Jace had a very rough wakeup, it was to the sensation he had nightmares about. He felt a long strip of flesh being torn off his chest. His eyes snapped open and he was so startled he let out a scream of pain. He had a splitting headache, it was hard to make out where he was. His thoughts kept swimming about, it was almost hard to capture them and think straight. Trying to look around only made the lights swim, and his head spin. It was nauseating. He had this horrible feeling that there was something vitally important that he was forgetting.

He tried to move and realized for the first time he was tied down. Between the pain from the wound on his chest and the realization he was pinned down his mind started to focus a bit, and he started to put together the scene before him.

He was dangling from something, wood like with his arms and legs secured with straps. He was puzzled for a moment why this looked so familiar until he made out the rest of the hall. His dazed head suddenly froze with terror, as he remembered Sam being tied to a board identical to this one. He quickly looked to his left and right. He didn’t see Sam, he longed to see Sam. Even burnt, he would have liked to see her. To say goodbye. To ask for forgiveness. He should have teleported straight to the hall when he heard about her being captured. So many horrible regrets were running through his heart. He wished he had told her he loved her just once.

Who he did see was that pretty girl whose name he did not know who killed that warlock on their way here. She was bound just like him, and like him she was naked as well. Her face was pale and sweat was streaming down it. He noted the hand of one of the old wizards drawing a knife down her thigh. He still was having difficulty clearing his head but he reached for the pulse, only to find his head almost split in half when he touched it. It took him a few moments to gather his shattered thoughts to realize he probably had been spelled in some way to seal him away from the pulse.

He was going to die like Sam. He realized that pretty quickly. This was going to take hours. He wasn’t even sure he could muster up the will to fight against it. What was the point? There was a sorcerer here. He saw the kindred man he thought he would see, Terani, the one who intercepted his group on the road. The one Verna was traveling with. Now that he understood more about magic he could sense the immense pressure put off by the sorcerer. It almost felt like he was a mountain, part of the world. It was hard to believe a sorcerer and grand wizard were almost at the same level of aggregate power. Perhaps that was the case, but he could tell that a sorcerer was an almost otherworldly existence, far beyond his concept of “magic” or “mages”. Not knowing what else to do he reached out with his left hand, and grasped the right hand of the girl whose name he never troubled himself to learn. He was sorry about that as well.

She looked over at him, he could see the pain and fear on her face. He smiled weakly, he wasn’t even sure if a smile touched his face. The deep sadness crashing against his heart was making it feel like the color had been drawn from the world. “I’m Jace, your classmate I guess. Channeler. You are?” He had a problem saying the words, but for some reason he felt like he needed to know the name of the person he might very well die next to.

“Shawey. Channeler. Nice to… ugggh… meet you Jace.” She was interrupted mid answer as the wizard tore a strip of flesh off her leg. To her credit she didn’t really scream out.

Jace glanced at the wizard as he made his way back over to Jace. If they torture the two of them to death, at the same time with only one executioner, he suspected this was going to take a very long time to die. He really didn’t want to be skinned alive. He had developed a fear of this from that kindred torture game. So he couldn’t help watching the knife blade approach him with dread on his face. He didn’t want it to cut.

Nothing he wished for would happen. He could pray for a fast death but he knew one wasn’t coming. Just as he wished he couldn’t be cut by the knife. He felt the blade tug his skin and cut his flesh. It was a long cut. Then the knife worked under the flesh. This was far worse than if he did it. He could stop if it hurt too much. He could control the depth of the cut. He could control the pace and pressure. This was far far worse. The lack of control seemed to amplify the pain. Now it was Shawey holding his hand, as the strip of flesh was torn from his body. He refused to make a noise. Not for these animals.

The image of Sam came back into his head. This had happened to her. They never stopped. They didn’t care. To them she was property. They weren’t even angry with her. They just wanted to hurt him. At least he could tell himself he was being harmed for some reason of his own doing. Even if it was just because he wanted to go home. Even if he was unwillingly kidnaped to this horrid place. Sam wouldn’t have had any justification for her pain except she was owned by the wrong person. If he could destroy all these people right now, he would have. He reached desperately for the pulse, and the pain almost made him black out.

By the time his vision cleared it was his turn again with the knife. So instead of watching the knife he tried to channel again. And again. And again. And again. By the time his head would clear there were more brutal injuries on his body. Shawey next to him was sobbing and grasping onto his hand. He couldn’t do anything for her, so he kept try to reach the pulse. Methodically, mechanically, his anger at what he saw had happened to Sam washing over his self-loathing for being too late to save her. He didn’t particularly want to survive this. Part of his spirit was shattered. But the idea these people would survive this was far more unacceptable to him then his impending doom.

He wasn’t sure when he started laughing. But he could tell it was starting to unnerve the people watching. He wasn’t sure if he was insane or not. He just knew he couldn’t let these animals survive this. Animals. They were all animals. What did Sam ever do to anyone? What past sin could possibly be worth the hell like life she had been subjected to? What type of god would claim to be a patron of humanity and punish them like this?

His rage was spilling out. The laughter started to take on a savage tone, as he locked eyes with Terani. He started to scream madly.

“ELIS, I WILL DESTROY EVERY SINGLE TEMPLE TO YOU, KILL EVERY EMESARY OF YOURS. THEN RIP OFF YOUR MOTHER FUCKING HEAD AND SHIT DOWN YOUR THROAT! DO YOU HEAR ME ELIS?!!! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING COWARD. FUCK YOU, YOU SNIVILING PIECE OF SHIT. LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO THESE PEOPLE! IS THIS FUN TO YOU? NO GOD WORTH WORSHIPING WOULD DO THIS TO HIS PEOPLE. YOU’RE NO GOD YOU’RE A MONSTER. AN ANIMAL. A DEVIL! COME DEMON KING, WHY NOT RULE US ON A THRONE OF CORPSES? THEN YOU COULD RULE AS YOU ARE! INSTEAD YOU PRETEND TO BE A GOD. WHAT A LAUGH. YOU’RE A PIECE OF TRASH. I WILL DESTROY YOU ELIS. TAKE THIS OATH ANYONE WHO STANDS AT YOUR SIDE WILL DIE WITH YOU. YOU HEAR THAT GODS? DO YOU?? THIS IS WAR. FUCK YOU ALL IN YOUR DANTY ASSES.”

With a crack as if to punctuate the scream of rage his bindings snapped and he vanished before his feet hit the ground.