The man didn't look all that imposing to begin with. He was about the same height as Daniel, but a bit older and even thinner—though that last part was probably due to being malnourished. That did nothing to stop him from giving quite the struggle once he was strapped down! The bag over his face did nothing to muffle his screams, but he'd been impossible to gag, so there was no alternative there. Unfortunately for Daniel, he'd made a miscalculation because of all the distractions. The straps that were made to go across the wrists were loose, and no matter how he tried to hold the man and paint the damned lines at the same time, it was no use. In exasperation, he'd gone to get Alexander for assistance.
As if the lecture on the way back to the small room wasn't enough, the sight that greeted them once Alexander opened the door was even worse. The prisoner had escaped all but one of his straps, the obvious reason being the right wrist enclosure that was still buckled. He must have slipped that hand free and gotten to the rest! The bag over his head was sliced open by the ritual dagger, which the prisoner held in his hand currently. Daniel made to step forward, but he was stopped by Alexander's hand on his chest. "Not so fast, Daniel." Alexander chastised as the prisoner quickly undid the last strap, one on his ankle, and slid from the table. They watched as the terrified man backed himself into a corner, babbling nonsense and shouting profanity at the two men in the doorway. "Let me handle this one."
"It was my mistake, I'll handle him!" Daniel protested.
"A desperate man is the most dangerous kind of man. If you underestimate a man facing death, you're going to get…" Alexander let his voice drop off as Daniel raced past him. He sighed, crossing his arms and frowning deeply. He watched as the prisoner swung the dagger wildly, and Daniel stepped back or moved aside, though just barely each time. One miscalculation and the prisoner over swung, giving Daniel the chance to grasp his wrist, trying to pry the dagger out of his hands. The prisoner panicked, and he did the only thing he could. He threw the weight of his entire body into the Englishman, toppling the both of them to the ground. Alexander reached up to rub at the bridge of his nose as the two of them rolled around a bit, cursing and grasping like two dogs at each other's throats.
"Hnk!" Daniel's sudden exclamation forced Alexander to open his eyes again. Daniel had managed to end up underneath the prisoner, and they both clutched the dagger between them. A good few inches of the end of the dagger were buried into Daniel's side, blood already staining his shirt. The weapon was trembling with the force of the two men's powerful grips, now that both of them were fighting for their lives! Alexander's boots gave a hollow echo in the small stone room as he approached, casually lifting a small hatchet from one of the nearby tables. No sooner than the prisoner raised his terrified eyes than the hatchet would find itself buried into the side of the man's head. Hands went slack on the dagger, and Daniel gave a groan of pain.
The only thing that kept the body from falling forward onto his foolish little understudy was that the hatchet wedged tightly into its split skull. With a strong shove Alexander let go of the hatchet and it fell with the body to the ground just beside Daniel. Now that his vision was cleared, he could see there was no real danger. The dagger was long, but it couldn't have hit anything vital in that area. Daniel would be fine. "Pull it out, Daniel." He stated calmly, moving over place his foot onto the corpse's shoulder. Reaching down with his free hand, he grasped the end of the hatchet. Just as he jerked it free from the prisoner's head with a splatter of blood, Daniel slowly eased the dagger from his side. While the dagger clattered to the floor nosily, Alexander walked away. He set the hatched back onto the table, and only then did he turn around to lean back against it, his gaze falling back to the wounded Englishman.
"It hurts, ah, h-help…" Daniel moaned, turning onto his side and clutching at the wound. Blood bubbled up from his fingers, flowing over them in crimson rivers.
"Of course it hurts. You should have thought of that before you disobeyed my advice."
"I'm sorry—Oh God, it's bleeding so much… Alexander, please!" Daniel begged now, his voice a little panicked. His face was pale, long brown hair sticking to it with a thin layer of sweat. Alexander knew the pallor was from fear and pain, and not blood loss, so he remained unperturbed.
"I'm sure you are, since you didn't get the result you wanted." The Baron chastised again instead. Daniel shook his head, tears in his eyes as he tried to control his breathing to help with the pain. "You're stubborn and impatient. Tell me why I should bother saving your life if you're only going to ignore my words and get yourself killed?"
"Sorry… sorry…" Daniel's breath hitched, a few tears leaving clean streaks down his dirty face. There was a fine spatter of blood there from the prisoner, as well as the usual grime one seemed to acquire down here. Alexander was quiet for a moment, watching Daniel writhe in pain on that dirty floor. He sighed.
"I take no pleasurein seeing you like this, Daniel… But you have to learn your lesson. Now come here."
"I can't…!" Daniel protested. Alexander pushed off from the table without a word, heading for the door. Daniel's eyes widened and he reached one blood-smeared hand out towards the Baron. "N-no! No, wait! I-I'll come!" He gave a low whimper of pain, nearly a sob. To his relief Alexander stopped, turning back around and crossing his arms. The Englishman turned onto his stomach, clutching at his wound with his right hand. The blood had into soaked his shirt quite a bit, making the wound appear much graver than it was. Were Alexander not such a master at creating nonlethal wounds, he might have worried. Daniel only managed to drag himself about 12 inches with his left arm before he shuddered, coughing a bit.
"You're probably going to be…" The words hadn't even finished being spoken before Daniel turned to the side and retched, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the floor. He coughed a bit more, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, which only smeared his cheek with blood. "Come on now, only a few more feet." Alexander coaxed.
"I'm dizzy,"
"Yes, I know."
"I can't… please, Alexander…"
"So dramatic…" Alexander gave in a little, taking a few steps closer. Daniel reached out to grab his ankle, closing his left hand around it tightly. He as much as used it as a stone to pull himself closer as he rose to his knees. Alexander reached down, lifting Daniel's chin with two fingers and he bent over a little.
"Help me, I'm sorry, I won't do it again…!" Daniel begged, clutching at Alexander's pant leg now. The Baron smiled.
"Of course I'll help you, my foolish Daniel. What do you take me for, a monster? Now let's get you patched up, and then I'll remind you of why we follow my rules, yes?" Daniel nodded desperately, and Alexander smiled. "Good boy."