Drip….drip...drip...drip

The constant steady drips of water were slowly starting to drive Tae-Won insane.

Days, or possibly months ago, he’d woken in a dark, windowless cell chained to the wall. His only source of light came through the bars of the door to the hallway.

He had screamed and threatened his captors for hours to no avail when he’d first been brought there, but now he sat in silence.

Paul, the leader of the group that had taken him, had had his hands bound to thick boards, preventing him from accessing any game menus or sending a message for help. The only time he saw anyone at all was when his captors would come and deliver a beating, their reasons completely unknown to him.

Every time they did, he hoped one would go too far with a fist or a dagger and finish him off. Then he could respawn in the Planes of Aranor and be able to contact Leah, let them know where he’d been and what had happened. But it never happened. A healer would step in at the last minute and give him just enough health to keep him alive.

Drip….drip...drip...drip

Leah… Tae-Won’s thoughts went to his wife. Paul had taunted him often by saying she’d be joining him, and that they would make him watch as they tortured her.

When he’d been captured, Paul had said that it was because of Ethan. Something Ethan had done. Tae-Won has wracked his brain trying to figure out what had happened. Ethan had told them about the trouble on the road with the Blood Dragon guild griefing caravans, but surely Paul wasn't that insane to let that have been enough to abduct him and threaten everyone he cared about.

Drip...drip...drip...drip…

His parched throat longed to lap up even just a little of the maddening water falling from the ceiling, but his chains prevented him from moving close enough to where he assumed it was pooling. In addition to the beatings, they were keeping him starved and exhausted. The debuffs ticked away in the corner of his vision. Every few days they’d feed him, just enough to keep him alive. But his strength was constantly sapped, leaving him completely unable to fight back.

Drip...drip...drip...drip…

The metal hinges squealed as the heavy wooden door swung open, flooding his tiny stone cell in light. Tae-Won squinted against the bright light and saw Paul and the Warlock woman, Erin enter the room.

“Well my friend, I’ve got good news and bad news.” He said as he sauntered over to Tae-Won. He sounded more like he was getting ready to joke with friends at a bar, and not talking to a man he’d systematically tortured for weeks.

“You’re going to let me go?” Tae-Won whispered from the floor, his words grating against his parched throat. He didn’t even have the energy to look up at his captor’s face.

“Good to see you’ve kept your sense of humor.” Paul said with a dry laugh. “But no. Your friends have all completed their quests and are safely back in Startesgarde. Yes, even your wife.”

“Then they will come rescue me.” Tae-Won forced his head up to meet Paul’s sadistic smile with defiance,his breathing shallow and labored at the effort of even the small movement.

“Well, that’s the thing.” Paul paused and turned to the woman who' had accompanied him. “They don’t know you’re here.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Tae-Won saw Erin stepp forward and passed her bone knife to his sadistic tormentor.

“So maybe we need to send them a message.”