77 Lock up

The next couple weeks went by uneventfully. They received news that the humans had replaced everything Leo and Iris cost them, and began exploring the cave once more. Leo spent every day practicing with his new axe, and Karl was only too willing to help him with it. It had only taken a few days for Agmundr to finish the magic musket, and now they were being mass produced for the upcoming battle. The dwarven city was peaceful for the moment, but Leo was growing more concerned by the day. Finally he approached the dwarven Chiefs during meeting,

{I need you to lock me up in the most secure prison you have tonight!} They all had a look of confusion since Leo didn't tell them about his monthly transformations yet. He had been trying to find a way to avoid the topic, but due to the the upcoming battle and the fact that the surrounding mountain peaks were home to several dwarves, he wasn't able to go to another mountain for the night. In the end he decided to attempt being locked up, but he was still concerned about getting out.

{what's this boy, what crime have you done to deserve it?} Karl of course spoke up. Leo shook his head, and explained,

{on nights of the full moon I become a monster, if I don't go somewhere far away I'll hurt people. But I can't do that here so I need to be locked up as securely as possible.} Karl's shook his head, and started laughing.

{do you have so little faith in our ability to protect ourselves boy? I think a few of us will be able to handle you throwing a temper tantrum or something.} Leo then practically shouted,

{the power this thing has, took on an entire army of chi using human soldiers, and walked away with out so much as a scratch. I took on a Behemoth bare handed, and shredded the thing from the inside out. If I don't get locked up tonight, there is a very real chance I'll kill every dwarf I come across.} Karl thought that Leo was over exaggerating things, but seeing how earnest he was in doing this he only sighed. He then led the way to the black cells.

They were tunnels dug into the side of the mountains that spiraled down into the ground, once you stopped going down there was a long hallway ending in a room. There was no door, instead once the prisoner is thrown into the room a mechanism is pushed at the other end of the hall and slabs of stone filled the hall. As a result the prisoner is encased in stone fifty feet thick on all sides.

As there was only a few hours until sundown, Leo stayed in the cells and insisted on them being closed right away. As she watched the slabs fill the hall, Iris then sat down in the end of the hall as if to wait for sunrise for Leo. Karl of course joined her. A couple hours later Runa showed up with some soup for the two since they didn't have any dinner. As the three sat and ate in silence, Karl suddenly asked,

{is this thing really that dangerous?} Iris didn't reply right away, she just rolled up her sleeve, and revealed her arm to the two for the first time. They were shocked to see the scars on her arm, as she started explaining.

{this happened the first time he transformed. None of us knew about it, not even Leo. He looked as if he was in pain, but when I tried to help he pushed me away. It was only a few seconds later that I noticed my arm was covered in blood. I don't think he's ever forgiven himself since.} when Karl and Runa heard iris's story, the two showed a sad expression. Karl's was firm though, as if he would do anything to prevent Leo from hurting anyone he cared about again.

Runa soon left, leaving the two to sit in silence. Iris thought she could hear occasional thudding, but wasn't sure if she imagined it or not. After many hours, someone said that dawn was coming, and the two prepared to open the cell. Iris waited until the sun was completely up, before giving Karl the OK.

The two went pale after the first ten feet of slabs moved, because that was all that was left. In his quest to escape the prison, leo had smashed through the slabs. They didn't know if he got tired of trying, or if he got bored, but it appeared that he also tried to claw his way through. They could see the numerous bloody claw marks he left in the stone walls of the hall and room. Seeing the destruction first hand, karl was growing paler by the second. His friend never told him about any of this.

After they reached the room, they found Leo passed out and buck naked on the floor. As they moved to cover and help him, Leo woke and looked at Karl. Karl suddenly had a look of rage, and demanded,

{why didn't you tell me about this?! How do you think it would effect me, not knowing a friend was suffering like this every month?!} Leo shook his head slowly, and replied,

{I didn't want to tell a friend i could kill them at the drop of a hat.} Karl had a sad look, and helped him make it back to the surface. Leo spent the rest of the day resting in bed, as he tired himself out especially bad trying to escape all night.