It was late at night when Konnor came back to Malik's tavern. His mind was completely blank, after escaping the Cauldron he walked slowly in the city, almost wandering aimlessly, obsessing, thinking, going between self inspirational speeches, self blaming and already mourning his friend. Malik was at the counter checking how many coins they got that day when he catched sight of the young man.

  " Boy! Come here for a sec! "

  Konnor approached Malik. His body was moving but his mind was away. Whatever Malik was saying he was not hearing any of it. " He seems worried, I can't hear him, it's like I'm in a bubble. What do I really care about? Izi doesn't seem to care that I care about him. Richard doesn't care about me, he just didn't kill me because his woman was here, Malik doesn't care, Kazak didn't care, Shifty and Nifty didn't care. My brother didn't care about me, my paren- ". A powerful slap from Malik got Konnor out of his thoughts. Already in a bad mood, he jumped over the counter to fight Malik.

  " It was the wrong day to annoy me! "

  He was swinging as fast as he could but his fists only hit the air. Each time he punched, Malik would move away or deflect his punches. Malik tripped him as he was going for a heavy punch. Still on the ground, he turned around to see Malik's judging eyes. This look was annooying him " Don't look at me like this! ". He got back up and once again resumed his punches. Even though he only had one arm, Malik was defending himself perfectly. Once again taking advantage of the boy's momentum, he caught his right fist and brought him closer to him in order to deliver a powerful knee to the guts. The blow was strong enough to knock the air out of the young man and make him back off while coughing. Once again Konnor looked at Malik, he was standing still and looking at him in silence. " STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THIS!! " . In a fit of rage, Konnor grabbed two knives that were still on the work plan, he threw the one that was in his left hand in Malik's direction and rushed towards him. Malik simply stepped aside to dodge the knife and waited for the next hit to come, Konnor raised the knife and tried striking from above. Malik simply grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm in his back, he then kicked him in the knee forcing him to lay face down. As a final submission move, Malik applied pressure on the young man's back with his knee.

  " Let me go!!! LET ME GOOOOOOO! "

  " No."

  " Let me go you one arm fuck! "

  " Calm down boy."

  For five minute straight, Konnor tried wrestling against the pressure applied on him but Malik was locking him in place.

  " Boy, I know how you feel right now, you are scared, but not for yourself. "

  " You don't know shit! Let me go! "

  " You are scared for your friend and you lash out at everything, you actually didn't think of hurting me, you wanted me to hurt you so that you didn't have to do it yourself. "

  " Shut up! "

  " Right now, you feel powerless, you feel like you can't change anything."

  " I SAID SHUT UP! "

  " But you are a strong boy, you are not a bad person."

  " Let me gooooooooooo !!! "

  The boy's screams of rage rapidly turned to cries, Malik decided to get him up but this time pulled him in for a hug. Gladly welcoming it, Konnor let go of all his worries and pain and cried to his heart content.

  " Sit down boy, the meat is almost ready. "

  Konnor was seated at one of the tavern's tables, he was feeling completely empty. He cried so much his eyes were still red and itchy. He had told some parts of the story to Malik but kept out the worst details of it. Malik knew that the boy didn't tell the whole story but he understood he didn't need to know all of it. Malik came back from the kitchen with a plate full of lamb meat, some bread and a candle. He then poured both of them a glass of wine.

  " Here, eat your fill my boy. "

  " Thank you.. "

  Konnor was eating in silence under the supervision of Malik.

  " I'm sorry for trying to hit you with the knife earlier ... "

  " It's ok, you remind me a lot of Richard you know. " Konnor raised an eyebrow. " Of course you are not as smart, or gifted in any departments but you have one good quality : you care about your friends, even if you think they don't care as much about you. The fact that you react so much to someone who is 'basically a stranger' is proof you care and that doesn't make you a fool, it makes you a great human and all humans have flaws. And sometimes we hurt our friends, but they stay our friends because we know they are more important than just one little word they said or one thing they did. "

  " Have you and Richard fought a lot? "

  " He is literally the person I fight the most in the world! And honestly he is the only person I fought so much that is still alive ahah! " Malik took a sip of wine and looked at the moon from the window to his left. " We fought a lot even before we went to war but he was always my best friend, of course we had times where things weren't going great but that's like every friendship. "

  " Malik, how can I help a friend without hurting them? Clearly in this situation it will be worse if I do something but I CAN'T do nothing! "

  Malik sighed, he took another sip of wine and looked at Konnor's desperate face.

  " I never had to make big decisions for my friends, usually I let my friends handle the big decisions in my place even if the worry is directly for my own safety. Is it because I don't trust myself with those decisions? Is it because I'm lazy? Is it because I trust my friends so much? Hell even I doubt which answer is the right one. Sometimes our friends have to hurt us in order to save us from our own foolishness young man." He paused and caressed the place where his arm used to be. " Sometimes I still feel my hand, as if it was right there, I lost it years ago but I have yet to have lived longer without it than with it. I still try to grab things with this limb I don't have and I sometimes get submerged by the feelings of anger and hatred towards the person that did this to me. "

  " Who did this to you? "

  " My superior at the time, our mission was simple: get into the enemy camp through an old coal mine, kill their commanders and get out the same path. As you might have guessed, the plan didn't go as smoothly and it was my fault because I wanted to prove I was the better soldier but I wasn't .... "Malik paused to refill his drink. " We got caught but managed to kill the commanders anyway. But when we got back inside the mine, one of their witches made the mine collapse on us. I got knocked unconscious by some rocks, when I woke up it was completely dark and I could barely move. Most of my body was under the rocks, it was a miracle I wasn't crushed. I could not scream, and I feared that moving even an inch would bring down on me the rest of the rocks, so I stayed there, thinking it was the end. I don't know if it was the creator testing me or the devil but water was dripping from some rocks next to me. I drank from the rocks for three days. When I was not drinking, the drops would fall on my forehead and keep me awake, I had to control my breathing because the rocks were still on me. I thought I was going crazy, on the fourth day I wanted it to end. But then rocks started moving around me and I saw my superior moving them in order to save me. At the time I thought he just found me by mistake because he was blocked too, but thinking back on it, he probably was looking for me. I felt relieved but I was still blocked by this fucking rock on my arm. I begged him to go get the rest of the company so they could move it together. He just didn't listen, he took out a piece of wood, stuck it in my mouth and started bashing my arm to break the bone. The piece of wood was almost useless, it was the worst pain I ever felt, he then used his dagger to cut my arm off. The last thing I remember from inside this mine was the view of my crushed arm away from my body as I was getting carried out. "

  " And ... did you take some sort of revenge on this guy? "

  " I wanted to, I felt like he didn't leave me a choice, it was my arm, my decision. Losing this arm also meant my dreams of being a great soldier were over. Even if the army decided to keep me, how much of a fighter would I be on the battlefield with only one arm? I may be stupid sometimes but not suicidal, I was destined to die if I kept on fighting. After I was back up on my feet, I decided to leave the army. It was three years ago, seven years in the military that amounted to nothing, just like this. I hated myself and this guy. I ended up coming here, started a business and one day, he came through the door. I wanted to cast him out, I wanted him gone forever away from me. Then ... he told me he left the military too and he would spend his life making it up to me. Ever since that day, he has been living upstairs in the room you currently live in. "

  Konnor took a few seconds to understand what Malik just said.

  " Wait! Richard did this to you? But you told me he was your best friend! "

  Malik chuckled and got up, he started walking towards his bedroom and before disappearing he waved what remained of his arm.

  " Like I said earlier, young man, sometimes, you need to hurt your friend in order to save them. "

  He then closed his bedroom door. Konnor was now alone in the room, the candle slightly extinguishing itself. He then finished his glass of wine and went back into his room. Before he could, a soft hand landed on his shoulder. A woman with short dark hair was smiling at him.

  " Hmm excuse me? "

  " No need to excuse yourself boy, I just wanted you to know that everything will be fine. "

  " How can you be so sure? "

  " I can 'see' things. "

  " Ok ... and what can you see that can help me. "

  " All I can tell you is, think of the ring and when you doubt yourself, choose the right path. "

  She then laughed and started walking away.

  " Wait? What ring? And what is the right path? "

  " You will know soon enough. "

  " Wait what's your name at least ? "

  Before she went away she turned around and he could see her beautiful hazel eyes shine in the darkness.

  " I'm Helen. "

  She then put on her cape one and flipped her hood on. " What a strange encounter". Konnor entered his bedroom and layed in bed. Staring at the ceiling, he had found a new resolve, he would go back to the Cauldron and rescue Izi whether he liked it or not.

  Konnor woke up in the middle of the day, usually Malik would have woken him already, instead he saw a note left on a chair next to him on a small package. " After our talk yesterday, I think you already decided to go save your friend, I won't help in person but have this, good luck". He then opened the small package and discovered a simple dagger but the materials seemed familiar. It was a dark and glassy looking material but seemed as sharp as a dragon tooth. " That's a good name for a weapon, Dragon tooth." Armed with his new resolve and his new weapon, he decided to head to the Cauldron. He arrived when the sun was starting to set but he forgot an important detail, the man at the entrance was going to check if he had any weapons. He had to sneak past him in order to get inside safely with the dagger. " I should have thought things through, dammit! Stupid stupid stupid! ". Just as he was blaming his incompetence, he caught a glance of the bald woman he saw at the bar shopping a few streets away and decided to make his way towards her, she was his only option. Once he caught up to her, he froze " What do I say to her? Will she even remember me? What do I do? ". As she was done with her shopping she turned around and saw him, she smiled and waved at him and he waved back.

  " Hey it's Izi's friend, you missed me already? "

  " Hmm I need your help! "

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  " Wow, ok but what can I do for you? "

  " I need to get past the big guy at the entrance. "

  " Well you entered yesterday already why would you need help to get insi- "

  She stopped and noticed the dagger at his side.

  " What do you plan to do with this? "

  Konnor took a deep breath.

  " I plan to do whatever it takes to save a friend. "

  The lady started rubbing her chin while thinking about what to do.

  " Alright I will help you get inside but only on two conditions. "

  " Ok ... what conditions? "

  " First, once you are inside, I don't know you, I won't help further than going past Spike"

  " Spike? "

  " Yeah the guy at the door, he has been a simpleton ever since he caught a metal spike to the face due to an explosion, he laid there for days and people thought he was dead! Cold as snow but when they took the spike out, he opened his eyes and started fighting people around! But ever since he can't articulate many words and we only call him Spike. "

  " Ok .. and what is the second condition? "

  " You obviously aren't from this part of town, so I want you to not only get Izi out but me too. "

  This one request took Konnor by surprise.

  " You? But you aren't 'enslaved'. You can quit this job and do whatever you want ."

  " And who told you that? "

  " I don't know, I just assumed ... "

  " Exactly, you assumed, WRONG! There is nothing for me out here, I live there and most of the people working there do because they are in debt to the boss. "

  " What can you tell me about the boss? "

  She took a deep breath, looked left and right and made him follow her. Once they were in a deserted alleyway she sat on the ground and invited him to sit next to her.

  " The boss man is called Lozan, he is the leader of the Nightingales. "

  " The Nightingales? "

  " Yes, the Nightingales are the biggest gang in this part of town and soon will be the only remaining gang, their rivals are the Sluggers, the Wolfins and the Espinozans. Before Lozan took commands by assassinating the former Nightingale boss, all the gangs had their part of the city and the fights were minor but three years ago, he just arrived with these 'sticks' and he gained control by selling them only to his people and being ruthless to those refusing to be under his control. "

  " I saw it, they make them go wild, what is in there? "

  " No one knows, he acquired it from foreigners, probably from his homeland. Lozan seems like one of those sweet talkers and almost harmless middle aged men but he is ruthless, he tortures and kills as naturally as it is to breathe. So whatever you do in there, don't confront him face to face, or if you do, I hope you know how to use this dagger. Because if he gets the occasion to, he WILL kill you ok? "

  Konnor stared at the sky thinking about how his chances were diminishing by the minute.

  " Thank you for making me feel even less confident in what I'm about to do. "

  " Ahah very sorry. Also I heard from some of the girls in the tunnels that in his own private chambers he has either a vault or a secret way of getting out in case the town guards or another gang raided the Cauldron. But I have no idea of what the entrance looks like or how to open it. "

  " Great, well thanks anyway for the assistance. It's almost night time, we better get going. "

  " True, by the way what is your name? "

  " Konnor, and you? "

  She held out her hand to shake his.

  " I'm Maureen. "

  Konnor shook her hand

  " Well Maureen, let's get to work and hopefully survive in the process. "

  The plan was simple, Maureen would distract Spike while Konnor would sneak inside, before he entered the Cauldron she laced a ripped piece of cloth around his waist in order to hide his weapon a little bit. Maureen went ahead and caught Spike's attention.

  " Heyyy spikeyy! How is our big guy doing today? "

  " Spike. "

  Even though he only said one word you could tell he was happy to see her.

  " Glad to hear from you, aren't you tired? You might wanna go have a sit with me. "

  Spike shook his head.

  " Spike! "

  Maureen gently grabbed his wrist and started caressing it, she then smiled at him, he was close to being two meters tall and she was barely a hundred and seventy centimers. He looked like a giant next to her.

  " Oh come on, I can treat you to some honey beer! "

  " Spike? "

  " Yeah it's your favorite right? Come on, let's walk a bit, I'm lonely and we won't be long I swear! "

  Before he could protest, she was already dragging him away, once they were far enough she grabbed his arm and walked very close to him. She looked back at Konnor and winked at him before continuing working her charm on Spike. " She is talented, ok now it's my turn. ". Konnor entered the Cauldron and made his way to the main lobby, the vibe was the same except the furniture and floors were stained by some dried blood from the Sluggers's skirmish with the Nightingales. Not losing any second, he entered the tunnels, looking for Izi's whereabouts. He managed to find the room where he encountered Izi the first time but he only found a young woman replenishing the wine in the space he hid. He got closer to her and as she turned around he put his hand on her mouth.

  " Shhh shhh don't scream, I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm looking for someone. Do you understand me? "

  The girl nodded.

  " Promise you are not gonna scream. I don't want to hurt you but I will if you give me no choice." to punctuate his words, he showed her the dagger and the girl shook her head to say no. He then took his hand off her mouth. " Have you seen a young boy, bruised up, wears a blue scarf around his face most of the time, seems kinda close to Lozan. "

  " Hmm yeah yeah, hmmm he was called hmm eze ... izriii .. "

  " Izinqe! "

  " Yes that's right! I have seen him but not today, he apparently angered the boss and he was not pretty to look at. "

  " Ok do you have an infirmary or something like that? "

  " We get treated where we sleep, the guards and male workers have their own space." She pointed to the tunnel to her right. " If you take this tunnel, go straight until you see more torches and then go to the darker end of it and you will start hearing the men and that's where he probably is. "

  " Ok, thank you. "

  " Good luck "

  Konnor had been wandering in the tunnels for a few minutes when he finally heard the voices and cheering of a few men like the girl said. He arrived at what looked like a cavern with a high ceiling. " How big is this place? I'm sure that if I was on the street level I would be in another district by now. ". Trying his best to not be spotted by anyone, Konnor stayed on the lookout for Izi, he was starting to lose hope when he heard an interesting conversation between two men.

  " Poor boy, I wish we could do something for him. Lozan roughed him up good. "

  " Yeah, sad story, it's a good thing Lozan moved him to the women's place, he would have gotten chewed up and unable to defend himself in the state he was in. "

  Konnor sighed as he heard this information. " Fuck! I have to turn back and - "

  As he turned around he collided with someone.

  " Watch where you are going dammit! "

  " I'm very sorry sir .."

  As he got back up, Konnor froze as he realised he just collided with Lozan himself. Lozan dusted some dirt off his mantle and looked at Konnor from head to toe.

  " I've never seen you before boy. "

  " I'm .. I'm a new recruit, Sir! It's an honor to be able to meet you. "

  " Hmm .. " Lozan was passing his hand in his beard. " Well you are lucky i'm in a good mood, next time you do something to annoy me, I'll leave you half dead. "

  These words frozzed Konnor to his core, he knew he would do it. He bowed in respect.

  " Yes, very sorry sir, thank you for not beating me sir."

  Lozan shook his head and walked past him.

  " Lil shit. "

  Able to breathe normally again, Konnor tried breathing in and out to calm himself as he started making his way to the women's section. His presence in the women's section would be harder to explain if he ever got caught but before he could reach it, he saw who he was looking for. Izi was there walking through a tunnel that was going even further down. He was alone but screaming his name would only alert everyone around, Konnor decided to follow him and wait to see where he was going. After a few minutes of stalking, Izi finally entered a room at the end of a tunnel. Konnor followed him right away and his friend was just there, sitting on the bed of the room, his hand on his head. The room was huge, it was probably Lozan's bedroom. The room had a big circular bed in it's center and stone pillars around it. Multiple torches were attached to the walls and were providing a lot of lighting, in the room there was also a desk where Lozan was probably doing most of his accountant work. Izi's face was bruised but he seemed in good enough shape to run away. Making sure no one was around, Konnor sneaked inside the room and walked towards his friend. When Izi spotted him, he felt many emotions, at first he was surprised, then he was happy to see his friend but the setting made him feel terror as he feared for his life.

  " What are you doing here!? I told you not to come here again! If he comes back we are fu- "

  Before Izi could say another word, Konnor hugged him and kept hold of him as if he was scared he would simply vanish before his eyes. Izi simply gave him his hug back. Once he was done Konnor took a few steps back.

  " Come on we are getting out of here. "

  " Kony ... I can't come with you. "

  " Of course you can, your legs are still intact, your heart still beats in your chest so fucking move! "

  " I told you I can't! He is way too dangerous, you need to go away from here and forget me.."

  " How do you expect me to just ... leave you here and forget about you? It's unfair! You make me care about you and now you want me to act as if you didn't exist?! "

  " Exactly, you don't know shit about me so why do you care what happens to me? "

  " I know enough! It's enough for me to care about what happens to you and I would never forgive myself if I knew I could have helped you and left you here instead. Doesn't matter if you lived like this before, I want you to live, not just survive this shit! "

  " Why do you care so much?! "

  " I don't freaking know! Listen, we need to go NOW! "

  " I'm sorry Konnor I can't, I have to stay here."

  " What does he have to hold you here Izi? What debt do you have that you must honor for him? Can I help? "

  Izi took a deep breath.

  " If he wants me to fight, I have to fight. If he wants me to kill, I kill. If he wants me to undress, I undress ... "

  " Oh izi ..."

  " In these moments I just pretend I'm not here, I focus on my sensations and I just 'exit' my body. He owns me, he has been owning every part of my body for as long as I can remember. Do you know what it is to be ten years old pushed to the ground by a grown man? "

  " Izi I - "

  " Do you know?! "

  Izi's voice may have been full of anger, but his eyes were full of tears.

  " I don't know Izi ..."

  " Of course you don't, how is someone supposed to function normally after something like this? How can I ever be considered strong when another man owns my body and I can't fight back? Do you know how humiliating it is? To not be looked at as a man but a thing? "

  " You don't have to be his thing Izi, you are strong, stronger than many people. "

  " Despite what he did to me, I owe him my life. " Izi turned his back on Konnor." Go away, he is coming here, he wanted me to give him a 'massage'. "

  " No way, I'm not going out of here without you Izi! "

  As Izi was going to answer, they both heard the heavy boots coming down the hallway. Without talking to each other, they both repeated what they did the day before. Izi sat on the bed and Konnor hid behind a pillar. A few seconds later Lozan was entering the room with a nasty grin on his face. Izi stood completely still as Lozan was taking off his many rings and his leather gloves. He dropped his cane near the desk. He then proceeded to remove his mantle and open his buttoned shirt. Lozan then went on the other side of his desk and reached inside of one of the drawers. He got a small razor out and also brought his chair to the middle of the room.

  " Shave my sideburns, I only want the goatee. "

  " Yes sir. "

  Izi simply took the razor and started shaving Lozan's face. " Why are you obeying him? Just slit his fucking throat! ". From behind his pillar, Konnor was fuming. As Izi finished his task, Lozan got up and grabbed a small mirror that was sitting on his desk.

  " Good work my boy, now give me this massage. "

  " Yes sir. "

  Lozan laid face down on the bed and Izi started massaging his back, while doing so, he looked in Konnor's direction and silently mouthed the word 'get out'. Konnor moved out from his hiding spot but his objective was not to get out. " I can't just stab him with Izi in the way, I need to move closer. Without warnings, Lozan turned around and put all of his weight on Izi. Already aware of what was going to happen to him the young boy's first instinct were to try to push him away.

  " Since when do you resist ! " A powerful slap came across Izi's face. " You are a pet! Don't you dare forget it! "

  Not being able to handle this anymore, Konnor grabbed Lozan's cane and aimed straight for his head.

  " Let him go! You fucking animal! "

  The cane hit Lozan straight in the temple and made him fall off the bed. Sure this wasn't enough, Konnor kept hitting him on the ground under the shocked eyes of Izi.

  " Stop! Kony stop! "

  Lozan was trying to move away from the hits. " He is still moving, and I can't risk trying to use my dagger while he still moves. "

  " Fucking die! "

  " KONNOR STOP! Don't kill him please! He is done! "

  Lozan was barely moving, out of breath Konnor dropped the bloodied cane on the ground. He was still positive about killing Lozan, he took out his dagger and advanced towards the man, ready to finish him off.

  " I said stop! "

  Izi was now standing between Konnor and Lozan, protecting Lozan with his own body.

  " Izi ... what are you doing? "

  " I can't let you kill him Kony, I'm sorry."

  " Why?! For fuck sakes WHY?! "

  " Because he-.. "

  Suddenly Lozan grabbed Izi's neck and lifted him from the ground, Konnor then heard the metallic sound of something bouncing on the ground, he then saw one of those mysterious tubes rolling on the ground behind Lozan. " Oh no ... ". With extraordinary strength, Lozan threw Izi away against a pillar.

  " Izi! "

  He was still conscious but the shock was enough to keep him on the ground. Lozan was already charging towards Konnor with the intent to kill. Running around the room to get a better weapon, Konnor grabbed a torch that was on the wall and tried to get Lozan to stay back but the man didn't care. Konnor swung the torch with all the strength he could but Lozan simply stopped the torch with his bare hand as if he was not feeling it burn his flesh. He took the torch out of the hands of the boy and started throwing heavy punches. Each of those hits would be fatal for Konnor so he had to stay on the move. He ducked under a hit that ended up taking a chunk of rock out of one of the pillars. To complicate things, a few guards entered the room because they heard the commotion.

  " Boss! "

  Distracted by the callout, Konnor could only brace as he received a hit directly to the chest, sending him flying back to the center of the room. Trying his best to gasp for a little bit of air, he painfully looked up only to be kicked in the face directly by one of the guards. All he could do afterwards was to protect his head the best he could from the multiple kicks coming on his.

  " ENOUGH! "

  Lozan's voice echoed through the room and probably in some of the tunnels. He was still under the effect of the yellow smoke.

  " Get him up, I have some rage to let out. "

  " Yes boss. "

  They raised the boy and made him stand in front of their enraged boss. Barely able to see due to the blood in his eyes from a cut on his forehead. All he could do was suffer the hits of Lozan. Uppercut to the liver, knee to the chin, jab, jab, jab, a kick to the chest sent him towards the guards. They received him and threw him back towards Lozan who in return hit him hard enough to make him do a complete flip on himself. Disorientated and weakened, the young man was ready to meet the Creator. Finally Lozan picked him up by the throat and held him against one of the stone pillars.

  " I told you that if you annoyed me, you would be half dead, you lil shit, but since you dared to hit me with MY OWN CANE I'll simply kill you! "

  Before Lozan started choking him he pulled out his dagger and tried stabbing the man multiple times but with no effects. Lozan still under the effect of his drug was not feeling an ounce of pain. As he was getting choked, he could see Izi finally rising and coming towards him. He was trying to get Lozan to loosen his grip.

  " Please, I'm sorry! He is here because of me, I'll take any punishment, I'll never go outside again. Please don't kill him!"

  Izi's face was full of tears as was desperately trying to save Konnor's life. On the brink of losing consciousness he heard Izi's complaints like a distant voice.

  " I'm sorry father, please don't kill him! It's my fault I know, please let him live father I beg you!"

  " Father ?.... " It was the last thing Konnor thought before everything became dark.