Day One: Part 1

[Harry Dresden]

Harry looked up from his now-completed project, the strange yet somewhat familiar item oddly comfortable in his hands. Not anywhere near as comfortable as his staff would be, but obviously Karl had known better than to let a wizard have his foci with him. Part of him was sickened by the whole thing. He hadn't gotten his revenge on Cindy before, so he had been stuck in the competition after all. He'd have to ask the hunter why that circle hadn't worked, before he took her down. That is, provided Samus didn't find her first. Karl's voice rang through the island, and Harry chuckled. "If that isn't a trap..."

The wizard set his weapon down and opened up his duffel bag. He'd have to go foraging, and soon judging by the supply of water and food they'd given him. Which was, of course, the point. But for now, he wasn't hungry. He opened a bottle of water and took a small drink, though. Keeping hydrated would be extremely important. He leaned against the wall and tried to call fire, more to see if he could, but the collar prickled and stung and disrupted his concentration like thorn manacles would have; the wizard suppressed a grunt more out of reflex than anything else. Still, it wasn't as severe as the manacles were; while he wouldn't be using any offensive spells unless he really needed it, he could definitely use a less-chaotic force than fire. Not that calling ice would help him much here.

Harry kept one hand on the item he'd assembled and slowed his breathing, leaning against the cave wall. Sleep wasn't coming to him yet, but he wasn't going to exert himself just yet. Wait until the daylight hours for that. Priority one would be to find Samus, which might be easier than he expected with her technicolor suit of armor. Safety in numbers. He hoped that Blues hadn't been involved in this; giant monster kill or no, he was a kid. This Karl Jak guy wouldn't shanghai a kid into this kind of game, right?