Chapter 4 Powerlessness

In a long, dark corridor of Athok's underground prison, chains rattled and flowing water sounds resounded tirelessly. In one of the cells, two boys, about thirteen years old, were imprisoned. A blond man named Kei, with a large body and healthy skin despite the place where he was forced to grow up, and an open face whose great beauty was further accentuated by his blue eyes reflecting a morning sky, so that even the hideous green uniform he wore did not change his sublime charm.

He knelt down beside another boy and tried in every way to support him and soothe the tortuous suffering that gnawed at him after the latter had fought against terrible dark forces.

Kei observed the pale boy he was holding in his arms. And despite his friend's apparent frailty, he knew better than anyone else the strength and will that his friend possessed within him. Unfortunately, he had not yet been able to develop his potential effectively, his magic was constantly unstable and most of the time too weak to achieve anything really tangible. Not to mention, of course, those rare times when strong defenses like the one he had just made could be created to protect them from the powerful waves of darkness filled with hatred and anger. Now that the danger has been averted, his friend has lost his strength and balance. He had great difficulty breathing. Bent down on the ground, he struggled valiantly to regain his energy and breathing.

"That's it, calm down, it's all right now, breathe slowly, breathe calmly," Kei repeated tirelessly, tapping the boy's back gently. After many long minutes, this one, whose lean body was quite worrying, finally managed to breathe more freely. Relieved, he tilted his head back.

"Do you feel better now?" Kei asked, still anxious, but at the same time very relieved to see some color return to his friend's pale face,

"Yes Kei, I feel better now, thank you," he said, smiling, hesitant, but in a voice still weakened.

"Oh, good for you. I'm so glad you're getting better. You really scared me this time. And this sudden and sneaky attack, it's so like them. So it's still not enough for them to know that we're going to be thrown into their sordid game of death in a few hours? On top of that, they have to hurt us on the threshold of battle. »

His friend smiled, half amused, half sarcastic.

"No, it's obvious it's not. But as usual, they didn't succeed in killing me."

"That's good, but you mustn't laugh at that kind of thing." Kei reprimanded him gently. "However, as usual, I must have been powerless to help you," he forced himself to add, displaying an air of such sadness and shame that would have melted anyone, and this acted on his friend who, to console him, had to appeal to his sense of humor.

"Don't worry, Kei, your magic will awaken one day too. And I'm sure it will be as magical and radiant as your desire to live."

"Thank you for the compliment, at least if it was really a compliment. But when it comes to beauty.... And he stopped for a second, admiring his friend take a deep breath and stand up."

"In spite of myself, I find you extraordinary, Miron, and yet I am a boy."

And Kei really meant it, like all the others, the children or their jailers. After all, his story was out of the ordinary. For in truth, the children who lived in Athok were all abandoned children. Their families, knowing the legend of Stanys and his cursed city, as well as the more or less real existence of Athok, would discreetly place the children at the foot of the famous mountain, so that the magi who populated it would choose their slave among these unfortunate innocents, some with a little luck, becoming their apprentice and even their heir. If indeed, one can call it luck. On the other hand, those who are taken to Athok will never be lucky. For in this cursed domain, ruled by a monster, no survival or escape was possible. The arrival of Miron, on the other hand, was quite different. For he was found at the very threshold of the great door of the building. The being who had brought him to the gates of desolation was so prodigiously discreet and no doubt so strong that no one could feel his presence or his magic. This being, unquestionably more evil than the others, did well to ensure that Miron was well placed in Athok's house. He had to devote an unimaginable amount of time and energy to make this happen. And he succeeded. Kei didn't even dare to imagine what kind of will and resentment such a being could carry to such extremes, and whether it was directed specifically at Miron or his family, or both.

But Miron, far from the concerns of his faithful friend, smiled as he looked at him, displaying a face that was rarely uncertain.

"Uh, thanks, but lucky for us, we're not on that side, are we? Otherwise, we would have been violently and disgustedly thrown into this fatal game long ago".

"Speak for yourself," replied the blond boy, rising in turn to sit on the black metal bed with a disenchanted pout. "If I hadn't known you, they wouldn't even have noticed me."

Miron laughed at this incredible naiveté.

"You're exaggerating, as usual."

Kei looked at Miron and realized that the person who had accepted him as a friend did not fully understand what he really was. Just as Kei was blond with dawn-light eyes, Miron was all black, from his long curly hair to his eyes shining like stars on a dark sky, even his clothes could only be black. A deep and wonderful black on an almost sickly whitish skin. He represented a whole world of light and shadow, inside and out. His large body was so thin that it bordered on thinness, and his face, so fine and delicate, was not beautiful, but rather fascinating. If they were not orphans, imprisoned forever in this sordid place where the end could only be unhappy, Kei would have sworn that his friend, his one and only friend, Miron, descended from the most extraordinary imperial lineage imaginable. In fact, even in that dark and cold place, and in those short moments that were surely their last, the young blond boy couldn't help but think so. He shook his head and closed his eyes.

"I guess they'll be coming for us soon?"

Miron, feeling overwhelmed, and broken with fatigue, leaned gently against the icy wall where cold, morbid water flowed endlessly. Slowly he nodded his head in response to his friend's question.

"Yes, probably."

"We are going to die here."

Kei looked at Miron, upset.

"Miron, I don't want to die here! Not like this! Not in this place! Tortured, defenseless prisoner, and to end it all hopelessly!"

There was a short silence.

"Do you realize? We have never seen the light, the true light. We don't even know what it can look like!"

Miron laughed briefly.

"I don't want us to die either, you know! Anyway, we're going to fight to the end. We don't have a choice. That's what they expect from us and we're going to make sure we don't disappoint them".

"Of course we won't disappoint them! But for God's sake, Miron, why did you do this? To that filthy Lady Kriniela?" Kei asked kindly. "If you hadn't provoked her anger so brutally, we could have continued to live this life ... normal with the others."

Hearing his friend's vindictive protests, Miron automatically sketched a grimace accompanied by a significant hand gesture.

"Because you call this a normal life?"

"Oh please, stupid genius, don't play with words, not now. Why did you do this?"

The stupid genius shrugged his shoulders to show his irritation.

"Because she deserved it, plain and simple. And I'm not going to lie down any further. If I had to do it all over again, I would. But I must confess that I didn't really think about you," he continued more randomly, "nor did I expect them to take you with me when you had nothing to do with what I did."

Kei looked up in despair.

"Thank you again for trying to exonerate me. But between us, it was probably a lost cause. To see me constantly following you and serving you, it was simply unlikely they would imagine me outside of your rebellious movements."

Miron sighed.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Kriniela deserves worse, much worse. But it was all I could do. And because of my last act of rebellion as you say, we ended up in this sordid prison cell."

"I know, and I feel the same way. This monster disguised as a woman should have to suffer infinitely before she knew death. Her only quality, as well as that of her disgusting peers, is that they don't pretend to be good. On the contrary, to display it for them, this monstrous nature, was almost like pride. But the price to pay for these obscene thoughts is far too cruel. Miron, you have to do something, please. I don't want to end up like this. Like all our companions before us. I wish I had a choice, even once in my life."

Miron stared at Kei for a moment with his big, unfathomable eyes before turning around and standing up and displaying a fierce look, filled with a new determination and cruelty that made his friend shiver even more than the coldness of their cage.

"Don't worry, and calm down. Whatever happens, I'll make sure we get it. It can't be otherwise. After all, if we look at the truth as it is, we're the ones who come from the real monsters."

Yes, thought Miron, for only monsters would ever dare to abandon helpless children at the foot of this mountain of evil, especially since most of them were their own flesh and blood, even though they were perfectly aware of the atrocious destiny that would be theirs if they penetrated the immortal mists. And those cowardly and hypocritical people who, after their unforgivable deeds, probably still dared to pretend to be better than the black magi who inhabit this cursed land, were vomiting.