The orc horn sounded throughout the entire camp as a sudden hush fell over. The fires died down to only embers, everyone welcoming the much needed sleep. The only noise being the patter of the rain breaking against the mountain side and the slushing the muck made while the orcs marched by on patrol. Instantaneously, the slaves were out cold quicker than the lightning that struck around them.

All except for Destin, he laid on his side awake and alert waiting for the opportune moment to move out. The noise of the mud allowed him to be able to judge the distance and direction of the orcs much easier. The ground of the tent was soaked from the outside world seeping in, the waterproofing long past being effective.

Once the faintness of the steps dissipated Destin crept through to the outside world through a hole in the side of the tent, moving like a thief through the palace maneuvering directly to his location. Checking corners carefully he hoped there was no lightning that would strike seeing as it would reveal his location far easier. He counted himself lucky realizing his scent was hidden due to the rain, but the footsteps were that much harder to pick up on.

Against the mountain side the orcs rarely marched near, especially in the night he recalled sliding across hugging as close as he could to the wall. The rain would hide any noises that may echo throughout the cavern. Once Destin made it to the cliffside he follow closely feeling the rigid rock until the crevice revealed itself, barely noticeable to the untrained eye allowed for Destin to hide from the dangers surrounding.

The rain no longer pelted him entering the cavern. A sigh of relief left him seeing he was safe from being spotted from any orcs. The most difficult part was over, he twisted his shirt to release any trapped water while running his hand through his hair looking around.

As Destin walked deeper into the cavern running his hand on the rigid wall for guidance. He was enthralled in darkness. Raising his hand he pointed a finger pointed in the air focusing his mind as the power rose inside him before manifesting as a small white orb. He smiled at the accomplishment always admiring the beauty of magic.

He continued, uniformly moved his hands the orb still hovering in the space in which it was created in exhausted itself and vanished. His hand hovered over one another while he strictly maintained his focus. An orb of light grew slowly at the center lighting the entire room, and once it sustained itself he thrusted his hands outward. The orb instantly divided into five separate orbs illuminating the entire space.

“Much better.” Destin mumbled to himself. He stepped over to the wall and took a seat as a sigh of exhaustion left him. He sat for a moment with his head back still haunted by the events of the day, the death and madness he had witnessed. The dwarf was the saving grace of the days events by far, which allowed him to force out the negative of the day.

He was growing weaker, Destin noticed. Far weaker than he was realizing, it had been a month since the last time he used his Highborn powers in this very cavern and the initial magic had already drained him to the point of shortness of breath. He wouldn’t be able to do any magic soon with how the days had been, which caused a great fear to enter him.

When his muscles regained strength he carefully stood up to ensure his body really had. He took his gold ring which was chained around his neck, looking at it, almost as if to study it. The scratches and worness showed it's years plainly. It was his father's ring.

Placing it in his palm he focused on it as it began to rise, hovering in the air. Destin’s eyes began to glow a pale light, the ring equally illuminating the entire room around them with the orbs. Sweat began to form on his brow as the strain became nearly unbearable, he ignored it, forcing his way through the pain.

The ring hovered away from Destin a number of feet as a ghostly finger began to form into a hand following until it formed an arm. Veins appeared fluctuating light as if a heartbeat was being created each beat causing a small dash of light. A ghostly skin enclosed around the skeleton the figure finding life.

The strain on Destin caused blood to flow from his reopened wound, but the apparition was near completion, the full body was forming with damaged armor plating the male, the star lit hair flowed past the man's shoulders and rested properly. His battleworn face relaxed, the pale eyes opening looking directly at Destin. His countenance showed disappointment as he answered, “Son.”

Destin released the connection of the magic from his body, collapsing to the ground, his back hitting the rocky wall with a thud. The pain shook his entire body from the wound on his back. He looked up at his father still exhausted, “Father, I’m sorry!”

The sternness of his stare filled Destin with insurmountable guilt. He instantly recognized it was the last thing his father wished, yet against it all he went through with it anyway. What else could Destin do? He needed something, anything to help him piece together the escape from Vertrock.

Only a spirit, his metal boots clicked on the rocky floor as he moved closer to Destin. He rested his hand on his son’s shoulder helping him to the ground as they both sat against the wall. “Never again. Yet here we are, after direct orders.”

The harshness of those words seemed to pierce Destin’s to the core, ‘Sir! Understand I never had the intention of summoning you at this time!” He said in defense of justifying his actions. “I needed help…”

“Silence!” He interrupted raising his voice. Destin’s father was a general wholeheartedly. The military life took over his entire existence changing who he was. For Destin it meant at times not having a father. Nothing seemed to be able to shake his military set mind, still Destin noticed his father caught himself, his face turned apologetic though he never did admit it. “The price is too high for this while your strength is down in Vertrock. It's got you drained beyond the ability to move currently.”

“And no one knows that better than me; this was my choice!” Destin argued.

“On top of that, if you were ever discovered, especially in this camp, your life would be lost forever!” He paused only for a second, “Think about that! You’re the only known Highborn. How?! You are a lost piece of history Destin. When we discovered that gift we didn’t know what it even was!” His father calmed down for a moment before continuing, “All I am saying is magic had been all but extinct for who knows how long. No human even knows magic exists in this very world!”

Destin rose from the ground, strength regained, and faced his father, “We have ten minutes together, maybe less. Stop wasting time on the things I already know and help find a way out!” He ordered.

His father showed no sign of offense, only stood to be on the same level as his son. “You are in one of the most heavily fortified slave camps in the entire world, and you are considering escaping.” Almost calm, the words still felt their sting. “Even a master Highborn would be lost if ever trying to escape.”

Not allowing for any kind of walk around with this talk, Destin objected, “Stop. You know! I know you know! You have faced greater odds, stronger opposition, and somehow you walked out on top.”

He gazed down at his hands and the pulsating light from inside him, “I’m dead before my time Destin. What does that tell you? You do all you can, calculating the percisness, executing flawlessly, and in the end it isn’t enough.”

“What that tells me is you died defending me, protecting me and I was helpless in being able to save you!” The tears flowed down Destin’s eyes. “You have no idea the weight that guilt has even begun to put on me.”

“What will you do? It's over, Done! You’re dwelling on it as if it is happening right now before you. Move on. You’re helpless then, you’re helpless now as long as you keep tying yourself to your past!” He paced away from Destin, “You want to figure out how to escape? You never will with how you tie yourself down. You defeat yourself before the battle has begun.”

Before Destin could begin to respond the ring around his neck began to rise white light emitting again. His father held out his hand, gazing at it while it disappeared back into the ring. In his final moments he faced his son, “Discover that potential.” His entire body was about vanished his final words advised, “You are your greatest enemy.”

Destin rested his hand against the wall for support while he tried to recover from the emotions he felt. Wiping his eyes, he slowly gained back his footing. His father was correct in every way. In this moment, he would never be able to escape. The tears ceased from falling, and standing up he decided it was best to return to the tent before being discovered.

The orbs floating in the room were about to be recalled when he realized that someone was standing in the entrance. Destin froze in his place striving to read who was with him but to no avail.

Someone was slowly stepping towards him in the dark finding his way to the light. “Oye the amount of drinks I would need to properly comprehend this!” Goddar stumbled into the chamber. “Boy, you’re… a… High Born?”

“You… uh, know what that is?” Destin wondered. “How?”

“You know our life spans are almost quadruple yours boy! Magic has been long gone, but the stories remain, though more of a legend or bedtime story really.” Goddar explained. “I didn’t think much of it honestly, it was an afterthought. I mean, afterall magic? There was no way!”

“Well…” Destin attempted to articulate the correct words for this situation, “...This might be exactly what it looks like… But out of curiosity, what does it look like?”

Goddar gained his balance back and began to walk towards Destin, “I just said, you’re one of the lost Highborn!” He let out in a cheerlike manner, “In all my years never have I witnessed such a marvel. All the lands, all the people, none have been able to do what you do! I thought I’d never see a day where magic returned!”

“Returned?” Destin said confusingly. “It never left.”

“Don’t be smart with me boy!” Goddar demanded with a deadly glare, “You know what I mean.”

Not quite knowing how to respond to the situation, he could only guess if he needed to be on guard or relaxed. Destin felt loss due to Goddar not knowing if he wanted to turn in Destin to the orcs for his freedom or hug the boy for showing him magic wasn’t lost.

Goddar broke Destin’s thought process, “By the way, you’re an easy follow! You think you’re clever with your stealth? I heard every footstep and that wasn’t cause I was closer to the ground!”

“I needed to get out, I don’t know how much you heard of that conversation but I needed to talk to my father.” Destin said. He figured at this point he should come clean and explain everything. Worse comes to worse he's dead anyway if turned in.

“That armor, caught a glimpse of it, looked to be apart of the Royal Army of Arthemis.” He connected the dots rather quickly, “Which was why you questioned the news of the general tonight… it was your father…”

Destin sat down realizing this was going to take a second to explain, and they had nothing but time, “Yes. When he was killed, he gave me the chance to escape from the soldiers and camp. We were stationed just outside of Galemourne so I fled to Eden’s gulf while they hunted me until I smuggled onto a ship and came to Perdition. I was betrayed by the captain being traded to the orcs.”

“Which brought you here. The Royal Army still looking for you?”

“Ha, doubt it honestly. Vertrock is something even the High King wants to stay away from. In no way would anyone want to oppose a army of orcs. I can only imagine they’ve given up by now.” Destin concluded imagining where the generals were now, he almost vowed to kill every last one for what they did to his father, but it was a lost effort at this point.

“Aye, you’d be right about that lad.” Goddar replied, “Now I will admit, I did see your magic trick tonight at the fire! The spark in your hand that ignited the wood. Why did you do it!? Did you think people would just not see?”

“People won’t see what they already believe isn’t there.” Destin nonchalauntly replied sensing the change of energy in the room.

“True, still you don’t risk being discovered by orcs in a prison camp just to light a fire. A small necessity for a day is not worth a lifetime of unimaginable pain.” Goddar informed.

Destin knew Goddar was correct.

“You can trust me lad no doubt about that, but next to everyone else would turn you in for their gain!” He walked closer to Destin lowering his voice, “Now I will say this, we both will escape this hell hole, leave it to me lad, you’ll see the blue skies of the homeland again soon! I promised ye that didn’t I!”

Destin knew the dwarf was right, though the faith in the slaves around the camp seemed to be of little encouragement. Yet initially he felt Goddar’s intentions were pure and strategically thought out, the odds of someone being able to pull off such a feat was slim. A slave was brutally murdered today, yet everyone thought it to be just another day. They had grown numb to the horrors the orcs placed them in. Death was almost welcomed, a blessing!

Goddar carried on the conversation, “Kid, understand being here as long as I have has allowed me to discover a few secrets of the caverns things the orcs will never know. I grew up here for a good portion of my life.” He reminded, “You know that I be the one to work on the machinery.” He paused thinking for a second, and Destin could tell he was debating whether or not to share this information with Destin. “We will escape.”

The phrase impacted Destin like a bombshell. Still, on the outside he dared not show the excitement, “How so?” he managed to gulp out.

Goddar cracked a smile of encouragement, “We are not meant to be here, you and I know this. You have been the missing piece in my plan all along, and seeing as we only have one shot at this, how strong are you Highborn?”

“Difficult to say in all honesty. Mostly due to the labor and rations my overall weakness is low. Summoning my father eons easier a year ago when I first attempted it, but now... I maybe could do it once more.” The reality of what just came out of his mouth hit like a ton of stone. Until he escaped he would be unable to communicate with his father again.

“Could you defend yourself?”

“Not practiced in it but yes, enough to get by as long as it's not extensive.” Destin answered.

“I’ll tell ya what, you will be my new apprentice. I work on the machinery here since I am the only one who knows it really. Obviously I am not young anymore, and you surviving longer than a week proves a great deal. I will ‘train’ you as well as share my rations to get your strength up. In one weeks time we will be free men my lad!” He suggested.

So far it sounded promising, the time being he would be able to gather up some strength for the obstacles to come. More and more he was welcoming the challenge seeing this ally was here to guide him across everything safely until they were free on the other side.

Goddar answered for him, “Look my beardless friend, I am going to help you!”

He honestly contemplated what to think about Goddar, though he seemed trustworthy the sanity of a man enslaved for decades seemed to be reasonably questioned. Regardless in his gut he felt Goddar needed to be trusted and at this point his only chance of freedom would come through this dwarf. Though he has only run into dwarfs a few times in his life he seemed to have moderately favorable experiences with them. At this point he really had nothing to lose.

Smiling with a newfound hope Destin gladly responded “Goddar, I’m in.” For Destin it was the first time in a year he felt a rise of faith while trapped in this camp. There was a great battle ahead but for once not being alone allowed him to feel practically on top of the world. They were going to escape, to be on free ground again, never looking back at Vertrock.

Goddar was ecstatic about these series of revelations letting out a cheer. Destin was almost worried the shouting would be heard outside even over the storm itself. With the paramount of happiness both felt Destin as well let out an exuberant shout of joy, lifting both arms high in the air.

“Expect that in three months time, we will be free men my lad! Free men!” Goddar reassuringly promised.