“One, two, skip a few, six, probably. Seven, including the corpse you dragged behind you.”

It appeared that in my panic I had accidentally grabbed a guard’s body and taken along for the ride. It did feel a little heavy when I was running.Thank god for desperate strength. “Is everyone alright? Specifically Lust. Is he ok? Does he need me to breathe into his lungs to carry away the diseased air?” Did I think that or say it? There seemed to be some serious side effects of being entranced.

Envy snickered and said “I got him. Doesn’t seem all that special to me”. Outrageous as that was, it was not the time or place.

“Envy.”, I asked in my nicest voice. “Is there any chance you have a plan to get out of here?” Another snicker came from behind me and a shadow stretched out. Suddenly, a big burly man stole my corpse from my hand and launched it at the window. It shattered into a thousand rainbow bits. Defiling a sanctum window …. We really aren’t demons, but… it was easy to see why they thought so.

Envy, without turning around, laughed and said “Time to jump, chicken.” That was a confusing order. Am I the chicken? Is bird boy the chicken? In the end I would have to go first anyways. Didn’t want to accidentally kill someone by looking the wrong way. Kicking away the shards of glass I stood on the ledge and looked down. The moat below could either help slow my fall or could conceal a rock that shatters my legs and drowns me. Luck, I swear if you betray me again, I will never gamble anything again,probably because I’d be dead.

Last time I bet with Teacher,I had lost a book.Not a terrible loss but still a reminder of Luck’s fiendishly fickle nature.

My thinking must have taken too long because Envy gave me a push out of the window. Was that a leap of faith jumping from a sanctum? It was an interesting thought as the water came rushing . I didn’t have time to react, instead crashing into the water before I could answer the question.

Luck smiled as I kicked up from the moat bed and slogged up to the shore bank. The sun seemed to cheer me on as it faded slowly from view. I heard a series of splashes following one another. I waited patiently. Then, bird boy landed right next to me. I may have been a little annoyed at his distinct non-wetness. I shook my hair back and forth to dry it a little. The fact that he got soaked was just an added bonus. My hair I always grew long so that I could tell what color it was. I wasn’t allowed to see my face but I could at least see my hair. A choice I was given.

My introspection came to an end when Envy started shouting orders. It was time to make camp. I thought we should probably try and put distance between us and our recently escaped prison but Envy said a search party could only get launched tomorrow with the casualties we inflicted. We slogged over to nearby woodline and trekked inwards until a cave opened up from the valley sides. Bird boy found it by flying above all of us and yelling repeatedly that he was “the best”.

As it turns out Wrath had brought salted meat and Lust decided to grab bread but neither decided to grab water which left conversation a bit dampened. Dry throats often lead to silence. Luckily I found a spring near the back of the cave and we drank from it eagerly. Next was starting to make a fire. I grabbed kindling from the tree’s nearby and Envy used flint to spark the flame. It caught quickly which according to Envy meant that a forest fire was due.Luck’s giggling gave me no comfort from that prospect.

We began to eat the salted meat and Envy started with introductions, which was strange considering we all knew who was who. It was better than the silence of a cell. It looked like he had turned into a man who was a little rounder in size. It was hard to tell by flame-lit shadows.

Lust started by passing around a card saying a few things. A little list of things like I’m mute not just shy and I am sorry about the enchantment. I secretly pocketed the note to smell later. I then contemplated shoving my head in the fire. Next Wrath spoke up though haltingly as for the majority of her life it was curse words only that passed her lips.

“I will protect Lust.” “I am Wrath.” “I am calm.”

That was deep poetic statements from a girl who could knock out bears. Pride followed in a flurry of boastful proclamations.

“I am Pride the only flying man and the glory of the world….”

I tuned him out again till he was nothing but a buzzing fly. His wings were extended according to the shadows. For all his annoying features, his wings were beautiful, little rings of brown and white. If only I could turn around and look at people without killing them. Life seems to have chosen otherwise.

Envy was last.

“Hiya folks I’m the shapeshifting assassin Envy. Call me whatever you like. To answer the inevitable questions,yes I can turn into basically anything alive that are near human sizes. No to dragons or trolls or anything massively tiny. I can’t fly as things even as things with wings. Bones are too heavy or something like that. Basically I can move my bones and skin and hair. I can only work with my body. Oh and I will not transform into people you know or knew. I am not a toy.”

I didn’t know that last part. I always assumed that she could be anything and would be ok with anything. A little crestfallen I asked about her huge muscles from before. Maybe they were secretly ripped.

They changed to the shadow of a huge hulking man in a couple seconds.

“You mean like this? I can grow muscles rapidly to support the bigger structure. I can change skin color and hair color. I can also grow hair anywhere and can make my skin harden into scales. Answer your question?”

Yeah …

I guess it was my turn. I turned to face inside the circle and kept my eyes on the ground. I spoke to them with thoughts swirling in my head. A hissing of voices over and over. Murderer. “ Death is who I am and my eyes live up to it. Everything dies that meets with my eyes. Once they see my eyes they see nothing more.” The last part I spoke softly, a hush broken only by crackle from the fire.

Even Envy seemed off put. The dark thoughts were because of the moon. The moonlight wasn’t here to protect me. I felt the panic rise up around me in the darkness. I mumbled something about needing air. I heard the darkness swirling around my head. Stumbling outside I bit my knuckles to calm myself a little. I had a rational part of my mind warning me against going out into the dark. The animal within me disagreed pushing me further into the forest.Slumping against a tree, my eyes shut, memories flooding in.

I saw the assassin I had killed except when I pulled off his helmet it was the face of my father. Then the slaughtered guards stood, blood dripping from their corpses, and their faces were that of the Stranger. You have become Death, they said pointing with fingers of bone, flesh rotting. I fumbled and felt a sharp rock by my side. I clutched at it and began tearing the skin from my wrist but could no longer feel the pain. The scabs ripped open, blood dripping onto the ground. The spectors felt no pity nor leniency, only one price could be paid. I felt someone touch my shoulder. My eyes closed and my body kept shaking, stomach roiling. I couldn’t stop, panic was in control. Whoever it was hugged me, holding me until I stopped moving. I fell asleep like that up against the tree being held in the arms.

When I woke up in the morning I was in the cave with the others. I looked at the wall first and whispered to see if anyone was awake.No responses meant I was probably up first. Not surprising considering I had gone to nightmare land early in the evening.Looking around while trying to avoid the heads of the sleepers came up with the same conclusion. Envy wasn’t anywhere to be seen. They were pretty easy to lose.

A walk to the entrance of the cave yielded no Envy so my thoughts began to think of food.. I could probably hunt for breakfast. I didn’t really know what a good meal would be. There were pictures of chickens in some of the books so I could probably identify one of them. Maybe a cow? Trial by error then. What’s the worst that could happen?

I went back and grabbed one of Lust’s notes and his quill. I scribbled quickly that I was going hunting before seeing his pale face peacefully sleeping. My fingers came close enough to touch his face but it felt sacrilegious to even risk awaking him. I didn’t stare long. If he woke up he would’ve died and that was an outcome I could not risk.

I went outside the cave and clambered along the side trying to get a better view. Bandages covered my wounds from last night. Wonder who did that? I was consumed in that thought as I climbed. Who was it that had held me. Lust? Maybe Envy? Didn’t seem like something they’d do.Did Wrath have a tender enough side for hugs?

I reached the top and saw the fortress looming in the distance. Freedom, eh? I didn’t feel very different or know what to do. A river wound through the forest and mountains stretched out on all sides. It looked like the fortress was built into one of the valley’s walls. I suddenly had hands covering my eyes. I swung wildly till I heard laughing. Envy.

“You should be more careful. You won’t last long in the real world if you don’t pay more attention to your surroundings.”

The hands slowly removed themselves from my eyes. I blinked and noticed the hands were furry and had claws.

“Let's go get some food. It’s best to hunt by the river.”

The thing clambered down before me. It had long limbs and was fully covered in hair. It was a unique creature. Whether it was real or was produced by Envy’s imagination was up to chance.

I followed the Envy thing to the river. Some boars were drinking at the water's edge. I think they heard me from all the noise I made coming through the forest. The Envy creature swung from branch to branch and had made no noise at all. The largest of them, the male judging by his tusks pawed the ground. He then promptly gave a grunt and charged. Not used to humans I must not have looked like much of a threat. Our eyes met and he fell, his gallant last charge thwarted by my death eyes. Sucks to be without death eyes I guess. Sucks to have death eyes as well, piggy. Envy grabbed it and dragged it back to camp.

The problem with game meat is that we had all lived in a cell for most of our lives and had no idea how to prepare it. Envy thought they had seen a butcher cut a goose’s head. He took on the appearance of a heavyset man. His stomach ballooned out to meet his previously loose pants. I gingerly handed over the knife. He began sawing away at the head. Blood began splattering everywhere as he sawed through the throat. That is when Wrath intervened.

“Lusts says he can do it. He grew up on a farm. They had pigs.”

Lust took the knife from Envy and motioned for Wrath to flip the boar on its back. He skillfully sliced through the hide of the stomach. He removed some other organs near the untouchables. He tugged near the neck and pulled out the windpipe, stomach and intestines. They steamed in the morning sun. It was fluid and natural with little wasted movement.

I was sent to get water. I had wanted to stay and watch Lust for a little longer but I wasn’t allowed. Considering I had never seen a glare, I was fairly certain that is what Envy was giving both me and Lust. Wrath was tending the fire. I grabbed a flask from the packs and filled it up at the back of the cave. The water was crystal clear. I had always gotten water with strawberry dye in it so that way I wouldn’t see my own reflection. I saw Pride still fast asleep. I kicked him to wake him up and hurried back to where Lust was. The entrails were now among the hooves. He had hacked away the bone there on all four legs and made long incisions along the legs. He was currently sliding the knife along the rib cage and separating the hide from the carcass. I left the water beside the remains of what I hoped was the boar’s lunch. Not appetizing. I went to use the handaxe and get some dead wood. Fire consumed way more wood than I thought. Somebody must have stayed up last night keeping the fire up. By the time I got back, everyone was watching the pig roasting over the fire. Someone had sharpened a branch and run it through the pig's mouth and out the other side. It was mesmerizing to watch the pig turn round and round. The smell of burning hair was less pleasant. Lust tapped my arm and handed me two pearly white tusks. I held them up to the light and enjoyed the feel of them in my hand. As I was enjoying looking at the present, Envy’s voice protruded.

“Alright folks, gather round,” Envy’s rotund face bellowed.

“We need to do a few things before deciding to scatter to the four corners of the earth”

“One, we need to go see a sorcerer to remove the tracking runes that we all have. Two, bird boy needs to scout the hold fast to see if any pursuit teams are coming. The rest of us should try and move camp tonight. While the runes are still working, we need to remain mobile. I know where the nearest village is but the sorcerer will take some finding.”

That proceeded to have Lust scribbling furiously, bird boy squawking in the background. Wrath was either pensive or silent as usual. I couldn’t tell because, as usual, I was facing the wall of the cave. I felt like a toddler put on time out. I raised my hand. I could almost hear Teacher lecturing me in the background. Envy didn’t miss that either. With, what I’m assuming is a grin, they responded “Yes, sport?” I had raised my hand out of spite but came up with a question anyways. “What will we do once the runes are nullified? Cause I know basically nothing about the outside world besides what I remember from when I was a kid.” Envy replied “Well we could split up and everyone does what they want. I personally am going to find the person who did this to me. They’ll die and then I’m going to kill the king and the prince and keep working my way down until all the mages are dead..”

Thinking about later or afterwards was a strange feeling. I sat for a few minutes while the others bickered about the specifics of not getting captured. I had never really had choices. What I’d do with them was probably screw up. Most of the choices of yesterday ended up with dead ends and/or guards. Revenge did sound nice. Would the Stranger even still be alive? He was pretty old the last time I saw him and I’m pretty sure wars don’t increase life expectancy. The kingdom seemed to be in perpetual war. I didn’t remember all the names they gave the wars but I went out seven times last year and twelve this year including the one from a few days ago. That’s a minimum of nineteen wars.

The decisions were made while I was figuring out how many wars I had participated in. Wrath became the assigned pig spinner while Envy and I were to scavenge for berries and other things we could find that looked edible. Pride was to go scouting and Lust was making a provisions list.