Dane has been in prison long enough—and has had the crap beat out of him hard enough, to know never to mess with the Chained.

He planned to abide by the simple rules of surviving until yesterday night. Instead of receiving the usual bowl of brown sludge, his meal was empty. Say for the letter of course.

𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙

Thanks a lot brother, he thinks to himself. Now I’m pissed and hungry.

But dwelling on his fury does no good when he’s already slipped away from the showers and is heading towards the final floor.

Danes hair is wet, clinging to his face in curled clumps. Showering with a hundred other men doesn’t give enough time to clean well, so he’s developed a system over the years.

Hair, face, torso, sprint. Because by the time he finishes, no bastard would have time to shove his naked frame into the cluster of bodies to claim the shower for themselves.

He hesitates where to go, then turns left like Hog said.

It gets draftier. Damper. The smell of magic is hot and heavy, and a deep inhale makes him heady on it. This is the right direction. So why does it feel so wrong?

He makes a sharp turn to the stairwells, his wet feet slipping on the stone floor.

When Dane first arrived, he was twelve and trembling like an lost fawn. He always thought he was brave, running on heists with his brother and fighting enforcers. But when he actually got caught and sent to a prison made of black stone and steel, he no longer felt brave. He doesn’t even feel brave now, six years later.

A loud thud echos through the chamber when Dane pushes open the steel door. A wooden sign lies torn on the floor beside him, reading “Beware: Here Rest The Chained.”

To damn late for warnings.

Last cell to the right, last cell to the right, last cell to the right, Dane repeats. He put together his plan kind of last minute, so trusting Hogs word on the best Chained to help him is a long shot. By in long, he means a round trip around the moons rings.

The cells are far from empty. Rows upon rows of the Chained hiss and rattle their cages. They wear old worn cloaks, showing the mages they once were. Perhaps they were once great assets to the kingdom, until they angered the wrong person. Dane can relate to that too well.

He keeps walking to the rattling of their wails. Some have chains so heavily wrapped around their limbs, they can barely stand up. Those, Dane worries, are the ones to be feared the most.

When he reaches the final cell to the right, though, he sees no one at all. No wise sage, or strong brute, or enchanting enchantress. Only a dark cell dripping water and mold.

“Hello?” Dane whispers, pressing his hands against the cool iron. Silence. “Hog sent me down here with the promise—“

“Hog doesn’t make promises for me.”

Dane startles backwards, his back pressing hard against the cell behind him. When a gruff sound echos, he bounced back again.

He didn’t hear the rattling of chains, or see her approach. One minute she wasn’t around, and then she was.

Still wary Dane takes a step closer keeping arms distance from the cell.

The way Hog described the mage, he expected something…more? The girl standing in front of him is pale and bony, her eyes sunken and blonde curls dirty. She looks as though she could be broken with a blow of wind, eroding like sand.

Then he notices the iron chains that drape her whole body, and takes back everything he thought.

She tries moving closer, but the chains don’t let her. They burn her like fire, and he finally understands why the Chained can never escape. The so called invisible mortals could be taken down like a vampire.

If he weren’t so terrified he might’ve laughed.

“Say” the girl hisses, her dead brown eyes scanning over Dane. “What has Hog brought me this time. Your skinnier than my last meal.”

It’s just a joke Dane breaths out. Still his knees buckle.

“My apologies, no meal here. Just a bastard looking for your service.”

The girl no younger than him looks down at him like he’s a lost child. Regardless of the chains, she keeps her chin up.

“Tell me why you’ve come. You must know no others have made it out of these chambers after Hog sent them in.”

He did not know that. And if he makes it out alive, he’s hauling Hogs ass down to the cells so they can eat him alive.

“I came because I am in desperate need of help“ he explains. “I’ve been in these prisons since I was a child, and mostly gave up on escaping after the first few years. But now I need to leave.”

The girl tugs on her chains. “Go on” she drawls.

“I—well, my brother ran a smuggling ring. Steal magic, sell it off to far off lands. That sort of stuff. One thing led to another and I got caught as their get away boat on the docks. Been stuck here ever since.”

“And your brother never got you out?”

Dane huffs, digging his nails into his palms. “No.”

“Then why would you ever care to help?”

“Because he’s all I’ve got. He’s all many people got. It’s hell out there, and he’s the glue on the streets. I’m just doing my part.”

The girl presses her lips into a thin line. “Call me inspired. Just free me from these chains, and I will help you find your brother.”

Dane is not quick to trust. “How do I know you’ll keep to your promise?”

A wicked grin spreads on the girls face. The kind that warns him why people stay away from the Chained. “Because you have no other choice.”