"Where is he?"
Lord Callous's voice cut through the space, firm, controlled, yet laced with something disturbingly soft. It didn't need to be loud to command attention. It simply… existed, and everything else bent around it.
Vaelor stood a few steps away, posture straight, presence steady despite the weight pressing down on him.
"I located him," he began, his tone even, measured. "But I was too late, my Lord. The interference had already reached him… and protected him."
A brief pause.
"I take full responsibility."
His voice did not shake.
There was no fear in it.
Only restraint.
Silence followed.
Not empty silence but the kind that stretched, heavy and suffocating, like something was about to break.
"I…" Callous spoke slowly, almost thoughtfully, "…had instructed you to go at once."
Vaelor did not move.
"And yet," Callous continued, his gaze sharpening as it settled on him, "you delayed."
The air grew colder.
Denser.
"I left the moment you commanded, my Lord," Vaelor replied, unwavering. "However, something obstructed my path. I was forced to deviate."
A fraction of a pause.
"…It cost time."
For a moment
nothing happened.
And then..
Callous laughed.
Low.
Sharp.
"Deviate?" he repeated, amusement laced with something far more dangerous. "Took time?"
He stepped forward slowly, each movement deliberate, controlled.
"You are telling me," he continued, his voice dropping further, "that you failed because something inconvenienced you?"
Vaelor held his ground.
"It was not insignificant, my Lord.."
Callous's expression twisted.
"Ah," he interrupted, a cruel edge slipping into his tone. "What was it, then?"
Another step closer.
"Traffic… in the skies?"
Vaelor didn't react to the mockery.
"Something like that, my Lo—"
"NONSENSE!"
The word cracked through the space.
Before Vaelor could finish, Callous closed the distance between them in an instant, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him forward with sudden, violent force.
The shift in pressure was immediate.
The entire space seemed to distort around them.
"You think this is a joke?" Callous's voice dropped to something far more dangerous now, quiet, but trembling with restrained fury.
Vaelor did not resist.
Did not flinch.
He simply met his gaze.
Silence.
Callous's grip tightened, his fingers curling into the fabric like he could tear through more than just what Vaelor wore.
"For something so… trivial," he continued, his tone quieter now, colder, "you allowed him to be reached first."
A pause.
"By a celestial."
The word lingered like a stain.
Vaelor finally spoke again.
"I did not anticipate interference at that level."
"That," Callous replied instantly, "is precisely why you failed."
Another silence.
Sharper this time.
Vaelor's expression didn't change, but there was something beneath it now, something more focused, more deliberate.
"…Then I will correct it," he said.
Callous's gaze narrowed.
Slowly..
very slowly..
he released his grip.
Vaelor straightened, adjusting his collar without urgency, as though the outburst had not unsettled him… but something in the air suggested he understood exactly how close that line had been.
Callous turned away, exhaling softly, but the tension in the space did not fade.
"…No," he said after a moment.
Vaelor looked at him.
"You will not."
A pause.
"He is no longer unguarded."
Callous's expression shifted again, not rage this time, but something far more controlled. Calculating. Cold.
"…This changes things."
He began to walk, slow and deliberate, his presence dragging the very space along with him.
"…Force will only complicate the outcome now."
Vaelor remained still, listening.
"…Prepare the others," Callous said.
A beat.
Vaelor's eyes sharpened.
"…The councils?"
A faint smile touched Callous's lips.
"Yes."
He stopped, just slightly turning his head.
"…If he cannot be taken…"
A pause.
"…he will be led."
Vaelor bowed his head once more.
"It will be done, my Lord."
As the space behind him began to tear open once again, Callous spoke. Quietly.
"…Vaelor."
He stopped.
"My Lord."
A long pause.
Then.
"Do not disappoint me again."
This time..
Vaelor didn't respond immediately.
But when he did,
his voice was quieter.
More certain.
"…I won't."
And with that..
he disappeared.
Left alone,
Callous stood in silence.
His gaze distant.
Thoughtful.
"…Interference…" he murmured.
A faint, almost amused breath escaped him.
"…Arthur."