Chapter 2: End of the Day

          Rowan comes to feeling like his guts are out of order and expels held air and tries breathing followed with coughing. He tried to stand up but his limbs are still numb, while he could move there is no coordination the most Rowan is able to accomplish is getting on his elbows and knees.
A loud shout is heard as Rowan looks at the direction of the sound, he sees a person in rags on the ground facing him, blood running down their eyes and nose lifeless. Rowan sees more of these people splayed around him in a circle but close to them were other people in rags kneeling from exhaustion.

More coughing and trouble breathing, Rowan looks up again to see men in armor with rope and nets at the ready moving past the ragged people and towards Rowan. They are yelling something that Rowan cannot understand but they start to tie him down. The pain and pressure is all too confusing for Rowan, "Whats happening, where am I, what about-" he vomits and continues to get even more light headed.

Blinking in and out of consciousness he sees and feels like he is being dragged, a door opens to a room with a dense candle lit illumination. Rowan is placed on a rune scribed table then rolled over to face the ceiling everything still feels numb just rough sensations. A blonde haired man with a multi lens monocle looms over Rowan and addresses him, the lips move but they are out of sync with the words spoken.

"Can this one understand?" the monocled man asks.
"Wha- what? Understand what?" Rowan gasps air between words. "Breathing problems like the many before, inscriber"

The blonde hair man addresses one of the men in armor as they go and fetch what seems like a carved wooden stick and a small jar almost like an ink well but not quite. Another man asks something from the monocled man that Rowan can't understand, "Yes start from the chest then we will work our way around, it needs to breath first."

The other man begins to strap Rowan to the table and pulls out a knife and lowers it to Rowan's chin, the man says a command but it is just gibberish. Soon after the knife cuts into Rowan's uniform and shirt exposing his chest as the now rags of a uniform are pulled apart. The man in armor with the instruments presents them to the blonde man as he takes them.

The man that bound Rowan affixes a rope and gags Rowan while saying something reassuring?
Dipping the stick in the jar the monocled man begins an incantation, "Take my lungs for I do not breath" and lowers the stick while repeating those same words over. Once the stick is aimed towards Rowan's clavicle the blonde man reaches for a tiny hammer and starts stabbing Rowan over and over as he is reciting the same words.

The literal sharp pain sends Rowan into a frenzy, trying to buckle and move. With a hand gesture followed with a forceful press from the monocle man's thumb to Rowan's forehead "Halt in place".
Another sickening rush runs through Rowan as he begins to just lose all control of his body. Barely able to breath but eyes wandering in panic the monocled blonde man continues his enchantment, sticking Rowan's motionless body. Tears run from Rowan's eyes as the pain continues, he was never fond of needles, he continues to cry as this goes on.

After the inscribing is done the blonde man sets his tools aside and places a hand on his newly minted work. "Now I breath as the spirits breath" The blonde man commands from the writing.
A sudden punch in the gut hits Rowan as he is finally able to gain a fresh breath of air still motionless he still breathes and coughs clearing his throat.

Now with the present and clear danger averted the monocle man goes to a table and starts to swap lenses from his monocle and look over Rowan once more. A deep breath is heard from him as he examines Rowan, he removes the monocle for a second and puts it back on eyes wincing as if staring at the sun. "This will do, no need for further exams" he explains to the two guards with satisfaction on his face. "Shear him."

With a nod to the men one of them takes out their knife and begin to manipulate Rowan's head around and starts cutting his hair off. Almost with reckless abandon sometimes taking layers of skin Rowan screams pleading for help. As more hair is scalped off the blonde man starts readying a rag and begins speaking another incantation. "Bring me life, undo my sorrow, ease thy suffering." After the scalping is complete Rowan resting in a pool of his blood the rag is then placed on his head.

A stinging skin crawling sensation comes over Rowan as his head stops bleeding and his skin begins to return. As nearing completion the headache rolls in like a freight train, if he could he would double over from the pain. Eyes rolling back Rowan's breathes are deep and painful but the body will still not respond to his commands, as his head is still facing the ceiling through the gag he pleads for mercy.

The monocled man once again reaches for his tools "Ahh yes keep screaming, all in the name of your awakening, soon creature soon, you will be a useful boon for our cause." With a bit of glee escaping the blonde man's tone. He continues to inscribe onto Rowan now starting from the throat as he begins a new incantation. "Understand me, hear me, understand me..." over and over with the rhythmic stabbing while in pace with the incantation. The blonde man grabs Rowan's throat with one hand, "Now the spirits will understand."

The two men in armor are standing in the background chatting outside the room and for the first time Rowan can understand what they are saying. "Going straight for the enchantments?" One wonders. "I know, usually he has some fun with them before actually trying to make something out of them." The other agrees.

The blonde man resumes his enchantments now starting from the top of Rowan's head. "Sight within sight, examine the spirits!" A new wave of vertigo hits Rowan as he sees his torturer moving at a sluggish speed. Rowan examines the candle flame to realize that it flickers slowly "What is he doing to me?" Rowan wonders. The operation continues but now the words and sounds are coming as if in slow motion but with that the pain is even greater with every press.

Rowan once again is not able to make any sense of what is going on, the pain ever higher, the motions between stabs rhythmic, the words of the incantation now with longer gaps between the syllables. "thou-ght, with-in, thou-ght." After what felt like a day of monotone speech and pain, a break in the monotony. "Ex-pand, you-re, min-d." The feeling in Rowan's head hits him like there is something hollow but the feeling soon fades as the blonde man slowly moves to Rowan's limbs.

This process continues for what Rowan could perceive as days but maybe it was less than that he is not sure due to the enclosed room and perceived days of listening to this man stabbing Rowan's body piece by piece. "Spirit of Nox free thee"... "Lift thy burden body higher"... "Sustain thy hunger, sustain thy slumber"... "Sight beyond sight spirits reveal yourselves"... After weeks of this man endlessly stabbing and chanting he then slowly puts his tools down and walks away to leave Rowan bound and paralyzed for what seemed like a week.

But in that brief week he could finally breathe.