The man laughed and gestured at the bones that served as his cage, "Tell you what, free me and I'll give you something nice."
Scarlet raised an eyebrow and stayed away, "How would I know you wouldn't kill me or give me something harmful?"
The man transformed into a black cat and said lazily, "Nonsense, nonsense! The stuff I give is good! How about this, I'll help you with whatever you want for a decade!"
Scarlet said, "Like I said, you could stab me in the back anytime! Why would I keep you around for a decade? What are you good for anyway?"
The black cat licked its paws and said, "Even though I'm a dark beast, I can never tell a lie. I promise you I will not stab you in the back for a decade, is that enough?"
It yawned and continued, "Besides, you should know how long I have been stuck here if you look around at all the corpses around here."
Scarlet closed her eyes and thought for a bit while the black cat patiently looked at her while licking its paws. Scarlet sighed and said, "What are you anyways? Also, tell me how to get rid of the cage."
She heard the black cat cackle with laughter and glee. It finally stopped after a good minute or so and it said, "People call me the Destroyer of History, but you could call me Des. Anyways, breaking the cage is easy, just cast some death magic at the bones to cause it to decompose."
Scarlet nearly dropped her dagger when she heard that, "Death magic? Really? You think I don't know that wielders of death magic have their lifespan reduced to a decade? They also become hideously deformed and insane! And you want me to try that?"
The black cat transformed into a raven and it hopped around pecking at the cage, lost in thought, mumbling, "Is that all that magic has been reduced to? Why hasn't Trumoris been attacked by them yet?"
Scarlet asked, "Trumoris attacked by who?"
Des blinked a few times rapidly and said, "Anyways, back on topic. Those people are more like tinkerers. Death magic is the most powerful and the most beautiful of all magic."
Scarlet rolled her eyes, "And my horse is the most powerful creature in the world."
Des growled (cawed?), "You, little girl, have not seen anything about magic yet." He said with an irritated tone, "As I was saying, the ugly idiots you were talking about are mere amateurs at death magic and have utterly no experience! Death magic is extremely restrictive in its casting targets and violating it causes the user to become an imbecile like those you were referring to."
Scarlet walked closer to Des, "And let me guess, you know how death magic works?"
Des smiled, "Of course, I created it."