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Ivan laid out the cards, staring at them. Time passed, he flicked through the cards. From time to time, he sighed, or nodded in satisfaction. Solitaire was not the most interesting, challenging or generally satisfying game in the world, but for a man in solitary confinement, there were worse options.
Ivan sat in Rookstone, wiling away the hours, waiting for something to do. Sometimes Lodestar would come and talk to him. Sometimes one of the capes would come with new questions to ask him about his past, his motivations, why he had killed one of the heroes of the AHC. Ivan spoke to Lodestar, and largely ignored her lackeys, but even the lesser capes provided a break in the routine.
Hearing footsteps, Ivan looked up. Jerry was walking through the hall. Jerry was one of the Rookstone guards, a telepath with the strength and range to send a message to the AHC. He was not dangerous outside of his ability to summon help, not like some of the guards, those who were meant to restrain the prisoners in the event of a riot or escape. What Jerry had on some of those often cruel guards was that Jerry was a good man. He spoke politely to Ivan, they had even exchanged recipes. Jerry was the one who had provided Ivan with the playing cards.
As Jerry walked down the hall, checking each cell, a voice drifted from a few cells away. “The meal returns. Come closer meal, let me tell you where to find the bones. Let me whisper where my compost heap lies.”
Ivan frowned. He was no stranger to cruelty and violence. He did not blink at murder, but Vore-Thing set his teeth on edge. A meta who consumed living flesh, animal, human, meta, stripping them down to the bones. Vore-Thing had lurked in Ridge City alleyways for years, taking special delight in stalking and preying on the innocent, boasting about how fear enhanced the flavor. It had taken a dozen strong capes to haul the slime-coated beast into Rookstone. It had been here longer than Ivan, and was open about wanting to eat Jerry. Of all the inmates of this prison, Vore-Thing was the one Ivan would most like to see die.
Jerry kept walking, ignoring the wet, gooey voice taunting him. He walked past the cell, not noticing the tiniest crack in the seal on the door…until he slipped, one foot stepping into a patch of slime. At once, the door burst open, more slime forced through and buckling the metal until Vore-Thing stood over the helpless guard. “Now I have you, meal!” the abomination laughed. Jerry screamed in horror, trying to crawl away. The guards might be able to beat this meta….but that was not a sure thing, and the absolutely could not get here and subdue the threat before it consumed Jerry.
Ivan sighed, he had hoped to keep this card a secret, but the number of people who had shown him even basic kindness in his life was so small, he couldn’t allow one to meet this fate. He stood, and the runes and lines all around his cell flared and broke. Some cracked in half, some burned away, all failed and died immediately at a simple, uncompromising push of Ivan’s destructive willpower.
In half a heartbeat, he was outside of the cell, at Jerry’s side. He burned away the slime holding the man hostage and backhanded Vore-Thing, who snarled in alarm and anger. By the time the creature righted itself, Ivan and Jerry were standing in Ivan’s cell, another teleport.
The creature approached. Ivan stood in between it and the human. His eyes were black and full of runes. A wicked grin split his face. “It’s only iron right now, you can certainly destroy the bars. Go ahead Vore-Thing…trespass in my home.” Even with the darkness, his eyes gleamed. Ivan would not leave his cell, that had been his vow to Lodestar, with only this one exception lasting less than a second in over a year incarcerated. He would not leave…but anything that chose to enter was his to play with. He dearly hoped the cannibal would take him up on the offer.
By the time Lodestar arrived, the guards had the situation under control. Vore-Thing was back in the cell, trembling and not resisting at all. Jerry was outside of one cell she knew quite well, animatedly thanking the man inside.
“You saved my life. I keep saying, but thank you, thank you. I thought it had me for sure.”
As Lodestar got close enough to see, Ivan stood leaning against a wall. “As I said Jerry, I have no idea what you are talking about. I have been waiting patiently in my cell, as I have done since I arrived. I’m very glad that you survived, but all I did was glare at the monster.”
His eyes turned to the glowing woman. “Ah, Lodestar. It seems that some of the warding in my cell has been slightly damaged. You may want to have your magic users repair it, I know a few of the guards would be…uncomfortable with the idea of my security being even marginally reduced.”
Lodestar looked around. She had no ability to use magic, but even she could tell that every ward, every failsafe, every lock and charm and scrap of spellwork in Ivan’s cell had been annihilated. Even to the least trained eye, it was obvious that the mighty Fornax was being ‘held’ by no more than stone and metal. He could have walked away…but Ivan had kept his word.
She nodded. “I’ll have them get on that. I appreciate the candor about the weakness in your cell.”
She got closer and whispered more quietly than any human ear could catch. “I thought this day would end in a funeral. Thank you Ivan, sincerely.” His head tilted in an almost imperceptible nod.
A couple days later, Jerry had gotten permission from the warden and Ivan was supplied with few better entertainment options, books and games. Jerry made a point of talking to him more often, which Ivan seemed to enjoy.
About a month after the attempted murder, Ivan heard a scream in the night. He looked out his cell, to where unholy lights flew through the air and flashed around Vore-Thing’s cell. A few hours after a new power had entered the world, Ivan was the first to ever see wings made of broken blades extending. Vore-Thing was the first of many to be properly punished. Ivan wished he could have gotten a better view.