Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6) by Dakota Krout (best romantic novels in english TXT) 📕

Joe’s arms were forced behind him until he felt like they were about to break, then the back of his head was grabbed and he was slammed face-first into the ground.

Damage: 40 terrain.

“Come on, now; I know he was being rude an’ all, but he’s not even wearing a basic hat.” The chubby Elf sighed in frustration at the antics of his helpers. “I was being serious, bust his gear. Oh, the mask. I see.”

The Elf got a grunt of acknowledgement from the thugs, and a spray of acid covered Joe’s front.

You have been caught in a capture field! All major forts have the option of respawning a small number of the enemies killed in a ‘jail’ area instead of allowing them to actually die. Escape, be released, or be rescued if you want to get away!

After a long moment of darkness, Joe was back on the island. He looked at his wrists, but the manacles were still there. The Elf shrugged at him, “See? Barely any damage to the gear; you just can’t survive long enough for us to make the spell count. Hurts though, don’t it? Ha! Hurts donut? You hungry, human? Oh, you don’t need to worry about the shackles. Those are bound to me, not you. We won’t hurt them.”

Another blast of acid hit Joe.

You have been caught in-

Joe slapped the message out of his field of vision, trying to orient himself before his captors could get a hold of him again. No luck. There simply wasn’t enough room on this tiny island to make any kind of headway. This time, they didn’t bother getting close, simply giving him an acid shower from a distance. Each time the corrosive liquid bit into him, Joe didn’t even have time to scream before the message reappeared.

You have been caught in-

You have been caught in-

You have been caught in-

“Hold on, hold on. So enthusiastic!” The chubby Elf laughed warmly, making Joe smile for a moment before he came back to himself. “See, human? It just takes so much pain and effort to do it that way. Why don’t you just let us work with you here, huh? All we really want is information. Tell you what… my name is Eli; can I ask the favor of getting your name?”

Joe bit his tongue as hard as he could, instantly making it swell and bleed. Just in time. “Mahnamtheo.”

“You’re… Theo? Hello, Theo. I’m so glad we’re getting ta know each othah betta’.” Eli’s accent was slipping more heavily, showcasing his excitement. Joe saw something shimmering, probably an outpouring of mana. It gently washed over him, and Joe felt pulled toward the Elf. “Theo, let’s be good friends, eh? Let’s just talk for a minute here. How’d you get here? Who sent you? Who knows where you are?”

Joe tried to answer everything, but his tongue hurt for some reason, and it was making his words unclear. Eli seemed disappointed, and that made Joe panic slightly. Eli was trying to help him understand what position he was in, and Joe wasn’t able to answer! “Theo… why did you bite yourself, man? Now you need ta-”

You have been caught in-

Another respawn, but the bite of acid had been a wakeup call. Eli tried to captivate him again, but Joe simply refused to look at him. Every time he was called ‘Theo’, Joe drove the idea that he was a captive being interrogated deeper into his mind. Eventually, Eli sighed and brokenheartedly informed him, “Well, our resident thief is here. I guess we’ll need to continue this conversation after we take everything away from you. Let’s get to work, huh?”

A hand appeared over Joe’s shoulder, holding up a Core. Eli took it and grunted. “Eh, pretty basic bauble, but experience is experience, right?”

The Core dimmed, and Eli tossed it to the side. “Keep it comin’; we don’t have all day. Theo, this can all end if ya just take the gear off. We just need to make sure you’re not protected from our work here, or have something dangerous ta spring on us.”

Joe’s head whipped around, trying to find the thief. If he could see the thief, there was a chance that every attempted theft would fail from that point onward. That was pretty much all he knew about the rogue classes, but he vowed to brush up on his studies if he ever got the chance. In the meantime, items were dropping in front of Joe like a shower, with Eli catching anything shiny and holding it in front of Joe as soon as it appeared. “Who carries this much copper around? Why? Why are you taking them out one at a time? Oh… didn’t realize that was one of the restrictions, my bad.”

That was all the confirmation that Joe needed to understand that the illusion he was trapped in could impact most of his senses. Unless the pain he was feeling was part of it, at least it was only light and sound? He took a deep sniff, but the air was filled with sulphur and ash. He couldn’t use his senses to get out of this, he needed to find something clever… or he was going to lose everything and be trapped here until the war was over. Who knew when that would be?

“Ay, look at that! You got his shoes!” Joe’s new shoes were caught by Eli and directly thrown into the magma. Joe looked at his feet that hadn’t come off the ground. He had no idea how the gear had been removed. “That’ll slow ya down; the rocks around here are pretty sharp, hey, Theo? Ya know, I won’t break it if you just—what the—?”

There was a flash, some screaming, and what sounded like a small explosion. Eli glared at Joe, his previous levity nowhere to be seen. “I suppose I should have expected there to be a golem somewhere in the gear carried by a