Chapter 13: Chapter 12: A Chance At Pity

Brendon had always tried to live an honest life. He had worked hard and long to try and make a living, and when his single Ability awoke, he thought it was the perfect solution. You see, he didn’t need to sleep- or for that matter couldn’t fall or be knocked unconscious. There were people out there with Abilities that made them closer to gods then people, but this little benefit was enough for him. 

 

Or so he thought. Using his new capabilities, he tried to work extra hours at his apprenticeship- but there was only so much work to be done, and his master didn’t trust him enough to work for hours unsupervised. Still making the best of it, Brendon had gotten a job as a knight-guard at a warehouse in the port. It only took him a couple days to figure out the warehouse was a cover for a smuggler gang, and when he reported it to the guards, he was chased out of the city.

 

From there his life had been a series of struggles from town to town- not quite skilled enough at anything to land a job and not quite charismatic enough to get anyone to take him on his word that he’d learn quickly. When he heard of The Unified Academy of Duransburg, he once again thought his prayers had been answered. The rumors said it was a place where anyone could learn and work, a cornucopia of opportunity. 

 

When he finally got there, ragged and dirty from travels, the guards to the city proper refused his entry. Being self aware, he got cleaned up and repaired his clothes- leaving him destitute but inside the walls. The Academy was in the middle of their quarter, with Harvest right around the corner- meaning it wouldn’t be accepting new applicants for almost three months. Half a year until he could get in, but it was more likely half a year to starve to death on the streets.

 

When he had been offered a guard job for what he could tell was a shady group, he sucked up his pride and accepted- better to be doing something wrong for a while but live, right? After a few weeks, he was told there were some ‘openings’ in high-paid positions. Bredon was initially hesitant, but his current position was paying only just enough to live, so he caved. At his new position, he was mostly backup muscle. Standing in the background looking tough to hopefully scare people into accepting dubious deals for whatever his boss was selling.

 

After another few weeks he was told to go rough some people in one of the cities’ districts up- scare them into accepting some protection, for a fee of course. He tried his best to do so without getting physical, and for the most part it worked. It was on one of these rounds that he saw a clearly lost Academy Student rushing through some back alleys. From his work, Brendon had a mental map of the entire area- and followed, wanting to do something good for once.

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When they turned down an alley, he knew he had made a mistake. It was dark, the only light coming through a drawn curtain behind him. With his naturally big frame, it was probably not a great first impression. He hadn’t been able to make out anything about the student under their cloak as they ran except for the fact they were pretty short- so he towered over them.

 

Brendon knew they had heard him come into the entrance after them, as they whipped around, face still obscured by the hood and darkness. As he started to open his mouth to try to get them to relax, their cloak shifted- which was weird, there wasn’t any wind tonight. As he started speaking, they crouched down near the wall- he’d likely scared them more as he wasn’t used to speaking without trying to intimidate people. At only three words in the figure exploded off the wall, covering the almost five meter distance between them in as many steps.

 

Even as he tried to bring his arms up to protect his face on instinct, Brendon saw a large… snake? shoot out of the cloak at his neck. Once it had purchase around his throat, the snake-thing constricted and yanked downwards. He felt a crunch as he was thrown to the ground- an unnatural, sharp pain tearing through his mind. He tried to get up, but his body didn’t respond- in fact he could only feel his face. The taste of blood filled his mouth- he should be out, he’d knocked people out with less on occasion.

 

As his body- somehow trying to live despite feeling disconnected- struggled to breath, he realized his Ability was preventing him from blacking out, even going into shock. He was perfectly lucid as more blood leaked from his drooping mouth, desperately trying to call for help from the figure still standing there. Brendon didn’t know if he was lucky or damned as minutes dragged on- airway still open just enough to bring needed oxygen to his brain and body as he tried in vain to do anything to ask for help or death.

 

It wasn’t until another figure appeared in the alley, the same height as the first that his answer was given in the form of a familiar smell from one of his many jobs. It was the harsh scent of wood alcohol Brendon realized as a liquid was poured over him and a small mote of light was dropped on his broken body.

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