It's you I blame for all the shame
This anguish and this aching
The mirror turned against the wall
Myself despised, forsaken
_
Mozenrath's eyes shot open as he felt the change in their surroundings. "Aladdin!" he called out just before a firebomb shook the ground, sending the tents up in flames as the group hurried into the chaos.
The first thing he saw was his own mamlucks standing at the ready, their swords pointed at him viciously. His anger flared. "How dare you! I am your master!" his gathered his magic in threat and heard a cold, cruel laughter ring out.
"Not anymore Mozenrath. I have assumed…or shall I say, reassumed control of my lands." Destaine strode forward, the last vestiges of his undead self gone from his face. He looked as he had so many years ago. Older, but still a wizard to be contended with. The orb of power he had collected was hovering above his head, glowing fiercely. It no longer held the soft, pinkish glow but rather a violent, dark one that reflected it's owner. "And now the time has come to reassume control of you."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Mozenrath flung his powers out, connecting with the two mamlucks closest to him and sending them into piles of awkwardly twitching bones. "I'm not the same little boy you used to have authority over! And I'll be damned if I let you have it again!" he took aim and launched his magic through the chaos, Destaine blocking it just in time.
"Ahhh. So you do have something left, even without your accursed glove. So nice to know you kept in practice." Destaine gave a lewd grin. "Any other new trick's you'd care to show me?"
"How about this one!" Aladdin flew in overhead, having gotten a foothold on carpet while the antagonist was distracted. He grabbed hold of the man's flowing turban and jerked it undone, tying it instead around the man's face.
"Upstart brat!" Destaine snarled and fired at the carpet, catching the tassels aflame. "Kill the others! Bring me Mozenrath!" he ordered to the assembled mamlucks. The lumbered forward, spurred on by the obsessive will of their new master.
Aladdin landed besides Mozenrath, quickly putting out his friends fire and rolling him up onto his back. "We never had much trouble with the mamlucks when they were yours." He said offhanded to Mozenrath. "How much worse can they be when their Destaine's?"
Mozenrath nodded absently and hoped the hero was right. But he was worried. Last time Destaine had only been able to bring a few mamlucks across, and even then he'd had to pair them with something else in order to keep them stable. Now there were dozens surrounding them. How had he transported so many and managed to keep them together this long? Where we he getting magic from?
Destaine had righted himself and was now advancing with his new troops, flush with power. He raised his hands and the fire on the tents burned with rapacious intensity, blocking off any exit. "You won't escape me this time Mozenrath! We have much to discuss you and I!"
Mozenrath saw a flash of bright blue behind his old master and dedicated himself to keeping the man's attention focused on them. "What would you like to talk about? Perhaps how I defeated you and humiliated you? How I ruined your name in the world of sorcery?" he couldn't help but smirk a little. "Or how you begged me not to when I began to steal your life force away?"
Destaine's eye twitched, but he kept composure. "It used to be you who pleaded with me not to do so many things Mozenrath. Does your friend there know all the sweet games we used to play?"
Fear shot through him but he kept it down. Aladdin, for his part, didn't seem to note the inflection. "It doesn't matter what you did Destaine! You won't be doing it again!" he promised and swung his sword at the approaching mamluck, crashing it into the ribs. He grabbed hold of one of the tent sides and swung it up, trapping two more in the fabric and using his body to knock them into a tree. Mozenrath brought forth his charge of power and let it out in a wave, slamming four of the approaching mamlucks back into the lake.
Back to back they fought as more mamlucks came from out of the trees.
"Where is he getting them from?" Aladdin shouted over his shoulder.
"I don't know! He shouldn't be able to transport this many!" Mozenrath yelled back as his hands flared and he struck carefully. He couldn't afford to waste power in lavish displays. So instead he relied on knowing where to strike his own creatures. They were weakest at the joints, neck, knee, elbow, hips. A well timed, firm hit could crumble a mamluck. He noted that Aladdin had figured this out as well and had changed tactics.
"You underestimate me Mozenrath. You always have!" Another volley of magic flung itself between them and the sorcerer was separated from Aladdin by a climbing wall of flame.
"Mozenrath!" Aladdin shouted and turned, realizing that he would not be able to get through. But he held out as Genie appeared behind the wizard. He was still in basically the same shape, but instead one hand was now changed into a red chainsaw while the other held a double barrel shot gun. He was dressed in a jeans shirt with the arms torn off and a pair of dark khaki pants. The Genie winked at his friend and shouted out "This! Is my BOOMSTICK!"
The look of complete and utter confusion on Destaine's face was priceless as the Genie began firing off his "boomstick", taking out mamlucks as their heads went flying too and fro.
"Way to go Genie!" Aladdin cheered and noted that even Iago and Abu were doing their part. Swooping down among the chaos to grab the undead minions and swing their heads off. He turned and could see bursts of Mozenrath's power through the flame but nothing else. He would have to assume the sorcerer was doing alright for now. He headed into the fray, using his agility to dodge in between the attackers.
Mozenrath, for his part, was holding out rather well. His power wasn't anywhere near what he was used to, but he was standing in a pile of bones and mamluck pieces up to his calves and that satisfied him. If it had been even remotely possible for the undead creatures to feel pain, he might have gotten a bit more satisfaction out of the situation. But for now he was just going to have to save that for Destaine.
Another mamluck charged, bringing its sword down as Mozenrath slipped to one side and snapped his hand forward, delivering a precise measure of power to the spinal cord. The mamluck went down like a leaf in the wind. Mozenrath turned, looking to see if there were any more.
It galled him to see at least eight more mamlucks specifically focused on him. He began to retreat, already feeling as though his reserves were running dry. He could, after the battle perhaps, see if there were any vestiges of power left in the shambling corpses, but there wasn't time for that now. And as fond as he was of self-preservation, he had never been accused of being a coward. Besides, the fire was flanking him on three sides, giving him a choice of running either directly towards Destaine or into the approaching mamlucks.
So he chose the third option and reached up, grabbing ahold of a limb jutting out from a tree and hauling himself up. The mamlucks rushed in, waving their swords at him as he climbed out of the fire pit and back onto solid ground. He turned to see he had gained some distance and the mamlucks limited thinking capacity kept them from following suit.
There was a cracking sound like thunder and Mozenrath's eyes widened in surprise as a smoking mamluck head went flying past him. He turned and had to smile just a twitch at seeing Aladdin and company go to town on Destaine's forces. "Now you see what I have to put up with." He muttered under his breath.
Still this was turning out better than he could have hoped. If Aladdin's annoying heroic tendencies prevailed they might just be able to beat Destaine back. Of course it might be a little difficult to convince Aladdin that Destaine would need to be permanently exterminated…but then again he wasn't intending to ask permission.
A sound caught his attention and Mozenrath grimaced to see the mamlucks had figured out to walk around the fire. His magic flared and he prepared to fight again…
Aladdin swung his sword down and it was blocked by one of the undead, placing itself between Destaine and the hero. The mage laughed wickedly as his power slung forward and caught Aladdin in the chest, sending him reeling backwards until Genie caught him. Aladdin grit his teeth and start to rise only to realize that he was actually hurt!
"Al!" Genie looked down. The slice was not deep but you wouldn't have known from how much blood was coming out.
"I'm okay!" Aladdin insisted and got back up. "Just patch me for now." A zap later and he was bandaged around his chest. 'Come on! We can't let him escape."
"Does he look like he's trying to go anywhere?" Iago screamed, zooming in and landing against Aladdin's arms. "Destaine followed us for something, and I'm willing to bet the wizkid is it!"
"Okay, so how do we stop him?"
"You're askin me? How should I know?"
"I don't know! You always seem to know something!" Aladdin defended as they ducked behind an outcropping rock and tried to form a plan.
"Destaine is on a different level! How many sorcerers do you know who actually conquered a kingdom? Our current list is 2! The headless guy, and mister magic out there!" Iago pointed out with his usual crass observation. "None of the others even came close. I'm with Mozenrath. Give him back the gauntlet and see what he can do. It worked once, it might just work again!"
"No! We can't take that risk." Aladdin argued. "Besides we'd have to find him first and…"
"Wait a minuet…" Genie said suddenly. "Do you hear that?"
Everyone went silent and they realized there was nothing. No flashes of magical power. No sounds of encroaching mamluck groans. Nothing.
Cautiously Aladdin took the initiative and peeked over the rock. "Their…their gone." He said as the rest of the group came out. The campsite and much of the surrounding forest had been decimated into a war zone of burnt vegetation and mamlucks parts still hobbling around aimlessly. There was no sign of Destaine…
…or Mozenrath.
He was being carried limply by his arms between two of the undead as they were taking him somewhere. He couldn't raise enough to look and see where they were going without alerting them to his awareness.
The eight that had approached him straight on had been little more than a distraction for the one who got round behind him and delivered a forceful blow from the pommel of the sword into his head. He could feel a welt rising there, throbbing into his brain. There was likely a concussion if the nausea in his gut was any indication. But he held on. Staying limp and lifeless as he took in the details around him. Anything that might be useful.
Suddenly the forest floor changed to old stone roads and Mozenrath risked raising his head enough to peek. He could see the towers of an old, dilapidated fortress ahead. Obviously Destaine had set himself up there. He could see a light through the gates and knew his old master was there waiting for him.
Enough of this. He grit his teeth and twisted, firing off a bolt of glaring energy and getting to his feet. He was woozy and off balance, but he took off as fast as he could, jackknifing between the trees to gain distance. He didn't care where he was headed. Anything would be better than…
He felt the power before the light encroached on him, encasing his body and slamming him to the ground. "No!" he shouted and fought against it, struggling with everything he had, clawing at the ground as it began to drag him back.
"Oh yes." Destaine whispered, pulling Mozenrath towards him until the younger man was on his stomach before his old masters boots. "My sweet little pupil…welcome back."
"What happened? When did we lose him?" Aladdin said, searching through the wreckage.
"I don't know Al. he must have gotten captured at some point during the battle." Genie said.
Aladdin chewed his lower lip. He couldn't put his finger on it but he had a gut twistingly bad feeling about this. "Iago was right. He came here just to capture Mozenrath. We shouldn't have let this happen."
"Who says? Destaine got what he wanted and now he'll leave us alone. I say let him have the kid and cut our losses." Iago commented heartlessly.
"No. We promised to help save him if we could. We can't just leave him." Aladdin said firmly. "Besides…" he added on a practical note. "Whatever he wants Mozenrath for, I doubt it will be good for Agrabah. Who knows what he'd be capable of if he convinced Mozenrath to tell him everything he's learned in the past years."
"Yeah but we don't know where they took him. They could be all the way back to the Citadel by now." Genie pointed out.
"Then we need to start searching. "If they took him off it wouldn't have been without a fight." Aladdin said. "Look for signs of a struggle."
It was hours, nearly dawn before there was enough light to see where two sets of foot prints had dragged someone away through the dirt. "There. We need to go fast."
"We can't." Genie said, pointing to the rug. "Carpet got burned bad and it's going to take time for me to fix him." He unrolled their friend, showing where the single marks had torn into the fabric.
"Alright. You guys stay here and help carpet. I'll go after Mozenrath." He lifted the lamp. "I'll take this in case I need extra help. But it might be easier to get him out of there without causing a big ruckas."
"I'll keep an ear out for ya buddy!" Genie said light heartedly as he poofed the surroundings into an mechanics shop and began working on Carpet.
"Ahh, my dear student." Destaine said, twirling one of the ebony curls between his thumb and forefinger. He had always loved the long, gently curling tresses. "You've learned so much since we last saw one another. I have to admit I'm impressed with how far you've come." He let the tips of his fingers touches down the fine cheekbones and onto the jaw. Mozenrath's nostrils flared but he did not belittle himself by struggling against it. He stared Destaine down, the fury in his cold black eyes desperately trying to mask a terror only the old wizard would ever fully know.
"Well you know how I always hated to disappoint you." Mozenrath said smoothly as he was touched. "You were such an exacting teacher."
"I may have taught you everything you know, but I have yet to teach you everything I know. Destaine gave him a ruthless kick and turned his magic on the young sorcerer. "Still, you shame me Mozenrath. You really let yourself go." he touched the bandages as though fondling silk.
Mozenrath winced at the kick but strained to remain emotionless. "Well these things do happen. Being a sorcerer and all makes you prone to damaging magical acts." He kept himself tightly controlled, determined not to flinch as those fingers touched under his chin with calculated cruelty. "You'd know the most about that wouldn't you."
"Still such an impudent…little…shit!" Destaine hissed out the last syllables as he slapped Mozenrath with the back of his hand. "One might have hoped you'd learn manners by now."
"Yes because you were always so polite." Mozenrath sneered and his head spun as he was cracked back against the wall.
Destaine gave a dry chuckle, his hand stroking down to the throat. Mozenrath jerked back as the fingers began to tighten, his masters hand horribly strong. It was becoming difficult to breath and Destaine's face seemed consumed in watching Mozenrath begin to struggle against the attentions. Harder and harder he kept the pressure on until he heard a satisfying choking noise.
"Beg me you little fool!" he snarled, grabbing down hard. "Beg me to be merciful and perhaps you'll be surprised!"
Mozenrath felt his lungs ache for air as he struggled to breath. "I…I will never beg. Not to anyone. And never again to you!" he spat in his former masters face and considered it well worth it even when a fist landed upside his head. It was followed with a callous backhand and another as Mozenrath coughed, blood tricking down his chin.
To Destaine' surprise he heard a cold, gasping laughter. "You find this amusing Mozenrath?"
The young necromancer forced himself to smile. "Oh infinitely so. It's pathetic really. An old man trying so hard to recapture his glory. But no matter what you do to me Destaine you can't erase one simple fact." Mozenrath let his smile widen until he resembled a wolf about to pounce. "I won. I took everything from you once. I overpowered you and turned you into the laughing stock of the seven deserts. Your own young pup of a student beating you!" Mozenrath laughed even though it hurt in his lungs to do so. "You would have been humiliated if you'd have had a brain left to comprehend it." He knew he was asking for it, but he just could not let himself go without twisting the knife in deeper. "No matter what you do to me now, you cannot erase that fact."
The man's nose twitched with fury for a moment, but it was all the more terrifying when this subsided into a cold, cruel smile. "Perhaps not young Mozenrath." He said and lifted his orb into the air, letting the energy swarm from it around Mozenrath's lean frame. "But I've never been one to let a theory go untested."
He could feel something being drained from him with painful inflection. A hollowness was growing within his body. A horrible, withering lack of something. Mozenrath held out until he passed into the comforting blackness, refusing to let Destaine hear him scream.
This is becoming dire. We can not permit this to happen.
What choice is there? He has endured before. And so he shall again.
But it is cruel! It is horrible. How can we stomach it and do nothing?
We have not done nothing. Be patient but a while longer. Aladdin is on his way and he has yet to fail us.
But he is not quick enough! Much longer and Destaine shall…
If it comes to that then so be it. We are here to save his life. All else is secondary.
*gasp* For a being of the light you are a cruel thing.
Call it cruelty…if you must. And perhaps there is merit in your judgments. But even cruelty can have a purpose.
As you say. But we must do something. They are running out of time.
So be it. We shall send the blind man again. He has done much good to them before. Perhaps he can help.
Aladdin knelt close to the ground and picked up the dirty shred of bandage. He smiled, at least he knew he was headed in the right direction. He had a good bet where he was headed. Off in the distance he could see an old castle, probably fallen to ruin. It seemed a likely place for Destaine to have taken Mozenrath.
He headed through the forest cautiously. There could be mamlucks anywhere along the trail, guarding against him. He was partially glad he'd left Genie and the others behind. Sneaking was a lot easier without a big blue djinn and obnoxiously loud parrot. He was making good time. If he hurried he would be there by noon, though he would have to wait until nightfall if he wanted to go undetected.
The thought didn't please him. Not that he was afraid of Destaine, but he had no doubt that whatever the old sorcerer wanted with his pupil, it wasn't something one should have to endure a moment longer than necessary. And Aladdin had no intention of leaving Mozenrath in the man's clutches longer than he had to.
But he still had to be cautious. He didn't stand a chance against the man on his own. And if he wanted to get Mozenrath out without rousing Destaine' attentions he couldn't risk calling Genie in.
When he got close enough to the outer walls of the fortress, Aladdin headed off the beaten path and around to the side. There hadn't been many supplies left after the attack but he'd managed to find a rope and some other items that might be useful. He walked around one of the towers and made a noose in the rope, spinning it around and tossing it up until he caught it on one of the outcropping rocks. He began to make his way up. If he was lucky, Destaine wouldn't have the area fully patrolled yet. He could secure himself up in the tower and keep an eye out to see if he could figure out where he'd put Mozenrath. It would make it easier later on.
He was wrong, there was one mamluck in the tower. But even without a sword he dispatched it quietly, cracking the thing apart with one hard slam into the wall. He couldn't risk tossing it out of the window for someone to raise the alarm about so he took a sack and tossed the fidgeting mamluck parts inside. Aladdin peered out of the doorway into the courtyard.
The fortress was not large. There was one other tower off to the west and a central building that looked as though it had once been a court. He could see lights flickering in the window and placed money on Destaine being in there. But the question of the moment was if Mozenrath was in there too.
Aladdin hesitated. If he got any closer he would risk getting seen. It would just have to wait till dark. He kept watch closely, trying to discern any hints that the sorcerer might be in any of the buildings. He began to wonder if he'd come to the wrong place when at dusk, the door to the central building opened, and Destaine walked out. The wizard straightened his robes, looking to be in a good mood, and crossed the courtyard, heading for one of the other towers.
Aladdin waited patiently until everything went quiet and then slowly began sneaking down over the walls. He crept from roof top to roof top, being careful not to dislodge the shingles. As he approached the main hall he peeked around. It was likely that Mozenrath had been hurt, so they needed a safe route out of there. He gauged the distance between the doors to the main hall and the gate and frowned. Plenty of mamlucks over a large distance. He wondered if he could get Mozenrath up and out of the roof the way he'd gotten in. Probably not.
He sighed. Ah well. Back to improvising. He looked around until he found a series of shingles loose and pried them back one at a time, eyeing the drop to the floor. He made it down and ducked behind a wall to avoid a mamluck patrol. He stopped, then pressed his ear to the wall. From the other side he could hear a very soft moan.
Ten dinar says that's him. Aladdin risked look down the hall and saw the way was clear. He was not surprised to find that the door was locked and pulled out his pick set. It was not terribly complex. Destaine likely had done nothing to change it. It took him only minutes to get through and open the door into the dimly lit room.
"Mozenrath?" he whispered quietly. Nothing responded and he went inside, closing the door behind him. "Moze are you…?" he could see a shape chained to the wall, hanging there limply. He approached cautiously, aware that this could be a trap. "Moze if that's you come on and say…something."
For a moment he couldn't breathe. He couldn't even talk. It was Mozenrath alright. There was no mistaking that skeletal deformity. But Aladdin felt his stomach churn at the sight. "What…did he do to you?" he whispered as he took off his cloak and covered the unconscious man's vulnerability. The cloak quickly gained large dark spots as it soaked up the blood. Mozenrath gave a sharp groan of pain but did not rouse. "Oh geez…" Aladdin grimaced as he reached to undo the manacles keeping Mozenrath to the wall. He reached out his arms and caught him as he fell forward, cradling the sorcerer gently in the darkness.
In only a few moments, so much was made uncomfortably clear to him. The state Mozenrath had been left in, and the stains left on him. It was so wrenchingly wrong. Aladdin grit his teeth and felt a rage he was unfamiliar with rise up in his throat like bile. Son of a bitch. Aladdin closed his eyes and covered Mozenrath as best he could, being terribly careful with where he touched. He purposefully diverted his mind to how to get them both out safely.
It's my fault. I should have gotten here sooner. Maybe if I had he wouldn't have time to… But there wasn't time to think on that now. They had to leave. There was no telling when Destaine would return.
Going out the front door was not an option. And he wasn't strong enough to carry Mozenrath up the rope like this. He wouldn't be able to get him out safely while he was unconscious. He shook the sorcerer gently. "Moze come on. Come on you need to wake up." He whispered hurriedly. "Come on!"
The sorcerer groaned and his eyes fluttered. Slowly his head rolled and he opened his eyes.
This isn't good. Aladdin thought. Mozenrath's eyes were hazy and unfocused. He could feel a large knot on the back of the man's head. If he had a concussion then being unconscious was the worst thing. He brace himself and slapped Mozenrath's cheek firmly. "Moze wake up!" He ordered and the eyes went wide, trying to focus on him. "Can you walk?"
Mozenrath smacked his lips as though they were dry and seem to realize who was supporting his beaten frame. A flash of shame overcame his bruised face and he refused to look Aladdin in the eyes as they started to stand up. He shook his head in answer.
"Well you're going to have to try." Aladdin insisted, standing and pulling Mozenrath with him. He managed to get the man on his feet, supporting him as best he could. "Come on." He pushed the door open, checking the hallway and pulling him back down the hall to the rope. "Look Moze…I know you're in pain, but Destaine could be back any minuet. You have got to climb the rope so we can get out of here."
Mozenrath took several deep breaths and nodded. He stood up as best he could and retied the cloak around his lower half. He winced as he grabbed hold of the rope and hitched up his legs, making progress as Aladdin kept a look out. He had to stop twice along the way, feeling the strength of his body start to give, but he looked at the hole in the roof and kept going. He was too close now to fail.
Aladdin came up after him within minuets as Mozenrath took a moment to catch his breath. The hero checked him visually, fully aware that the sorcerer would not want to be touched. He could see much better in the moonlight than he wanted to. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of cuts, each deep enough to still be bleeding. Lashes marked across his back and the fleshed parts of his stomach. And the disturbing pattern of human teeth all over his body, the bruising laid out in blotches of purple and blue.
And the dried whiteness clinging to the back of his thighs…
He looked away as Mozenrath's head lifted to catch his eyes and he knew the sorcerer was watching him hatefully. "Come on." Was all he said as they made it safely to the tower.
"More ropes?" Mozenrath managed as he saw the way out.
"Unless you've got a better idea." Aladdin said and the sorcerer shrugged as though it was no concern of his. It surprised the both that they made it off into the forest without being caught, and even more as they began to near the campsite. There was no time to ask any questions or discuss anything. Carpet had been repaired and with no supplies left to pack up they boarded and took off, heading anywhere they could to get far away before Destaine realized his prize was missing.
They headed off across the ocean, not stopping until they reached the far sandy shores on the other side. "There." Aladdin said as they landed. "That should put some distance between us." He turned and saw Mozenrath gingerly trying to step off the carpet without help. He held out his hand instinctively, but the sorcerer refused to even acknowledge him. He would rather fall on his own face than let himself be helped any further. "Okay." Aladdin nodded. "Let's see if we can scout out some food. We need to figure out what we're doing from here and…"
A scream brought everyone's attention around as Mozenrath collapsed, his skin beginning to bubble. Steam rose from his stomach and hips. It was taking more now, the blight spreading quickly as blood turned the sands dark.
Does he never catch a break? Aladdin wondered grimly. "Genie! I need towels! Find me some cold water!" It had caught him off guard the first time it happened. But knowing what he knew now, Aladdin had no intention of standing by and doing nothing. He didn't let Mozenrath shove him away, not that the man could do more than coil and scream as the pain took him over entirely. When Genie brought towels and ice cold water he dunked the towels in generously and began wrapping them around Mozenrath's boiling flesh.
Mozenrath gave out a strange kneeling noise as moaned as a wave of relief passed over his face. He stopped moving, laying still as Aladdin continued to apply the cold cloths as the disturbing cleaning of flesh from bone continued. It was a filthy business. Covering them both in sand and mud and blood and congealed flesh. The smell was worse but Aladdin said nothing. He just kept about the work, feeling assured that it was doing something just by the fact that Mozenrath was no longer screaming. He was still in pain, his eyes closed as he cringed and dealt with it as best he could.
When it was all over Mozenrath sat up slowly and carefully began to remove the cloths.
"Maybe you shouldn't…" Aladdin started, but it was no use.
Anyone else might have broken down then and there. Any man with a heart still left might have wept or lost all hope. There was a horrible moment in which Aladdin was afraid Mozenrath might do both. But it never came. Mozenrath stared down at his hips, thigh and knee, the flesh entirely torn from them. He gulped and his face scrunched for a moment as he willed himself under control. "I…" he took a breath, his voice sounding like a frightened child's. He tried again. "I need…clothes." He said shakily as he thumbed the cloak that had been covering him. "Please just get me clothes."
Aladdin looked up at the genie who obligingly poofed Mozenrath into his traditional attire. Out of a sincere willingness to provide some shred of comfort, Aladdin reached out a hand to Mozenrath shoulder.
Mozenrath jerked to his feet. "Don't." he said in a voice full of forced strength. "Just…don't." he ordered and walked away from the group.
*a dark growl* He escaped! We practically gave the little fool to him and he let him escape!
Patience! He did well with the time he was given. Look! The boy is in shambles. His pride is broken.
It's torn, but he hardly seems broken to me. Look at him! He should be crouched in a fetal position whimpering like a child by now! He should have given up all hope!
I blame the street rat. He's providing far too much support for my comfort. Perhaps if he could be removed from the table…
Good luck with that. Better than us has tried to remove him from the game and he's persisted. No. Better to focus our efforts on eliminating the sorcerer.
Take some comfort from this. The blight is progressing quicker now. And they are out of options.
That's always when something happens. It's annoying the tropes these heroic types have stacked in their favor.
When was the last time Mozenrath was counted as a hero?
