"Up, boy. Don't let them see you slacking." The Count grabbed my shirt and pulled me to my feet. Right then, I started hearing footsteps approaching the little mineshaft we'd be shoved into today. Kneeling, I snatched my pickaxe off the ground and lifted it into the air just as a pair of guards came around the corner. With a heave, I hammered away at the stone in front of me.

"You slacking again, Sentinel?"

I tried so hard not to snap back. I really did. But I just couldn't not. "Almost as much as your mom did last night." Goddess, I couldn't help myself. I had to be a masochist or something.

"Mind your tongue!" One of the two hooded men whipped me with one of those leather thong whip things, but I hardly felt it. The standard guards weren't shit to me anymore. If I weren't wearing this collar and the chains they had around my wrists and ankles, I'd beat them both down.

"Hey, that's what I said to your mom last night, too!" Alex... Why?

"Boy..." The Count shuffled away from me as the guards screamed, raised their whips, and charged me.

***

"You better?"

"Yeah." My shirt was torn to shreds, and my skin was raw, but I wasn't bleeding too badly. They were bitches. "No levels this time, though."

The Count grunted. "You're probably nearing the cap."

"The Cap? What does that mean?"

"You can only level so many times by completing tasks, and they get harder each time. You've been through it, more than most on account of your damn tongue and that sign of yours, but you'd be hard pressed to keep leveling the Shield. What's your sign's rank now, anyway?"

"I have no idea. I didn't know classes had ranks."

"Pull it up."

"Okay." Willing the Goddess's system to do the thing, words appeared in my mind as it pulled up my entry.

Alex Clark, American Human Fighter of the Shield 23

American (0★)

Human (0★)

Fighter (5★)

Shield (11★)

"It says I have eleven stars in the Shield. What's that mean?"

"It means you've taken more shit than anyone I've ever heard of. Usually, rank ten is the beginning of the soft cap. For the Shield, you'd have to have experienced something truly unthinkable to increase it past ten." He patted my shoulder. "I can't imagine what you've been through."

That didn't feel right. I could take more. "So soon?"

"So soon?" The dwarf chuckled. "You've been brutalized daily for three straight months and become the stuff of legends, at least for your sign, and you ask if that's all? You're made of stouter stuff than I am, boy."

Damn. Maybe I really was a masochist? "It was easy."

"Says the guy who screams himself unconscious every day."

"Those were easy screams."

"Yeah, well, you're still impressive." He looked me over. "Don't know how you've done it."

I didn't either. "What do I do now?"

"First, stop antagonizing the guards. You won't get anything else from it."

"No promises."

"Boy..." His voice was sharp.

"Okay!" I hated playing nice with these fucks, but I'd try. "Why, though?"

"If they figure out they can't hurt you anymore, they might lock you away like they do that goblin. She's only allowed out to fight, and she's only alive because she's good at it. That, or they might try to find other ways to hurt you."

"Oh, trust me. Aerell's done everything."

"She hasn't hunted down your loved ones and skinned them alive in front of you, has she?"

Something in his eyes told me that wasn't off the top of his head. For the briefest instant, I saw Tristan, Ro, Na-Ya, and the others being forced to their knees in front of me and knives against their throats. A fire ignited in my chest. "No, she hasn't. If she did, I'd kill her." Hell, for what she'd already done, I'd kill her anyway—one day.

"You wouldn't have the chance. Not before they were dead, at least."

"So, what? Should I play nice with that bitch?"

He nodded. "I think you should. Use her. Get something out of it."

"Like what?"

He stroked his beard. "You've got a noblewoman's favor. Why don't you leverage that? Play nice, then set up a real match. If you're good, maybe she'll set you up against someone you can actually beat? Then, you might get out of here for a couple of days. Maybe you'd even get a pardon. Unlike me, you might just be pretty enough."

Something didn't feel right about that plan. "What would happen to you?"

"Nothing. I'll stay down here until I'm dead. Those are my cards."

I'd had a question for the dwarf burning in my chest for some time. We didn't get paired together often in the mines, and the guards had cracked down on cross-hallway talk after one of the other prisoners screamed for a week straight, so it was now or never. "Why are you down here, Khadrel? What happened to you?"

The dwarf looked me over and took a deep breath. "I made the wrong friends."

"That isn't an answer."

He sighed. "I know it. I just..." The dwarf seemed nervous. "Sometimes you think you know a person, but you don't know them at all. I've made that mistake more than once, and the last time it cost me." He looked me over again. "Can I trust you, boy? Are you who you say you are?"

I shrugged. "Never claimed to be anything else. I'm just an idiot from another world."

"Okay..." His eyes got a faraway look. "Met a guy named Baelgrim and his woman down in the mines. They were having a hard time of it, so I saved 'em. Seemed like a respectable fellow, and she was a good lass. So I took them in. They worked hard, so I brought them close. They made themselves useful in my court, so I elevated them. This kept on for years. Eventually, he was my most trusted man, and she was as good a court mage as I could ask for."

"Baelgrim, huh?" Him again.

"You know him?"

"I know of him. He's hurt a lot of people." He and that mage I met in the forest.

"That he has."

"What happened, then? How'd you get here?"

His knuckles went white, and his pickaxe creaked in his hands. "The Duke and his two children, his prized son and his beautiful daughter, came to visit. We had a grand time, but on the third night, his son vanished." He chuckled. "The boy was always sneaking away and getting into trouble, so I figured he was off somewhere chasing skirts like he always did when they visited. He had a particular fondness for one of my maids, and she, him." His smile vanished. "Instead of finding him in her bed, my men found him dead in the mines, my axe in his back."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"And you don't know how it got there?"

"Not a bit."

"How'd anyone connect you to it? How could that be enough to charge you?"

"It wouldn't have been, but a dozen witnesses said they saw me go into the mines with the boy, and a dozen more said I came back alone and bloodied later that night."

"Was there a trial? An investigation?"

"Aye, and I was found guilty, stripped of my holdings and title, and thrown down here until the end of my days, or the world ends, whichever comes first."

His story was grim. Knowing what I knew, I was certain it had been Uralt who'd pretended to be him. "I met a man born under the sign of the Mask in Goodfield. He pretended to be his brother, whom he'd sacrificed or transformed or something into a monster with the help of a powerful black mage woman. He was a servant of Baelgrim and a woman named D. Turns out, they're all part of some cult called the Hands of the Fallen."

The Count's face dropped. Then, he started to chuckle. "That's what it was then. A shapeshifter." A look of relief washed over him. "So many times, I've wondered if I did it. If I were the one who killed that handsome boy with the long blonde locks. His sister, that kind, sweet, beautiful soul, never believed the stories, but everyone else did. Even me. Seems like I can die with my heart clean, if nothing else."

I felt happy for the man, in a way. But I had another question that needed answering. "What was the woman's name? Your court mage?"

He shook his head. "I've asked that question a thousand times. Problem is, it won't come to me. I just can't figure it out. I can remember her, but I can't picture her. I can remember the things we did and the conversations we had, but I can't remember the details or the words. It's all hazy."

"I know a woman who has a curse like that. The more time you spend with her, the less you remember her."

Khadrel nodded. "Yeah. It feels something like that. I knew her well, but I don't remember her."

That was something to remember. I filed it away. "I'm sorry, Khadrel."

"Don't be. It is what it is."

Renard said that a lot, too. "You don't deserve this."

He shrugged. "Like I said, it is what it is."

Right then and there, I decided that it didn't have to be that way. Those didn't have to be his cards. I'd make sure of it.

***

"You're behavior has much improved of late," Aerell purred as she walked around me. Reaching up, she stroked my jaw with her finger. "Could it be you're starting to enjoy our time together?"

The rage inside me boiled, but I tamped it down. It had been a month since Khadrel and I talked, and I'd made a lot of progress with Aerell. Our sessions had taken on more of a good cop, horny bad cop vibe, which I hated. And she knew I hated it. That's why she'd been leaning into it so hard. "I do, mistress."

"You're lying. I can see it." She grabbed my jaw. "What are you hiding?"

Only that, in that moment, I desperately wanted to strangle her until her eyes popped. With everything I had, I pushed down my rage and murderous impulses. "Only that I wish to please you further. I regret how difficult I've been."

She laughed. "Do you, now?" She looked me dead in the eyes. "You hate me. Desperately, overwhelmingly, you hate me. Tell me I'm wrong."

"I..." I hated her. More than anything in the world.

"You can't even say it. You can't even lie!" She laughed. Black tendrils snaked their way into my collar, which began constricting around my throat. "Be honest. How do you feel?"

I gritted my teeth. This pain was nothing. "Regret."

That made her laugh harder. "Liar!" The tendrils grew thicker. "I figured out your little secret, you know." She pulled me closer. "You lied to me. So did the dwarf. Your sign isn't the Flame. If only I'd learned sooner, I'd have used different tactics when training you."

Shit. How had she found out? "How...?" My words were cut off by the collar.

"Oh, a little green birdy told me a few days ago when I was crushing her kneecaps with a maul."

The fires in me became an inferno. I took a step forward, pushing back against her magic. Lifting my hands, I reached for her throat. I was close... So close... "What... did you do... to her..."

The horrible woman rolled her eyes, increased the magic until my body seized, then she swatted my hands away. "Oh, she's alive. She's probably in her cell right now listening to us." She smirked. "It's amazing what you can do when you have access to good healing potions. I'll have to thank the gnome sometime for the latest batch. I've been able to be much more creative lately."

I didn't believe her. "You swear... she's alive...?"

"I do." Her smile broadened, and her voice got louder. "And I hope she's listening. It'll make it all the sweeter knowing that she's aware that you were the one who chose to do what you're going to do to her."

I thought I heard a noise in the cell next to me, but I wasn't sure. "Explain..." I choked out.

The tendrils faded, as did the choking. "First, a question. Are you hoping that, if you're good enough, I might let you go?"

"You'll never let me go."

She shook her head. "I don't feel that way at all." She sauntered up to me and patted my chest. "I'd happily let you go if you behave and do what I ask. So, I'll ask again, do you want me to let you go?"

I wanted to shake my head, to say no, but I couldn't. She'd seen through me. How could she not? It was the wish of every prisoner. "What do you think?"

"That's not an answer." She smiled, revealing a nearly perfect smile, one that was only marred by a single cracked tooth. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? To be free?"

I shook my head. "Not free. To be pardoned."

"Pardoned for what?"

I didn't know. "For the crimes I committed."

She laughed. "We both know you committed no crimes, Alex. You're here because you were weak." She moved closer, until she was mere inches from my face. The smell of cloves washed over me. "And you're still weak. Weak where it counts. But that's okay." Her lips moved closer, until they brushed mine. "Even the weak can be given a blessing or two from time to time. So, I'll ask one more time, would you like to be free, Alex?"

Every fiber of my being revolted at her touch. "Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, mistress." The word practically oozed poison.

Her lips trailed up my jaw. "I can make that happen for you. You just have to do what I want."

"Which is?"

She nibbled my ear. "I want you to fight her. Fight the Slasher."

That made me laugh. "She'll kill me."

"She wouldn't dare."

Vral said she only fought death matches. Even when they weren't death matches, they became death matches when she got involved. "She will."

Aerell smiled. "Not you, she wouldn't."

This time, there was definitely a noise next door.

"I know all about your little friendship with the fiend. Why do you think I kept you close to her?"

I exhaled. "Say I fight her, what then? What do you want?"

"Just this. Next week, you'll have a fight against the Slasher. We'll spread the word, make sure everyone knows. The Iron Sentinel vs. The Slasher. The unbreakable man vs. the unstoppable blade. Everyone will want to see that."

"Why?"

"Because it would be a great match."

"What else?"

"You'll never be forgotten."

"Why?"

"Because you're going to kill her."

My heart pounded in my ears. If I wanted to, I could kill Aerell now, if I were just fast enough... "No."

She laughed as she unbuttoned my shirt. "Listen to me. I can promise—"

"No. I won't do that." There had to be another way.

"Just listen." She kissed my collarbone. "It's supposed to be no killing since she's quite the moneymaker and you have a noblewoman's favor, but I'll have a little chat with the healers. Maybe they'll be too slow to heal her, or maybe their magic will fail. A bad potion. Who cares. Whatever happens, she'll die. Then, you'll be free. That little noble girl already wants to purchase your contract, so you have your out. But I know you. I know how stubborn you are. I offer you another path."

"I won't kill her. Even if I wanted to, I can't. She's stronger than I am."

Aerell pulled my shirt off. "Normally, she would be. But not after what I did to her the past few days."

Something crashed in Vral's cell.

"Why not do it yourself?"

"I have my reasons."

"Which are?"

"Good reasons. And none of your business." She kissed down my throat. "But it needs to be public, and it needs to look real. So, what do you say? Will you do this thing for your mistress?" I wanted to throw up. I could taste the bile bubbling in my throat.

"No. I won't do that."

The woman's lips found my chest.

That's when I'd had enough. I shoved her backward with all of my strength. She struck the door, hard. I braced myself for the counterattack and the subsequent pain, but instead of her black magic reaching toward me, she did something I didn't expect.

She began laughing.

"Finally, a little fight out of you. I've missed the old you these past few weeks. The meek, pathetic male thing doesn't suit you." She wiped her lip, which was bleeding. "Think carefully, now. If you reject me here, I'll personally see to it that you never leave this place. And it can get so much worse for you down here. I've been kind compared to what I'll do if you reject me."

Despite everything—my beliefs, my dedication, my word—It was so hard to say no. I could be free. If I were just willing to cheat, just willing to go back on everything I was, I would be free. But at what cost? What kind of man would I be? How could I look Tristan in the eye when I eventually got out of here? The others?

"Do it." Vral's voice echoed up from the grate below us.

"Vral... I—"

"If I was given that choice, I'd kill you in a second. I wouldn't think about it, and I wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep. Do it. Take the deal. Kill me, then get the fuck out of here."

Aerell giggled. "Doing my work for me, aren't you, Darkspawn?"

"It's not for you. It's for him. He'll never do it without a push. He's too damn soft. A fucking dog in human form, I swear."

I shook my head. "No."

"Yes. You're taking the deal."

My heart clenched. "Then I won't be able to help you." I'd fail. Familiar old feelings bubbled up in me. I thought of my sister, something I hadn't done since I'd had that talk with Tristan in the forest.

"Fuck off, Alex. Stop pretending to be some great hero. You're just a guy. A good one. Go and live your life." Her words had their usual fire, but I could hear the resignation behind them.

"I..." It wasn't right, but if she wanted me to, then...

"Do it."

I hated what my head was telling me to do, and my heart was screaming at me to stop, but it was the best choice I'd been given. And, as much as I pretended I was okay, I wasn't. I was being slowly broken down. Especially now that Aerell knew how to get to me, I knew she'd never stop, and I couldn't risk the lives of my friends to save people I hardly knew. "Okay. I'll do it."

Aerell's eyes shone in the dim light of my cell. "Good boy." She patted my cheek. "I'll set it all up. And in the meantime, you'll be meeting with that little rich girl who wants to take your reins. She's been asking to see you every day. You might as well show her a good time." Shadows danced across her face. "And you better give it to her good. Your life might just depend on it."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.