Blackness was all Alex knew, he’d been in this cell for what must have been a day or two by this point. Hours of inky blackness punctuated by short intervals of questioning by masked figures walking into the room to pump him for information, or worse when he couldn't give them any. By the sound of a clattering of iron bars and the dull clunk of a lock he knew that time had come once again. Alex scratched at his ankle, irritated and bound by an archaic iron shackle that was chained to the nearby cave wall that the cell was carved out of. His belongings were taken from him and he was left in his undergarments in this cold, dark cell. He hadn't been fed or given water throughout his time in this pocket-sized hell. He resigned himself to the fact that he likely wasn't going to live after this. He finally caught that one shark that came to close to the shore and was pulled off the boat into the water with it.

Alex was sore, aching, bruised, and had a dozen small cuts and wounds. He'd been worked over by the clumsy torturer of a man who clearly was a bit of a sadist, thankfully the man didn’t know how to use the tools at his disposal all too well, otherwise Alex would have been in a lot worse shape. Either that or it was a ruse to get him to think that way, giving a bit of hope in this dark hole only to take it away. Kind of like how a person would be thankful to only catch a bit of shrapnel after a bomb went off near them. Heavy footsteps landed on the stone floor outside the door and it was opened. Torch light framed a bulky man Alex had come to know as his torturer. Behind him, holding the door, a guard stood holding the door for him. The torturer was holding a small bag in his hands. The guard stepped in and lit two small wall sconces on the sides of the room. They knew Alex wouldn’t fight them, having been beaten and weakened; he wouldn't have had much of a chance anyway.

Soon the guard stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him, leaving the torturer and Alex alone. The large man looked down at Alex from behind his mask, and he could feel the man's sneer. They inhabited a space of awkward silence, Alex looking weakly defiant and this man gazing down at him from his position across the room. He placed the bag on the table near the door that had no use to Alex as he couldn’t reach it. Finally silence broke as the big man began to speak as he unzipped the bag.

"Mr. Byrne, I will say your time with us is coming to an end. I hope your accommodations were not too… rough." A dull laugh echoed out from behind the mask.

Alex scoffed at the man, again falling back to his defiance of the situation. His hatred for this man fueled him. "Well, I certainly wouldn't come back. Your room service is terrible, and I didn’t even get a mint on my pillow."

"Now, now Mr. Byrne, there is no need to be sarcastic. I take pride in my job and I'd like to take this time before you're sent to the main chamber to show you just how professional I can be." Alex couldn't make out everything that was being pulled from the bag in the dim sconce light but he did manage to make out the shape of a hammer and something that looked like tongs. "Sadly, I’ve been told not to be as thorough as possible, they can’t have you out there in pieces. You're off to meet the gods after all!" Alex studied the man thinking on his words. "While I understand you're making the attempt to be intimidating, speaking in riddles isn't the way to do it. Surely you know my name though I didn’t volunteer it, you must know my background. Besides I have nothing to tell you to begin with." Alex was right, he never told the man his name, nor did he have anything to tell them that would have been of consequence. His military service put him through similar situations so aside from the pain he wasn't going to break. He was simply being compliant biding his time and waiting to either die or be given an opportunity to get out.

The big man flustered at the causal way Alex brushed him off. He had to make an example of him. He knocked on the door to summon the guard once more. When the guard answered he motioned to Alex. "Secure him, standing up, I want his hand" The guard hurried over to Alex roughly forcing him up and against the wall. The torturer followed close behind grabbing Alex's left wrist and pinning his hand against the stone wall beside him. Alex struggled against their manhandling, weakly trying to keep them at bay but to no avail. Before he could fight much harder a jet of pain shot through him. The torturer had swung the small hammer and hit his pinky breaking the bone near his palm.

Alex cried out attempting to summon more strength but his body failed him. Then he saw the big man swing again breaking bones in his ring finger. Alex groaned fighting the urge to yell out gritting his teeth as his rage filled him. Adrenaline was blocking his ability to feel everything but not well enough to allow him to fight. He heard his middle fingers bone break flashes of red behind his eyes as his mind tried, vainly to block the pain. Every swing the torturer made bringing him to a new height of pain, a new level of anger. He was going to end this mans existence, he would find a way. His vision started to fade to a black darker than the shadows of this cave as the pain enveloped his mind. Just as suddenly he was snapped out of it to the sudden feeling of a release of pressure against him. Still wracked in pain he saw the guard slowly fall to the ground in shock and saw the torturer thrown hard against the wall to his side.

The space where the guard stood only a moment before was the small woman whom he'd met in his office a few days prior. She smoothed her coat out as if dusting it off and smiled that predatory smile at him. "It seems you found yourself in a spot of bother, little bird." Alex crumbled to the floor unable to stand any longer. "Now, now Alex." She cooed at him kneeling behind his broken body. "I'm not really the type to go for chains, let’s get you out of those." She disappeared from his sight and he heard the shuffling near where the torturer had landed. He heard her address the man as he groaned as he was starting to move again after being slung against a wall. "Don't move, my pet will have a word with you in a moment."

She stepped back in front of Alex, pressing a key into his right hand. "Unlock that shackle and get up. We're going to be leaving." Alex weakly did as he was told, he pushed himself up pain enveloping his left hand and arm; he rubbed his ankle and stood up slowly looking haggard and torn. The woman put her hand on the side of his face, her hand was soft and inviting as she once again cooed at him. "You poor, poor dear, don't worry little bird; you'll soon be able to stretch your wings once again. I'm bringing you some place to heal." The pleasant but short moment was cut even shorter by the groaning of the torturer as he was struggling to stand up. Alex's rage began to bubble up once more upon hearing him.

Without a word, Alex turned to the man in the dim light; he reached down finding the small hammer on the ground. It had a good heft to it. "This will do nicely." he thought to himself. Alex walked forward to the man; there was no protest from the woman as he walked to the torturer. Alex wouldn't have stopped anyway. Before the man could shout out in response Alex swung the hammer around and connected with the man’s temple with all of the strength he could muster. The only sound aside from the grunt from Alex was the sickening crunch of bone and wet sound of blood draining onto the stone floor from the now gaping wound in the man's skull. He wrenched the hammer free of the skull as the torturer slumped over in the corner dead on impact.

Alex turned back to the small woman who looked on in observation; their eyes met, and again came that predatory smirk. "Talons suit you well, little bird. We must leave now, gather yourself, we’ll talk of this more when we are safe." She turned and started out the door, Alex following along behind her, pain radiating through his body. He only needed to hold on a little longer, the torturer amounting to little more than another tally mark in his mind. The woman slowed her pace, pulling the hammer from Alex's hand; there was no resistance in taking it. She curled her arm around his as if they were lovebirds taking a stroll through the park. She spoke silently to him as they were nearing the large chamber Alex had seen earlier. "Now say nothing and walk with me, this will be of little concern to you my dear. Stay silent or they may notice us."

He looked at her and walked with her, limping along as she kept her pace with his, he felt a dull tingle at the back of his neck as they walked. They stopped long enough for her to retrieve a leather bag that sat near the door leading into the chamber. He dumbly followed her, confused as these cultists carried on never turning their attention to the mostly naked man and his tiny protector. Many of them talking of the ritual that was to take place soon and more than a few passing glances over the two as they walked. Alex was focusing himself on what was going on around him hoping to block the pain radiating now through his entire body. His vision started to fade slightly as his strength was waning all the more as the time passed.

They passed through the amphitheater towards the arch that sat in the middle for a moment Alex swore he saw a flicker of light as they walked. There were no shacks on this side of the cavern. There was small chamber ahead of them and what looked like sunlight in the distance, Alex had not seen this exit when he surveyed the cave earlier. He continued with her, as she urged him along silently, some time passed as they walked and he felt his chest tighten lightly as his strength finally was gone. He dropped to his knees whispering out only a meek "Forgive me." All went back to that familiar blackness.