I Am The Truth II

Chapter III: Mule

Borgen was roughly shoved out of the prison gates and onto the ground. He briefly turned back to see the gates of the prison close before he stood up. After being detained for four months, he had finally been released.

"You're finally back," A voice said.

Borgen turned to see a larger Magnorite there. Malakai had come with his crew.

"You," Borgen only said in greeting.

"Me," Malakai answered, putting a hand around Borgen and leading him away towards a large pickup. "We've been waiting for this day."

"No you haven't."

Malakai laughed, a loud, deep sound that made Borgen shudder.

"Why not?"

"Because apparently I don't matter in this cause, do I?" Borgen retorted. "The lesson learned from our last conversation-"

"Forget that," Malakai interrupted. "You should be glad I came here now."

"To send me off to do more life-threatening tasks," Borgen mused silently.

Borgen was dumped in the bed of the pickup and Malakai's companions joined him there. The system was complex. All of them supported the guerrillas who wanted to reunite K' Arthen, but that did not stop them from aggressively showing their dominance amongst each other. It was the Magnorite nature to follow the strongest after all, a herd mentality of sorts.

Borgen was no means one of the few who had the guts to stray from the path, having shown subtle defiance with such norms. The other Magnorites didn't seem to treat him warmly as a result, casting him out with the other runts.

Malakai had used this to his advantage, promising to help Borgen stay if he joined Malakai's ranks. To put it shortly, Borgen had sold his freedom to escape foreign oppression.

"Prepare yourself," Malakai began as he climbed into the truck. "You've already gotten a job scheduled first thing tomorrow."

Well, speaking of suicide missions.

"What is it this time?" Borgen muttered, but Malakai didn't answer over the sound of the pickup's engine.

They continued on for a while. The other Magnorites with him in the pickup's cargo bed were laughing amongst themselves, probably sharing some crude jokes as they normally did. 

"Wait, someone's missing," Borgen suddenly said. "Where's Igneous?"

"The runt took off northwards to get help," One of the other remarked, followed by a chorus of affirmative grunts. "Good luck getting help."

"When did he leave?" Borgen asked, dumbfounded. 

"On the day you were detained."

"And since then?"

"We haven't heard much from him afterwards," The other replied. "Can't anyways with the communication barrier."

Borgen thought for a moment. His detainment had set him four months behind as to what had taken place while he was away. Igneous left Tartarus?

"Where did he go?" Borgen asked.

"Don't know, don't care," Another Magnorite replied. "Quit it with the questions, will you?"

The runt was more curious than ever now. Igneous obviously wasn't born in K'Arthen, but the fact that he somehow slipped out-of-state was interesting. Magnorites were free to travel within West K'arthen, but only just. The other half of K'Arthen was now separated from the capital by a strip of land that was jointly owned by Cydonia and Crown Peak.