands.
Caden thought for a moment.
"Haha... You better not try anything, this place doesn't officially exist, you look smart, so you can guess what it means," the watchman said.
In the room lit by the torches, it was better to see the watchman's violet uniform.
"So move!" the watchman called and pushed Caden forward.
Caden took a position among a group of people and started digging up a piece of strange rock with a pickaxe.
"Hmm... Strongman, huh? Most mages fall into exhaustion on their first contact with this rock," the muscleman beside Caden laughed.
"And why do you think I'm a mage?" Caden asked.
The man bent his head to the ribbon on rags that had once been sleeves. There was a sign of a white staff with fire on it.
"What do you have? I don't know such a sign," the man asked.
Caden looked at the white ribbon with a black staff, no one had a white ribbon.
"I don't know... And what is this rock?" Caden asked.
"They call it Amaganit."
"And what is it for?"
"Simply put, it kills mages."
"You two! Less babbling, more work!" one of the watchmen shouted.
"Why don't the watchmen have any sign?" Caden whispered.
"They've already told you. This place doesn't exist. There are no records of them, so the sign is unnecessary," the man explained.
"What's your name? I'm Caden."
"I'm Sevir."
"You look like a desert man," Caden said.
"Hah... You guessed it."
"Break!" the watchman shouted.
"Hah, you came at the right time!" Sevir laughed, “Come sit here.”
Caden sat on a dubious bench.
"You'll see it's not that bad. Just get used to the chains," Sevir handed Caden a piece of bread.
"Thank you. What do you mean, isn't that bad?"
"Watchmen want to get the respect of the newcomers, but after a while, you'll find that they're just people who feed their families. They just have... this job," Sevir explained.
"How long have you been here?" Caden asked.
"I've lost track of time long ago, you see, you don't know if it's night or day here."
"And how is it, that we're not dead already?" Caden asked confusedly.
"Well, my definition of Amaganite was not entirely accurate, it can kill the mage, but only when it gets into his body. This vileness literally burns maga, so it actually burns you alive from the inside. Outside it only weakens your power, so much that you can't cast spells," Sevir explained.
"And those collars?"
"That's a low-Amaganite stone, it's supposed to keep us in control, don't worry when you go to sleep, watchmen will give you the key, and when you get up, you put it on your neck again, then they'll let you out of your cell and check it."
"Why do you behave to me like that?" Caden asked.
"You captured my interest, and you seem to be very strong," Sevir replied.
"End of the break! Back to work guys! If we don't hit the norm today, we'll all be without dinner!" the watchman shouted.
Caden followed Sevir. He encountered a familiar face.
"Caden?"
"Oh, Tom... I missed you here..." Caden muttered.
"Well, that's amazing! Finally someone known," Tom followed Caden to his original place where they started digging.
But Caden was no longer able to perceive everything Tom said, he talked about his feelings, and most importantly how wonderful it is that they are together again. Tom's babbling took forever, until the watchman finally shouted, "End! We're done today, have dinner and everyone to bed!"
"Well, he has some endurance. So, tomorrow in the same place?" Sevir asked.
"I have nothing better to do at the moment," Caden laughed.
Then they all entered the cells, and as Sevir said, watchman gave Caden the key and the bun.
"Unlock the collar with this, when I'll close the cell, put it back in the morning, and give me back the key. Don't try anything, I still see you," the watchman walked away after closing Caden's cell.
"Hey, boy! That should help you to stay with us for a few days..." the passing watchman gave Caden a piece of meat through the grids.
"Thank you," Caden replied.
The watchman just smiled and walked down the corridor.
After a moment of effort, Caden finally took off his collar, ate and laid down in the hay. Instead of long-awaited sleep, however, he had another nightmare-like dream.
"Caden... Are you going to leave them to treat you like that?" Alger walked past him.
"Get away from my mind! You made me kill Merill!" Caden shouted.
"No one expected him to do this," his mother walked towards Caden.
"You wanted justice. You have to stop him."
"Don't you see where I am?" Caden replied.
"Oh, Caden. No one but the mage himself can limit the power of the dark mage. Stop blaming yourself and despair. Your strength is in your soul and mind," Mormir stepped forward.
"I... I'll try it," Caden said.
"And now sleep, my son," Alger waved his hand at Caden, and Caden fell into a deep sleep.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLL2C7uLGb
