Liam awoke with a stiff back and a sore head.

He had been knocked unconscious by the guard and thrown into a small cell. Dark enough that he couldn’t even see the outline of his hand in front of his face. Liam started to crawl around the cell to feel it out, the floor was a smooth stone, in a corner was a pile of straw which seemed to serve as a bed, in the other corner was a bucket, Liam didn’t like to think about what that was for. On the other side of the room was series of thick metal bars, it is uniform as far as Liam could feel there did not seem to be any door or keyhole.

Being trapped in pure darkness does funny things to your mind, Liam desperately wished for some light. Even the blackest nights were brighter than this. He starts to imagine creatures lurking in the dark, gremlins, goblins and ghouls, coming for him in the darkness. Liam shakes himself out of the panic.

“There’s nothing there. You are being stupid.” Liam says out loud. Darkness and silence are a bad combination, Liam started to hum a song to himself, something his father used to sing to him.

Hours passed and his throat sore from humming, Liam imagined himself suddenly awakening his power at last. It was a common fantasy of his.

The last forgotten to awaken was Sir Olek, the Azure Knight. It was a big scandal in the kingdom, the son of a noble with no power, completely unheard of. Now he commands armies and fights for the betterment of the realm. Olek could only control a rare type of mineral called azurite but he was a complete prodigy once he unlocked his power. He quickly rose through the military ranks and is still active today. Liam didn’t know why, but powerful people tended to live unnaturally long, nobles and high-ranking members of military. His friend Oak tried explaining it to him once but as he had no spiritual connection it went right over his head.

It's been over 50 years since the last forgotten found his calling thinks Liam to himself. He is starting to really crave any bit of light now. Imagining the nice red glow from a forge, his candle on its little saucer in his hut. Liam wished for uncomfortable straw bed, his hut lit up by moonlight.

Sometime later the faint sound of footsteps brought Liam out of his trance. Carefully walking over to the other side, Liam held the bars and tried to listen. They were quickly getting closer. He could see the yellow glow from the torch before the guard turned a corner. A few seconds later Liam is blinking spots out of his eyes, even while blinded, Liam drank in the delicious light, it might have been his imagination, but he felt the torch start to dim slightly.

A large bulky woman stood before him, wearing a thick heavy looking chainmail over a gambeson. Her dark hair is tied up in a functional plait.

“Eat this “said the woman. With her spare hand she makes a quick gesture, and the bars pull apart, she hands him a cold plate with some bread and cheese on it. The bars quickly snap back to the original position.

“Why am I here?” questioned Liam, taking the offered food.

“You were caught holding a knife to an innocent boys throat, you have been charged with attempted murder” she looked at him with disgust. “The boys told us how you have always been jealous of them since you have no power of your own” Liam felt his heart sink in his chest. The guard didn’t see the initial altercation, just the ending. “You have been sentenced to death in a weeks’ time, it would be sooner but Lord Dulwick doesn’t want the visitors to know we had a unspirited freak living here”.

“I didn’t do it, they attacked me first… please you have to believe me, I was only defending myself” Liam pleaded.

She ignored his cries and continued “You’re the son of a traitor and without a spirit to boot. Your words don’t mean anything. You are going to be left here in the lowest level of the barracks until the visitors leave, then you will be publicly executed in the town square, now shut the fuck up and eat your food.” Her voice had taken on a sharp edge, Liam decided it would be best to quickly eat the stale food.

After finishing she makes another swiping motion with her hand, the bars once again pull apart. Handing the plate back to her, he asks “Can you please leave the torch? It’s completely dark down here” Liam did his best to look as pathetic as he could. It wasn’t difficult.

Nodding, the woman hangs the torch on a metal ring bolted to the stone wall. She takes out a spare torch from her belt, ignites it and starts to walk away.

“Thank you!” Liam calls after her. He receives no reply.

Liam takes a look around his cell, seeing it properly for the first time, it is entirely made of dark grey stone, completely smooth throughout. There are no visible cracks or weaknesses in the metal, not even a latch or lock to try and fiddle with. There is no way out of the cell without somebody who can control metal. He sighs deeply, feeling sorry for himself.

With nothing better to do Liam sits down and thinks about his father.

Liam came home crying after being called a forgotten by one of the other children in his class.

“Son, you’re not forgotten, and your spirit is most certainly not deaf. Even I didn’t awaken until I was almost 10 years old.” His father takes a breath, looking out to the clear skies. “We didn’t get a lot of storms in the Valewoods, just rain all the time. But then one summer we had three days of hell, everything was flooded, wind and lightning you could feel deep in your bones…. Maybe somebody pissed off a thunderbird, I don’t know”.

A smile crossed Arthur’s face as he told his tale. “But I felt it calling me, I snuck out and sat there on top of a hill and meditated just like this.” His father got down on the floor and entered a lotus position. “I imagined the energy entering me, filling my spirit, feel the energy flowing through my body. I couldn’t tell you how long I sat there for, I ignored my fears and just focused on the energy.”

“It happened for me and it will for you my son, you just need to be patient, one day you will be at the right place and right time and you will feel it too, just as I did”.

“Now are you going to help me with these dishes or what?” his father asked, sending a thin spark which tickled Liam and causing him to laugh.

Liam enters the same meditation post his father taught him all those years ago. He sits for hours, imagining various forms of energy entering him. He finds it incredibly difficult to imagine something that he has never felt. He tries his best to feel open to everything, imagining his spirit in his mind’s eye as various forms, nothing feels right to him. Finally, he settles on an empty bucket that needs to be filled. His mind is the bucket, and it needs to be filled.

A few floors above while the young prisoner meditates, two men are discussing his fate. The first, a heavyset man with shovel like hands and stone-grey eyes. He sighs and looks at the second man sitting across from him.

“Yes yes, I know technically he is entitled to a trial, but we have over three hundred visitors this week, important nobles and business representatives. They are even more superstitious than we are when it comes to the forgotten. Anyway, don’t forget! His father was a traitor to the empire, tried to kill his commanding officer from what I heard. It will be good to just put all this business behind us, that family is rotten to the core.” The larger man says with a sigh.

“Just having that little freak in the same building as me makes my skin crawl. I swear my spirit feels sluggish ever since we locked him up. Besides, there might be a.. let’s call it a bonus it for you, should things go smoothly.” He pats his front pocket which makes a clinking sound.

The shorter man frowns and looks down at his hands “Well maybe in this case we can have the trial after the execution, it is about time that we were rid of the little bastard. Anyway, I’m sure his father would have disowned him long ago if he was still alive” he replies with a frown, trying to convince himself.

“Exactly my friend. Honestly, you are just performing your duty, the boy is bad luck. Having him around causes too much trouble.” A smile creeps across his face as he finishes speaking.

He drops a small bag of coins on the desk, the thud of it hitting the wood sounds the final nail of Liam’s coffin. “Now, on to more important matters, make sure your men have their boots polished and equipment properly secured this time, I don’t want a repeat of two years ago when that idiot dropped his shield during the opening ceremony”. After several minutes of conversation about some more specific security details, the heavier man leaves the office with his cloak dragging behind him.

Back down below Liam’s cell is suddenly engulfed in darkness. The torch has burned out. What the hell that thing had hours left. With a sigh, he returns to his meditation exercise. The bucket he was picturing in his mind had filled up to the halfway point, but now no matter how hard he focuses, no water will enter it. Feeling a headache coming on, he lays down on the straw mattress, sleep quickly overtakes him.