Ravyn woke to the grinding sound of metal chains as the cage swayed violently with each step of the grotesque rhino-like beast. His head throbbed and he blinked, trying to focus.
A voice spoke from beside him, low and rough.
"You alive, kid?"
Ravyn turned. An older man, his wrists were bound with chains. He pushed a tin cup toward Ravyn. "Please, drink some."
"Where are they taking us?" he rasped.
"The Arsh-Market..." the man muttered. "Where we'll be sold to the highest bidder."
Ravyn's eyes flicked to the other cages, a dozen more people were chained in them.
He pressed his palms to the ground, breathing unevenly. "They're… going to sell me?"
The man sighed. "You'll survive, kid. But just keep your head low and..."
He looked down, horrified. The black mark on his hand started glowing faintly blue as his heart hammered.
"I'm trapped again." he whispered to himself.
Another whisper in his head came.
"Burn them."
Ravyn's body shook, then blue fire erupted from his right hand snaking over his arm.
The old man stumbled back. "Kid... what are you..."
Ravyn's eyes had changed to bright blue but hollow. He gripped the bars and sparks of blue fire began to crawl across the cage.
The hains snapped and the cage shattered outward in a flash of blue light, sending shards flying through the night. The massive beast hauling the caravan bellowed and reared back, throwing bandits to the dirt.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" one shouted.
Ravyn stepped out. And the bandits scrambled for weapons, shouting orders.
Ravyn moved. In one blink he was gone from sight. His fist caught the first man in the chest, it tore through it bursting out of his back. A torrent of blood poured from the gaping wound, pooling at Ravyn's feet.
Ravyn's fist retracted from the first man's chest and he moved again. He blurred across the space between him and the next man.
With a swift motion, Ravyn grasped the man's head and twisted it with a sharp crack, snapping his neck. The man's eyes went wide in shock and his body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.
Fifteen other bandits screamed as they charged to him with their weapons raised.
Ravyn raised his blood-stained right hand. And whispered.
"Hakai."
A torrent of demonic blue flames erupted, devouring everything in its path. The bandits were consumed by an abyssal void, their screams reduced to mere echoes that were swiftly silenced by the cacophony of destruction. All fifteen lives were erased from existence within seconds, leaving behind only a charred and blood-soaked graveyard of splintered wood.
When the force faded, there was nothing left standing but the shattered earth and drifting ash.
Ravyn stood in the center of it, breathing slow. His eyes were dim again, his hand trembling.
He slowly turned to other prisoners, his eyes unfocused like someone walking in a dream. They stumbled back in terror, hands raised in instinctive fear.
The last thing he saw was the older man stepping forward, catching him before he hit the ground.
"Easy… boy. I've got you." The old man whispered.