A Scripta

Grim knew he was tied up because he tried to bring his hand to his head. And he was cold, so he knew he had been stripped of his armor. Okay, think, think, think...it was you and Pyre, you finished off the mages, and then suddenly you felt totally drained so you sat down for a second, and you closed your eyes for just a second, and now you're...

He opened his eyes. The cave he was in cast and eerie blue light, and he could see things around him. Nothing was in his room. He smelled the heavy Envoy incense in the air, incense that was typically used by the Circle.

"Shit." He tried to move his hands, but they were smart, these Circle, binding his hands so that his index and middle finger were bound together, and the ring and pinky were bound also, so that he couldn't create runes or cast spells behind his back. He thought he heard movement, and saw a thorn acolyte peek over the hole in the floor.

"Hey, what's a guy gotta do to get some coffee around here?"

The acolyte ducked back below. Grim looked around and started singing Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of his lungs.

He got to the first chorus when he saw the Madness Mage cresting over the entrance way to the room. Following him was a man in red and yellow robes and markings. The Madness Mage immediately sent out an attack, but Grim was ready for it, and flared a rune in his mind to block it.

The Sealer in red looked at Grim casually. "Tell me what you know of the Strategist and the Vessel."

"The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle, the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true."

They stared at him, and the Madness Mage tried to force his way through, but Grim gave him some porno for his trouble. The Sealer conjured a ball of flame. "You will tell us."

"What do you want to know?"

"What are his plans?"

"He's thinking of growing a little garden in Atlas Park, way in the northwest corner. He'll have zucchini, lots and lots of zucchini."

The Sealer approached with the flame, holding it very close to Grim's face so that he could feel the heat. Grim refused to flinch from it, and stared steadily into the glowing green eyes. "You will tell us," he said.

"Or you'll set me on fire? Been there, done that. Doesn't hurt anymore."

The Sealer pressed the fire into Grim's shoulder. Burning flesh filled his nostrils, and Grim refused to show any pain, but it hurt like hell. He closed his eyes and swallowed the screams of agony that came to his throat. He involuntarily let out a suppressed cry. The pain traveled along his shoulder to his arm, and then the agony was too much.

"Stop, stop!"

The Sealer kept his hand on Grim's upper arm near the shoulder. "What are his plans?"

"To take over the world!"

"And the vessel's?"

"Her too!"

The Sealer removed his hand, and Grim slumped against his bonds. Raina's blood healed him, albeit slowly, but the pain was still there. The Sealer regarded Grim. "I will be back." He looked at the Madness Mage. "In the meantime, do what you had planned to do, it will make things easier."

The Madness Mage nodded, and grinned at Grim. "Welcome back to the fold, Initiate," he said. Grim watched the Sealer walk away, then slowly turned his gaze on the Mage.

"Ha, fuck you."

The Madness Mage laughed. "Thought you'd say that, but that's okay. We have plans for you."

"Everybody's got plans. Whatever happened to spontaneity?"

The Mage motioned with his hand, and an acolyte appeared with a small box. He opened the box and took out a clear glass thing that looked like an AquaGlobe, a teardrop shaped item that had a long stem. The Mage smiled and set the tip of it against his ear. Grim tried to jerk back but someone else held his head still. The Mage grinned at Grim, and then shoved the tip in further. Grim screamed at the pain, feeling that tip seemingly pierce his brain.

The rune blocking the Madness Mage faded away and disappeared. Grim searched for another one in his mind, grabbed a hold of it, but felt it slip away. He tried to find spells, but caught only pieces before those too slipped away. He searched through the agony, pain-blocking runes, offensive runes, wards, spells, anything...nothing stuck. Then, there was nothing in that part of his memory. Languages, gone. Spells, gone. Runes...gone.

Slowly, the pain in his ear dwindled and he opened his eyes to see the acolyte put the glass teardrop back. It was colored a dark blue, and he could see symbols in brighter colors swimming in the round part of the teardrop. The Mage smiled. "This will be useful." He looked up at Grim. "So, come back to the fold?"

"Hell, no."

The Madness Mage filled his mind with horror, but Grim had seen this stuff before and it did nothing to him. "You can do better than that, can't you?" Grim said mockingly.

The Madness Mage walked away, "Maybe not me, but there's a whole line of us to get to you." He chuckled darkly, and walked down the ramp and out of the room.

Grim cast his head back and started building the stronghold of memories that Jack had taught him.