Chapter Nine: The Lion's Den
It was dark and wet, and the cell stank of piss and decaying vermin. The tortured man was slumped over in his cell, shackled at the wrists and legs with heavy iron manacles. He tongued a tooth in his mouth, prying it loose and spitting it out in contempt. The monks had really done a number on him this time. Even now, alone, he felt their cold scalpels dance across his skin. A broken rib jabbed his lung. He coughed violently and tasted the salty iron tang of blood bubble in the back of his throat.
Authoritative footsteps echoed down the cold stone corridor. He didn't recognize them. The monks were always quiet and supernatural; this was someone with power and the ego to flaunt it. The steps stopped in front of his cell. There was a muffled conversation on the other side of the heavily bolted steel door. The man blinked hard and shook the numbing pain out of his head in an effort to stay focused and alert. He heard keys jingle and dig through the padlock. With a rusty wail the door swung open. Light from outside silhouetted the broad-shouldered man standing in the doorway.
The visitor paused for a moment and sniffed the air in disgust, then barked an order to the monk standing outside in a foreign tongue. The monk disappeared, and then the two men were left alone.
"Captain Rock Masterson, I presume?"
Oh crap, Rock thought to himself. How did he know? Even when the monks were drugging him, he wouldn't answer their questions; they didn't call him Rock for nothing, after all.
"And who might you be?" Rock asked through labored breaths.
"The man responsible for the death of your teammates," he said indifferently. "And your death too, in time."
Rock screamed in rage and leaped forward, straining against his chains to strangle his captor. In one fluid, effortless motion though, the regal man grabbed Rock by the neck and slammed him against the cell wall. He was a giant nearly two heads taller than Rock, with a mane of straightened black hair that fell over his shoulders and gave him the appearance of a dime novel barbarian. Murder gleamed in his slivered eyes. He dug his thick fingers into Rock's neck and smiled as Rock futilely struggled to maintain consciousness.
"I am the king of Xantari, you pathetic scum, and before you die you will tell me everything you know about your friend, the Sky Captain."
Stay tuned for Chapter Ten: Confessions