It was another day before they returned me to my cell with Jurgen. The memories had done more than just bring back heartache. They had reminded me who I truly was. I was not Drakkus the sickly prince trying to survive. I was lord Aristotle, a man once feared for his strength and cruelty. It was one thing to adapt to my new reality, and another to allow it to reshape who I was. They may have shackled me. But the question remains: how do you capture an incarnation of war? The answer is that you don't, you pray to any god willing to listen for salvation. And in this scenario, I was war, and I was extremely angry. Every single part of me demanded bloody vengeance. But I did not just want to kill them, no, that would be too easy. I want their last moments to be consumed by pain and marked by primordial fear.
Raising my head in the darkness, I looked towards the Jotun. "Jurgen, if I set you free, will you stand by my side?" I could hardly contain the wrath in my voice, nor the madness in my eyes.
"What are you on about? Drakkus, what's going on?" The giant was clearly confused by my question.
"If I break your inhibitor, will you fight?" I practically growled my response, the anger building in momentum.
"Yes, friend. I will fight." Jurgen responded with a tired sigh.
Getting up to my feet with unsteady steps, I walked to where he sat in the corner. "When I break the inhibitor, you have to quickly break my own, or I will die." I did not wait for his response as I controlled my prana to move. This was the most prana I had ever controlled in this life. It all surged into my bones and muscles, giving me borrowed strength.
My hands clasped against the metal collar on his neck. I began pulling with impossible force. The metal began to screech in protest as it began to bend. More, I need more. With madness glowing in my eyes, I drew in more prana as I finally broke the shackle. Releasing the stored energy in my body came at a significant cost, however. I could physically feel as my disease began to devour my body. Falling to my knees, I spat blood. My breath came in ragged gasps as pain consumed me. Have you ever felt your body canabilize itself? I have experienced many things in my two lives, but this was by far the worst.
Jurgen moved quickly. His hands grabbed my collar, and it began to frost over while he poured more and more mana into the inhibitor. Until it became brittle like glass. Shattering in his hands. The return of mana and aura to my system was both euphoric and extremely disorientating when mixed with the drawbacks of my disease. My regeneration fought against the fire in my chest. Had turned from an ember to a blazing bonfire. I felt something shift inside of me. As if I had gone through a fundamental change. For a second, all I could see was the white flame that caused me end. It was everywhere, all-encompassing, and all-consuming. But just as quickly as it appeared, so too did it vanish without a trace. Yet it was undeniably something within me that had changed; what could it be? I had no idea.
I did not know how long I had been incapacitated. All I knew was that now that I was free, there was hell to pay. It was time that I showed this world exactly why I was feared. Jurgen stood menacingly to the side. He wore clawed gauntlets forged of ice. Even malnourished, the giant looked like a force of nature. "Let us show them retribution." My voice had taken on an inhuman taint. Something inside me had fundamentally changed. I felt boundless strength hidden inside my source. So close I could almost taste it, yet always out of reach. Jurgen growled in response. The madness in his eyes mirroring my own.
Jurgen kicked down the door. A loud bang reverberated through the slave camp. Disgruntled shouts and curses came from the various tents. But my focus was on the full moon that would bear witness to the slaughter that was about to unfold.
"What the hell is with the noise!?" A bandit asked, exiting his tent, still wiping the sleep from his eyes. He stopped completely when he noticed Jurgen and me staring at him. "Oh shit!..." Was the last thing he said before a bolt of ice pierced through his skull. I gave my partner in crime an appraising look before shrugging and looking for my next victim.
Lightning bolt burnt a bandit to cinders. It was not enough to kill him as he was still alive. Although not for long, every second was agony for the bandit as he died slowly. Picking up the spear by his side. I spun around and threw it directly into the chest of another bandit. Blood gurgled from his mouth as he fell to his knees. Blood drinker and aura infusion gave me more power than I knew what to do with. Another bandit charged at me with a sword and shield. Blink brought me next to him. I grabbed his head and crushed it under my palm. Blood, bone, and brain matter fell to the floor. The hunger of the blood drinker demanded more, and I was inclined to listen.
While I was a picture of brutality. Jurgen was more of a force of nature. Shards of ice and snow devoured all in his way. The more I observed him, the less I understood. He displayed too many different variations of his ice. From the gauntlets on his hands to the magic he used. There was no way that these were mere skills. They were far too versatile. Three bandits charged me, weapons held at the ready. An idea formed in my mind. I focused on my elemental connection with lightning. Mostly following the feel of a lightning bolt. Lightning crackled around me as the smell of ozone rose in the air. Holding my hand out, I released the pent-up lightning. Instead of just striking one, the lightning jumped between the three.
It was very difficult to manipulate the element without the guidance of a skill, but the end result was shocking. A single strike incapacitated three bandits. The possibilities were endless. A familiar voice cursed somewhere behind me. Turning in its direction, a manic grin split my face as I gazed upon Petey. When our eyes met, I saw only fear. Blink brought me infront of him, my clawed hand stabbed into his chest and ripped out his still beating heart. He choked on his own blood as the life left his eyes.
A small sense of satisfaction was drowned by worry. I saw Magnus and Bjorn still hanging on the logs. They were hardly breathing. Within moments, I was by their sides. The only one still cognizant was Magnus. Relief washed over his eyes when he saw me cutting his brother loose. Luckily, they were not wearing any inhibitors. Mostlikely their strategy with humans was to keep them too injured to resist. When I cut Magnus loose, I was about to speak, but he shoved me aside, releasing a blade of air behind my back. A pained scream came from the direction where the blade went.
Turning towards Jurgen, I yelled. "We need to leave! Now!!" The giant looked confused when he turned towards me. But seeing the seemingly never-ending supply of bandits and my wounded comrades, he nodded in reply. The other slaves we had freed along the way were already in a frenzied melee with the bandits. Giving us a chance to slip away in the chaos. I carried Magnus while Jurgen carried Bjorn. And in the dead of the night, we made our escape.