I was led down many steps, I lost count after a hundred as the Castellan quietly guided me down into the darkness of the stairwell. Just as I was starting to panic the torches on the walls started to light up as we went down, slowly lighting our way forward.
Soon enough we reached a large cavern situated deep underground, the roof was nowhere to be seen just darkness was above and the space was at least 200 meters long and half that wide. Doors were set into the stone along the side of each wall at regular intervals, presumably, bedrooms or storage rooms as nothing of the like marred the great open cavern.
When I arrived a man started to walk to us from the center of the space, he was a medium built man, not overly muscular, but not underdeveloped either, he was of average height and had unremarkable brown hair. As he approached us Rodgeric the castellan pushed me to move forward before he turned and left the way we had come.
I almost stumbled at the push but managed to keep on my feet as the man approached at a steady walk, the closer he got the better look I got of the man, the most notable thing about this new person was that he wore orange robes with red overtones and embroidery up and down it, The colors screamed Firemage but this was made irrelevant as the man summoned a ball of fire in his hands causing me to take a step back in fear, but before I could take a second step the man threw the fireball against a far wall where it only heated the already scorched stone.
"I just want you to know where you are. You are standing in a very old Dragon lair from ages past, no matter how much fire mana you throw at these walls they will not succumb to any damage, I'm telling you this because I have been tasked with training you in the Art of Pyromancy, My name is Master Hanz, and The Dark Lady has tasked me with being your teacher, jailor, and your commanding officer in the future," he said matter of factly.
"Pyromancy?" I asked, scared at being in this dark and foreboding place it was all that I could ask at that time.
"Ah yes, the kingdom calls Fire attribute mana users as Firemages, how unimaginative of them. They are technically correct in calling you a Firemage as you are a mage that uses fire mana but the Term for our kind in the old legends were Pyromancers, the controllers of flame and destruction!" the man was exalting as he spread his arms to each side and giant cones of fire ignited from each hand in an impressive display of power.
I was stunned at the raw power the man was displaying, I had never seen such a display of potent mana use in the military or even from Commander Harriot when we fought.
The man saw my wide-eye stare and stopped the extremely draining display of his mastery over fire mana. Seeing he had wowed me enough he stopped and started to walk even closer to me, he stopped when I was 5 ft away "This space will be your prison, it doesn't have to be a terrible experience like I'm sure the trip here was. As I said before I have been tasked with training you and to do this I have to remove your collar to teach you how to be useful!" the man said with a bit of mad glee in his eyes
"you are really going to remove this collar?" I asked hesitantly hoping the man would do it right now, it was very irritating to be able to sence my mana but not touch it, so many times I wanted to just unleash my burning rage at my captors but the damn collar stopped me from doing so, and this man wanted to free me?
The man had been watching my expressions closely before he slowly started to smile as he saw the savage grin cross my face. When hope appeared is when he struck me across the face with a burning hand sending me sprawling to the ground in a heap.
"Do you think I am stupid, boy? I know what you are thinking and no that won't come to pass, you may have talent but you are still untrained, any half-decent firemage could steal your fire from your fingertips. You may have great capacity but you don't know how to utilize Fore mana in any way consciously that I know about, you always display your magic in accordance with your emotions."
The man described my abilities to a fault as the hope I had disappeared from my face once again as I slowly got up from the ground without saying a word as I looked down in hopelessness.
"As I said before I am your jailor, first, I must teach you to obey and to get rid of any notion of escape," the man said as he beckoned me closer with one hand.
I obeyed and walked closer to the man and when I was in arms reach he grabbed the collar off my neck and threw it to the side in one motion, I was stunned by what he did but what he said next made me angry!
"you are quite sensitive to when someone mentions your dead mother..... I heard that Gale butchered her in front of you like a hog at the market while you stood too far away to help your whore of a mother? Is that correct?" he said with a grin on his face and called fire to his own hands in preparation as to what was to come.
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