With a set of heavy and rge iron cuffs on his wrists, Aedan was dragged through a dark and damp corridor. The walls had seen better days, and so had the floors and ceiling. This pce saw plenty of movements, but a lot less care and regard. The tiles were loose. Mosses were growing everywhere. Water dripped from the ceiling in tiny drops. Puddles were formed on the floor. There were torches on the walls, but they burned dimly and dreadfully. People rekindled the fme, but not the torches themselves.

  Aedan snorted inwardly at the sight of his new, temporary residence. This was the dungeon prison where the criminals were kept and caged. In his retively new set of garments, he was forced to trot through this very unsavoury pce by a chain that was attached to the cuffs. Behind him, a soldier walked carrying a chest. The contents within were his garments and his possessions, but nothing significant. He had prepared himself to be captured. He had given everything away to Erin for safekeeping before his surrender.

  The slow and haggard walk through the corridor was short, but the gaoler and the soldier trudged at a snail's pace as if they had all the time in the world. Aedan had no doubt that this was intentional, to drag out the prisoner’s suffering of having to walk a distance with such heavy objects around their arms. Unfortunately for the two sadists, Aedan had suffered worse, far worse. This was a breeze. He was barely a shadow of his prime, but his prime was at a height that the average person could not fathom. Even at the base, he still stood taller than most people.

  “Hurry up, would you?!” the gaoler chided and tugged on the chains.

  Aedan stumbled, though it was just a farce. “I have no trouble walking faster. It is you who should be hurrying.”

  “Stupid boy,” the gaoler scoffed. “You think we are going to go easy on you just because you’re young? Here’s some free advice. Mind your tongue if you want to keep it.”

  “Why, thank you for the advice. Don’t worry. I’ll mind my tongue, but not for you.”

  “Son of a bitch!” the gaoler exploded. He turned around and swung his fist at Aedan.

  “Idiot,” Aedan muttered with a grin and crouched down.

  The gaoler missed his hook and threw himself off bance. He went stumbling before tumbling to the ground.

  “Ouch,” Aedan feigned a wince of sympathy. “You alright there?”

  “You damn fucking—” the gaoler was scrambling to his feet in a hurry. He was about to lunge at Aedan when an arm was stretched out in front of him.

  “Cease this foolery!” the soldier commanded. “Get yourself together, you buffoon, and get this prisoner to the warden already. We have kept him waiting long enough.”

  The mere mention of the warden sent an inexplicable chill down the gaoler’s spine. His eyes shivered, and he quickly returned to his position.

  “For your own sake, you best not try something simir with the warden, boy,” the soldier warned.

  “I’ll do my best,” Aedan responded with a smile. “Don’t you worry.”

  Though the soldier’s face was obscured by his visor, anyone could tell he was frowning.

  Eventually, Aedan was led to a door that was not that different from the many other doors they had passed by. The only difference was the sign on the door, which read: 'Interrogation Room.' Aedan suppressed a ugh when he saw the state of the sign. It was barely holding up. When the gaoler gently shoved open the door, the sign appeared to drop slightly with a small creak.

  A man was inside the room, presumably the warden, awaiting their presence with a stern and intimidating expression. The man was sitting at a table, dressed in official military garments. He was a soldier, but the type that gave orders from behind a desk. His gaze narrowed when he saw Aedan.

  “We have brought the boy, warden,” said the soldier, standing at attention.

  The gaoler led Aedan into the room by the chains, all the while trying his damndest not to meet the warden in the eyes. He took the chain and firmly attached it to a hook on the floor.

  “Sit,” the wardened ordered as he gestured at the seat across from him.

  Aedan shrugged and complied. As he took his seat, he observed his interrogator. A man with no more than forty years to his life. His face was clean and smooth. His hands were concealed in gloves. He had a gaze that seemed to scream authority, albeit with very little effect. Aedan surmised the man probably experienced very little physical hardship, but was eager to boast otherwise.

  “Leave us,” said the interrogator.

  The soldier bowed with his head and took his leave. The gaoler was a little bit slower. He bowed deeply and scampered out of the room as if he were trying to escape from a predator.

  Once the door to the room was closed, the warden began to speak. “Your name’s Aedan, correct?”

  “Correct.”

  “Well, Aedan, care to expin the mess you made in the merchant district yesterday afternoon?”

  “What is there to expin? It’s not like you don’t already know the whole picture.”

  “Aedan, it’s best that you stop your snark. We received simir reports and sightings across the merchant district yesterday. You and your companions have caused quite the ruckus and mess. Do you know what that means?”

  “Drop the act,” Aedan scoffed. “This isn’t my first time. You are a warden, not a judge. You have no business talking to or interrogating a prisoner. For crimes like mine, we are immediately brought to trial in front of a judge. Yet, here I am, talking to you, the warden. Either procedures have changed or there’s something else going on here, and this is nothing but a farce. So, why don’t you just stop this act and call for your master already?”

  “... Has anyone ever told you that you should really mind your tongue?”

  “As a matter of fact, people did. In fact, the gaoler told me that just a few minutes ago.”

  “And you didn’t take it to heart.”

  “Why would I?” Aedan chuckled.

  “You should.”

  “Or else what?” he challenged.

  “Or else you lose your tongue. I’m not joking, boy.”

  “If I lost my tongue, then how would you force a confession out of me?”

  “How about this? You get to keep your tongue if you simply confess.”

  “Just take my tongue and lock me away. It will be simpler for me. Well, maybe not much simpler for you.”

  The warden’s eyes were calm, and his grip was loose. “Your pride will be the end of you, boy. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into.”

  Aedan curled his face and retched. “Oh, fucking god. Do you not feel embarrassed and awkward for saying that?”

  “Listen here, boy. Confess, give the names of your companions, and you will be out of this dungeon in a day or two. If you don’t, you will come to know hell.”

  “I already know hell. Don’t presume what I know or don’t know.”

  The warden sighed and rose from his seat. He walked to the door and moved the tch into pce, locking the door. The faint sound and vague noises from the other side of the door instantly vanished. He then walked to the other side of the room and gently knocked on the wall.

  A whirling pool of darkness appeared on the wall. From within, a man stepped through and entered the room.

  The warden stepped aside and stood with his back straight.

  The man smiled at the warden and made his way to the table, taking a seat across from Aedan. The man had a faint hint of disappointment etched on his tired face.

  Aedan smirked. “Too bad, I’m here, instead of her.”

  “I see your snark is not a result of your hubris and blind arrogance.”

  “Oh, you’re mistaken. It is a result of those things. It just so happens that I am not bluffing. With that said, I have been looking forward to this meeting, William Marsh.”

  “I’m honoured that I am well known.”

  “It has nothing to do with your fame. It’s just a simple and easy guess. Who else would go through all this trouble just to meet me, someone who has been consistently foiling a lot of… heinous plots in the city?”

  “You already suspected me?”

  “Suspected? No. Certain? Yes.”

  “What else do you know about me?”

  “A lot, actually.”

  “Oh, really?”

  Aedan nodded.

  “Care to tell me exactly what you know?”

  “I’m not the right person to tell you.”

  “Then, who?”

  Aedan simply smiled.

  “...Erynthea. That’s her name, isn’t it?”

  “As if you won’t remember the name of the person who has been a huge pain in your neck.”

  Marsh sighed. He stirred in his seat and brought his onto the table. “Why are you doing this? For justice? For fame? For money?”

  “I don’t care for justice. As for fame and money… I have enough of the two to st for plenty of lifetimes.”

  “Then why? Is it revenge?”

  “I suppose you can say it’s for love.”

  Marsh’s brow twitched. “L—love?”

  “Yes, love. I don’t give a shit about you, but she does. Erin does. I’m just helping her, that’s all.”

  “...I heard enough. I know people like you. You would rather die than to betray your companions.”

  “I’m gd we are on the same page.”

  “We are not on the same page,” said Marsh. “Not yet, at least. You see, unfortunately for you, I’m not going to kill you.”

  “What then? Torture?”

  “Perhaps. The point is, you will suffer.”

  Aedan rolled his eyes. “Well, then, do your worst.”

  Marsh chuckled and rose from his seat. He headed back into the whirlpool of darkness. After a second, a different person came out of it, a person in a full suit of armour.

  No, Aedan realised. This was no person at all. There’s no one inside the armour. The armour itself was moving. A living, walking armour, standing over seven feet tall.

  The living armour grabbed Aedan by the back of his neck and yanked him off his seat. The chains snapped from the hook as he was thrown onto the living armour’s shoulder.

  “Easy there, big guy,” Aedan compined in a frivolous manner. He neither struggled nor tried to escape. He let himself be taken away.

  They entered the whirlpool of darkness, and nothing but darkness greeted them on the other side.

  “Oh, blimey. This pce smells,” he remarked. Being a dragon, his sight was quick to adjust to his new environment. With lights or no lights, he saw everything as clear as day.

  “I like your jokes, boy. It’ll make things so much more satisfying ter.”

  They were in another dark and damp corridor. However, despite the smell, this pce appeared to be more well-kept. No, it would be more apt to say this pce was newer. The tiles and walls were built not long ago. It was a maze in this pce. They took turns more times than Aedan could count. Finally, they reached a door.

  They entered the room. It was vast. It was filled with strange furnishings and complicated contraptions. To Aedan, this room was something akin to a boratory.

  “William!” greeted a man in a ragged bcoat. He looked excited at first, but his enthusiasm faded after only a second. “Why… are you here?”

  “I have told you, Baloc. We caught our troublemaker. Well, one of them.”

  The living armour stepped forward and threw Aedan onto the surgery table in front of Baloc.

  “Oh…” Baloc gasped. “Oh, my. This is… unexpected.”

  Aedan frowned as he got a good look at the man in the b coat. “Baloc?”

  “Aedan. I never expected to see you here. I thought you would still be in Green Scar.”

  “You know him?” asked Marsh.

  “Know him? I do. We were… friends, aren’t we?”

  “Regrettably, I have to admit that we were.”

  “Oh, this is good. This is very good.”

  “Care to eborate, Baloc?”

  “William, this person right here, is the True Dragon that I have told you about. The heir to the Dragon God’s throne. My mentor.”