It was probably going on two or so in the morning, on the long drive back to my flat when I saw something out of the corner of my eye that made my head snap over to what I saw. I saw someone running down the pavement…but I could see magic pluming off them, I flicked my hand to see what The Shade was making people see…but nothing changed. This…idiot was letting his magic plume off him visible to everyone around him. I’m old…and I’m not going to risk dying to some paltry human because some idiot can’t control his magic. I pulled my car off to the side as I jumped out before rushing after him…as I saw the person I saw it only got more concerning, they were running from something, but there was nothing following them. It was like they were running from something or someone that nobody else could see. I saw them pause before running down an alleyway, I rushed up to it before walking in as well, luckily because there was no people, I was able to raise my hand and the air rippled making it appear as if there was a high fence blocking the alley with banded metal framing the chain link like they were building behind it. The person that had been running was collapsed on the ground: either in pain, exhaustion or they tripped…I smelt…blood.
I walked down the alley as I held my hand out, gold magic ribbons swirling up my arm and shoulder as it collected in my hand, the large white opal feather shaped pendant hanging on my throat glowing softly as my magic plumed and gold light looped around my eyes. I couldn’t tell if the person was masculine or feminine: they are very, very slight…starvation looking thin, maybe a few inches past five feet tall with the brightest white platinum blond hair I had ever seen, they were on their front so I couldn’t see their face, but their hair hung to about their knees; knotted, matted and absolutely filthy. They were dressed in tatted, ragged dark gray clothing that was nearly more holes than solid fabric, it barely hung on them let alone covered much, I could see bones pressed against thinly stretched skin letting me see dark veins under their just as pale skin. But…they had broken shackles on…thick bands of this weird green/blue dark metal looped around their wrists, ankles and even one around their throat, there was softly sparking runes that looped around them and there were links of chain hanging off the edges. I walked a few steps forward as I could see them trembling in a mixture of exhaustion, fear and probably other forces.
I flicked my hand as the world dimmed to grayscale as I focused on this person’s heart, their heart was less solid than a hummingbird’s pulse, it was feathery, weak and so fast it was nearly a monotone drone. I canceled the spell as I walked another step ahead, not realizing there was broken glass there and the loud crunch made the person scramble to their hands and knees before running and turned towards me as they met the wall at the other end of the alley, now facing me I saw a matching sallow face without any sense of fat on it, the darkest circles I had ever seen around someone’s eyes, massive long matching platinum lashes and scraggly extremely unkept brows, but…their entire lower face was…encased in metal. A muzzle. A muzzle of that same strange metal was wrapped around their entire throat and face up to the bridge of their nose in the center that swooped downwards to frame the cheekbones along the sides, a thin band going up the forehead over the head to latch into the back of the collar around their throat. A handful of links, many more than the links on their wrists and ankles, dangled from their throat…this person was either help captive somewhere for a very long time…or I have absolutely no idea how someone could end up like this. Their hands grabbed at the wall, long yellowed cracked nails splintering against the brick as they tried to climb, but I heard a muffled wince of pain as they collapsed back to the ground, holding their side.
“I’m…I’m not going to hurt you” I said quietly as I walked over, the light of my magic washed over them properly, but in that ever so flattering “flash-light under the chin ghost-story” style lighting as I held my hand out by them, the light let me see that this person…was a man. His eyes are doe like and nearly buggy because of how sunken his features were, not matching eyes: his right was a shocking acidic neon green, but his left was this bottomless void of black. His right eye appeared blacked, there were bruises, cuts and wounds across his entire person…he has been through the hells and back just to end up here. “Can you understand me?” I asked, he nodded. He was couched against the ground, hands on the wall, nails now cracked and bleeding letting this thick…yellow toned blood drip down the brick and across his fingers, his hair was a wild mess that put swamp witches to shame with how filthy it is, it hung around him like a cloak making him look like some kind of wild animal, his neck seemed to have an extra vertebra or two by how it’s moving and how long it is and his posture was horrible. His legs were bare and trembling, his muscles locked in place in a way that told me they were maybe dystrophic, his feet were covered in scars, dried blood, bruises and other markings, there were all sorts of…markings of beating and horrible treatment across his person. I motioned to my face, “Do you know how to get that off?” I asked, he shook his head. I sighed, “I can speak telepathically…you’ll be able to talk back…may I do that?” I asked, he paused for a second before looking me up and down as he looked around, he didn’t seem…to know where he is, but he nodded slowly. I closed my hand as I rose my other hand, squatted down to my heels to not let my trousers touch the dirty ground, resting one of my arms across my knees as I held two fingers up with my other, a thin wisp of gold spread from my fingers before touching his forehead, as the light faded it formed a small emblem of an ankh before faded into nothing.
“Can you hear me?” I asked telepathically, he nodded before a shaky, weak, creaky voice that sounded like he’s not had a drink of anything is…maybe years.
“Where…where am I?” the voice asked, the voice that belonged to the wild animal prisoner I am looking at didn’t really fit, the voice was surprisingly gravely, though that may also be from the muzzle, a touch higher than I was expecting, but with an impossibly thick Irish accent.
“Do you know how you got here?” I asked, he shook his head. “Can I take you somewhere to get your injuries looked at…you’re hurt and…the hospital may have someone who can get those off you” I said as I motioned to the shackles and muzzle.
“Everything…everything’s different.” that voice echoed
“How so?” I asked confused
“No…no horses…the buildings are…are too tall…I saw strange…metal birds…”
“Can I help you?”
“…how can I trust you?”
“You can’t, you can’t trust anyone…but…I can see you, I’ve obviously not done anything to you, so…why would I risk helping you if I was just going to hurt you or do something else?” I asked, he looked towards his feet before nodding softly as I held my hand out and he took it, his skin was drier than sand, I felt like touching his skin would make it flake away and fall off his body it was so…just wrong feeling, I’ve felt ancient parchment scrolls with more moisture to them than his skin. As I helped him to his feet, he was definitely the lightest person I’ve ever felt, I could probably throw him with a single hand if I wanted, though…I could do that to someone regardless. I took my blazer off and wrapped it around his shoulders, he nestled into it as I led him out of the alley and towards my car, throwing up extra wards to ensure nobody saw him.
He seemed extremely…scared by my car, something about how the carriages didn’t have horses, there was bottled lighting everywhere, people were dressed weirdly and that women were dressed like men and that everyone was looking at small moving paintings that glowed. Wherever this guy has been held captive…he’s been there for at…least a century or two…maybe longer.
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