Bound

I woke up to pain. My jaw ached. My arms felt like jelly. And my chest burned fire whenever I took too deep a breath. They had taken away my cloak, and my tunic was stained with my own blood. God, I was in a sorry state. Such a state was made even sorrier due to the fact that I was in a cage. Like an animal.

A beaten, bloody animal.

I looked around. More cages. All of them filled with lizardmen. All of them looked tired, many looking worse than I did even though they had not a single visible mark on their body. They were broken, all hope lost.

Slaves. I could always tell from the hollow look in their eyes.

This was a slave ship, and we were to be sold as slaves. I would have laughed if I could have. Hero Beaumont, son of slave owners. Now a slave himself. Where I come from, they call that shit irony. Maybe this was my fitting punishment: to be a slave forever. I was in Hell, so it made sense.

But it wasn’t fair, though! I didn’t own any slaves myself. It was my parents’ fault! They were the ones who owned the slaves, not me! They were the ones who sent me off to die in a war I didn’t want to be a part of! They were the ones who killed-

Enough. This is stupid. Who cares whose fault it was, what happened happened. I chose my path, and this is where it took me. I won’t apologize for none of it.

I looked outside my cage and saw that all the sailors had come on deck. They all gathered standing before the big man in the black coat and hat. I’m guessing that he was the one in charge here, with the way he carries himself like he owns the place. Which he probably does, since this place is a ship.

“Brothers!” the big man said. “We have finished another venture, and this one is the most profitable!”

One of the men yelled out a “Yeah!”

“Let us bow our heads in prayer and thanks to our god, Rekorim, for his kind mercy in watching over all of humanity.”

Great. The big man was preaching a sermon. This was the last thing I wanted to hear right now. Besides, this was Hell. Who would have the gall to start preaching in Hell?

And who was this Rekorim guy? A god? There was only one God, friends, and he ain’t big on mercy.

“Lift your heads up, brothers. Lift your heads up high. For you are the chosen of Rekorim! You are the human race!”

The sailors all raised their heads, one even weeping openly as he stared up at the sky.

“We all, as children of Rekorim, must prepare for the coming of the Marked. In thirty years’ time they shall descend from the heavens and appear before us: brilliant, beautiful, and godly. They shall be our god’s champions! And they shall usher a change in the world! They shall usher in the Age of Humanity!”

The sailors cheered.

“But we must not be inattentive!” The giant continued to preach, his blue eyes shining brightly with his conviction. “In the Marked’s absence, we must be ever diligent. We must root out all causes of strife between men. We must be vigilant against the influence of the alien, and we must forever remember that our god loves us! Because we are human, and we are his chosen!”

The sailors clapped. A few of them muttered “Amens” under their breath.

“Remember. In thirty years’ time, they will be with us.” The big man smiled, his white teeth shining brightly when compared to the tan of his skin. “Now some of you may not be around then, but your children will. And your children’s children! Teach them all about what to expect when the time comes. They must be ready!”

The giant took out something metal and held it up in front of him. “This is how you will recognize them! This is the Mark of Rekorim, and the Marked shall have this symbol upon the backs of their left hand!”

I strained my eyes and looked closer at the symbol he was holding up. It was made of metal, and soon the polish caught the sunlight, causing it to flash brightly and be seen easily. It was a stylized “V” symbol. I quickly looked down upon the back of my left hand and found the same symbol there.

“Roh shit,” I mumbled, quickly covering my hand.

I lay there in my cage, listening to the big man preach. All the while there were jolts up my spine with each word the preacher said.

I could use this...

*****

I woke up the next morning feeling much better. My aches and pains were gone, even my ribs stopped hurting. What’s more, the few teeth I lost in the fight had grown back again. I wondered if this super healing was all part of being a lizard demon. Or maybe it was due to something else?

I could tell that we were in the open ocean by the smell. You can never forget the smell of the sea. The ship’s sails had also been unfurled, and by the position of the sun, we were headed southwest, and away from the Wetlands.

I also noticed that the sky was blue. In the swamps, it was a dry tint of dirty orange. Now it was its normal color. Hell was weird, just like Heaven.

“Hello,” said a voice that I hadn’t heard before. I looked over to the front of my cage and saw a skinny man in silk robes standing in front of me. He had thick spectacles and carried a large book from which he began to write in once I had acknowledged him.

“You are quite the specimen,” he said while jotting down notes. “Yesterday you were on death’s door. Today, you are completely healed. I knew the lizardman physiognomy was remarkable, but this… this is outstanding!” He proceeded to sit Indian style in front of my cage and continued to write in his book. “Oh, if only I could dissect you.”

I snorted. “Not gonra happen.”

He stopped his writing as his head rose up so fast his glasses almost flew off. “Y-you talked!”

“Of course I talked,” I told him. “Rou expect me to just shay nothing when you threaten me with dissection?”

The man was speechless.

“Great talk,” I said sarcastically. “Rou are you, anyway?”

He stuttered for a bit before saying. “I-I am Doctor Longfoot. Doctor Niles Longfoot. And you?”

“Nero,” I said, silently cursing at my continued inability to pronounce H’s.

“Nero, fascinating.” The doctor began writing some more in his notebook. “How long have you been able to… speak?”

“All my rife,” I told him. “Haven’t you heard of a rizardman speaking Engli- er, I mean Common before?”

“Well, there were always rumors. But they were all unsubstantiated.”

“Gress I’m substantiated, eh, Doc?”

Longfoot suddenly stood up and ran towards the front of the ship. Great. What’s gonna happen now?

He came back a few minutes later with the giant man in tow.

“I am serious, Captain. You must sell me this specimen at once!”

“And I told you,” said the big man, “we have a quota to fill. If I sold you that one, we won’t be able to fill it and our bottom line will be affected.”

Longfoot looked like he wanted to strangle him. “Y-you just don’t understand, Captain. He is a valuable scientific discovery!”

“Right. You said he could talk.”

“He can!”

The big man shook his head. He took his hat off, then bent over so that he could see into my cage. “The doctor here says you can talk. Well? Say something.”

I leaned forward until our faces were mere inches away. “Boo.”

The captain blinked before moving back. “Huh.”

“Just a joke, friend. Righten up.”

“See!” the doctor shouted. “I told you he could talk!”

“Yes, so he can.” The big man frowned and put his hat back on. “Congratulations, doctor. You’ve found a lizardman who got taught how to speak Common. So what? He was probably owned by someone who liked to talk to his pets.”

“He is very important to my research!”

“I already gave you one to play with, doctor. I will not part with any other merchandise. Is that clear?”

Longfoot deflated. “Clear.”

“Rou should sell me to nim,” I said aloud.

“Oh, is that right?” said the captain.

I shuffled nearer to them. “Or better ret, jusht let me go. I am a follower of Rekorim after all.”

The big man’s face twisted into a tight frown. “Don’t even joke about that.”

“I’m not, Captain… ?”

“Sorgenson. Captain Vigo Sorgenson.”

“Right, Sorgenson. I neard your shermon today, ‘twas very moving. Sho I decided right then and there to convert from rai oogah-boogah deities and vorship the great and powerful Rekorim.”

“You are a beast and a savage, you can not worship Rekorim!” Sorgenson shouted. A few of his crewmen looked back to see what the noise was all about. “To claim such is heresy!”

“But it’s true,” I taunted. “He even chose me himself!” With that, I revealed the back of my left hand to him.

Sorgenson’s eyes bulged out of his head as soon as he saw the stylized “V” on my hand. “You dare to claim to be one of the holy Marked?!”

“Yup, that I am,” I told him. “I am one of your hory champions. I frew down from Heaven upon angel vings to spread joy, preach love, and fuck your women.”

“That’s enough! Shidsey!” The captain called back and one of his men (the one with the thin mustache and beard) came running up to him. “Get this miserable heretic out of that cage! And bring me a blade! We are going to cut that filthy hand of his off!”

“Yes, sir!” Shidsey and three other men opened up my cage. They reached in and dragged me out of there, all the while I remained calm and let them.

One of the crewmen brought a cleaver from the kitchen and handed it to Sorgenson.

“Hold out its hand!” He said tersely.

One of the men holding me pulled at my left arm, exposing it and the mark to the captain.

“Let this be a lesson to all who mock the great God of Justice!” He lifted the cleaver up and then brought it down with all his might.

I quickly pulled my right arm in, my strength easily pulling Shidsey, who was holding onto my right arm, forwards. He blocked my left hand and so that when the cleaver chopped down, it embedded itself several inches into his back. The man shouted in agony as I tossed him at the captain. The two of them tumbled down onto the deck.

I took care of the man holding my left arm by chomping down on his neck. I pulled, my teeth rending flesh, and soon blood exploded out of his torn neck.

The other crewmen panicked, some charging me while others took cover. My claws and teeth quickly took care of the attacking sailors.

“Men! Leave him to me!” shouted the captain as he once again strode up to me, fists held out.

Round two, huh? Sure, I’d be glad to. This time things were gonna be different since I didn’t have that drug permeating my skull anymore.

The sailors formed a circle around us as we clashed. He attacked first with a punch that went wide, and I lashed out a fist that smashed into his chin. We continued to exchange blows, and his were as powerful as ever, but I was doing my own damage to the man as my fists were now connecting. He grabbed me and tried to pull me close, but I lashed out with a claw and sliced a jagged line down his chest.

Sorgenson snarled, reaching out once again. This time he managed to grab me and pull me in, whereupon his knee slammed right into my gut. I coughed loudly, the wind being knocked out of me, right before the captain’s fist smashed into the side of my face. I was thrown backward and landed on the deck upon my back.

I looked up from my prone position and saw my pistol. It was tucked into the belt of the same bastard who took it. I suddenly leaped to my feet and grabbed the weapon. The man tried to stop me, but a swift punch to the face laid him out cold.

I then faced Sorgenson, who was now charging straight for me. His massive form stomped down on the wooden deck as he came at me, cold fury and murder in his eyes.

I lifted the flintlock up and aimed it at the oncoming giant. I cocked the hammer back, then pulled the trigger. There was a deafening crack before a flash of fire and smoke appeared.

The smoke clouded everyone’s view for a moment, but a stiff sea breeze blew it away. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw Captain Sorgenson, standing just a few steps away from me, with a surprised look on his face. He looked down and saw the gaping hole in his chest. He tried to say something, but nothing came out but trickles of blood. The giant man suddenly fell to his knees, then onto his face. The impact rocked the deck slightly.

“Arright, nobody move!” I told the sailors as I flipped around and aimed the spent flintlock at them. Thankfully, they didn’t know that it was now as harmful as a paperweight, and stood stock still, fear in their eyes.

I looked around and saw Dr. Longfoot bent down and hiding behind some crates. I also saw that in each of the cages, the lizardmen were alert and ready. The hopelessness that was in their eyes weren’t there anymore; it was replaced by a dark, unwavering fury.

“Open the cages,” I told one crewman.

He didn’t move.

“Rai said OPEN THE CAGES!” I roared. The sailor jumped, then rushed off with the keys to let the lizardmen out.

As soon as all of the cages were open, the lizardmen attacked. One of them bit into the neck of the sailor who opened the cages, while another rushed a man and sliced his belly open with his claws. Screams were heard as pleas for mercy went unheeded. The lizardmen thoroughly and systematically massacred every single sailor aboard the ship.

I laughed. Bastards got what they deserved.

“Help! Nero! Please, help me!” I turned and saw that Dr. Longfoot was being menaced by a pair of lizardmen. “Nero, please!”

“Sorry, doc. Rou brought this on yourself,” I told him with a smile.

“W-wait! I’ll pay you!” he shouted.

I paused. “How much?”

“Anything!” The two lizardmen got closer and he shrieked. “F-fifty gold now, and fifty more once we get to a town! Please!”

A hundred gold, huh? Sounded good to me.

I motioned for the two lizardmen to stop. “Leave him be. He’s mine,” I told them in Drakkis.

“But he’s as bad as the rest of them!” said one of the lizardmen, this one sounding female. “He cut open our friend right in front of us!”

“I don’t care,” I told them. To emphasize my point, I aimed the gun at them.

They hissed in anger at me, but they stopped advancing on the doctor.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, Nero,” Longfoot said.

“My money?” I asked him.

“Right, right,” He rushed over to the port side of the ship, trying and failing to avoid all the blood and entrails on the deck. He quickly retrieved a pack from one of the crates. “Here you go,” he said as he came back, holding out a heavy bag of gold for me.

“Fifty more when I get you to town, right?” I asked him.

Longfoot nodded. He looked around at the carnage and turned pale.

“Good. Stay here.”

“W-what?”

I left him to stride across the deck towards the body of the captain. I began to check him for valuables. Sadly, he had nothing of interest on him, except for the metal symbol of Rekorim.

I tossed it aside.

Then I removed the black greatcoat from his body. It was made from oilcloth and was studded with numerous buckles and ties. I slid the coat on and found that it fit quite nicely. It was tight in some areas and wide in others, but all in all, it was quite suitable. I looked around and spotted Sorgenson’s hat lying a few feet away. I picked it up, then placed it over my head. It took a bit of trying to get it to fit, but eventually, it stuck.

Finally, I could wear a fine hat again. I felt almost normal.

I walked back to where Longfoot was. “How do I look?” I asked.

He snorted. “You look ridiculous.”

Bah, what does he know?