Try to take him on

With your offensive and defensive magic out of action your capabilities are much reduced. However you are a seasoned warrior and no pushover. You make a show of struggling to compose yourself… something which isn’t too far from the truth unfortunately. You truly are stiff from your long captivity, despite the benefits of a careful massage, and the oil which has absorbed into your skin leaves you feeling drunk and highly sensitive over every part of your tingling bare skin. All the same your captor isn’t going to wait for ever…

You slip off the bench and your legs give way with a soft moan. Only instead of folding all the way to the floor you drive powerfully with your legs upward and put your shoulder into the pit of his stomach just below the rib cage. He gives a satisfying grunt and his grip loosens, though he doesn’t fall. It feels like ramming a heavy leather sack filled with sand. Quickly you twist your arm free, whirling inside his reach while he is still staggered and gripping his arm to flip him across your hip. This time he does crash to the ground, your leverage telling despite his stoutness and weight.

It seems pointless to try to finish him off, or to linger longer than necessary with the patrolling orb tracking you. Perhaps you can lose it amongst the curtains and chambers you came from. You turn to race away but instantly you feel a grip at your ankle. Cursing, you glance down at the fingers clasped vice-like around it. You meet his eyes staring up at you implacably yet curiously impassive. Not for the first time you can’t help wondering what lurks beneath that leather exterior. The knee of your free leg crunches into his elbow against the tile, eliciting a muffled groan. You aim a kick to side of his head but against the odds he keeps the grip on your ankle and manages to wrench it from under you at the same time scooping your now off target kicking foot upward past him with inhuman strength. With a helpless squawk you go over backwards and the hard tile against your skull makes the world flash in shades of grey, your limbs suddenly rubbery and unresponsive.

His laboured breathing is loud in your ear as he flings your over his shoulder. Your senses only just begin to return as the cube clicks closed snugly around you with your head protruding from the top…