“Mulch, milady.”
“You mulched my son?”
“Well, he won’t be mulched yet, milady. Composting isn’t a quick process. I can fetch him out from the pile if you like, but milord won’t be happy. He was quite specific as to the dispensing of the body.”
“I don’t care what my stupid husband thinks; he married into the family. This is my manor, my family, and we do things the traditional way. Goodness knows what poor Landemere will taste like after having gone in the mulch pile.”
“I’ll give him a good and proper wash before I bring him into the kitchen, milady.”
“Thank you, Dougall. Excellent work, as always. Now, do we know where this man came from?”
“No idea, milady. As you said, he’s too weak to be an adventurer and he wasn’t exactly well-equipped. He did have a good knife, though. Not sure if he took it from the young master, so I put it with the gear we took off these others.”
“You don’t think he’s with them?”
“I wouldn’t think so, milady. He wasn’t up to much.”
“Did he say anything?”
“I think he might have been about to, milady, but that was when he walked into me shovel.”
“Why did you take his shirt?”
“He didn’t have one, milady. Didn’t have the chance to ask why, on account of his walking into me shovel again. Do you want me to send him to the kitchen as well?”
“No. If he really did kill my son, I don’t want him trotting off to death with his soul intact. Put him with the others for the blood feast.”
“Yes milady, although that will be one too many.”
“I don’t think the extra blood will be a problem.”
“I was thinking about the high priest, milady. You know how he gets.”
“Yes, quite right, Dougall. Very well. Pick out one of the others you like, and keep it for yourself.”
“Very generous, milady. I’ll take the elf, if milady had no objections.”
“Are you sure, Dougall? Elves are quite stringy.”
“Derrick was keen to try one, milady. I warned him, of course, but you know how young ones are.”
“Oh, yes,” she said. “They never believe you until they suffer the consequences for themselves. Just look where it got Landemere, and my daughter isn’t much better. If it wasn’t for the cult, I swear I never would have had children. Go fetch my idiot son’s body before you take the elf. I don’t want him picking up any more flavour than he already has.”
“Of course, milady.”
The pair left and Jason let out a long breath. He didn’t know who those people were, but he heard enough to know that he wanted the hell out. He manoeuvred about for leverage and tried to force the door with his legs, but it wouldn’t budge no matter how much strength he put into it.
“That’s not going to work,” the black guy told him.
“Have you got a name?” Jason asked. “I’m Jason, and just thinking of you as the black guy is making me feel uncomfortable.”
“Rufus,” the man responded.
“G’day,” Jason said. “If you’ve got a better idea, I’m all ears.”
“Afraid not,” Rufus said. “Unless you’ve got some spirit coins tucked into those pants, you won’t get it open that way.”
“Spirit coins?” Jason asked. “Sure, I’ve got some, but how will that help? I don’t think these cages are coin operated.”
“This guy’s an idiot,” one of the women said.
“Not helping,” Rufus said through gritted teeth. “Jason, you don’t happen to have a silver or gold ranked coin, do you?”
“Hang on a sec,” Jason said, checking his inventory. There were sixteen silver coins and four gold ones, all looted from Landemere Vane’s body. He took out one of the silver ones.
Item: [Silver Spirit Coin] (silver rank, common)
A distilled quantity of raw magic. (crafting material, currency).
Effect: Used to fuel silver-rank magic items or as a ritual component.
Effect: Consume to briefly increase all attributes to silver rank.
“Oh,” Jason said. He had previously examined the lesser spirit coins, which didn’t have an option to increase attributes. He tried to remember if there was a strength attribute.
“So, I consume this to increase my attributes?” Jason said. “Consume, as in, eat?”
“Yes, Jason, it’s very easy,” Rufus said. “You just put the coin in your mouth. Once you do, you’ll only have a few moments to force open the cage.”
“So these attributes,” Jason said. “I assume one of them is strength?”
“The power attribute increases strength,” Rufus said. “The coin will increase them all, but only for a very short time.”
Jason placed the coin uncertainly on his tongue, where it dissolved like a soluble tablet. His body was immediately flooded with a tingling sensation and he felt an immense sense of power. His senses were sharpened. Eyes, already able to see through the dark, suddenly took in everything as if seeing it for the first time. His ears picked up ambient sounds he had previously missed. He could taste the blood, sweat and dirt on the air. It only lasted a fleeting moment before the world went back to normal, suddenly seeming dull and plain.
“Uh, Jason?” Rufus asked.
“Yes, Rufus?”
“Did you use the coin?”
“I did, yes.”
“I don’t want to pressure you, but did you, perchance, forget to open the cage?”
“Sorry,” Jason said. “I got distracted.”
“This is who you’re relying on to save us?” the woman’s voice spoke up again.
“Still not helping, Anisa,” Rufus told her.
Jason took out a second silver-ranked coin and put it in his mouth. This time, as the sensation of power came over him, he placed his feet against the cage door, easily bracing himself in the tight confines. His feet pushed out with the temporary surge of strength, the hinges on the cage door warping. He pushed harder and the door fell away just as the strength drained out of him again.
He crawled out of the cage and stood up. Waves of dizziness washed over him and he gripped the cage to stay upright. His body felt weak, even more than it had when he woke up.
“Are there side effects to those coins?” Jason asked.
“You used a coin with more power than your body could handle,” Rufus said. “It will recover. A little more slowly, though, since you used two of them in quick succession.”
Jason looked over at the other cages, and a screen popped up.
New Quest: [Escape!]
You have been trapped in the cellar of the blood cult and you need to get away.
Objective: Leave the grounds of Vane Estate without being caught 0/1.
Reward: Essence.
Optional objective: Rescue your fellow prisoners 0/4.
Reward: Awakening stone.
“Good job,” Rufus said. “Now you need to find something to get the rest of us out. Giving us some silver coins would work, if you have more. That won’t be enough for Gary’s cage, though. You shouldn’t use more coins yourself until you’ve recovered.”
Jason pulled out the big key ring.
“I’m hoping this does the job,” he said. “Couldn’t reach the lock from inside the cage.”
“Even better,” Rufus said. “I’d rather not have to fight our way out of here suffering the after-effects of using a coin.”
Rufus pointing to the large, hairy man in the oversized cage.
“Him first,” Rufus said.
Jason went over to the big cage, getting a better look at its occupant. His body was the size and shape of a professional wrestler and the parts not covered by his clothes were covered in fur. His head looked like a lion, complete with a glorious mane.
“So, you’re Gary?” Jason asked. He crouched down and started trying keys on the lock.