"What now?" asked Basil after chewing off the restraints from behind Gottfried's back. Gottfried stood up, rubbing his wrists, and trying to smear the bloody symbols from his chest.
Gottfried was no hero, and therefore stayed out of any altercations to the best of his abilities. But now he was seeing red and couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Burn everything," he said with a growl. Basil fluttered to the nearest tent, burping small flames on the canvas top that would rapidly spread through the camp. As he flew from tent to tent, Gottfried snuck behind a distracted soldier and crushed his windpipe with his arm.
Gottfried let the soldier drop to the ground with a thud. He quickly took the soldier's dull sword and walked through the spreading flames as the camp came to life. People flooded from their burning tents in a panic, yelling and scurrying around for their weapons, trying to locate the enemy.
Soon the flames were so out of control it was as if it were daytime. There was so much commotion that Gottfried had a very good time going unnoticed. Adrenaline was coursing through him, and he felt incredibly focused.
Suddenly he felt a pang in his stomach, twisting and giving him goosebumps despite the roaring fires around him. He could feel Basil getting scared. "Time to leave," he said to himself, satisfied with the chaos he and Basil had caused.
Gottfried started to make the little clicking noises, hoping it would reach Gretchen and leave her immobilized.
And it certainly was reaching Gretchen. She had been smart enough to escape the camp with a knife, hiding behind a twisted tree in the nearby bog. She huffed and slid to the damp ground, sticking the knife in the mud next to her. Now she had to start all over again. She blew the silver hair away from her face and tried to think of a new plan.
Gretchen hadn't really thought that lot was very smart or organized, but she was being fed and respected. Her thoughts were interrupted as her head slowly started to ache. It felt like needles being pushed into her ears. It went from annoying, to mildly uncomfortable, to absolute agony.
Gretchen covered her ears with her palms, grinding her teeth and beginning to writhe in the dirt. She tried desperately not to scream, but the headache wasn't passing. It was getting worse by the minute.
For what seemed like a lifetime she kicked and squirmed on the ground, trying to endure the screeching in her head. She just wanted to pass out so the pain would stop.
Eventually she was found, and by none other than Gottfried. He looked down at her, a bloody Basil tucked under his arm, and continued his clicking. He wanted her to feel the pain as long as possible.
Gottfried used the sword he had acquired to draw a large square in the dirt while quietly mumbling a short spell. Gretchen could see his lips move, but the only thing she could hear was the continuous screaming in her ears.
The ground Gottfried had carved disappeared and became a black hole with a splintering wood ladder leading down. He reached down and dragged her to the hole by her hair. Finally she passed out from the excruciating pain.
Basil's blood was warm against Gottfried's chest, giving him a jolt of panic. The ladder wasn't very long, and in his anger he was not gentle when he pulled her with them. In fact he almost just dropped her.
His home was underground, only accessible through that specific spell he had created himself. The main room, which they entered, was one large chaotic and psychedelic mess. Books were stacked in tall towers, scattered along the walls. Various bottles of different colored liquids littered the shelves and desk, along with complicated contraptions, animal bones, and jars. The warped wood floor was stained with every color imaginable.
Gottfried cleared a table and set down Basil. It seemed he only tore a wing, an easy fix, but that didn't make him feel any better.
He brought his attention to Gretchen limply sprawled on the ground. He looped his hands underneath her arms and dragged her down the hall to a particular room where he kept his magical experiments, especially those involving living creatures, while he worked on them.
He pulled her to the farthest wall and set her limp body on the floor. He left quickly without a glace backwards and walked back to a sniveling Basil.
As Gottfried attended to Basil's torn wing his mind began to whirl. He had planned all of this for so long and nothing had gone accordingly. So what now? Quite frankly he was stumped. This was becoming a lot less enjoyable by the minute.
When Basil was stitched up and slumbering quietly, Gottfried sat down in the only chair that was not knocked over and picked a book up from the floor. He stared at the pages, but it was exhausting trying to concentrate on the words.
He rested his face on his hand and grumbled nonsense to himself. He wasn't completely satisfied, but she was starting to become more of a trouble than she was worth. She had already gotten him mixed up in a battle he did not want to be in, gaining enemies he did not need, and Basil had gotten hurt.
He had been working on quite a few projects lately, she could be of use in that way. He could turn her into a cat. Then he wouldn't have to kill her, and he wouldn't have to put up with her constant complaining anymore.
He had been in the middle of researching ways to transfigure humans into other creatures, but the only experimental subject he had was himself. And now he was stuck looking like the human version of Basil. He had always hated his bright red hair, but the mossy green and black reminded him of a bog, which he found even less flattering. He tried to find a way to take away the green, even by bleaching it, but nothing worked. Well, instead of killing Gretchen he could put her to some use.
Meanwhile, Gretchen was groaning and lifting herself from the hard stone floor. It felt like her brain was swollen to the point of cracking her skull. When her vision focused, she looked around to see almost complete darkness around her.
The only light came from glowing blue writing scribbled around the door frame. With what little visibility she had she could see the room was stone and brick. It was cold, damp, and the floor was covered in different symbols painted over and over in a seemingly random order.
"Ew," she said when she felt something wet underneath her hand. She lifted it to see a red sticky fluid that had not yet dried on the floor. She tried to wipe it off on the wall, revolted by the thick texture of the fluid.
She wondered how long she had been there. If there were any windows maybe she could have some grasp of time. The only way in or out seemed to be the wood door in front of her. She approached it curiously, slowly reaching her hand out. But it was as though there was a pane of glass between her hand and it. She couldn't see it, but something was keeping her front touching the door.
Gretchen sighed and put her hands on her waist. Was he going to keep her here forever or was this temporary? Either way, the only option was to find a way out. She scoured the room for a sign of any irregularities. Maybe a loose brick in the wall, or small crevice that would help her escape.
No one had out right said it, but she assumed she had known magic before she lost her memories. If after that she could still keep the knowledge to know how to speak and read, why couldn't her knowledge of magic stayed too?
"Useless," she said to herself, still stubbornly looking around the empty room. There were some bones in one corner, but she had seen her fill of dead bodies recently and was affected very little by it now.
