A Necessary Sacrifice

SELENA DARCK'S POV:

My heart sank as I witnessed my daughter enter my chambers. Her face, masked with frustration, was showing the agony she was feeling deep inside. The sadness of losing one of the people she cared for the most in all of Auroria rupturing her conscience.

"Why did he give himself in?" she asked, fully aware that I had known Jay's plan.

The boy was unable to carry out an action that involved so much diplomatic risk without the approval of his Emperess, and Asthia knew this. It wasn't the fact that he gave himself in that hurt her, it was the fact that she was kept in the dark.

When she thought she knew everything due to her link with Jay, Asthia found out about an entire operation that she was completely unaware of.

"It had to be done," I responded. My intention was not to be vague as to worsen the scars left by Jay's action on Asthia, but simply to keep the true nature of the plan secret. Only two individuals were aware of how things would play out, and both Jay and I intended to keep it that way.

"How long will he be gone?"

I looked at Asthia right in the eyes, knowing the impact my next words were going to have on her. It was painfully obvious how the girl felt towards Jay. Whether or not Jay had noticed was another problem, but the fact remained that she loved that boy.

"A few years," I responded. "He said goodbye to his family a few hours ago."

The pain on Asthia's face saddened me, but there was nothing I could say or do that would make it vanish.

"I see," she said softly, not knowing how else to respond. "Peace won't last a few years."

"No, it won't" I agreed. The New Alliance, the name attributed to the partnership between humanity and the dragonkin, was expected to retaliate following the capture of Jay Cadmium. Remaining passive would only alert the Dominion Alliance (Alliance name of the Dwarven and Elven kingdoms) of an ulterior motive behind Jay's capture.

72 hours.

"72 hours after my capture, release the ultimatum," had said the boy. His eyes showed no sign of hesitation, no sign of doubting his own plan, no sign of weakness. How a twelve-year-old boy was confident enough to plan an entire military war was beyond me, but everyone who knew Jay already realized he wasn't normal.

His intellect and cunningness far surpassed almost every individual on the continent. This was no longer about him being an abnormal child, this was almost like he was an entirely different person inside a small body.

That being said, I trusted that boy with my very life. I had initially doubted his intentions all those years ago back in Lares, but my doubts had been misplaced. Even if he wasn't who he said he was, the boy named Jay had still proven his worth and loyalty.

"So he'll be stuck within the enemy's territory?" asked Asthia, attempting to piece together the plan.

"Yes."

JAY CADMIUM'S POV:

Upon hearing the words 'guest under constant supervision', I had somewhat expected to find myself within a decently-sized room with a simple guard waiting outside my door at all times.

I sighed at the sight of the jail cell, realizing how wrong my expectations were. Even if King Glad hadn't opted to torture, I was still viewed as inferior due to me being a Dragon.

"I'll take care of it," said a voice from the top of the stairs, light footsteps descending the cold stone stairway as the two guards tasked with escorting me to my cell immediately nodded.

"As you wish, Sir," responded one of the armored dwarves. I watched curiously as my escorts left the room, heading back into the light of the blazing sun.

My eyebrows perked up in surprise at the sight of the man I had made eye-contact with within the king's chambers.

The S-rank adventurer descended the flight of stairs, releasing my handcuffs as he pushed me lightly into the cell. I rubbed my wrists as the door closed behind me, the clicking of the key ringing in my ears.

"Now, we talk," he said, sitting down on the bench behind him. "How are you masking your attunements?"

I analyzed the individual interrogating me, his features puzzling me. He wasn't dwarven at all. This adventurer was clearly human. Was he simply contracted by the Dwarves?

My eyes shot around my cell, identifying the element that would prove weakest in this kind of place. Stone surrounded me completely, the bars made out of a mix of metal and stone. I ignited a small ember in the palm of my hand, fire bind flooding my body.

"I just learned to hide it if I hadn't used it for a long time," I responded. The man looked at me, intrigued. Fire was an element that was completely harmless in this kind of cell, meaning that there was no need to worry about a break-out through advanced bind manipulations.

"Interesting," he murmured, satisfied with my answer.

"Aren't you a human?" I asked, wanting to confirm my suspicions. There was no way I had mistaken a dwarf for a fully grown man, but I wanted to hear the words from his own mouth.

"I am. I've simply sworn my allegiance to the Dwarves," he responded, his orange eyes looking right into mine.

I sat down on the cold stone, crossing my legs as I closed my eyes. It had been a very long time since I had focused on improving my core, the mana it supplied having sufficed for my entire life.

But the war was quickly approaching, and I intended to use my time locked in the cell to focus on training. The S-rank clearly felt a shift in the neutral bind around him, his eyes widening ever so slightly.

"Be careful with that. Others might not be so lenient with you attempting to play around with neutral bind," he said softly. A stern and serious look covered his face, but I could tell he felt slightly bad about imprisoning a mere twelve-year-old.

I smiled.

"Thanks. Entertainment might be a little rough to come by down here," I joked. The man laughed, his deep voice echoing throughout the small dungeon.

This guy wasn't an evil person who wanted to massacre the entirety of the Dragonkin. He was simply a man who had sworn allegiance to a different faction, a faction that happened to rival mine. Our relationship was chained by our people's beliefs, limiting itself to prisoner and guard.

"I'm Jay Cadmium," I said once again, hoping to reveal the name of the mysterious S-rank.

"A pleasure to meet you, Jay. I'm Ares. Ares Hearth."