Obligations

Maleatus stood up and walked out of his cell. He didn't know why Ryun Nacht had come to free him, but he wasn't about to question his fortune, he knew just how fleeting it could be. Before he could ask anything, the man tilted his head, and one of his swords pulsed then increased in size so that it was the size of a large tree, it lanced out then cut across far above them in the distance. A moment later, Mal saw a mech tumbling down, cut in two.

"You are suppressed," the man said, and Maleatus nodded touching the collar around his neck. Ryun nodded, and then a platform shaped out of Qi manifested before his feet. Now he recognized the Qi, it was Selia's. He didn't know how he was using it, but he didn't see Selia anywhere around so it had to be him.

Understanding the message Maleatus stepped onto the platform and it started to rise.

"Wait!" A voice called out from the cell next to Mal's. "Free me! I can give you riches beyond what you can imagine! Anything that you want!"

Maleatus grinned at the fool, but the Ryun glanced at him. "Does he deserve freedom?" He asked.

Maleatus shrugged. "No, not really," he heard the gasp of indignation from the King, but he ignored it and continued. "But, releasing him might muddle the waters about what happened here, assuming you left no one else alive. And it will cause problems, he was the King of the Faction that used to rule here."

Maleatus didn't really know Ryun Nacht, not at all really. He had fought for his faction during the war, but that was mostly for his own goals, and because he knew Selia and Erdania. Aside from a short introduction, he had barely exchanged a couple of words with him.

The man looked at the cell door as if his dark eyes could see straight through it and then he waved a hand. The door vanished as some invisible force erased it from existence, and then Maleatus was rising as another platform formed beneath Ryun's feet and he joined him.

Maleatus gave one last look back at the King who stumbled out of his cell, looking wildly up at him. He was a demasi, gaunt and looking as if a breeze could topple him over, but his eyes shone with a light. Maleatus gave him a wave and a grin, and then they moved up.

Maleatus cleared his throat. "Maybe we could find the key for this," he tugged on his collar as they started for the hole in the ceiling that led up into the Black Pit proper.

Ryun glanced back at him, then at the collar, then shook his head. "Unnecessary, I'll remove it once we are away from this place."

Mal raised an eyebrow, these types of collars were extremely difficult to take off without killing the wearer. He was kinda invested into removing it safely, but he saw that the man had already started moving them upward, and he bit down on his retort. It wouldn't be nice to annoy his rescuer.

Once they climbed out of the subterranean levels Maleatus saw a scene of chaos, destroyed mechs and turrets were everywhere, cut into pieces with no signs of what had cut them. Mal knew that Ryun Nacht used Oblivion Qi, and he remembered its effects from the war. He was seeing a repeat of that here, only now turned against other people.

He hadn't freed any of the other prisoners, and some that were held in the open air prison on the rings of the pit were calling out to them, cheering, asking for freedom. Mal saw no sign of any living guards, but that didn't mean that the prisoners could escape on their own. The pit was a prison all in itself. Ryun Nach ignored them completely. Well, the former King was free, he would find a way, probably.

They rose above the prison, and Maleatus looked down, admiring the sight of utter destruction. He spat down at the prison that had been his home the past three years, then turned his back to it. He would never go back. The two of them accelerated, heading away from the territory. He wasn't sure what was happening, the suppression prevented him from feeling anything, but he was certain that they were moving faster than it appeared. The wind hitting his face wasn't nearly as strong as it would be if they flew as fast as the land moving around him suggested. Ryun Nacht was doing something with his power, that much was obvious.

It amazed Maleatus sometimes, just how some people were just better at things than most. The few chosen who excelled at everything that they did. Maleatus would've considered himself one of those people once, perhaps he still would be counted among people like that by some metric. But ultimately he didn't come close to the real monsters.

As they moved through the air, traveling leagues in moments, Maleatus turned his mind to his rescue. He wondered if his rescue was instigated by Selia or Erdania, that would make the most sense. Their group had fallen apart following the war, too many different allegiances had been revealed, to many different goals. What had held them together before no longer mattered, the world had changed completely in less than a decade.

Another thought that had occurred to him was that the man had come to seek some kind of an accounting. Maleatus had a history with his partner after all, though Mal doubted that the man even knew, or that he would care if he did. He didn't know Ryun Nacht well, but he had heard enough stories and read enough intelligence reports to know that the man rarely cared for such things. In most reports that Maleatus had taken a peek at, covertly of course, said the same thing: Ryun Nacht was apathetic. As long as you didn't poke him or what he considered his, he wouldn't care, even if the world beyond his borders turned into ash. All reports recommended non-interference.

Still, he was curious. Mal was many things, but he didn't like making enemies where he didn't need to, and he was certain that this rescue would come with strings attached. He was eager to learn what those strings were.

He didn't have to wait for long before the conversation he expected happened. They reached a mountainous area in a different territory, and Ryun guided them to the ground. As soon as they landed, the man turned to face him and spoke.

"I need to know the location of the Unchained home base, or any information that might lead me to it," Ryun Nacht said, more like demanded, with no preamble.

Mal raised an eyebrow in surprise, he hadn't expected that. "I do know something about that, yes," he said slowly. He was grateful for the release, but there was still a small matter currently hanging around his neck. He tugged at the collar and spoke. "But first, could you? This thing is getting uncomfortable."

Ryun Nacht narrowed his eyes, his face twitched and rippled in a current of black, silver, and violet that made Mal take a step back. For a moment he thought that he had misjudged things, that he had overplayed his hand, but then the man tilted his head and his eyes grew unfocused. His face returned to its normal shape and he nodded.

"Yes, you're right," he whispered, and Mal wasn't sure if he was speaking to him.

He stepped close and before Mal could even react, he grabbed hold of the collar. "Don't run," the man said.

Mal wasn't planning on it.

For a moment, nothing happened, and then the weight of the collar around his neck was gone, and his power returned to him in a wave. He felt... Everything. The Space around them called to him and he smiled, he had missed this feeling.

"Now," Ryun Nacht's voice interrupted his reunion with his power. "Tell me?"

"Right," Mal grinned. "A deal is a deal."