Once again back in a corner. Captain Blood’s men surrounded the Dredger. His hands were tied, but he held a knife in his teeth using every last piece of strength he had against the ropes that would inevitably capture him. No use in running. The shackles that wrapped his ankles rubbed all the wrong spots, the sun dehydrated any water still left in his body. Freedom felt like a lost friend.

Odds were always against him but he still fought. He stared into the eyes of the lizards the bandits rode and thought twice about his next moves. The reptiles could take his head in one bite which made them feel even more dangerous. A band of mercenaries that had no code of honor except to the Prism that lined their pockets.

“They don't call you Bloodhound for no reason. A chipped dagger held by bloody teeth. You even had a wolf with you this time. How do we always find each other in these scenarios, old friends?”

DeGrey bit on the knife feeling the blood drip down his face. He stared into the captain’s eyes, refusing to break. When DeGrey didn’t say anything the man snapped his fingers and his men brought the wolf to him. The beast was tied up and fighting the best he could. A stubborn animal.

Captain Blood stared back at DeGrey, matching his energy. He lowered his hand and one of his men handed him DeGrey’s revolver. He pulled the hammer and shot the wolf in the head. It stopped moving. He dropped him and tossed the revolver to his men. He licked the blood and shivered with pleasure.

“Such a majestic animal. I can see why you two enjoyed company. Sorry to see your friendship end so suddenly.” He wiped his hands and turned away.

He bit his knife handle even harder. He didn’t know if had chipped a tooth from the pressure. DeGrey held back tears. ‘Deal with it later. Focus on freedom right now.’ Not many understood him these days. He respected animals more than people and this was the result of that life. ‘Surrounded. Not the best place to be.’ DeGray assessed his options.

‘A gun that was a masterwork but it had no bullets, a hatchet fused to wind magic with no way to access it, with a few words and touching his cloak he almost had limitless power, but no way to use it without killing myself or at least blowing off one of my arms. It would be a shame to lose my right arm.’

He grit his teeth. The final option was the knife in his mouth. Difficult to maneuver but not impossible.

As the ropes tightened around his body he tried slashing them with his knife, but it was no use. When the men began to grab him he managed to stab a few of their hands. Even in his current predicament he could feel satisfied with his fighting spirit. He’d done better than any normal man should. Fortunate and unfortunate DeGray wasn’t an ordinary man. He was cursed and that’s only one reason why they captured him.

The ropes tightened further and they pulled, knocking DeGrey to the ground. Immobilized DeGrey could hardly move. Walking to his side was Captain Blood. He stood above DeGray. He raised him up by the collar making their faces eye contact. Degrey looked at the man’s eyepatch remembering their last fight.

Captain Blood’s mouth parted with a wicked smile. He pulled DeGrey closer and whispered into his ear. “An eye for an eye.” He thrusted a dagger into DeGrey’s right forearm. The right side of his body fell limp. “Not an eye, but I’m sure we’ll make up the difference very soon, old friend.”

He raised DeGrey as high as he could and dropped him onto the black sand. His blood pooled below him. The sun beat down on DeGrey and he realized that his whole body was incapable of movement. It was more than his arm or the ropes that immobilized him, he had no control over his body.

As the mercenary group began their journey DeGrey noticed he could still feel pain. They began to drag him along the burning sand. They rode all day. The sun eventually set and their movement stopped. It was dark enough that he couldn’t see, but he could hear movement around him.

With the little strength he had he could see a fence being built around him. They topped it with a tarp. He blinked and Captain Blood and a robed figure stood above him. “When will the mixture take effect?” The robed figure looked over the stab wound. “It has already gone into effect.” DeGrey closed his eyes and felt the heat of the day. When he opened his eyes he realized that time had passed once more.

His mind swam in a sea of strange voids. Eyes of massive beings that watched him suffer. One moment it was darkness, then the stars blinked out, and the light of the day shared its heat. That same robed figure from before was addressing DeGrey’s injured arm. He could feel the rune marks and his obsidian infused bones being touched by some outside force he was unfamiliar with.

His mind went blank and it was dark again. He closed his eyes. They hurt from staring at the stars and the sun. Eventually he could move his arm. It was a slow process, but he could move his whole body. He paced himself and didn’t move much. He reached with trembling fingers and felt his right arm. Strange markings covered his whole right arm. They felt smooth like scars.

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DeGrey couldn’t remember the last time he ate or drank anything. He stopped moving his body and focused, meditated and centered his mind. He still had one option. Noticing that the new runes were not normal his mind started to form a plan. They were in opposition to the magic he was cursed with. This meant he could easily cause a dangerous reaction if he wasn’t careful. It was a stupid plan, but a way for him to escape.

His time was spent working on a way to understand the runes. His mind couldn’t keep track of time, but he spent hours tracing each rune over and over. He found the connections. He didn’t know their origin, but he knew one thing well. Breaking a spell was easier than making it work. Destruction was his ever present ally.

As he was meditating and trying to understand how to connect his runes to these foreign ones someone entered the fenced area. Captain Blood spoke in a hushed tone. “It is amusing to see you this way. Do you remember that day? The way you set a trap for me?”

DeGrey said nothing. He only felt the runes that covered his arm. The captain walked closer. He kicked DeGrey in the head knocking him on his back. He lifted his heavy combat boot and thrust it into DeGrey’s stomach. DeGrey continued to trace the runes. He knelt and grabbed DeGrey’s hair and whispered in his ear. “You. Are. Mine. There is no escape. There is no way out.”

The captain’s mouth cracked and he gave DeGrey his signature wicked smile. He launched with maniacal fervor. He handed DeGrey a vial. “Actually there is one way.” He closed DeGrey’s hands around the vial. “Enjoy.” He punched DeGrey in the stomach and walked away. DeGrey laid there catching his breath. He knew the vial before even looking at it. Freedom always has a price.

He could feel the subtle vibrations of the liquid in the vial. Pure Prism. A crystal liquid that shimmered in the sun. The liquid was in complete contrast to the black sand beneath DeGrey. When he felt like he was alone it was DeGrey’s turn to laugh.

He clenched his fists around the vial and forced himself to hold back tears of joy. ‘This was his game? He wants to feel justice for taking his eye? I had assumed his intentions were deeper than this.’ Unfortunately the captain made one mistake. DeGrey wanted a catalyst to his plan. Fortunately this was exactly what he needed.

[-[-o-]-]

That evening the robed figure returned to the fenced area holding a slab of black stone. DeGrey could feel the magnetic pull it had on his bones. Nox Ecliptra or more commonly known as Obsidian. It pulled on him causing all parts of him to crave the stone. Before it his soul laid barren. He needed it.

The Dredger calmed himself. His body may be forced to take in that curse, but his mind was aware of the fault in that ancient decayed stone. He remained seated tracing his runes. Behind the robed figure was Captain Blood. He held a dagger. DeGrey couldn’t explain it, but he could feel through some connection that the dagger was what marked his arm. The thing that caused all of this trouble.

They grew closer and DeGrey prepared his plan. A path with no return, but the only way to escape this life as a slave even if it meant death. The robed figure used thick leather straps to tie the Obsidian on his forearm. He could feel it vibrate with energy. This wasn’t the type of stone he was used to. It felt older and more corrupt. When it touched his skin he could hear a voice enter his mind.

“Your freedom has been taken from you once more. Accept me as your new master. You are now my tool. Submit.” The voice sounded like a tempting whisper of a lover. Someone who knew the words to turn you into putty in their hands. DeGrey resisted the pull. He focused on the vial in his hand.

When the Obsidian was strapped to his arm Captain Blood knelt and raised the dagger. Just as the tip began to etch more strange runes into the Obsidian DeGrey smiled. “Enjoy.” With all of his force he leaned into the dagger and squeezed the Pure Prism vial in his hand. Everything went white. His ears rang and he knew his plan worked. He grabbed the dagger that fell on the ground with his left hand and he used it to break the shackles.

With great effort he stood. Without a right arm and so many days of no food or water he struggled to get moving. When he almost blacked out from the pain he felt a jolt of energy from the right side of his body. It pushed him forward.

He looked behind him and saw the captain and the robed figure sprawled across the floor. They weren’t moving. DeGrey knowing this was his only chance leapt into action. When one of the men tried to grab him at the fence entrance DeGrey swung his left arm around stabbing him in the head. The man dropped like a stone. He placed the dagger into his belt. He ran from the fenced area and found Captain Blood’s tent. Inside were all of DeGrey’s possessions.

As he tried to reach out with his right arm he stopped and imagined the pain that should have caused him to buckle and fall, but instead of pain he felt nothing and then he heard a voice. “Without me you will die. Submit!” He no longer had the rune scarred arm, but instead an arm that was made of Obsidian and shimmering veins of Prism.. He still felt the pain of the explosion, but there was less.

With no time to think about what was happening he grabbed his gear. He found and grabbed a short bandelier of 10 bullets from the captain’s supply and knocked over candles that lit the tent. He ran out the back. When he was far enough away to get a head start DeGrey pulled out an etched bullet and used the dagger to scratch a blooming heat rune. He shot it causing the tent to explode into flames. The bullet’s trajectory and flames spread to the other tents.

He looked over to where the lizards were held. He closed one eye aiming for the makeshift stable. He triggered another bullet destroying the posts spooking the lizards into running in every direction. He smiled at the chaos knowing that freedom was in his future. He turned and didn’t look back as he felt the heat of the flames take the men who would turn him into a slave.