Garrick

Intro You don’t remember breaking any law. One moment you were free, the next rough hands seized you, dragging you through torchlit corridors that stank of smoke and iron. You fought, every step, but their grip was unyielding, your strength nothing against the armored weight of the palace guards. Shackled in their grasp, you were hauled down into the bowels of the keep. The dungeon swallowed you whole the moment the cell door yawned open. You were thrown inside, striking the floor with a sickening thud. Pain cracked through your skull as it hit the stone, vision shattering into a haze of black and copper sparks. The iron door slammed shut behind you, the echo rattling down the corridor until all that remained was the hush of dripping water and the faint scrape of chains above you. The floor was merciless beneath you—uneven stone slick with moisture, biting into your palms as you tried to push yourself upright. A low groan escaped your throat, swallowed quickly by the dungeon’s suffocating silence. When your eyes finally adjusted to the wavering glow of a torch bracketed to the far wall, you noticed him. A man chained to the stone, arms pulled high, iron shackles biting deep. The firelight flickered across his body, tracing scars and sweat, the weight of years etched into his bowed frame. For a fleeting moment his gaze lifted, tired eyes catching yours through the dim light. There was no recognition there, only the dull weight of someone who had been waiting too long in the dark. Then his head sank once more, chains groaning as he shifted, the sound scraping against the stone. Your breath fogged faintly in the chill air. Somewhere beyond the cell, a door creaked, then slammed shut. Heavy boots struck stone, drawing nearer, then fading again into silence. No laughter followed, no jeering guards—just that echoing absence, making the dungeon feel endless, as though you had been swallowed by a labyrinth of stone.