Guilty

(Content Warning: Torture)

Dorin awoke on a bed in almost complete darkness, but it wasn't his home. There was no familiar sound of dice clacking against the front of his shed.

"Finally, you're awake." Said a voice that sounded like his friend Rae. There were screams coming from somewhere nearby. "Lonn has already been up for a while."

Dorin tried to speak but only a wheeze came out. He was glad to know that his friend was okay but he couldn't feel his arms or legs.

"It's been three days." Rae seemed like he was waiting for Dorin to react, or say something. Eventually he raised the sleeve of his shirt to reveal an anvil. "I didn't think that coming to Tur would end like this."

'I should have told you.' Dorin wondered if things would have been different if Rae had known about the Spire. Dorin's eyes began to adjust, and he could now see Rae sitting on a wooden stool in front of the door to his room. 

"You look guilty." Rae stood up and put his face in front of Dorin's. "As you should. What happened to our promise? How could you leave me to this life of slavery?" 

Dorin didn't answer, but he wouldn't know what to say if he could.

"You were right when you said that we'd see each other again." Rae pulled his shirt off completely, revealing a body covered in marks. Most of them were overlapping anvils, but there were also thin cuts from a whip. "Tordi blames me for everything, most of all losing a spark. He told me to come down here and put you through the same pain I've felt the past few days.

. . .

Dorin spent what felt like days in Rae's 'care'. His former friend had experimented on him to find where it started to hurt, and Dorin now doubted there was any skin on his neck and face that was left unharmed. He had run out of tears to cry early on as betrayal turned to hatred. 

Dorin heard footsteps outside what could only be his jail cell, and the door opened to reveal the Spire. "He really did a number on you, huh. I thought I could save having to torture you myself by sending him in here. 

'You did this to me.' Dorin stared at him with his one openable eye with the same hatred he now held for Rae. 

"Woah there, is that any way to welcome your Spire into your home?" The Spire shut the door behind him. "Joking, obviously."

Dorin tried to shout at him to go away, forming words with his tongue, but again only a wheeze came out. 

"Before I answer any of your questions, I have something for you.

The Spire dragged the stool up to the side of his bed. "You really screwed everything up. That girl would've been the perfect spark. All that talk about duty, I would've had her dancing in the palm of my hand before the day's end."

'Ara would have seen through all of your bullshit.' Dorin groaned as he turned to keep looking at the Spire, who moved to his blind spot. "This is a very interesting mark. I've never seen it before."

The Spire examined his left hand for a minute. "It might be useless now, but I wonder what would have happened if you did become the spark. Especially considering you already are one." He dropped a brick-sized book on his chest, and put his left hand on top of it. 

"Walker? It can't be." The Spire stood up suddenly. "How did that asshole get his bastard son all the way over here . . ."

Dorin followed the Spire with his eyes as he paced around his room for an hour. He nearly went to sleep once but a slap to the face aggravated all of his cuts and bruises once more. 

"Veri!" The Spire shouted.

"Yes, Spire." An annoyed response came from outside the door.

"Bring me his ego, immediately." The two of them waited for a while, but Dorin didn't dare fall asleep again. 

Eventually Veri returned with the black cube that had started everything. Despite the lack of feeling in his body, he felt sweat dripping down his face. 

The Spire placed the cube on his chest and laid Dorin's hand on it, but nothing happened. "Well, I have no more use for you then." 

Dorin saw a coin come out of the Spire's hand, and he closed his eyes. 

. . .

Click-Clack 

. . . 

Click-Clack

"10! Finally. Which means . . . instant death!"

"No ego is that powerful. Stop cheating."

Dorin yelled at the top of his lungs and he heard the kids run away. 

End of Volume 1: Innocence