"Wh-who are you?" Doderick asked, his eyes wide, still in disbelief. "How'd you do that?"

  Kaiden gave a satisfied smile. "I didn’t know if it would work, but let’s just say it’s an ability of mine." He lowered his voice and added, "Let's not talk too loudly."

  "Incredible," Doderick muttered, nodding as he clenched his fists at his sides in what looked like a triumphant pose. Kaiden could visibly see the way his muscles tensed, the veins in his forearms pushing against his skin. A physical enhancement ability, then, Kaiden thought. Whether it was a title, class, or something else entirely, it was clear that Doderick's magic leaned toward the physical.

  Kaiden frowned, his eyes flicking back to the collar still locked around the man’s neck. "Why’s the collar still closed though?"

  Doderick snapped out of his amazement. "The locking mechanism isn’t magical. Needs a key."

  Kaiden’s frown deepened. "Could you break out of your chains and the collar without it?"

  Doderick lifted the chains in his hands, testing their strength with a few experimental squeezes before doing the same to the collar. His brow furrowed as he pushed his muscles to their limit, but then he shook his head. "I might be able to break the links," he admitted, "but the actual shackles and collar are just too strong, even with my abilities back."

  Kaiden exhaled slowly. "Then we’ll just have to get a key."

  Doderick gave him a long, searching look before asking, "Do you think you can do this again? For someone else?"

  Kaiden hesitated, weighing his words carefully. "I’m pretty sure I can," he said at last, "but I won’t know until I try."

  That was only part of the truth. Ability-wise, he knew he could do it, but the real issue was the possibility of locked runes. If none of the other collars had locked runes, he’d be able to free everyone without a problem. If there were, however then that’d change things. He wasn’t even sure what a locked rune really was or how to identify one. He didn’t bother trying to explain any of that to Doderick because that would open up too many questions—questions Kaiden wasn’t ready to answer. He’d need to keep many secrets about Spell Scribes for now.

  Being a Spell Scribe was going to be a pain in the ass.

  It had been one day since he’d become one, and he’d already been kidnapped. His blood boiled at the thought.

  But now, an opportunity presented itself.

  If he could free everyone here, they might have a chance to overtake the island and escape.

  A plan started to form in Kaiden’s mind.

  Doderick said, "We can start with them." He nudged his head toward the other captives in the room, still keeping his voice low.

  Kaiden shook his head. "They don’t have collars. Just you."

  "Ah, okay," Doderick said, glancing at the others again. "I couldn’t tell if they had one or not."

  "Is it a limited supply thing?" Kaiden asked.

  Doderick nodded. "Oh yeah. You can’t make these anymore. Dungeons don’t drop them. Everything they have was made by Spell Scribes, and you don’t see those walking around anymore."

  He then chuckled, shaking his head. "Those guys are long gone."

  Kaiden forced a laugh, stiff and awkward. "Yep, none of those around."

  Inwardly, he cringed. Sorry, Doderick. You seem like a decent guy, but I can’t have any more secrets leaking after you’re all freed.

  Doderick’s amusement soon faded and his expression turned serious. "Tonight, when it’s lights out, we can try freeing my buddy and a few more guys."

  Kaiden nodded. "Then we can put a plan together. The sooner, the better. I don’t know how long I’ll even be here."

  "Agreed," Doderick said as he leaned back in his cot and closed his eyes. “I better rest up while I can.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Kaiden leaned back slightly, rubbing his fingers together in thought. His mind kept circling back to the collars and the Spell Scribes who had created them. Had those people been forced to make them? Were they prisoners themselves, coerced into crafting these tools of control? Or was it just a matter of greed? Maybe it was as simple as money talking—no higher purpose, just people doing what they had to in order to survive.

  People really were the same everywhere.

  That thought led him to another, more immediate concern. If these slavers had managed to capture a Spell Scribe, why would they ever let them go? Wouldn’t they want to keep him locked away and force him to make more collars? Wouldn’t that be more valuable than selling him off to some noble or warlord?

  His so-called eminence, whoever he was, must have offered a ridiculous amount of money to buy him outright. Enough that the slavers couldn’t turn it down, even if keeping a Spell Scribe might’ve been a really valuable long-term investment.

  And now that they all knew he couldn’t even make a spell scroll, his stock was plummeting fast.

  He exhaled through his nose, shaking his head slightly. It was all so absurd.

  Ah, the whole thing is ridiculous.

  Kaiden got up and threw another round of heals on all the captives before sitting back down, lost in thought. The room was quiet. Doderick had already drifted off to sleep, and none of the others seemed interested in conversation. The man who had arrived last still hadn’t regained consciousness.

  Sometime later, the door creaked open, and Kaiden’s attention snapped toward it. A guard stepped inside, but instead of dropping off more patients, he had come to retrieve the woman and the boy.

  Their eyes widened in fear, but they didn’t resist. Wordlessly, they responded to the summons, their heads dipping low in submission as they stepped forward.

  Kaiden clenched his fists, a surge of anger boiling up inside him. No, not yet.

  Too early.

  He forced himself to stay still, breathing through his nose as he tried to spot a key ring on the guard. Nothing. So, not all guards carry the keys. That was another problem to solve later. He’d have to ask Doderick when he woke up.

  Time crawled by after that. As the sun began to set, the sounds of labor outside quieted. The workday was over it seemed. Soon, another guard entered, eyeing Kaiden before jerking his chin toward the resting men.

  “They healed?”

  Kaiden nodded. “Their wounds should be healed by now.”

  The guard grimaced. “Then why the fuck they still sleepin’?”

  Kaiden shrugged. “They’re probably just exhausted. I can’t heal that.”

  The guard scoffed, then strode forward and kicked Doderick and the unconscious man sharply in the ribs. “Wake up, you fuckin’ slackers! Get in line for dinner, or you’ll have none.”

  Doderick jolted awake immediately, his instincts snapping him to his feet, but the other man stirred more slowly, his eyes flickering open as if waking from a long nightmare. He blinked, confused at first, then his expression shifted to shock.

  “The pain…” he muttered in disbelief, sitting up slowly. “It’s gone.”

  He looked over at Kaiden for the first time and narrowed his eyes. “You… you healed me? You’re a healer?”

  Kaiden gave a small nod. “Yeah, but it’s time for dinner now.”

  The man nodded, his gratitude evident, though his expression remained cautious. “Thank you,” he murmured.

  They all exited the room and joined the line forming outside. It was only then that Kaiden noticed just how many people were enslaved on this island. Lines of gaunt, sunburnt bodies stretched toward the crude mess area, where steaming bowls of food were being sloppily handed out.

  Turns out, the slaves only got one meal a day.

  Dinner was fish and vegetable stew. All of it sourced from the island itself. The stew was watery, barely filling, but what really made Kaiden’s eye twitch was the complete lack of seasoning. Not even a pinch of salt.

  Surrounded by the endless ocean, yet not a single grain of salt to be found in their food.

  Kaiden had to resist the urge to scream.

  Everyone else ate without complaint. They were used to it.

  And Kaiden already knew why.

  Why waste extra resources on slaves?

  After their meal, they were shuffled off to their sleeping area. It was a large, shabby-looking building, almost like a barn. The walls were aged and warped, with gaps between the wooden planks that let in the cold night air. Stacks of hay and straw were strewn about, serving as makeshift bedding. Empty sacks had been cut open and repurposed into blankets and bedrolls, though they were thin and barely useful.

  There was no furniture. No windows.

  At the back of the building, Kaiden spotted a few buckets of water and several empty pails. The stench coming from that direction was unmistakable, and his stomach churned at the realization. There were no proper facilities. This was where they were expected to relieve themselves.

  These people weren’t just prisoners. They were being treated like animals.

  Once everyone was inside, the door was bolted shut from the outside, the heavy wooden bar slamming into place with finality. Kaiden felt the weight of it, the sheer misery of their captivity, and it only fueled the quiet anger simmering inside him.

  Moonlight crept through the cracks between the wood, casting thin streaks of silver across the dirt floor. Here and there, small holes in the walls allowed weak beams of light to filter in, but they did little to illuminate the space. The only real source of light came from the oil lamps scattered throughout the room, their flickering flames casting long shadows against the walls.

  They wouldn’t last long.

  In an hour or so, they would burn out, leaving everyone with no choice but to sleep. The air was already thick with exhaustion, with the quiet rustling of bodies settling into place, murmured conversations barely above a whisper.

  Doderick found Kaiden and crouched beside him. "I explained the situation to a few guys, and we’re ready for you."

  Kaiden nodded, shaking off his fatigue. "Good. Let’s get started."