Thatch's consciousness flickered amidst the beating he was receiving from Alex, the captain of the guard at the city gates. The girl he had tried to help had died. And he would die too now without having accomplished a thing. Would he also look like that, he wondered?

---

"Fuck fuck! What is this?!" Alex screamed in pain. He could only tolerate it by further kicking the now unresponsive boy on the ground. He couldn't think straight anymore.

"Sir, I think that's a stolen item" one of the guards hesitantly spoke up amidst the roars of Alex's rage and agony.

"No shit it's a fucking stolen item. Fuck!" Alex stumbled on Thatch's body and fell to the ground, assuming a fetal position.

A muscular black-haired man wearing a thick leather apron hurriedly approached the gates and shouted.

"Thief!"

The guards relaxed and hurriedly ushered the man in to help remove the Conjury mark on the blade, which was still reluctant to part with Alex's right shoulder.

The man saw the situation and got to work. He crouched beside the guard captain writhing in pain and traced a shape with his left index finger onto his right palm. He then used that palm to remove the knife. It was still exceedingly hot, though that didn't seem to affect the man. After doing all this, the man quickly left. He did not want to get involved with whatever was going on here. Those guards would put the thief-boy through a nightmare.

Alex was still crying in pain. Would he be able to survive this? Would he need to amputate his arm?

As he was thinking about those terrifying consequences, one of the guards approached and roughly grabbed the unconscious brown-haired boy by his hair.

"Sir Alex, come see this! Remember what those Knights who passed here a while ago were talking about?" The boy's rags had come loose and the guard saw a hint of a symbol behind them.

"Fuck I don't give a shit about any Kni-" Alex shouted, still on the ground, clutching his arm. Then, his mind caught up to his tongue and he thought about what happened earlier today. Right. The Knights of Inquisition gave him a sketch. Wait. He looked towards Thatch, and now also saw the same symbol the guard did.

Alex gestured toward the guard, who then completely ripped apart the front of the boy's rags. They fell to the ground, revealing his bare body. On his left shoulder, a deep, rough brand was carved into the skin. It had been stabbed through and scratched repeatedly, but the brand's outline was clearly visible.

There had been a crowd observing the whole commotion for a while now, and anyone who caught a glimpse of that brand was shocked, for they knew what that symbol meant.

A slave of Imploy? This boy was a slave of Imploy? That was the brand of Imploy, right?

Everyone there thought the same thing.

How, by the eye, did he get here?

Alex looked at the unconscious boy and smirked. The Knights of Inquisition were looking for him, huh? Well, that was quite tragic, wasn't it? Did the boy come here so someone would kill him?

Alex then laughed even as he winced in pain.

"Hey, you. Throw him in the inspection chamber. I wanna fuck him up before I hand him to those Knights. I'm sure they wouldn't mind" He called to the guard who had picked the boy up.

"Also for fuck's sake, get a medic here. I feel like I'm fucking dying" He shouted, his voice now hoarse from it all.

He glanced at the corpse of the girl, and he managed to look at her properly now.

'Wait, wasn't she that bitch he had his way with earlier?'

"And someone throw that away" He said finally, gesturing towards the girl's body.

"Ah, I'll do it!" One of the guards said with a hint of enthusiasm.

Silence. Everyone there looked at that guard and shook their heads.

What a sick bastard.

-------

The soft clinking of metal and the harsher sounds of boots striking a stone path rang rhythmically in the air of a particular street. The passers-by looked on in adoration at the figure of an old man wearing red armor which reflected beautifully under the twin stars' light.

Luark took his time strolling a particular street of Red-reed's inner city, skipping jovially as he whistled, and savored the aroma of freshly baked bread which wafted in the after-twin-noon air.

He paused suddenly, however, and quickly turned towards a certain direction, quickening his pace.

'Damnit if I don't hurry, it will be too late...' as Luark thought this, he began to hurry, anxiety apparent on his face.

That particular bread from Eevie's.

It would be sold out.

-------

Azroth looked at his son, formally dressed to greet the Knights of Inquisition. Then he waited as he stared at the view from the window of his study. He had thought deeply about how the conversation would go, about how to get those Knights out of his hair. Bribery? would that work? If only I could find out why they were here.

Ginger sat on his father's desk in the study, and also had a deep frown on his face. There were thoughts turning in that boy's mind - thoughts one would never suspect a child of his age to possess.

The study was completely silent.

Azroth's concentration broke first, however. as he made out a scene from his window. What was happening there? Weren't those the Knights of Inquisition he had been waiting all this time for? Azroth looked at the twin stars. Why did it take them so long? Did they send their messenger too early?

He saw the group of six knights, who had removed their spiked shoulder guards and arms braces, carrying an obese man on those shoulders as they walked in unison toward his castle.

Azroth blankly stared for a long while, ensuring that his eyes hadn't made any mistakes.

What the fuck?