The words of Darius confused Castus.
'Take me in? What kind of bullshit did that knock off priest sell this guy?'
Castus stood tall in his cell, which would have been much more significant if he wasn't in the body of a child.
"The church didn't take me in. The church is the one who orphaned me. Killing my family in cold blood and abducting me. So, pardon the less than stellar manners of a prisoner within a false religion." Castus never had a sharp tongue, but the last two months had given him plenty of time to whip up new obscenities to throw at the archbishop's boss. His eyes looked to Darius who seem to seethe in rage. His shoulders tensed and his hands reached out to the bars in front of Castus who believed himself perfectly safe for the time being. The feeling was quickly replaced with fear.
Darius' hands gripped the crude iron bars of his cell and then bent them out of his way. He strode up to Castus, picking him up by the front of his shirt and raising him to Darius' level. "You will change your tune soon heathen. You just need to be cleansed first." Darius took his other hand and ripped the iron chains from the wall, taking a good chunk of it with him and then hoisted Castus on his shoulders and began his march out of the church. The archbishop jogged after Darius' surprising speed shouting at him. "Sacred Flame Darius will you report my find to the capital?" Darius paused in his rage filled strides, turning to the archbishop. "It will be noted. Now I am off with this sinful creature." No sooner had he stopped, was he moving again, this time in a much faster pace. Clearly Darius had some anger to take out on Castus. Castus just didn't understand what that meant, and that scared him more than he wanted to admit.
Darius carried Castus outside of the church to a gothic looking carriage where Castus was roughly slammed into the back of. Darius clambered into the carriage after him sitting across from him. Darius smacked the side of the door with the palm of his hand and it began moving away from the church. In the back window of the carriage Castus could see the archbishop, the crux of all this chaos, greedily smiling at the carriage.
Castus turned his attention to Darius who was now staring at him still in anger. He bit his tongue trying to rationalize asking questions to Darius. He decided to shut up for the time being. The show of force he had just witnessed was enough for him to realize Darius could end him at any given time. This left them in silence. For forty minutes they sat, and Darius' gaze never left Castus. Feeling uncomfortable and noticing that Darius' rage had reduced to a low simmer, Castus decided to poke the bear.
"Where are we going?" Castus inquired, trying to make his words somehow calming.
"To a main branch." Darius replied clearly keeping his words short with Castus.
"Why?" Castus asked.
"To cleanse you." Darius squinted at Castus. While he didn't seem like he liked Castus he was at least open with information.
"What does cleanse me mean?" Castus looked to Darius for answers, but he noticed a slight smirk on his face.
"You'll know soon enough. It's your first step to actually joining the glorious church of Sol." Darius plainly explained. That warbling voice set Castus on edge. Nothing in his sentence was a threat but it felt ominous.
Castus stopped asking questions after that. The carriage bumped and rocked through the day. Castus planned quietly to himself, trying to figure out a way to get far enough away from Darius to escape if they stopped for the night. Considering how long he had sat in that cell Castus believed this would be a lengthy journey. His gaze fell down to the chains still attached to him. He wanted to ask them to be removed, but he knew the answer already.
They travelled for another six hours before the carriage came to a slow halt. Castus had managed to drift off into a light nap. It had taken some time to get there, and Darius' stare never broke away from him. Awaking from the carriage's movements halting Castus sleepily awoke. The carriage had stopped in front of a worn looking shack of a house just off the main road. Before Castus could begin to comprehend why they were there Darius grabbed his chains and tugged at him, bidding him to leave to carriage and follow.
Castus stepped out of the carriage taking in the surroundings. They were deep in the wilderness, probably far from any kind of civilization. He trotted behind Darius' much larger steps and arrived in front of the shack. Taking a closer look it was old. Ancient would be a good description. The wood looked to be on its last legs and holes dotted the exterior. The forest had begun to reclaim the building with vines creeping up towards the roof. Darius paused in front of the door and moved his hand slowly towards the door. He paused, once again, with his hand outstretched, and a radiant light began leaking from his palm, engulfing the door in the light. He then began pushing at the now glowing door. Straining and gritting his teeth the door slowly opened with a audible creak.
Castus looked around Darius at the new interior he had revealed. It was nothing like he expected. The interior was a sparsely furnished room. A few chairs, a table and a few cabinets for storage. The main attraction of the room was Castus' new imprisonment. On the wall were four shackles. One for each appendage of the body and surrounding those shackles were intricate circular formations. It looked similar to the enchantments of the rings his father had given his sister.
Castus realized he was being taken from one prison to another and started to back away slowly. Looking for a route away from this dungeon. His chains groaned though, dragging through the mud and alerting Darius to his movements. The man noticed and grabbed the ends of the chains preventing Castus from fleeing. Uncharacteristically though, Darius seemed to stutter for a moment. His eyes, normally glazed over, gained a clarity Castus hadn't seen before.
"Boy, do not sign contract no matter what." Darius spoke in a way that did not match his previous tones. As much as Castus wanted to ask more questions his eyes once again glazed over and he began dragging Castus into the dungeon.