Drathnor handed a jewel encrusted pewter dagger to Tahlur, who tossed it in the air, catching it by the hilt mid-spin. He then turned to face Valgrin and Malcolm. “See this dagger? It’s got a special ability that you’ll find interesting. It absorbs the health points from one target and I can then transfer up to fifty percent to someone else. The dagger keeps the other health points to stay charged.”

  Tahlur turned and walked back to Steeyann. “These abilities allow me to…” Tahlur slammed the dagger into Steeyann’s gut, eliciting a startled scream from him.

  Valgrin fought against his bindings. Ice Spear! Nothing happened. Valgrin tried several more times, all of them failed. Magic blocked? He still fought against the ropes, uselessly.

  “I see that got a reaction. And we haven’t even gotten to the good part.” Tahlur stabbed Steeyann twice more. Blood sprayed everywhere, covering the dagger, the ground, dripping from Steeyann’s stomach. Tahlur turned, drenched in blood. His smug grin was more unnerving coming from a face dripping crimson.

  A loud thud sounded next to Valgrin. Malcolm whimpered in pain. Valgrin tried to cast a healing spell on Malcolm. He found his access to the magic blocked. Not just attacks, not just on spells targeting Tahlur. They blocked all our magic .

  “And once our subject gets close to dying on us, we do this.” Tahlur lay the flat of the blade across Steeyann’s chest. The big man jerked twice, his wounds closed, partially. His color improved, so did his breathing.

  “My target is all ready to play again.” Tahlur slammed the dagger into Steeyann. “You guys get to watch this until I grow bored with this little game. See, along with the fifty percent return. It can heal ten more points. But those points must come from a different source. So, I won’t kill him by accident. I have a few volunteers on hand to pull health from. The two of you are at the top of the source list. I’ll pull enough—but not too much from you and get Steeyann back up to speed.” Tahlur walked over to Malcolm and cast healing. “Need you conscious, sit back up.”

  For the next hour Tahlur played his sick game. Valgrin and Malcolm watched, forced to watch through bindings and magic.

  Stop, please stop. I have nothing more. I can’t help, I can’t not look, I am hopeless. What good am I?

  He felt another jolt of pain. Tahlur had stabbed him again. More health for Steeyann to keep him alive for more torture.

  Steeyann screamed as Tahlur sliced the skin off of a forearm. His voice raw from the groans and growls of pain he’d filled the air with. Another scream, another laugh from Drathnor.

  “Both of them look defeated,” announced Drathnor. “Gags off. Maybe that’ll give them a slight boost. I am enjoying this feast, but the flavor is waning.”

  Valgrin’s gag disappeared. His raw throat could only manage a croaking groan. Malcolm cursed them and swore to get even before his voice gave in.

  Tahlur giggled and carved pictures on Steeyann’s chest with the point of the dagger. The flowing blood made it hard to make out more than a hint of what the drawings might be. Steeyann’s head fell to his chest.

  “Big boy just passed out.” Tahlur tossed the dagger point first into the ground. “Healers, revive him. Make sure he has at least half of his health. I’m at the point where I want to see how he reacts to boiling water down his throat. Though we’ll have to heal him again, since I won’t be using the dagger.”

  “What more can you take? What do you want?” Valgrin’s questions came out a mumble. His next phrase sounded hollow. “Haven’t you taken enough?”

  Tahlur had two of the guard hold Steeyann’s head still. They crammed a crude metal funnel into his mouth. Tahlur laughed as Steeyann screamed and passed out again from the boiling water dumped into the funnel.

  “Let that be enough.” Valgrin muttered.

  “I’ll tell you what is enough! My father has faced so much because of both of you. I will make sure we get what is due.” Tahlur paused. “Plus, I’m having way too much fun to stop yet. But it is time for some lunch, for us, that is.”

  Tahlur and Drathnor ate and drank on the ground in front of Steeyann. Wine flowed, meats, fruits, cheeses, all with the occasional splash of blood from Steeyann. They gorged themselves, laughing loudly.

  At one point Tahlur stood up and covered two portions of meat with Steeyann’s blood then offered them to Valgrin and Malcolm. Both forcing their lips closed as Tahlur slide the food over their mouth, leaving a trail of their friend’s blood.

  After lunch, Tahlur continued to carve patterns across Steeyann's skin with the tip of the dagger, his eyes gleaming as fresh blood welled up in the shallow cuts. Steeyann's head slumped forward, his gaze unfocused, lips barely twitching at each new wound. Valgrin bit down on his tongue until he tasted copper. Beside him, Malcolm's breathing came in shallow bursts, his gaze fixed on a spot in the distance. A smile played at the corners of Tahlur's mouth as he hummed a tavern tune, pausing only to admire his handiwork.

  Drathnor stood up at a lull in Tahlur’s activities. “I must attend to a couple of other tasks. Today’s accomplishments have brought me immense joy and contentment. I’ll take some of the guards and a healer with me. The rest will stay with you, son, until you decide you’re done. I’ll get an update from you later. Don’t forget, we need both of them,” Drathnor pointed to Valgrin and Malcolm, “alive for the next round of revenge. Other than that, you can do what you desire.”

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  With Drathnor gone, Tahlur could do as he liked. Valgrin soon discovered Drathnor held Tahlur’s depravities back. The nightmare of unrelenting torture continued. At some point in time, it no longer registered for Valgrin. He saw motions and blurs but no details. He heard laughter and he could focus on the words, so he knew when to nod—but his brain censored out the images.

  “Well, that was the last of the healer’s charges. So, we’re down to just the dagger again. It’s getting dusky anyway, so it would seem this is time for the finale .” Tahlur thrust the dagger through one of Steeyann’s eyes and released the health points stored.

  “That should do it for our guy with the answers. One last task. Bring out the condemned.”

  Two guards brought out a hulking male—he was part wolf, part human, and part something Valgrin had never seen.

  Tahlur walked over to the creature, who fell to all fours at his feet. “This is Levorte, he’s been found guilty of several crimes against the pack. His sentence was pain, then death, and as you see, we do pain well. His last act for the pack will be him giving his life to me. No pain, other than the dagger thrusts. I’ll have the dagger store the first hundred, if we get that far. Enough to save your friend, if you can get to the dagger in time.”

  The dagger slammed into Levorte’s back three times before he died. Tahlur threw the dagger point first into the ground just in front of Steeyann.

  “We’ll be leaving now. The magic on your ropes will fade, but will it be in time to save your friend? Maybe you can come up with another way out. The ropes around your wrist block your magic. If you get out of them, you will be able to cast magic.. I doubt you’ll get to him in time, but it should be exciting. I’ll keep a crow here to watch and report back,” Tahlur chuckled. He and his companions then boarded a boat and left the dirt mound.

  Both Valgrin and Malcolm started squirming, thrashing, and anything else they could try.

  “Skwilly, are you out there?” Valgrin croaked out.

  “Yes, in a bag and cannot see. It sounds like you’re not that far,” Skwilly answered.

  Valgrin jumped at Malcolm’s long, raw shout. It faded into silence as Malcolm ran out of breath. A few moments later, Valgrin could hear the sobs from his friend. He felt the knot in his stomach burn into a lump in his throat. He soon found himself sobbing—echoing Malcolm.

  Several minutes passed after the last sob, neither spoke. Malcolm muttered a couple of times. Valgrin heard noises but didn’t process any words.

  The ropes around his wrist began to warm. “Malcolm, your ropes getting warm?”

  “Yeah, it seems to be time to find out if Tahlur lied to us, again.”

  As soon as the ropes fell off, Valgrin pushed himself up, wincing right before he heard a slight thud. “You okay?”

  Malcolm’s answer was one step below a feral growl. “Dammit! Feet are still tied. Bet they got a laugh over that.” He pulled at the rope around his feet. “Dammit! This won’t let me get a hold of the knot.”

  Valgrin followed Malcolm’s lead and crawled, dragging his feet behind him. After a minute of crawling, the bindings around his feet vanished.

  Malcolm popped up and ran to Steeyann. Valgrin was only a step behind.

  Dropping his hands to his knees, Malcolm moaned, “Not in time.”

  Valgrin grabbed Steeyann’s wrist—shaking his head. “No pulse.”

  “One decision we don’t have to worry about.”

  “Huh?” Valgrin grunted.

  “I didn’t know if we’d bring him back or not, even if we got here in time. I mean, what damage did all that do to him mentally? Would he want to come back?. I asked the questions, but I didn’t know the answer.” Malcolm’s voice trailed off into a whisper.

  “And those questions didn’t cross my mind. Not sure I’ve processed everything, yet.” Valgrin bent down to pick up the bloody dagger.

  “Stop! Don’t touch it!” Malcolm shouted as he grabbed Valgrin’s arm.

  Pulling his hand back, Valgrin stared back.

  Malcolm patted Valgrin’s shoulder. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scream like that. There’s another decision, this one I have no problem making. I’m going to take that dagger.” Malcolm pointed, and his voice changed to a growl, “And I’m going to use it to kill Tahlur. I want it to be the last thing I take from this place and it will be the first thing I’ll share with that wilger.”

  Valgrin shivered. “I’ll help you deliver it. Let’s get out of here.” He raised his voice, “Skwilly, I’m going to look for something I can cut you free with. Hang on.”

  “Thank you for the update.”

  “Over here.” Malcolm waived Valgrin over. “Found our stuff.”

  After a quick examination, Valgrin and Malcolm confirmed nothing was stolen.

  “Skwilly, got my katar back. Heading your way. Say something so I can find you.”

  “I could just say something, but then I’d miss the chance to blather. It’s seldom priggies get to prattle.”

  “You can stop prattling now.” Valgrin cut through the sack and helped Skwilly out.

  Skwilly stretched, then followed Valgrin. Focusing on the path, he bumped into Valgrin, almost knocking him over. “Sorry, need to watch better.”

  Valgrin double checked his footing, then spoke. “Didn’t fall, lots to take in. Just a bump. No need to apologize, but since you did, I accept.” Valgrin stood up straight. “Malcolm, I just had a thought. I think Drathnor is being used or controlled by someone. There’s another layer above Drathnor.”

  “Why do you say that? Wait, we shouldn’t talk about it here—might be watching. Let’s set up the glowstones and make camp. We can do it on the other side of this clearing from Steeyann, but we will not make it far with no light.”

  “Don’t like it,” Valgrin replied. “But I can’t argue against it. Hey Skwilly, do you have enough magic to run a low-level glow all night and still have enough for tomorrow?”

  A couple of squeals in the affirmative echoed off the trees at the back of the small mound.

  Valgrin nodded. “Good to know. We’ll probably need that tonight. I didn’t see any dry wood to burn for a fire.”

  The trio set-up a camp with a glowing Skwilly in the center. Each of others climbed right into their trail beds.

  Te night passed quietly. The group packed up and sat around eating breakfast, in silence, before heading out.

  “Valgrin, I just got a surprise visit from Sandy.” Malcolm stood up.

  “Really, any info that can help us?”

  “I wondered how we’d get Steeyann home. Then thought about this place, so asked if there was some type of body transfer system. There is, Steeyann will magically get transferred to the morgue in Sanpra. She said he’ll be picked up in the next fifteen minutes.”

  Valgrin let out a loud puff of air. “One more thing I didn’t even think about. If Sandy is in a giving mood—a ride back for us, even directions at this point, would be a nice to have.”

  “One step ahead there, too. I can’t get a trip to Sanpra any quicker. However, I have a disc that will point where we crossed into the defined swamp.”

  “Sandy came through this time. Wonder why?” Valgrin shrugged.

  A buzzing noise drew everyone’s attention to Steeyann. They watched a deep navy blue light flicker across the body, the light then stabilized. A few seconds later, Steeyann’s body was gone.

  Malcolm went over to the dagger Tahlur used. Wrapping the hilt in cloth, he lifted it out and laid it on a blanket.

  Once tied up in a bundle and stored away, Malcolm stood up and looked over at Valgrin, and growled. “It’s time to go kill Tahlur, slow and painful.”

  Valgrin shivered again. A twinge of worry for his friend.