Phoenix Plume

The spell was canceled by the collar. He felt his soul straining. He maintained the spell, grinding his teeth until he thought they might break in his jaw. The collar was smoldering, right at the cusp, but not breaking.

He had to hold out, it was a battle of mind over matter. Casting a spell powerful enough to injure his soul felt like trying to bite his fingers off of his hand. But the pain of the poison was far worse.

The collar broke before his soul, and he released the spell only a fraction of a second after.

Blood boil

The poison was a lot stronger than the sleeping agent from before. He’d have to maintain his concentration on the spell for a longer time.

He leaned down, biting the needle in his leg and pulling it out. He dropped it into his palm and began working the lock on his manacles.

By the time the pain subsided, he heard a click as his manacles broke free, “Sorry to make you worry. I needed something to pick the lock.”

In truth, Dreiki only had a vague plan when he’d insulted Whitnik. It was a combination of his anger, luck, and Whitnik’s insecurity that allowed him to get this far. But he didn’t want Luna to be afraid, so he pretended everything was according to his plan.

“Are you able to break your collar?” Dreiki asked.

She shook her head, “I broke out of mine last time, so they put me in a stronger one.”

“What if we work together?”

“Even between the both of us it wouldn’t work. Plus you’ve damaged your soul to break yours. We’ll need a key.”

Dreiki looked at her quizzically. How did she know he’d damaged his soul?

“Let me at least undo your cuffs then.” Dreiki scooted behind her. It was a lot easier to undo the cuffs without the poison in his veins. Within less than a minute, she was freed.

He thought of trying to pick the lock on the collar, but it was magical and had no keyhole. It likely required some sort of runestone that was hovered over it to unlock.

“What if they come in?” Luna asked.

“Then we pretend to still be bound,” Dreiki said, palming the needle, “But I don’t think we’ll need to. They said The Crow didn’t want them to put a hand on us until he was off shift.” He laughed dryly. Did one of the poachers have a heart? Or maybe he wanted to make sure they didn’t escape again as a result of Whitnik and Cowak’s foolishness.

Whatever the case was, they could breathe easy for now, “We just need to wait. I can take Stickbug down if I surprise them.”

As confident as he sounded, Dreiki didn’t see much of a path forward. If he managed to get past Whitnik, there was still Cowak to deal with. And since Luna couldn’t cast spells she’d be an easy hostage.

The question was whether or not he’d have enough time to kill Whitnik before Cowak came to his defense. Otherwise, the vengeful Stickbug would be doing a lot worse than he had been already.

Dreiki needed to find a way to get to his belongings. If he had a dagger to drive into Whitnik’s neck he’d feel a lot better about his chances.

He could likely burn them to death, but if Luna was correct then the more he cast spells the more he’d injure his soul. It would be like trying to run on a broken leg.

If they came in here, they’d notice his collar was broken. He only had one chance to make his escape, and the margin for error was so thin.

Thoughts ran rampant in his head. Every avenue he could think of led to a dead end or worse. He’d escaped into a corner, and it wouldn’t be long before they discovered he was no longer bound.

He bit his thumb, trying to think of his training. Listing all the spells he knew in his head. Anything that could help him in this situation.

If he had been born with Earth Aix, he would’ve been able to dig out. Metal Aix could help him bend bars or make a weapon.

He could melt the bars with fire magic, but that would take a powerful spell.

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He closed his eyes, trying to think. And then he heard it.

creeeek

Dreiki summoned a dim red flame and made it hover around the room.

“What are you doing?” Luna whispered.

“I have a hunch…”

He stared at the ceiling. It was made of wood.

Dreiki extinguished the flame.

They were surrounded by stone on all sides except for the roof. He looked to the glowing moss, then to the damp floor.

An idea popped into his head. That was it!

He didn’t have enough power to melt through the bars, but he could pick the lock. If he kept the air below its combustion point, he could dry out the wooden floor over the next couple hours.

When the wood and moss around him was flammable, he’d set them on fire, and switch his magic over to a smokescreen. As much as they might’ve been allowed to abuse the two of them, they couldn’t let them die. If he burned everything in the cell they’d have to save them.

“Are you insane?” Luna hissed upon hearing his plan, “Your plans are always so risky, what if we die in the smoke?”

“Stickbug wouldn’t let that happen, and I’m immune to my own smoke. I can slip past them when they open the door and run for help.”

Dreiki hoped he could still cast Haste, and that The Crow would be off his shift by the time he set his plan into motion.

He could hear them stepping on the floor above him. Dreiki pressed his hands to the hinges of the door and warmed them up so they wouldn’t creek. He picked the lock and stepped carefully over to the moss.

It was soft and soggy. He harvested it and returned to the cell, raising it over Luna’s head and wringing the water out on top of her.

“What the hell?”

“It’s to make sure you don’t pass out from heat stroke. It’s gonna get really warm in here.”

Dreiki collected more moss. They were in the dark now, their only light a small flame that Dreiki placed on the ground. “Keep dousing yourself as the water dries up. When the water runs out from the moss, put it on my lap for me to dry them out.”

He sat cross legged, focusing intently on the air around him. It might not have been a powerful spell, but it would require all of his focus to ensure that he did not accidentally ignite the air. If he did, they’d see the flames from under the floorboards.

He was the flame. He was a furnace. The fire might burn inside him, but its light would not be seen. He focused on trapping the heat at the ceiling, not letting it seep through the cracks.

An hour passed, then two. The air was unbearably hot and Luna was sweating. Dreiki released the spell.

He was sweating too.

The moss on his lap had dried and crumbled so easily at his touch. It was an excellent tinder. He dispelled his magic, and lit a small candle flame on his index finger. He needed more fuel.

Dreiki took his shirt off and added it to the pile. Smoke billowed from it, Dreiki pointed his fingers to the open flame.

Bonfire.

The meager flame erupted into a magic fuelled bonfire that licked the dry floorboards above. With his soul damaged as it was, he needed to rely on a premade flame to reduce the toll of spellcasting. He turned it up as high as it would go, funneled it into a pillar and burned a smoldering black mark into the floor above.

He heard them stomping upstairs, coming down as his plan was realized. The wood hadn’t caught fire yet, he needed it to catch fire.

He coughed. He might’ve been immune to his own smoke, but he wasn’t immune to smoke from a nonmagical fire.

He heard keys jangling behind him. Dreiki closed his fist and extinguished the flames, putting them in smokey darkness.

He focused on the embers above.

Bonfire.

The reddish veins of wood ignited and consumed the floor above in an instant. A bright yellow blaze ignited the room.

Dreiki hid near the door.

Smokescreen

The door swung open, the two of them dashing in as Dreiki took the opportunity to slip past and shut the door behind him. He barred the door.

SLAM!

A metal dent in the shape of Cowak’s fist appeared on the door’s surface. It wouldn’t hold them for long.

“Fucking bastard Noxa!” Cowak said between coughs.

Dreiki dashed up the stairs.

Haste

It fizzled out. Dreiki cursed, switching his plans.

He had to find his belongings and use the magnesium dust to send a flare up. He spotted a chest in the corner of the room getting eaten by the flames.

He grabbed a nearby chair and smashed it as hard as he could into the blackened wood. He reached into it, feeling the burlap of his belongings and pulling them through the hole.

CRASH!

They’d gotten through the door. Dreiki dashed up the spiral stairs of the stone tower. He needed to get to the roof. They’d catch up with him if he tried to run now. The moment he saw the sky, he grabbed a fistful of Magnesium and sent it flying.

He’d done it!

BOOM!

It was the evening of the tournament when Dreiki saw his freedom taken by bad luck.

His meager red flare was drowned out by the fireworks of the tournament’s opening ceremony.

He was in Yvian, and no one would be looking his way now.

It all happened so slowly. The sensation he’d felt a year ago. His gaze locked onto a figure on the ground. A familiar horror grinned in sadistic pleasure, raising another mangled finger before it vanished.

He screamed as loud as he could, but it was sucked from his lungs by the black bird perched close by.

Dreiki was tackled, a needle jammed in his neck. An agonizing slumber overtook him as he was dragged back down to the depths.

Dreiki had failed.