Pain pierced his dreamless sleep as the box he was in slammed against something hard. Splinters of wood dug into Jinnaari’s skin. He blinked, desperate to chase away the drug induced fog that clouded his brain. Something heavy stepped on his leg. He screamed, the sound muffled by the gag, as the bones snapped under the weight. The creature moved.

He couldn’t see, only hear. The ring of metal against something, punctuated by grunts, told him a fight was raging. More than once, a scream was cut off abruptly.

The battle wasn’t going well for someone. Given that no one had come near the remains of the crate he’d been stuffed into, Jinnaari hoped that ‘someone’ was his captors.

A bestial roar rang out, and the ground beneath him vibrated. Biting against the pain, he worked the palm of one hand to lay flat against his leg. Using some stores of magic, he healed the break. At least he could run when he needed to.

Shifting, he discovered enough of the box had broken that he could move his hands toward his head. He worked the gag free, then started chewing on the webbing that bound his hands. He kept his ears open to any sound that either his captors, or the beast that they had been fighting, were returning.

It took time, but the strands finally broke and he was free. Cautious, he raised the edge of his prison. Absolute darkness greeted him. A creature could’ve been standing over him, sword ready to be driven into his chest, and he wouldn’t have seen them!

The Underdark, then.

When no blow came, he moved. Sliding out from underneath the cover, he rose. Hoping his eyes would adjust enough to allow him to make out shapes, Jinnaari reached out with one hand and moved slowly, shuffling his feet along the stone floor.

His feet found the first corpse. Kneeling, he found a short sword. He was armed, at least. Running his hands over the body, he swore. The woman was wearing chain mail, but it would be too small to fit him. There was a cloak, though. Not much, but it was better than nothing.

A creature bellowed in pain and rage, the sound echoing down the tunnel. Determining which way it came from, Jinnaari turned the opposite.

He didn’t know how long he’d been down here, but it was a safe bet his companions were coming after him. The trick would be finding them before something found him.