Arkun was barely alive.

  Whoever had him captive was giving him just enough fluids in that bag by the table that was attached to his arm to keep him alive, but not enough that he could move.

  King Arkun had tried to count the days, but everything blurred together after a while. Whatever room he was in would be completely dark while his captor wasn’t there, which made it even more difficult to keep up with the days. He couldn’t be sure, but there was a nagging part of his mind that believed that he’d been drugged for multiple days, but even that was hard to remember since the haze obscured everything. The one thing that he did know for sure was that he was a king, though he couldn’t remember what his kingdom was called.

  The darkness melted away as the door to the room opened and the masked captor walked inside, powering the magic lamps too fast, which burned King Arkun’s eyes going from complete darkness to bright so quickly.

  “You’re awake!” The captor’s voice sounded happy, though it also sounded a lot farther away than the other side of the room.

  They had something big in their arms, though by the time he had realized it, his captor had moved it onto a table that he couldn’t see.

  “Such a clean cut!” The room started to smell like vinegar as his captor began to fawn over whatever he had brought. “They played their part perfectly!”

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  King Arkun coughed as the smell burned his nose. It stung his eyes worse than onions, causing precious fluids to start to seep out. Fluids that he couldn’t wipe away because his hands were restrained on the bed that he was strapped to.

  “They ruined the eyes though…” The captor shrugged as he moved in front of the room and began rooting around the many vials that were stacked on shelves that lined the walls. There were more chemicals in this room than King Arkun could remember there being in the royal alchemy vault.

  King Arkun closed his eyes tightly as a new wave of burn washed over him.

  “Found it!” The captor lifted up a tubular vial in one hand.

  It was impossible for King Arkun to tell what color the liquid was, his eyes were watering too much.

  “W… Wh…?” His throat was so dry, yet his eyes were watering so much. It didn’t make any sense.

  “You want to know what I’m doing?” The captor walked over to him and patted his cheek. “Trust me, I have big plans for you, but first I need to preserve this head. I can’t have it going bad before the big event!”

  King Arkun tried to follow the other person, but his head could only stretch so far. He fell back against the bed, that little bit of effort had been enough to stir up exhaustion. Sleep began to stalk him, though the king fought it. He needed answers almost as badly as he needed more fluids and more sustenance than what was being pumped into his veins.

  Unfortunately, the captor took too long, or maybe he was just too tired. King Arkun drifted off to sleep before he saw the captor. Next time he’d do better.

  He let his mind drift off as sleep completely claimed him.

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