Chapter 22: Hungry and Cruel

Chapter 22: Hungry and Cruel

Dantes walked back to his cave, his mind forming plans on top of plans on top of plans in the midst of the euphoria he was experiencing. The immediate threat was gone, and now he had more tools to work with than hed ever had before. He felt like hed just done a fat line of dust. He didnt just need to survive and wallow, he could build, maybe even find a way out of the Pit.

It had happened before. There was Tristan two lives, a mage that had managed to remove his collar by killing himself so that it could be removed, then being revived. The Green Blight, an Orc that had earned his freedom by volunteering to fight in the Arena and surviving a gauntlet that no one else has managed to complete before or after him. Gideon Gallant, a gnome whod managed to find a way out of the Pit by traveling through the Ruins and finding an exit on the outside of Rendhold. Those, of course, were the major examples, the legends. Between those legends he was certain there were dozens more escapes that no one had ever heard of. People who had friends on the surface that could bust them out, who bribed the right guards during their occasional raids, or even exceptional climbers that managed to slip out of the Maw in the dead of night and get past the guards.

Dantes was more interested in those more mundane methods. He had only just avoided execution, he wasnt nearly a solid enough fighter to survive the challenge of the arena, and having seen some of the things that lived in the dark further in the ruins, he had no desire to go that route. Besides which, since those escapes, magical barriers had been erected that blocked off the deepest portions of the Underprison that might lead to the surface.

First things first though, hed need to gather resources. The blow he just made to the Elfland Kings gave him a reputation to trade on, but also one to repair. The Consortium would be very upset with the chaos hed created in their market, so his first step would be to mend his relationship with them. There was no path forward without at least their indifference secured. Not to mention they were the group most likely to know of other methods of escape.

Dantes made it back to his cave, needing to adjust his new rapier to allow himself through the narrow opening.

Jacopo leapt from Dantes jacket and moved toward his usual spot on the ground, curling up for a nap. Dantes spent another hour pacing, moving up and down the length of his cave, tracing a crack that spanned its length with his middle finger as he thought through plans and possibilities. He was physically exhausted, bruised, battered, but his mind and soul were alight in a way they hadnt been for the previous five years.Read latest chapters at nov(e)lbin.com Only

He made his way out of his cave to check on his orchard, and found that everything had grown even more in his absence, and the garden itself was spreading out from the initial areas in which hed planted the seeds. Those seeds left behind by the rats hed fed had somehow found purchase in the cracks widened by the growing roots of the trees, vines, and bushes, many of which were already sprouting with delicate red leaves. Dantes reached out his attention to check on them, and was unsurprised to find them thriving, but hungering for more of his blood. He obliged them, simply opening a scab on his arm from a cut hed earned from Reivares rapier mere hours ago. He squeezed out several drops of blood for each plant.

Dantes woke to soreness all across his body and a pounding headache. He sat up, and dragged himself over to his water pitcher drinking until it was half empty. The water made him realize how hungry he was, and so he removed the rock from over his food store and had a swift breakfast of what little dried meat remained as well as some hard crackers he mixed with water to make them soft enough to be edible. The food and drink lessened the headache, in all the excitement of the previous day he'd forgotten to eat. He tossed a bit of cracker and meat to Jacopo, who actually caught some of it between his teeth, seemingly ready for it before he even initiated the throw.

He waited patiently for Jacopo to have his meal. Dantes could sense that Jacopo felt much the same as he did from the activities of the previous day, and considering they seemed to share in what suffering they experienced he saw no reason to rush him and cause himself discomfort in the process.

Once Jacopo was done Dantes collected the sacks hed laid out the previous day, buckled his new rapier to his waist, and made his way to the garden. It had grown lush, and rich in the time hed slept, spreading further and producing new fruit as thanks for the blood he'd shed for it the previous day. He began collecting all of the fruit that he could. Filling one sack, then another, then a third. By the end he had filled all five that he had brought. He knew he could carry only one through the outer tunnels, but that should be all he needed to get things started, and having the rest put away would save him trouble later.

He looked up at the trees that still had fruit, and down at the vines. He reached out with his senses and felt the rats scurrying in the nearby tunnels.

Come and eat all youd like. Just leave the sacks undisturbed.

It wasnt even five seconds before several dozen rats scurried into the garden and began eating to their hearts content. Dantes watched his ratmark as gold began to slowly spread back across the first fang.

Satisfied, he grabbed one of the sacks of fruit, pulling only a single apple from it to eat as he walked, and began heading into the outskirts of the pit. It had been a while since hed seen Mez, and he had a wonderful new business opportunity for him.