Chapter 2 - Capture

“Stop! Do not approach or I will open fire!”

Renji barked the warning at the approaching four armoured figures. He raised his carbine and set his sights on the nearest one.

The swordsmen, undeterred, approached Renji steadily.

Renji shifted his aim and squeezed the trigger. A loud crack came from the wall behind them, sending dust and stone flying. The swordsmen paused for a beat and glanced at each other. Their attention turned to Renji again, and they started yelling in a foreign language, pointing their swords at him.

What are they saying? What language is that?

Renji was no stranger to killing or combat. He had engaged enemy combatants and terrorists during his JSDF career. For some reason that he couldn’t pin down, something about this whole situation felt off and deeply wrong.

“Final warning! I will open fire!” Renji’s tone was firm. The swordsmen continued their advance towards him.

Screw this! Not the time to hesitate.

Renji exhaled and squeezed the trigger in a quick double tap. Two rounds hit centre mass and penetrated the breastplate of the closest swordsman. His mouth opened, with a gurgle of blood escaping as he dropped to the ground.

The remaining three stared at their fallen comrade in shock. Turning their gaze back to Renji, they let out a war cry and charged him with swords raised. Renji’s eyes narrowed and double-tapped each of them in quick succession, taking them down in less than two seconds.

Still crouched and his carbine still raised, Renji scanned the room for remaining threats.

Chaotic yelling among the robed figures filled the room. Most of the yelling came from a tall woman with dark skin and pointed ears—a dark elf. Her silver hair was tied in a high ponytail. Her robes were more elaborately adorned than the others in the chamber. She was speaking to a blonde woman, who had her head down as if being reprimanded. The dark elf struck the blonde woman backhanded, across her face.

What is going on here? Renji thought.

“Do any of you speak English?” he asked in English, noting that the faces he could see were Caucasian.

The robed figures turned their attention to Renji. His eyes caught the gaze of the blonde woman—with long hair, maybe twenty. Her hand was on the cheek that had just been struck.

Her expression was hard to read. Was it fear? Was it pity? Renji cast those thoughts aside, dismissing her as an immediate threat.

Because of the sound-suppressed carbine, they hadn’t realised that the swordsmen had been gunned down. The dark elf’s eyes narrowed when she saw the bodies lying in pools of blood. She pointed a jewelled staff at Renji and muttered a quick incantation.

A bolt of lightning slammed into Renji’s chest. Excruciating pain coursed throughout his body. Every muscle spasmed at once.

Renji dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, and his world went black.

***

Self-Defence Academy / Bōei Daigaku, just outside Tokyo, Japan – eight years ago.

“Cadet Takeda reporting as ordered, Sir.”

Renji stood at attention, saluting his commanding officer at the military academy. The Colonel sat behind his desk, skimming through a file.

“At ease, Lieutenant.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Renji shifted his feet slightly and placed his hands behind his back.

“You scored highly on your physical evaluations. But your intellectual aptitude results are more… interesting. They are exceptionally high.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

He has near-genius-level acuity, the Colonel thought.

“I understand you are to be assigned to a Combat Engineer Battalion when you graduate next year.” The Colonel flipped a page. “That said, with your scores, Special Forces Group has taken an interest in you.”

“Special Forces Group, Sir?”

The Colonel closed the folder. “Yes. They would like to speak with you. I believe they have an interesting proposition.”

He leaned forward, elbows on the table, fingers laced together beneath his chin.

“Are you interested, Cadet Takeda?”

***

“Oi! Oi!”

Renji heard a female voice call out to him. He blinked his eyes open. His vision was blurry, and his head throbbed like a drumbeat.

Was I dreaming? Renji thought.

He ran a quick audit of his body, checking for injuries.

Good, nothing broken, nothing bleeding.

Damn it… my wrists and ankles are shackled.

He was still in his combat fatigues, but his weapons and tactical vest were missing.

He scanned his surroundings.

Some kind of prison cell. Stone walls. The metal gate looked rusted and old.

“Oi!” the voice called out again.

Renji turned to see the same blonde woman from the stone chamber before—the one who’d been yelled at. She had a bruised left cheek, and her hair was matted with sweat and dust. She was dressed in a worn dark blue robe, dirty and torn in places. Her hands and feet were shackled, and there was a collar around her neck chained to the wall behind her.

She stared at him with bright blue eyes and said something in a language he didn’t understand. Renji shook his head and gestured as such.

She extended her hands, palms up, and bent her elbows slightly a few times—beckoning him to come closer.

I can overpower her easily if she tries anything, Renji thought as he cautiously approached.

As he got close, she reached out and grabbed his face with both hands. Renji flinched and reflexively jerked back. His eyes narrowed as he stared at her, wary.

The woman wasn’t deterred and gestured for him to come closer again. Her expression was soft and disarming, not hostile.

Why is she trying to grab my face? I don’t sense hostile intent though…

This time, she slowly raised her hands to his face, and he let her. She leaned forward and muttered something under her breath as their foreheads touched.

A soft glow emanated between their foreheads for a brief moment.

“There, finally,” she said with relief.

“What just happened?” Renji replied, still somewhat confused. “Wait… I can understand you now?!”

“Yes. What I did was form a temporary linking of our minds. Think of it as magical translation.”

“You can do that? Wait… where am I?”

“I know you have questions, and I will explain later. For now, just know that we are imprisoned by Duke Thovan, and we need to escape if we want to live.”

“Want to live? What are you talking about?”

“You killed four of the Duke’s personal guard and caused an explosion in his mansion. We’re both scheduled for execution. I don’t know when… but soon. Anyway, explanations will have to wait until we’re safely away from this place. I’m Alina.”

“Renji.”

“Alright, Renji, we need to find a way out.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“First, we need to get this collar off me. It suppresses most of my magic.”

“Magic? Never mind… I’ll ask again later.”

Magic... no way…

Renji stood and checked the pockets of his fatigues. Nothing.

He glanced at Alina, and something caught his eye.

“What?” Alina asked, slightly confused.

Renji stretched out his hands toward Alina’s face.

She flinched. “What are you doing?”

“Hold still.”

Renji gently pulled a hairpin from her hair. It was a simple piece adorned with two red flowers.

“I’m surprised they didn’t take this.”

“What are you going to do with that?”

Renji dropped to one knee and started picking the shackles at his hands and feet. They fell away with ease.

“You can do that?”

“Yeah. These locks are primitive.” He rubbed his wrists. “Your turn.”

He reached around her neck to get at the lock behind. This brought them awkwardly close—almost like a hug. Alina’s face flushed a little. Renji was too focused on picking the lock to notice.

After several seconds of fiddling, the lock came free. “All done.” Renji stood and offered Alina a hand.

“Thanks.” Alina took his hand shyly and stood. She cleared her throat and composed herself.

“Alright, I should be able to blast the gate open.” Alina raised her hands, palms facing the gate.

“Wait.” Renji gently pushed her hands down. “We don’t want to start a ruckus.”

Renji knelt down beside the cell gate. Reaching through the bars with one hand, he began to pick the gate’s lock from the outside.

After several seconds, Renji removed the pin from the keyhole. “It’s not working.”

“I’m sorry,” Renji said.

“Sorry for?”

Renji pulled the hairpin apart with a quick snap. “This.” He now had a pair of lockpicking pins, one in each hand.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just a hairpin.”

He reached around the gate lock and attempted to pick it again.

“By the way, how are we able to understand each other?” Renji asked.

“I created a link between our minds. While you do not understand the words, their meaning is sent directly to your mind. And it’s the same for your words—to mine.”

“Alright, got it!”

An audible click could be heard, and the lock gave way.

“You did it!” Alina’s eyes lit up.

Renji pocketed the hairpins and eased the gate open, careful to be as quiet as possible.

“Do you know your way around this place?” Renji asked in a low voice as they crept out of the cell.

“Yes. There should be stairs to the right.” Alina started to move right; Renji followed.

They moved quietly through the corridor.

Just as they reached the stairwell, a voice called out from behind—