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It is a near-universal constant that prisoners will attempt to escape; the chain I was on attempted that on my second day with them.

I’d actually been learning different dialects from them, some of which our guards didn’t seem to know.

Remember how dysentery was running loose on the island? I’d managed to forget, and catch it. So had about two thirds of the prisoners, and both of our guardians for that day. When both of them were at different toilets than us, someone whispered:

“Now. Now. Let’s go!”

Well, we didn’t make it far, possibly because most of the prisoners, myself included, hadn’t been let in on the genius plan. The rest of us raced to keep up, with varying levels of success. One thing I could do was run, quickly and for long periods of time.

One thing other prisoners could do was trip, which they did the first time our astute leaders turned without warning.

And then our handlers were on us, with swords, and a will to use them.

“So, Tang Tai, warnings are not enough! Today, you will lose your head!”

.....

“Burn in hell, Lian Hua.”

They beheaded Tang Tai, a spearman from the Rice Gate, Peng Lin, an archer from the town guard, and Xie Kang, who attempted to desert the army to visit his sick mother.

The other nine of us worked picking up debris around camp, and had to just release our filth wherever, because after that, there were no more restroom breaks.

After prisoners started collapsing, they realized we needed water to compensate. Yeah, anyone who’s been in a camp with dysentery running through it knows how safe THAT water was. But meh, there was water, and we drank it.

Turns out, as a disease dysentery is a lot like Blood Fever, so far as my Lifeshaper powers were concerned. It couldn’t travel through the air, but barrels of water were fair game.

And one might have expected that to reduce morale. But these weren’t farmboys and fishers who had been given weapons. These were warriors, the sons and daughters of warriors. New toilets were constructed, the old ones emptied, and they literally soldiered on.

I was nearly at full health when my body finally broke free of the disease.

Okay, near full health. No disease. Curse quiescent since the full moon.

I was (finally) ready to escape.

And why would I want to do that? I felt the great Kumanchu’s radiant aura off to my left. If I hadn’t been chained down, I’d have run to him.

I mean, it seemed a shame to break my wrist again, what with it recently having been healed.

“Hey! You stop thinking about escape.” One of our guards said, brandishing his polearm at me.

“BEHOLD, FOR I, KUMANCHU HAVE ARRIVED.” The master said.

It was a pity they’d taken my knife, I could have plunged it into his left eye as he approached.

What? Where had THAT come from? Surely, I wouldn’t want to hurt the master, even if... if...

Well, something that I couldn’t quite remember. I knew it was related to the magic master had emplaced on the back of my neck, the one that altered my memories and thoughts, and oh it sometimes moved my body in ways that he vocally willed.

It was almost like a curse, but clearly not. How could any being as radiant and wise as Kumanchu use a curse?

And WHY was I wasting time thinking about it so much?

“Ah, so sorry, but no, holy hound Kumachu. This prisoner is to be executed as soon as we get confirmation from the main camp.”

“By beheading? I can do that, should it ever become necessary.”

“Ah-ah. But still, we cannot release this prisoner unto you. Our orders specifically forbid it.”

“I see. So, your orders mean that I will need to kill you and hand my servant those keys on your belt? Do I understand your orders correctly?”

“You do. But even if you do strike me down, can even you defeat every soldier in this camp?”

Kumanchu’s eyes narrowed, his lips pulled back from his teeth. “I don’t think you understand the difference between mere mortals and the feats of which I am capable. ESPECIALLY when sober. I have been sober for more than a day now.”

“And truly, we would be sad of that if it were in any way the agreement with your priestly owner...”

“My WHAT? You DARE to think that Huang Lan OWNS me, commands me like a slave?”

“It is what others have seen and said, and I am merely repeating now.”

“That was an effect of the golden collar.” He said, scratching his neck with a rear paw. “Do you see it around my neck now?”

“You are still bound by the holy proclamations of the Celestial Emperor.” He spat at Kumanchu, who simply was not there when his spittle arrived. “Including a curse upon you if ever harm an innocent.”

“I have had reason to doubt, recently, whether any soldier is ever truly innocent.”

“Doubt all you want.” My guard said, standing straight, exposing his neck. “My soul is unburdened by guilt. If my obedience, mandated by Heaven, is such that I must be slain, then by all means, strike me down. But while I live, I do not see this as an option. Where my officers command, there and in that manner must I obey. Even if, so sorry, those orders are not the ones you desire.”

Kumanchu ground his teeth, silently snarling. Or rather, snarling in a band that humans cannot hear, and which I could only feel in the core of my bones. It was the feeling of thunderbolts, locked in the storm clouds for now, but soon to be released.

Oh, I had no doubts that if he chose, he could have killed both guards with ease. He was... he was like Eihtfuhr, who stood above the worst this camp had to offer. It had taken five to bring Eihtfuhr down. How many would it take to bring down Kumachu?

Not that I really wanted to see that, although... I... did?

No.

No, I needed only to listen and obey. And never ever to think of... of something.

It was okay; if it had been important, I was sure to remember it sooner or later.

Maybe the other curses were interfering with its operation?

Heh. OTHER curses, as though the magic that helped me assist Kumanchu could even possibly be a curse. It was something adjacent to that, perhaps.

But not a blessing. I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but I was certain about it.

Certainty. Conviction. Faith.

Oh, why hadn’t I been tapping my emotional state? I pulled upon my suffering, my captivity my...

Where was my joy? This was...

[You have successfully tapped this locus of Madness for a point of mana. You currently have 1/1 points of Madness that you can store.]

Wait, no unlock message? When had I unlocked that particular flavor of magic? More to the point, why was THAT the mana that was tapped from how I felt about Kumanchu?

It just... it wasn’t the radiant joy that I’d expected.

Still... it was doubtless me, and that meant... that meant...

There was a tug on the chain. Oh, I guess it was time to move on to the next latrine pit. They were cesspools for disease, which I could tap to...

To...

To do something that ... wait, we were moving away from master?

“You will not be getting what you seek today.” The guard told him.

“We shall see. You will learn that I can also speak to officers. Your orders are only so absolute as the mortal who orders them.”

“And when my orders say so, you may have your doomed lizard. AFTER my orders say so, soon may that day come. Please do try not to have a brain seizure before then.”

“This. Is. Not. OVER.” Kumanchu said. He could fake such hostility when he wanted to! Such an actor.

He headed off to the officer’s tents, and did not return that day.

As distance began to increase, I had a thought. “How is it possible that a message dispatched to the main camp hasn’t received a response?” I asked my guard.

He shrugged. “I only know that another rider was dispatched yesterday, on a horse reputed for its speed. Tomorrow, or possibly the next day, and perhaps it shall be Hewer of Arms here that lops your head off.”

“You named your polearm?”

“Oh no, my granduncle named this polearm. I feel his hatred of the enemies of the empire through it. I feel its need for blood, and will gladly give it yours.” He smiled. “Once my orders command it, that is.”

A young girl had skipped up to us. “Hi. Snake-Face. You are his guard commander?”

“I am his guard.”

“Hear now the words of General Gai-Lung Long. Bring the wretched creature before me at once, and let us be done with this.”

She shoved a paper scroll into his hands, which he read with growing happiness.