I truly am trying To lift the weight in my chest Throwing away the shackles Be patient, I may yet decide to be free I really do want To unfurl my fragile, unused wings Beat up to the sky And fly Away from this frame of mind And yet the fear That I have worn as a blanket And as a straightjacket Still holds me In a death grip embrace

REDSHAFT

CHAPTER I

I wasn't sure how long I was in the prison cell, but one thing was certain:

I was going to free myself this time.

Standing up, I walked in circles in the cell, the smell of dungeon weed growing on the castle stones around me clogging my thoughts.
Perhaps that's why they let this weed grow; to stop one from thinking straight.
The circles in which I walked to free up my mind weren't too large, for my leg was chained to a large three hundred pound ball of iron.