Chapter 2: The Renegade and the Mage

Magius lay on the cold floor shivering. Although the pain he has just experienced did not harm him physically, his body ached from the memory. His agony kept him from noticing the soft footsteps until they stopped right in front of him. Hazy with pain, Magius opened his eyes warily. A gray robed mage stood before him. Everything about the mage was ebony, his glittering eyes, his short hair, his shiny skin.

"My instructions," he whispered lethally, "were to not kill you." He smiled, revealing rotting, blackened teeth. "How unfortunate for you." The renegade grabbed Magius by his miserable brown hair and lifted him to eye level. "Didn't you hear me, traitor?"

Gritting his teeth against the throbbing pain crying from his scalp, the Red Robe screwed open his quickly watering eyes and managed to sputter, "I'm no traitor!" The dark mage suddenly dropped Magius, who landed hard on his knees, and began to laugh. His laughter was unholy, high and mocking, cutting like a blade. Magius winced involuntary, but held his glare firmly in place.

"You are a fool. Do you know what this is?" He brandished a small silver mirror. "An artifact blessed by Her Dark Majesty Herself. It allows the beholder to see all dreams and memories of their enemies. All you need is the name. But you already knew that, didn't you? You've always been quicker than everyone else. Not that anyone else has truly liked you, of course. Oh wait. Friend Huma has always been there for you. And how do you repay him? An attempt to sacrifice the life of your only friend in exchange for your own. You are the lowest, foulest traitor I have ever set eyes upon."

Magius eyes opened wide, as if he had be slapped across the face, and blanched slightly. "I'm not a traitor!" he repeated with a slight quiver. His torturer laughed and pointed at the binding chains. They turned white-blue hot, burning Magius' wrist's bright red before snapping off. Then, the Grey Robe pointed at the prisoner, who was levitated off the ground eight feet. Smiling in malicious mirth, the Grey played with the evil mirror, shining a silver glare across Magius' face to mock him.

"Your actions and denials confirm the truth. You are a traitor! Do you deny it?" he smirked, still playing with the mirror.

"I'M NOT A TRAITOR!!" Magius screamed, forgetting his pain and kicking the air in fury. "I'M NOT A TRAITOR!!" Raising an eyebrow at this outburst, the renegade jerked his hand, releasing the spell and letting Magius crash to the hard, rocky floor. Blood from numerous small cuts blossomed over his scarlet robes. The mage pointed skywards and Magius flew up ten feet.

"It must be nice to live in your own little world, traitor. You left him to fend for himself after leaving your citadel when danger was closest! You were planning to let him die for you! You are an arrogant, self-centered monster! You are a traitor! SAY IT!"

Suspended in the air, Magius closed his eyes, feeling the guilt eat away at him. "I'm not a traitor," he whispered as a tiny tear trickled down his cheek. His mind replayed all the sins committed to his friend, playing them over and over. He fell again, feeling his ankle shatter, and groaning softly. He was raised to twelve feet in the air.

"Are you saying what you did was loyal?!" the renegade scoffed. "Are you implying that he deserved the fate you chose for him? Both of these are falsehoods! To deny them is to deny your own innocence! Now, I'll ask you again, are you a traitor?"

"Yes…" Magius murmured inaudibly, wanting to die. His tormentor let him fall, then rose him up fifteen feet.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

"I'M A TRAITOR!!" the Red Robed yelled, the pain and guilt bearing down on him. The black man smiled and dropped Magius, who collapsed limply on the floor, a nasty purple bruise covering the left side of his face. With a flick of his wrist, Magius' prone body began to revolve on the floor.

"Whose fault is it that those sentinels died?"

"My fault"

"Who is responsible for Huma's involvement in the war?"

"I am."

"And when Huma dies fighting, whose fault is that?"

"My own," Magius sobbed. "It's my fault. I'm a traitor…a traitor…" The mage stopped revolving and lay still on the floor. His falls had left him with a black eye, numerous cuts, nasty bruises everywhere, a broken nose and ankle. Smiling ghoulishly, the renegade walked over to where Magius lay curled. He stepped on Magius' smashed ankle, relishing the Red Robe's shattered gasp of pain.

"My work here is done," he glanced downward in disgust, muttering a word to restore the chains to their former place. "You are pathetic." Spitting in the mage's broken face, the Grey-Robe left, leaving Magius alone to the darkness and pain.