An incessant dripping sound finally woke the youth. Groaning, Alex touched his head. The sound reinforced the throbbing pain. ‘What happened? Where am I?’ He slowly sat up and inspected the room. It was almost completely dark and only because of the innate darkvision was he able to make out anything.

A chair was standing in the middle of the room. The bed, if it could be called that way, stood in one corner. The dripping came from the other corner. Alex suspected a leak in the roof. And the only light shone through a gap beneath the door.

He could hear muffled voices through the wooden door, and if he had been able to, Alex would have stood up and listened to them closer. Suddenly they stopped and heavy steps were coming nearer. The youth immediately laid back down and mimed the knocked out patient. Seconds after, the doors lock creaked and the door swung open.

“Looks like he is still knocked out. You shouldn’t have hit him so hard,” one voice said. “He had it coming. That bastard made me look stupid in front of Jones and let me say it like this…He was not amused. I would have done more, but it’s no fun to hit them when they’re already out,” Andrej said, "but we have enough time to continue. Jones wants him, as he still gets essence from prisoners. Much less than from a normal resident, but still. Better than nothing."

‘Just wait for it Andrej, I’ll pay you back double.’ Soon both voices left the tiny room, locked it and Alex was alone again. The youth immediately cast his [shadowcloak], hoping it would stop the throbbing in his head. After some time, he felt much better and stood up, carefully avoiding making any sounds. The shadowblade sneaked to the door, knelt down and looked through the gap.

He couldn’t see anything, until Alex remembered his active classskill [shadoweyes]. ‘Damn, I’ve completely forgotten that the skill exists…I should train better and more often…This can’t happen again…’ The youth cast the skill and suddenly he was connected to a line of shadows, thrown by the flickering light of a candle. He willed his vision forwards.

The feeling was disconcerting. Somehow he still felt his body and tested if he could move it. Slowly he raised his arm and pinched the other one. Sudden pain spread. The youths mind was flooded by new plans and tactics, but he waved them away and concentrated on his current situation.

With [shadoweyes] active, he could scout the other room. A chair and a table stood at one corner, aligned in such a way, that the person sitting there, could easily watch his celldoor. The flickering candle sat atop the table. The two talking people were Andrej and Reinier, another guard of Jones. Sadly Alex couldn’t hear what they were saying and while he could read their lips, only Reinier was looking his way. Or looking toward the corner his [shadoweyes] sat.

He could make out the words “him, essence, Jones” but soon Rainier moved and Alex involuntarily cancelled his skill. It was a Magicka hog and even if he had improved the resource, he still needed more. Maybe if he earned another few levels, the skills would tier up? Gatex had suggested something like that.

The youth went back to his “bed”, sat down and leaned against the wall. For a moment, he worried about his situation, but as long as Jones didn’t make the first move, he didn’t know what would happen with him. So instead of worrying, he closed his eyes and thought about the last few days.

There were several situations, in which he didn’t use his Skills to their max, several situations, when he was careless and even worse, several in which he acted thoughtless and was daydreaming while wandering through the city. That had to stop. Alex swore, he had to think more, use his head. He may have gotten a fantastic seed and a good class, but he wasn’t invincible or infallible yet.

The day may come, when he could act as careless and scatter brained, as he had the last few days, but if he continued the way he acted the last week, he wouldn’t live long enough to relish that feeling. With closed eyes, Alex remembered the different fights, trying to find better solutions to finish them.

He had never used [shadowcurse] in a fight. He should have tried the skill in the easier fights with Phil and his group, but he was so sure of himself, so overbearing, that he hadn’t even thought about using it. What if the Skill would have let him end the fight with the bear, without getting injured? Andrej and Thorsten wouldn’t have stolen his weapons.

In the fight with the dogs, he could have positioned his shadowclones better, or with [shadoweyes] wouldn’t have been ambushed. [Eviscerate] could have ended the fight even sooner, had he used it sooner.

The teenagers memory wasn’t the best, but he found errors in every fight, situations which he could have handled better. Alex didn’t know exactly what meditation comprised, but it helped him comb through the days. He remembered, though about better solutions and then let it pass.

There was nothing else he could do right now. He was captured, the door was locked and at the moment, Alex was at the mercy of his former “friends”.

The night went silent and the teenager wasn’t disturbed during his meditation. Come morning, the door burst open and he was rudely awakened. Some time during his training, he must have fallen asleep. “Good morning sunshine. Hope you had a goods night rest. How is the head?” Andrej snarled.

“Fuck you,” Alex retorted glibly. Andrej stepped forward and slapped the youth. “Now now, don’t be so rash, Andrej, that’s no way to handle our prisoner,” another voice, deeper and more malicious came from the door. Alex looked up and saw Jones.

“Hello Alex. Imagine my surprise, when a little bird called Lisa, told me you disregarded my words, and came back to the city. For as little as me assuring her and her people secure shelter, she sold you…Isn’t it funny? She also told me about your skills and levels for a tiny bit of good food and a warm sleeping place. Four Levels in as many days is something to be proud of. So as you can imagine, I have a few questions and if you cooperate and answer me truthfully, you will be rewarded. If not…well you can imagine what will happen, don’t you?” Jones grinned hideously, “So, sit down at that chair and we can start.”

Alex nodded and slowly stood up. He groaned, as if he was in pain. Andrej laughed at his twisted face and for a moment he was distracted. Alex immediately cast [Shadowcloak], [Shadowclone] stepped to the side and send both clones at Jones. The youth hoped his Magicka would suffice and cast [Shadowcurse], [Shadowdagger] and as his dagger materialised, he activated [Eviscerate] on his torturer.

The skill was targeted at Jones face. Last nights deliberations washed him free of his concerns. Deep down, he knew that killing another person was wrong, but if he couldn’t run from Jones, the boy would ruin him. He would find a way to strip him of his essence or even seed. Alex would be crippled and then his future would be bleak.

Surprised, the older teenager didn’t move and the dagger shot forwards.

CLANK!

Alex was stunned, as his dagger rebounded from Joneses face. His amazement didn’t last long and he immediately ran for the door, but the older teenager suddenly howled. RAGE overcame Alex and with a loud cry, he lunged at Jones. Weapon forgotten, he saw red. First one, then the second fist crashed into his enemy.

Jones stood there and laughed at the feeble tries of Alex. His armour and taunt Skills were worth their essence and the younger boy was helplessly hitting him. Before his Skills could end and Alex regain his faculties, he cocked his fist and hit the boy. Hard. In the face.

Jones buried Alex in a flurry of blows and as his rage abated, Alex finally noticed what had happened. He turned and ran for the door, but Andrej acted at last and roots caught his feet. Alex stumbled and Jones was upon him in seconds. His shadowclones were hitting the older boy, but he completely ignored them and continued to bludgeon Alex’s face. Jones was weaker than Andrej, so it took some time, but the older boy eventually defeated Alex.

The shadowblade descended again into unconsciousness. Breathing heavily, Jones stood up, grabbed Alex and threw him back into the bed. He grunted, laughed at Andrej and both finally left the small cell.

“Let him hunger for a few days, he has earned his punishment. But take care, so he doesn’t die. I need to go to the shop and find something to block his Skills. Then we have the time to save coins and buy the essencedrain,” Jones told Andrej, “Also, you need to train more. Your last Skill caught me too. That can’t happen again, understood?”

Andrej nodded, and left to call another warden. Alex had to be monitored the whole time and he was to good to do it himself. His position as Jones second had to be worth at least that much, the youth thought.

“Hi, are you Janine and Lin?” a voice asked. Janine turned, looked at the teenager and nodded. “Who are you? How do you know us?” Lin asked puzzled. He hadn’t seen the boy before, “Are you new?”

Derek nodded, “yes and I have bad news. Ahem, I don’t know where to start.” He gulped, fumbled with his hands, took a deep breath and finally told the two astonished people, how he had met Alex and how Lisa had betrayed him. He told them the reason why, but that wasn’t why he had come here. At last, he said that the others had captured Alex and he saw, how some boys had entered the camp with a tied up packet.

“I am so sorry, I wouldn’t have done it, but Lisa…She gets crazy when it comes to Marys security. She must have snapped…What do you wanna do now? If you want to free Alex, maybe I can help?” Derek finished his story. Lin and Janine were silent for a moment, until Janine answered, “Thanks for the offer, we’ll tell you, if we need you. Were are you camping?”

As soon as Derek had left, the pair discussed their friends plight. “We can’t let Jones have him. We have to free him!” Lisa nearly shouted. Lin shushed her immediately, “Psst, we can’t let the others know. I want to rescue him too, but we have to be clever about it. I can’t run fast with my foot and we both don’t have an essence yet. If we’re careless, they’ll get us too and we join Alex. Be happy, that we aren’t used as a bargaining chip. I think Jones is capable of everything.”

The two began to make plans.

“Hey shopkeep, I need Skillblocking manacles or something like that. I have a rebellious idiot, who needs to learn his place, so chop chop, show me what you got.”

“Young man. I am not one of your underlings, so you can change your tone, immediately or that was the last time one of your camp tried to trade with me,” Gatex answered the impudent youth. Just for those words, the price for said goods had miraculously risen for about a few hundred coins.

Of course he knew the rebellious idiot. Even if he sat in his shop the whole day, his skillset and tiny helpers were hard at work and he had already scouted out the region. The shopkeepers of the first wave had the best opportunities to find the most lucrative places for their business.

Alex woke in full darkness. There was no light beneath the door and his darkvision was nearly useless. He quickly went to the door, knelt down and cast [shadoweyes] but the Skill wouldn’t activate. ‘What’s happened? How?’ At last, his eyes acclimated themselves and he saw a tiny sliver of light, coming through the hole in the roof.

Suddenly the teenager had a brainwave. He recalled the skills description:

Shadoweyes:

See through surrounding shadows to scout.

Of course the skill wouldn’t work, if there were no shadows. He went to the exposed corner, sat down and cast the skill again. Finally it worked. He send the eyes to the door, but as there was no light on the other side, the skill stopped working.

Alex cancelled the Skill, and sighed. He had to find another way, so he closed his eyes and began planning his escape.