Kael stumbled through the snow, his breath ragged and his vision blurring at the edges. The pain in his chest had grown unbearable, a constant, gnawing ache radiating through his body.
The Engine's light on his arm flickered weakly, its once-brilliant glow now dimmed to a mere ember. He had been walking for hours or maybe days through the endless white wasteland, his mind clouded by exhaustion and cold.
When he crested a small hill, the sight below made his heart lurch. A village small and fragile against the vast frozen lake clung to the ice like a desperate survivor.
Wooden huts and fishing shacks huddled together, their chimneys releasing thin streams of smoke into the sky. The promise of warmth, of life, was almost too much to bear.
Kael staggered forward, his boots crunching through the frost. The villagers spotted him immediately. Their faces, weathered by the elements, were wary as they studied the outsider.
A burly man with a thick, graying beard stepped forward, his arms crossed over his chest. His gaze lingered on the Engine's glow.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice rough as the wind.
"Just a traveler," Kael rasped. "I need… shelter."
The man narrowed his eyes but finally gave a slow nod, jerking his head toward a hut at the village's edge. "Marta might take you in. But don't make trouble."
Kael gave a weak nod, too drained to argue. The hut's door creaked as he pushed it open, revealing a dim interior. A small fire crackled in the hearth, its light casting long shadows against the wooden walls.
An old woman sat by the fire, her fingers deftly mending a fishing net. She had sharp, sunken eyes and thin, white hair tied back in a loose braid. She looked up at Kael, her gaze cold and assessing.
"Who's there?" she asked, voice edged with suspicion.
"I'm sorry to intrude," Kael murmured. "I just need a place to rest."
She studied him for a long moment before finally gesturing toward a pile of furs in the corner. "Sit. You look half-dead."
Kael slumped onto the furs, his muscles screaming in protest. Marta moved with surprising agility, ladling steaming liquid from a pot into a wooden cup.
"Here." She handed it to him. "Drink. It'll warm you."
Kael's fingers curled around the cup, the heat spreading through his frozen hands. He took a sip, the bitter taste making him grimace, but he still swallowed it until the water in the glass was gone. Warmth was warmth.
"Thank you," he murmured.
Marta only nodded. Then she turned toward the small doorway at the back of the hut. "Lira! Bring more tea."
A moment later, a young woman emerged, carrying a porcelain cup on a small tray. She moved carefully, deliberately, as if any misstep might bring disaster. Her hair was a striking cascade of black and white, the strands falling past her shoulders in a silken veil. Her deep brown eyes held an unspoken fear, and as she neared Kael.
"Here," Lira said softly, placing the tray on the small table beside him. Her hands trembled.
Kael's gaze lingered on her. "Thank you," he said, voice quieter now.
She only nodded, eyes darting toward Marta before she quickly stepped back into the shadows of the room.
Marta's gaze was unreadable as she spoke. "Lira's my maid," she said flatly. "She's useful when she remembers her place."
Kael's jaw tightened, but he said nothing. He felt the warmth from the drink spreading through him but then something changed. His limbs grew heavy, his breath slow. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, sluggish and uneven.
A wave of dizziness crashed over him.
"What… what was in that?" he mumbled, his tongue thick and uncooperative.
Marta said nothing. She only watched as Kael slumped sideways, the cup slipping from his fingers. The last thing he saw before darkness took him was her cold, unblinking stare and Lira's terrified eyes.
---
Kael awoke to pain.
A dull, pounding ache throbbed in his skull, and his body felt sluggish, weighted down. The air was damp, the scent of mildew thick in his nose. When he tried to move, his arms barely responded. Cold iron dug into his wrists shackles.
His breathing hitched.
He forced his eyes open. The dim light revealed stone walls, rough and unforgiving, coated in a thin layer of frost. The floor was just as cruel cold, damp, unyielding. And around his neck… something heavy. He reached up, fingers trembling as they brushed against metal.
A collar.
"Finally awake, are you?"
Kael turned sharply, his head spinning with the motion. A man stood just outside the cell's rusted iron bars. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with a cruel smirk stretching across his scarred face. His arms were crossed, his posture one of casual dominance.
"Who… who are you?" Kael rasped, his throat raw.
The man chuckled. "Name's Garrick. And you? You're my newest investment."
Kael's stomach twisted. "I'm not-"
"Property?" Garrick interrupted with a smirk. "That's what they all say."
His eyes flickered to the Engine's glow on Kael's arm. "Shame about that little trick of yours. Not much use now, is it?"
Kael clenched his teeth, reaching for the Engine's power only to be met with searing pain. Gasping, his vision dimmed as the Engine's glow faded.
Garrick laughed. "That collar? It's made with Engine fragments. Keeps people like you in check." He turned on his heel, walking away. "Welcome to your new life, boy."
His footsteps echoed down the corridor, fading into silence.
Kael slumped back, his mind racing. He had been careless. He had walked right into a trap, blind and desperate. Now he was powerless.
And then -
A voice. Soft, hesitant.
"Are you… okay?"
Kael turned his head, his breath catching in his throat.
Lira sat in the far corner of the cell, knees drawn to her chest. She looked even smaller in the dim light, her face pale, her eyes hollow. The iron collar around her throat was identical to his.
"My name's Lira," she whispered.
Recognition struck like a blade. The girl from Marta's hut. The silent one. The one with fear in her eyes.
"You're a slave?" Kael's voice was barely a whisper.
Lira nodded. "We all are."
He had thought he'd found shelter. Found safety.
Instead, he had found something far worse, now he was just another prisoner.
And there was no one coming to save them.