For the first time in a long time, Yaan woke up with a smile on his face. The cot that he rose from was uncomfortable, but that wasn’t enough to get him down.

  Arden was dead. That parasitic existence who’d never bend the knee was dead. The thorn that had been in his side for several years now was finally gone, and Yaan was at peace.

  Yaan swung his legs from the cot and brought both of his arms above his head to stretch. He wasn’t sure what time it was, due to there not being any clocks or windows down here. He knew it was an attempt to destabilize inmates’ mental state thanks to his uncle telling him that many moons ago. Even still, he was far from perturbed.

  Yaan looked across to Hel’s cell, where he had fallen asleep with a book next to him. He scoffed at the sleeping Starborn. He looked truly pathetic, to have given in to his captors so easily and so comfortably.

  Yaan would never do that. He would be free again soon. He could make do with a few restless nights of sleep before he escaped.

  A lascivious smile spread across his face as he remembered what he left behind.

  “Just wait for me a little longer, ladies. I’ll be on my way back soon.”

  Arden’s death crossed his mind and he remembered something else.

  “I guess I can finish the job now that he’s dead,” he said. “It’s a shame though. His sister looked good for a Blight Walker. She was right up my alley. I'd almost hate to give her away.”

  The woman in his head was joined by a second woman, even more stunning than the first. Instead of silver tips in her hair, like the first, the second woman had streaks of light blue.

  “The same goes for that woman as well.”

  There was a tingle in the back of his mind that immediately sobered Yaan up. Feeling what it wanted, he frowned. It told him that he would do no such thing to the women, lest the deal was off.

  The elevator at the end of the hall dinged, letting Yaan know that someone had just arrived on this floor. A pulse of aura from the end of the hall caused Hel to wake with a start and blearily look in the direction of the source while rubbing his eyes. Yaan grimaced as the aura came closer. He recognized the owner of the aura, as would anyone who was high up in Miasma’s chain of command.

  Sweat rolled down Yaan’s face when Chorzo stood in front of his cell. Just like last night, Hel simply sat back and watched the interaction between the pair.

  “Good morning, uncle.”

  “No, it is not a good morning.”

  “That’s odd,” Yaan said. “It is for me. That pest was finally burnt away like the insignificant piece of scrap that he was. So now I have a dead rival and his now-single hot piece of ass. That’s a pretty good morning to me.”

  From his cell, Hel couldn’t hide his disgust. Hel knew he was a piece of shit, but even he was appalled by the callousness with which Yaan carried himself.

  “A rival? Is that what you thought of him?” Chorzo asked. “According to his girlfriend, he didn’t spare you a single thought when you weren't antagonizing him.”

  Yaan gave a brief chuckle.

  “Baseless lies. I was the thing that made him question whether or not to continue. All she’s trying to do is make him look better. There’s no point though. Not anymore.”

  Now it was Chorzo’s turn to laugh.

  “Yaan, you are doing it again. You thought that Arden was weak enough to have someone like you as a grand adversary. That his grand motivation for becoming a Starborn was to get back at you. You’re just an afterthought for him.”

  “Hmph. Since you’re interviewing victims and witnesses, tell me. What was his motivation, then?”

  “A simple thing. He didn’t want to disappoint those who believed in him.”

  “That’s pathetic.”

  “That’s humanity. Are you willing to confess to your crimes?”

  “Nah. I'm good.”

  Chorzo nodded his head. He had expected that answer. He turned around to face the other cell.

  Last night, Hel had been given better accommodations due to his willingness to cooperate. He didn't struggle when he was taken down here.

  “Are you willing to cooperate?”

  Hel nodded his head.

  “Yes sir. I'll confess.”

  “Very good.”

  “Pussy,” Yaan said, earning a burning glare from his uncle in response.

  The wall of Hel’s cell facing the hallway slid down into a slit into the ground, allowing him out of the cell. He wordlessly stepped out of his cell, and held his wrist out.

  Chorzo hesitated for a moment, then slapped suppression cuffs around Hel’s wrists. He didn't think that Hel would attempt an escape without them, but it was better to be safe than sorry, especially with Yaan in the room.

  “Follow me.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Chorzo and Hel took a few steps towards the end of the hall and the elevator waiting there when Chorzo stopped. He cast another look at his nephew standing there with a self-satisfied expression.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  “I'll ask you this one last time. Are you willing to confess and cooperate? It's the only way you'll be able to get out of here.”

  Yaan laughed.

  “I'll take my chances down here. It's not like you'll actually have me killed. I can wait it out.”

  Chorzo closed his eyes and exhaled.

  “I'm sorry, Yaan. I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you. And I'm sorry that it had to end like this.”

  The smile fell from Yaan’s face. The words of grief didn't sadden him, but they did confuse him. Before he could question his uncle about what he meant, the sound of steady footsteps came from the end of the hall.

  All eyes were drawn to the man wearing black bloody robes. With the matching hood, he looked like an assassin from a fantasy world.

  “Who are you supposed to be?” Yaan asked.

  His heart started to beat faster. There was something about the newcomer that caused Yaan to feel instinctually fearful towards him.

  The person ignored Yaan and instead stood in front of Chorzo. They sized each other up for a few moments, before Chorzo broke the silence.

  “Is there any way I can persuade you not to do this?”

  The man in black shook his hooded head.

  “I see,” Chorzo said solemnly.

  He looked down at the floor before Walking past the man with Hel in tow. Chorzo glanced at him one last time and spoke a few parting words before entering the elevator with Hel.

  “I suppose I should thank you for sparing his life.”

  With a dull hum, the elevator lifted off the ground and rose up. In a few seconds, Chorzo and the cooperative prisoner would be at ground level.

  The masked man looked around the cell block, noting the cameras watching every cell in there. The slow but steady rotations of the cameras told him that they were active.

  Yaan caught on quickly. He backed up to the far end of his cell and spoke to the man with a confident voice.

  “You can't do anything to me in here. The cameras are watching everything. If you try, my uncle will kill you.”

  The man ignored Yaan’s words and continued to look at the cameras. After a few seconds, the cameras stopped moving and all drooped forward in unison. He smiled from behind his mask. For the first time since arriving down there, Arden spoke.

  “I think you'll find that won't be the case.”

  Yaan’s eyes widened in disbelief at the voice of the dead man.

  “How!? My hellfire stigmata should have killed you!”

  Arden pulled his hood down revealing his face, complete with his easy smile. Most of his hair was still gone, but that could be remedied with a hair growth cream he saw after waking up. It would have to be taken after his skin came back fully though.

  “There's lots of things that should have killed me, Yaan. You're just the latest in that long list. Most of them were stronger than you, though. The Maverick was the same rank as you, but that kicked the shit out of us. Gravity sure did a good job of trying to kill me as well. A couple times, come to think about it.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Arden raised a hairless eyebrow and looked at Yaan with confusion.

  “Things that should have killed me. Try to keep up. I know you were never the smartest guy in the slums, but you should at least act like it. Fake it till you make it, you know?”

  “My uncle won't let you get away with this.”

  “Your uncle gave me permission. He even disabled the cameras for me. Actually, I doubt he did. He probably just told whoever works security to do so. The perks of being high in the chain of command. You know something about that.”

  “He wouldn't allow this. He's too soft. He loves me.”

  “Eh. You're half right. He loves Yaan, his nephew. He despises Yaan, the Starborn. And considering that I'm here, you should be able to figure out which of those emotions is stronger.”

  The door to Yaan’s quarters slid down, allowing Arden access. Before he could enter, Yaan tried to escape. Trusting in his large build, he tried to steamroll Arden, confident that the slender Starborn wouldn't be able to stop him.

  His overconfidence was swiftly crushed by Arden's fist, covered in bone, as it slammed into Yaan’s side. The attack sent him back into his cell, leaving him sprawled over his bed. He held an arm to his side and took shallow breaths while eyeing Arden wearily.

  “Man that felt good,” Arden said, stepping into the cell. After a second, the door rose from the ground.

  Arden grabbed the chair and placed it between him and Yaan. He sat on it backwards, like a teacher trying to appear cool to his unruly students.

  “It's funny, isn't it?” Arden asked with a relaxed smile. “For all of your background helped you to live, it was worthless in helping you survive. You've stayed the exact same for years at this point.”

  “You haven't changed either,” Yaan said through clenched teeth. “Oh sure, you have powers now, but you are still the same arrogant street rat that I used to regularly beat.”

  Arden looked up and rubbed his chin as if thinking deeply about Yaan’s words.

  “I'll give you that one. I am definitely arrogant right now. Though I have definitely changed over the years. These last few months in particular have been a wild ride. I can't tell if I've gotten better or worse just yet, but I know it's a change of some sort. Before you set my mouth on fire, I only really lived to keep my sister alive.”

  “You're doing that now.”

  “Yes, but I'm also doing more. I learned during the cascade when I raided a Stargate with her and my girlfriend that she didn't really need my protection. The same goes for my girlfriend. I'm playing catch-up right now. I'm getting stronger because I want to, not because I have to.”

  Arden gestured to the cell they were in.

  “This is a prime example. With the other guy willing to give us information about your escapades, I don't have to do anything to you. But after hearing what you said about my sister and my girlfriend, and feeling what you've done to me over the past few hours, I want to. The only thing I have to do is prevent your death. If I wanted to, I could use my power to turn you into a vegetable. I could castrate you and leave you unable to regenerate with potions, just like your hands.”

  The blood drained from Yaan’s face and he tried to back up further on the cot, but only found the wall instead of more space. Cornered, he fearfully looked back at the hungry smile of Arden and shuddered.

  “You wouldn’t,” he said with a wavering voice.

  Arden shrugged.

  “We’ll see where the morning takes us. Before my trial, I would have agreed with you about leaving the genitals intact. Now, I have no such inhibition. It's amazing what you can do in a fit of anger. But I have a feeling you're right. No matter how good it would feel for me, or how much you deserve it, or how much it would make sense, I doubt I’d go that far on you. You never literally busted my balls, so I won’t bust yours.”

  A slight amount of hope returned to Yaan’s face, and he relaxed a little bit. Arden was determined to crush it.

  “I wouldn’t feel safe just yet. Leaving aside your balls, I can do a lot to you. I’ll let you in on a little secret: My power is a life steal of sorts. When I took your hands, I did it to heal myself as well as incapacitate you. Back then, I had severe burns all over me, but it could still be healed with post-StarFall tech. Now, though.”

  Arden stood up from his chair and pulled his bloody robe from his chest. Beneath it, He looked like something that could have been found in the Mausoleum of the Maverick. Blackened bone was exposed while some pieces of melted skin stubbornly clung to them. The sight of a deep red glowing from beneath the charred ribs and behind his somehow still-beating heart were enough to silence Yaan.

  The air on his open wounds stung like hell, but Arden knew it needed to be done to instill fear into Yaan. After getting the reaction he wanted, Arden covered his chest again, and his pain was eased by soft fabric from another world.

  “As you can see, I’m going to need more than just your hands this time.”