“I know the portal does not usually allow so many through, I wonder it’s plans.”
“No matter, they cannot come to fruition. We need to capture them before they can cause too much trouble for the king.”
“Yes, but maybe we have some fun with these intruders before handing them over, we haven’t gotten to play in so long.”
“Of course, the king only said we needed to find them and bring them to him. He never specified the condition they needed to be in. If they just happened to have died before making it to him well… therearelots of dangerous creatures out here.” They both laugh at this.
Okay… maybe I will need to use this dagger after all. Steeling myself for an altercation, I unsheathe the weapon and slowly move to a crouch. They are being thorough in their search, which means it is only a matter of time before I am found. Not that it is hard. The skeletal trees and bushes do not provide much in the form of coverage. They only need to pass my location in order to spot me.
“Let’s ensure we do bring them back to the camp though first, hmm? Maybe the boy will be more apt to talk if we can find some of his comrades.”
The boy? I wonder who they are speaking of. Also, a portal?I assume is what dropped me here, but seeing as, at most, there was only three of us at its entrance, maybe they are speaking of something else? As I am pondering this, I notice the men have stopped talking. Looking up I see there is the edge of a boot at the base of my tree.Fuck they have noticed me. I quickly hurl my body at the booted body stabbing my dagger into its thigh along with my body weight.
The burly giant grunts and tries to grab for me. Using the leverage of my dagger in the man’s thigh, I push away from the man and roll out of the way. He screams in pain and stumbles back. Sending a mental thank you to Sorin for urging me to sharpen the blade before our departure I stand up and ready myself for my next move. My eyes zero in on the dagger still embedded in the man's thigh and I cringe.Probably not going to get that back… fuck what do I do without a weapon?
“Looks to me like we are in the presence of royalty,” the man I stabbed grunts out, blood pouring between his fingers as he clutches at the dagger.
“Seems like we are,” a voice says from behind me.Cocky of him to speak so close, I think to myself, ducking and spinning out of his reach. The men both now stand in front of me ready to pounce on me, their faces filled with malice. I do the only logical thing I can think of, I run hard and fast in the other direction, clutching the front of my dress for dear life. I have no idea their level of skill and, from their conversation, what they plan on doing to me, so I do not want to chance my nonexistent hand-to-hand combat skills in a fight. Weaving in and out of the trees I hear the other man laugh.
“I love a chase. The king is going to be so happy with this find!” he calls out, far closer than expected. Picking up the pace, I turn towards a more densely covered path in the forest, hoping to lose the two men in the brush, but as I continue to weave through the forest to try to gain distance, I feel a tug against the back of my dress. Crashing to the ground, I gasp for breath. My dress got caught on one of the branches of a lifeless bush. Panicking, I yank at the gown.Looks like I will need new clothing once I find safety. I wish I could cut the end of this fucking dress off.I mentally chide myself for leaving the stupid dagger in the man's thigh. After what seems like a millennia, it yanks free, but it is too late. The uninjured man takes hold of me, holding a cloth tight to my face. Wriggling violently, I kick out with my legs and throw us into one of the prickly bushes, but he holds me firmly.
Hissing in pain, his grip tightens as he pulls me closer to him. Chuckling in my ear, he whispers, “I am going to have so much fun with you.” That is the last thing I hear before I pass out.
Chapter seventeen
Caught
Sorin
Iwake up chained to a wall. This is, unfortunately, not the first time this has happened to me, but nevertheless it is not my favorite place to come into life in the morning. I take stock of my body first, making sure I keep up the façade of unconsciousness. I seem to have some bruising and a massive headache forming but nothing life threatening.Where am I?I do not think I am still in Helomasi. The last thing I remember is grabbing Laceto try to pull her from getting sucked into inky blackness and then… nothing.Lace!I strain my ears to pick up the sounds around me, but I don’t sense her energy.Did the void separate us?We are definitely in some enemy territory, but where?I hold back a shudderThey better not have Lace chained up… or worse. Their deaths would not be quick. Pushing the thought from my brain I consider my situation. I need to escape it quickly and find Lace, then I can worry about punishing whoever has me.
Briefly, I also allow myself to worry for Sam. I know he must have followed us; it would be unlike him not to. He can handle himself frankly better than I can, but this territory is more unknown to us than the lands of Helomasi. I grit my teeth. Either way I will find him after I have recovered Lace, and we will all make it out of this death pit. I am sure of it.
Taking a breath, I try and see if I can connect with the soil, if I can grow a strong vine maybe I can get myself out of these shackles. I feel the ground beneath my feet, and yet my connection to it seems to be blocked. Stitching my brows together, I try to see how strong this blocker is. I throw my magic at the ground and start to push hard, but before I can gain much headway my body shakes violently with exhaustion. Alarmed I stop and try to gain some strength back. Cracking my eyes open I take in my surroundings. I am in a dark cellar of a room, my body thrown against a wall, my feet are barely standing on a dirt floor. I am covered in bruises and small cuts but otherwise seem whole. Most of all I seem to be alone. There are no guards on the other side of the pillars holding me captive.How silly of them, I think to myself.They must think me weak to leave me without a watch. This can be used to my advantage. They must have captured me while I was unconscious after my transport here and as I am not bearing any clothing denoting my status, it would make sense that they think I am someone without skill.That gives me the opportunity to take them off guard, but for that I need energy. Sighing I slump back into the wall. I will take the next couple hours to rest and make my escape once the light has disappeared from my prison.For now, sleep.
Chapter eighteen
Touch Her And...
Sorin
Iawaken to a loud thump. Staying as still as possible, I covertly survey the room. Across from me, guards are chaining someone else to the wall opposite mine. Their bodies are blocking the form, but the hair on its head seems familiar. Finally, they move out the way with a snicker and I bite my tongue.
A cold shiver runs down my spine with the revelation of who is now chained opposite me.Lace. She looks to be in good shape, but her clothes are dirty, and her dress is torn on the bottom. I will burn this place to the ground if that is what it takes to get her out of here and once I’m done, I will do whatever needs to be done to rid myself of King Nikoli’s spell. I can’t stand the thought of keeping things from her and watching her suffer the consequences of this ignorance. These battles are becoming too big for me to protect her from on my own and I won’t let the bastard force a wedge between us any longer.We need to get out of here.
Another man walks in and slaps one of the other men on the back.
“Who do we have here?”
“Not sure, exactly, but she looks to be royalty.” The other man straightens up.
“Good. The king will be pleased.” He smiles and inspects Lace’s form. His eyes narrow on a scratch along her cheek. “Make sure to not hurt the girl yet. We don’t want to earn the king’s wrath when we present her to him.”
One of the other men makes a noise of disappointment in his throat. “But she stabbed Thyris! You should have seen the figh-”
“I said not yet. We know how quickly the king tires of these women, but we don’t know what trouble she brings to our doors, and you know well the punishments that will befall you if you try to touch her too early.”
He growls. In a flash the man has a dagger to both the goons’ throats.
