Shaking his head, Bane cleared his mind of the last vestiges of grogginess and sat up.
The strain of being confined in the back of a cramped prison wagon for so long had already taken its toll. His back ached from the uneven pressure of the iron bars he'd been resting against, his legs were gripped by the tingling sensation of pins and needles, and there was a knot in his neck.
Maybe he should have just laid down instead of awkwardly craning his head under the low ceiling. But he could keep an eye on everyone. He needed to stretch.
More than that, He needed to escape. He wasn’t sure why these men had captured him, he didn't have a clue what they wanted, and, most of all, he had no intention of finding out.
At first, Bane thought his escape would be simple. Routine.
The chains that bound his wrists were rusted and worn, and the oversized lock on the gate was so archaic, Bane was certain he could unlock it simply by manipulating the tumblers with one of the splinters of wood that stuck out of the floorboards.
Peering through the metal grate that separated the cage from the forward cabin, Bane’s eyes narrowed into a predatory stare. There were four men beyond the wall.
Muscle-bound, meat-headed, and covered from head to toe with padded leather armor. Bane had seen men like them a thousand times before. The two men who sat on either side of the driver were guards. Low-level men for hire that weren't likely to lay down their life over a few credits... or whatever currency this world used.
The man seated behind them was a different story. His rotund body filled out the space, barely contained by his auspicious purple jacket. He had a crooked nose, beady eyes, and a manicured mustache that curled upward at its ends.
Bane pegged him as your typical sleazy businessman. A common crook who masked his deception with smooth speech; slicked back, greasy hair, a devilish smile, and ring-bejeweled fingers that made him look far wealthier and more important than he really was.
Once I get my hands free, Bane thought, it will be over in seconds.
But just as the thought crossed his mind a jolt of electricity ran down his spine, causing his arms to spasm.
His eyes darted around the space in search of the source of his pain. But he saw nothing.
Once I get the door open I’ll, another electric shock racked his body as he mentally rehearsed his escape.
“I wouldn't do that if I were you!” Drexel, the young Karuvad boy sitting across from him, warned.
Bane raised an eyebrow but said nothing, allowing the boy to fill in the obvious question. Do what?
Pulling at his loose-fitting shirt, Drexel revealed the thick metal collar around his neck, which was an inch and a half tall and half as thick.
“Think the wrong thing and ZAP!”— He gestured apathetically—“Best not to think about free-“—he stopped short of actually saying the forbidden word and instead pantomimed to the outside of the cage.
Reaching up, Bane found a similar collar hanging around his neck, a glowing green gem embedded in its surface.
“What are they?” Bane asked, his voice low enough to go unheard by the guards.
“Slaver Collars,” Drexel replied with venom in his voice. He leaned back and placed a foot on the bars of the cage—“Once they go on they never come off.”
Slaver Collars Bane pondered. Some kind of telepathic monitoring system… an oddly sophisticated bit of hardware for an otherwise preindustrial civilization.
The horse-drawn carriage he sat in was made out of untreated cedar, its rustic frame shoddily held together by rusting nails, and metal fittings that bore the tell-tell markings of hand-forged metal.
The iron bars of the cage seemed to have been forged using similarly primitive techniques. The uneven discoloration of the metal beams suggested that they had been heated and bent into place, formed around a wooden skeleton that served to support the cramped structure.
In contrast, these “slaver collars” whatever they were, made use of cutting-edge technology, even by 2088 standards. Not only could they read minds like a psych, but they also responded to thought autonomously.
If the Institute had access to this level of technology, Bane thought, maybe they wouldn’t have been hell-bent on creating so many people like me.
Bane cleared his mind and focused his thoughts on the strange psychic energy that emanated from the green gem. There had to be a way to trick the system, to turn it off.
Screwing his eyes shut, Bane opened his mind to the low rhythmic hum of the stone. It danced around his mind like a gentle melody, a list of thoughts running in a constant loop just outside of his conscious awareness.
No Bane corrected himself, what he was sensing wasn't complex enough to be thoughts. Not fluid enough to be a feeling or emotion either.
This was something different… something more mechanical... something more synthetic. Almost like... like lines of computer code.
Bane’s mind raced as a myriad of theories flooded his thoughts.
Maybe...
Reaching out with his empathic powers he attempted to interrupt the flow of information and imprint his own instructions.
For a few moments, Bane thought he was making progress. The stone seemed to acknowledge his commands. But a second later a roar of psychic energy lashed out from the gem, sending another more intense jolt of electricity down his spine.
Bane gritted his teeth. Access denied.
Seeing this Drexel shrugged, “Don’t know what to tell you, human... The only person who can take that off of you is the same person who put it on. And that’s not happening anytime soon. I suggest you quit while you’re ahead!”
“Quit your yap back there!” The voice of the driver called back, “You lot are louder than a Shebeck in the heat of spring!”
The rotund man in the purple jacket let out a belly laugh before adding: “You’ll have plenty of time to chit-chat when you’re working in the mines!”
Drexel rolled his eyes as he mouthed an insult.
“Don’t worry Mr!” The young dark-skinned girl said in a hushed whisper, “there are plenty of other things we can talk about! Like food and meat!”
“Food and meat are the same things!” Drexel moaned, How many times had they had this conversation, he wondered, “is there anything else you know how to talk about? Or is your brain just as small as the rest of you?”
The waif of a girl pushed to her feet, stood on her tippy toes, and made herself as big as possible. Still, she barely stood at Bane’s eye level who had to duck under the low ceiling even as he sat.
With waddling steps, the girl ambled towards Bane. “Elidi, don’t!” Drexel warned. But she didn’t listen. Instead, she sat crossed-legged In front of Bane.
Tilting her head from side to side she stared up at his face, trying to see his features from different angles.
Squinting her eyes and scrunching her nose she said: “You're kinda cool looking, aren’t you... But, what are you exactly? A Dark Elf? A half Obekt? A lesser Orc?”
Surprised by the question, Bane paused for a moment, “Human, last time I checked.”
She huffed through her nose and doubtfully shook her head—“You’re kinda big for a human aren't you? And your hair is so...”—She made a flowing motion with her hands—“Whooshie… I’ve never seen any humans like you before,” She said.
Before Bane had a chance to come up with a lie, she excitedly blurted out another litany of questions. “Oh! Where’d you get those!?”—She pointed to a set of long scars that ran the length of Bane’s forearms.—“Are you a warrior? A beast rider!? A Paladin of The Brotherhood!?”
Beast rider? The Brotherhood? what was she talking about? He wondered.
But he refused to ask any more questions. After all, information is a commodity. If they knew how truly lost he was, information could be weaponized against him.
“There was a war,” He offered.
“Woah! So you’re a knight! That’s incred’ing’bul!”—A huge smile appeared on her face—“I always wanted to meet a knight! I hear they can do anything, like storm a castle or even rescue a princess!
Have you ever stormed a castle before? How many princesses have you rescued? Have you ever slain a fire-breathing dragon!?” She asked expectantly.
Castles? Princesses? Dragons!? Bane thought, What kind of world is this?
While Bane had never stormed a castle, he had, on more than one occasion, infiltrated highly fortified facilities. and while it’s true, he had never rescued a member of the royal family, he had prevented the assassination of one Jane Dillinger, the heiress of Light City’s largest corporations who, incidentally, was known as The Princess of The Neon Walls.
So he wasn’t entirely lying when he answered by saying: “Once or twice.”
The girl's eyes lit up as she snapped to her feet, excitedly spun in a circle with her hands stretched out to her sides, and asked him another question: “Do you think I can be a knight one day?”
Bane leaned back pretending to ponder the question. In reality, he didn’t know enough about this world to risk giving the wrong answer, lest he reveal how little he knew. Discretion, after all, is the better part of valor.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Thankfully Drexel answered for him: “You a knight!?”—he laughed—“I don’t think they make armor small enough for little skrimps like you. What would you do on a battlefield anyway? Talk them to death!?
I can see it now!”—Drexel struggled to hold back a laugh—“Paladin Elidi, the loud-mouth knight with the wagging tail and the grumbling tummy!”
“Who you call’n a Skrimp lizard eyes!” Elidi retorted, “If I’m just a Skrimp, how do you explain this!”—Her hand disappeared into her pocket and reappeared a second later grasping a long white blade.
One, one thousand—Two, one thousand—Three... Bane counted the milliseconds as the girl lunged toward him with the blade in hand!
Bane was constantly on the lookout for sneak attacks. But this one caught him by surprise! Trapped with his back against the bars of the cage, There was no room to dodge out of the way. This was the perfect opportunity for an assassin to strike.
If he wasn’t the target Bane would have applauded her.
His first instinct was to parry the blade with his left hand, transition his hold into an armbar, and dislocate the girl's shoulder to end the fight quickly and prevent any further aggression.
But something at the back of his mind made him pull back at the last second. Was she even attacking? Or was he overreacting again?
Fighting against his instincts, Bane braced for impact but allowed the girl to close the distance. His heart throbbed faster and faster as the milliseconds ticked down. —3… 2… 1... He could feel the blade closing in on his throat. Every instinct shouted at him to do something. But he had to control himself.
At the last moment, the girl stopped short and dangled the blade a few inches from his face, “Look at this, Mr!” she smiled, “I got this fighting a snaggle boar!”
What the hell is wrong with you!? Bane berated himself, his heart still racing, She’s a child. Why did you think she was trying to kill you!?
“Snaggle boar? Fighting? You!?” Drexel scoffed, “You couldn’t fight a snaggle boar if your life depended on it! And quit waving that in everybody's faces! You’re lucky Van hasn’t taken it away from you.”
It took Bane several seconds to realize that he was still holding his breath. Things were a lot simpler when everyone was actually trying to kill him. At least then, he never had to guess!
One, one thousand—Two, one thousand—Three... Bane counted down to calm himself. Manipulation had always been one of the sharper tools in his arsenal. He’d played the part of a druggy desperate for a fix, a diplomate suing for peace, and a priest ushering in God's will, all in the name of the mission.
Playing the role of a supportive friend would be simple, he convinced himself.
Flashing a practiced smile Bane made a show of examining the dagger. “Wow, that's pretty impressive! I bet that snaggle boar didn’t stand a chance!” he commented as the girl placed the blade in his hand.
Danger averted he took a breath.
Upon closer inspection, Bane realized it wasn’t a dagger at all. It was a large pointed tooth, a tooth that Bane suspected had once belonged to a massive predator.
Bane could feel a wave of excitement and happiness radiate off her as he continued to compliment her prize. “Wow. What an impressive tooth!” His manipulation was working. Now all he had o do was steer the conversation in a productive direction.
“You should have seen it Mr!”—She made a grand gesture, her black tail wagging as she spoke—“I was walking by the woods when—WHAM! BAM!—This massive snaggle boar pounced out of nowhere!”
Elidi puffed out her chest and place her balled fists on her hips, “Of course, being a pure-blooded Embrosain, I used my killer instincts and super speed to slice that meanie to bits with these bad boys!”—She held her hands to show Bane the thick pointed claws at the ends of her thin fingers—“I bet I could take out like twelve—no twenty of them in one go!”
“As if!” Drexel mocked, “What are you? Level minus twelve!? I bet that ‘boar’ was just a sickly little piglet! I’d like to see you try that with a REAL snaggle boar!”
“I thought I told you to shut the hell up back there!” The driver shouted as he twisted his neck around to yell at them properly, “Quite your yap or so help me! I’ll-” the man’s words were cut off by the harrowing shriek of a massive creature.
“What was that!?” Tallos, the driver said as pulled back on the reins hauling the caravan.
“Sounded big, whatever it was.” One of the guards said as he upholstered his weapon. “Boss, may we should head back? The forest can be dangerous this time of-”
“I don’t pay you to run away,”—the man in the purple jacket placed a heavy hand on the guard's shoulder and shook him—“I pay you for protection. Now get out there and check it out. I don’t have all day!”
The guard jerked his shoulder out of the big man’s grip as he stepped down from the carriage, “c’mon Ash,” he called to the other guard, “let’s get this over with.”
Weapons raised, the two men scanned the tree line, their eyes searching for the hint of movement. But nothing revealed itself. The forest was calm, quiet, and still.
Turning to face the cage one of the guards called out: “whatever it was, it’s gone now. We better gout out of here before anyth-“ His words were cut off when something appeared from behind the treeline, and slammed into his back, sending him hurtling into the side of the wagon!
“Ash!” the other guard yelled as he twisted on his heels to face the two-and-a-half-meter-tall, scale-armored behemoth that had just tossed his friend.
His eyes flew wide with horror, “Holy shi-” The massive creature unleashed another primal howl as it stomped onto the road, its massive spiked tail trailing after it.
“Death Talon, Level 16!” the guard shouted as the massive creature lowered its body and broke out into a sprint towards them!
Clambering his feet, Ash raised his crossbow and fired a bolt. His arm, still dislocated from the blow barely cooperated.
The creature lifted one of its massive talon-tipped hands and swatted away the incoming barrage. Then pushing off the ground, it leaped high into the air, lunging at the man closest to it!
Rolled out of the way, the man narrowly ducked below its slashing strike as he retreated to the carriage.
Dirt and rocks flew high into the air as the creature's massive hand crashed down where the man had been standing less than a second ago!
The horrified horses tried to flee, but their confusion caused them to pull the carriage in opposite directions.
Acting on pure instinct, the man in the purple jacket leaped forward, landed on the back of the horses, unhitched it from the wagon, and sped down the road.
Just a fraction of a second later, the massive creature slammed horns-first into the side of the carriage, lifted it up on two wheels, and toppled it onto its side. The guards were thrown from their seats and sent toppling onto the hard ground!
The shrills of the children mixed with the wail of the horse as it was hoisted up by its bridal and suplexed onto its side.
“We’ve gotta get out of here!” Drexel shouted over the sounds of battle.
Using the pointed end of the tooth, Bane struggled to pick the lock! But it was hard to make much progress as the massive creature rocked the overturned wagon from side to side.
Flanking the creature, the guards unleashed a desperate barrage of arrows that sunk into the side of the beast. “Don’t let up! Aim for the eyes!” one of them shouted.
But the arrows did little to slow the creature down! The pain seemed to enrage the monster, causing it to move faster and slash more recklessly. Planting its feet, the creature twisted around, swinging its massive tail across the uneven ground.
A spray of rock and debris flew into the air battering the guards!
Shielding their eyes the men endured the rocked-filled barrage. But there was little they could do when the creature lunged and grabbed the largest guard!
“Jerico!” Ash cried. All he could do was watch in horror as the monster thrash his friend to and fro in the air before tossing him aside like a child disregarding an old toy!
The brief distraction gave Bane just enough time to pick the lock, kick the door open, and crawled out of the cage. All the while he could feel the collar searing the skin of his neck!
Terrified, the guard turned to run. But before he could even turn his back, the beast was already on top of him!
With a long powerful stroke, the creature swiped at his back, landing a solid blow that threw him face-first into the mud!
The man landed with a hollow thump as he rolled onto his back.
Seeing this, The driver felt hopeless. Fighting hadn’t worked and running proved just as pointless.
“Take them!” he shouted pointing at the children still trapped in the cage.
“You don’t want me! Take them! Just let me go!” He pleaded for his life, but the creature didn’t listen.
The children closed their eyes as the creature raised its arm high in the air, before bringing it down in a powerful slash that snuffed his life out in an instant.
Bane slammed the gate shut behind him, ducking behind the overturned carriage and out of sight!
“Don’t just leave us!” Elidi shouted, “I thought you were a knight!”
In response, the agitated beast let out a primal cry before digging its claws into the ground and lunging forward.
A thunderous clash rang out as the horns of the creature drove into the metal bars of the cage.
The Iron structure groaned as it warped, bent, and crumpled under the immense strain, barely managing to hold firm. Wrapping its hand around the bars the creature slowly pried the metal apart!
“Leave us alone! LEAVE US ALONE!” the children screamed and kicked at the monster as the gap between the bar grew larger and larger!
Just a second before the metal completely gave way, an orange glow appeared from the girl’s hand and erupted into a ball of fire that scorched the creature's face.
At the same moment, Bane appeared behind the creature, leaped onto its back, and wrapped the chains that bound his wrists around its thick neck!
The creature let out a shriek of surprise before releasing its grip, pushing itself upright, and reaching up to paw and claw at the man who stood in its back!
But its arms were so large and bulky that it struggled to reach up and grab Bane as he leaned and dodge out of the path of its stikes!
Staggering backward, the creature spun in circles, bucking frantically as it tried desperately to shake Bane loose. But Bane refused to give an inch. Every time the creature took a breath, Bane took the opportunity to tighten his grip!
Gasping for air, the massive beast reared and slammed its back against the unrelenting metal side of the carriage, crushing Bane between the cage and its armored spine!
The children’s terrified screams echoed louder and louder as over and over again the massive creature bashed Bane against the unrelenting walls of the cage!
Bane let out a cry as again and again he was mercilessly crushed by the creature! But he refused to let go. The pain urged him to tighten his grip and dig in his heels!
Even as the metal shackles sliced into his wrists and blood ran down his arms, he unrelentingly pulled the chains tighter and tighter!
But the monster was just as willful. it seemed to thrash and buck more and more vigorously as the breath escaped its lungs!
Bane reached out with his empathic powers and began crushing its mind as he squeezed the life from its lungs! The creature croaked as it spat blood and grew weaker and weaker until, all at once, it collapsed into a motionless heap beneath Bane's weight.
Even as Bane stood victorious atop the slain creature, he refused to release his death grip, holding it there for what seemed like an eternity, not letting go until he was sure it was dead.
When Bane felt the flame go out he released his grip, stepped off the creature, and allowed his blood-soaked hands to fall limp at his side.
Although he had won, his heart was heavy. If he had acted faster, been stronger, fewer people would have died. He could have saved those men...
The doubt weighed on his conscience. Looking down at his red-soaked hands he imagined it was their blood glistening on his fingertips...
Another failure.
“That was incred’ing’bol!” Elidi cheered, “Did you see it!? Did you see it!? That was—TOTALLY WICKED— Can we do it again!?”
Bane looked over his shoulder to the children who stared back at him in utter amazement. A second later another set of statistics appeared before him.
[https://i.ibb.co/YXfqqWw/Great-Eninmy-Deathclaw.png]
[https://i.ibb.co/Qc1YBy1/Level-Up-Chart.png]
[https://i.ibb.co/PYHMB0y/skill-tree.png]
Bane flicked his eyes closed and a second later the images were gone. But the strange power he felt remained. He felt stronger somehow, like his body's hand regenerated to its full vigor. No beyond that.
Clenching his fists, Bane felt an unknown power tingling his fingertips. He didn’t know what it was. But he was certain he would find out soon.