31. Chapter Thirty One #2
I closed my eyes and reached for the Rift the way Ness had taught me—slow inhale, center, open the door.
The ache of my body, the raw burn of my wrists, the fury in my chest…
all of it sharpened into focus. Power flickered at the edges of my thoughts, the familiar swell of something vast and dangerous pressing against the walls of my mind.
But the moment I pushed—nothing. Just a hollow thud, like the air itself recoiled. A ward. Layered thick, iron and ash and something older woven into the stone. The Rift slid from my grasp like water through cupped hands.
I sagged against the chains, my chest heaving. Gods, they knew. They had built this room to keep me powerless. To cage me like a beast in a menagerie.
The sudden creak of a heavy portcullis startled me, the sound reverberating off the walls.
My breath caught as a figure entered—a walking corpse draped in a deep violet cloak, his steps deliberate and predatory.
His skin was ashen, stretched thin over his bones, and his lips curled into a grin far too wide for his gaunt face.
“Look who’s awake,” he rasped, his voice a chilling blend of mirth and menace. His thick cloak trailed the ground, brushing against the filth-strewn cobblestones. “Fate is a funny thing, isn’t it? To have you delivered to me so... effortlessly.”
I glared at him with my one good eye, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing my fear. His black, soulless eyes gleamed as he closed the distance, inspecting me like a prize he’d won.
“I’ve been looking for you, little Seer,” he purred, his words dripping with malice. “And here you are. Convenient, isn’t it?”
“Go to hell, Vyper .” I spat, my voice hoarse but defiant.
His grin widened impossibly as he leaned closer, the stench of decay wafting from his breath.
“Tell me,” he hissed, his voice dropping to a near whisper, “what were you doing snooping around in my study? Did you like what you saw?” I flinched as his skeletal fingers reached up and grazed my cheek, cold and clammy against my skin.
“That’s right,” he continued, pulling back to pace before me.
“I felt you there. I could smell your Rift... it was intoxicating. And now?” He inhaled deeply, his grin turning cruel.
“Now you reek of Dragon .” I wrenched against the chains, rage boiling in my veins, but the cuffs bit deeper, sending fresh drops of blood streaming down my forearms.
“Tell me,” he whispered, “what did the mirror show you?”
I flinched.
His eyes glittered with amusement. “Did it pull you in the way it pulls all broken things?” His voice dropped to a near whisper. “The Vessel remembers those who stare too long. It never forgets what it likes.”
“What do you want with me?” I demanded through clenched teeth.
“Oh, so many things,” he mused, his tone mockingly playful.
He turned to the table, his bony fingers brushing over the tools before plucking up the scalpel.
He examined it with morbid fascination, flicking the blade with a sharp metallic ping.
“But first, I need you to tell me where your little rebellion is hiding.”
“Fuck you,” I snarled again, spitting at his feet.
His smile faltered, just for a moment, before returning with twice the venom. “Such a temper,” he said, shaking his head in mock disapproval. He stepped closer, holding the scalpel up to catch the flickering light. “But I suppose we’ll work on that.”
He brought the blade to my cheek, the cold steel sending a shiver through my body.
His black eyes bore into mine, his lips curling into that same sadistic grin.
“Cooperate, little bird,” he whispered, his voice a razor slicing through the silence.
“It would be such a shame to ruin something so... pretty.”
I held my breath, refusing to flinch. I might have been broken, battered, betrayed—but I would not let him win.
Vyper leaned closer, his skeletal grin almost brushing my cheek.
“All of the power that the Rift has gifted you,” he hissed, his voice cold as winter’s breath, “and yet, here you are. Helpless,” his empty black eyes bore into mine, his grotesque smile stretching too wide as if mocking the very concept of humanity.
He lifted the scalpel, the jagged edge glinting faintly in the flickering torchlight.
Slowly, deliberately, he turned it in his fingers, savoring the tension.
“Helpless,” he repeated, the word dripping with venom.
I swallowed hard, my breath hitching, but I forced myself to meet his gaze. “Do your worst.”
His rasping chuckle echoed in the small chamber, a sound like dry leaves crushed underfoot. “Oh, my dear,” he murmured, “you have no idea how accommodating I can be.”
The scalpel’s cold kiss met my cheek, pressing lightly, enough to sting but not yet break the skin.
I tensed against the restraints, the rough steel cuffs digging deeper into my raw wrists.
My body betrayed me with a flinch, but I locked my jaw tight.
I wouldn’t scream. I wouldn’t cry. I wouldn’t give him the pleasure of seeing me crack.
“You’re strong,” he mused, tilting his head as if studying a curious specimen. “But strength without wisdom is so... wasted,” his lips curled upward, his teeth bared in a mockery of a smile. “Tell me where the rebels are, and this can all stop. I can be quite generous, you know.”
I laughed bitterly, a sound that echoed hollowly in the chamber. “You don’t know the meaning of mercy.”
The mask of amusement cracked for a heartbeat, revealing something darker and far crueler beneath. “Very well,” he said softly, stepping back with the calculated grace of a predator.
Placing the scalpel down with a deliberate clink, Vyper reached for the whip coiled neatly on the table. Its leather cords were tipped with jagged bits of metal, glinting dangerously in the dim light. He snapped it once in the air, the sound a sharp crack that made my stomach lurch.
“This is your last chance,” he said, dragging the whip along the floor as he stalked toward me. The sound was slow, deliberate. “Tell me where they are, and I will spare you this... discomfort.”
I stared back at him, my good eye blazing with defiance. “You’ll get nothing from me,” the image of the children peacefully playing in the streets flashed through my periphery.
For them, I thought, bolstering my resolve.
The first lash came without warning, the metal tips tearing through my tunic and carving into the flesh of my back. Pain exploded like fire, sharp and searing. My teeth sank into my lower lip, the coppery taste of blood filling my mouth.
“You’ve got fight in you,” Vyper said almost cheerfully, the whip slithering back to him like a living thing. “I like that.”
Another strike. Then another. Each lash sent waves of agony coursing through my body, but I refused to cry out. I forced myself to breathe through the pain, even as the blood began to soak into my tattered clothes. I could smell the coppery tinge.
Vyper paused, his bony fingers trailing over the angry gashes on my back. His touch was as cold as death, sending a fresh shudder of revulsion through me. “You’re so loyal,” he murmured, admiring the blood on his fingertips. “But loyalty is such a fragile thing, isn’t it?”
He circled me slowly, his voice lowering to a venomous purr.
“Especially when it’s betrayed,” at the word, my heart clenched painfully, and Vyper’s grin grew.
“Ah,” he said, his voice soft with mock understanding.
“The Dragon. Such a tragic little romance. Tell me, little bird, did he whisper sweet lies in your ear? Did he hold you close, tell you that you were his world, only to shatter it all with a single truth?”
“Fuck you.” I ground out a second time, my voice hoarse, but the words lacked strength.
“Oh, I can see it,” he continued, his tone almost gleeful. “He played you like a violin, didn’t he? And you—” he leaned closer, his cold breath brushing my ear—“you fell for it. Poor, naive little Seer.”
Tears burned in my eyes, unbidden and unwanted. I blinked them away furiously, but Vyper saw them. Of course he saw them.
“You thought you were special, didn’t you?” His laughter was low and cruel. “That you mattered to him. But all you were, all you are, is a tool—a pawn in their game. And now, here you are—forgotten. Abandoned. Left to rot.”
“Shut up!” I screamed, thrashing against the chains, the steel cutting deeper into my wrists. Fresh blood trickled down my arms, but I didn’t care. Rage flared, mingling with the anguish, fueling my defiance. “You don’t know anything!”
“Oh, but I do,” he said, his voice chillingly calm.
“I can see it in your memories, feel it in your despair. You reek of betrayal, little bird. And that scent... it’s intoxicating.
Perhaps that betrayal will fuel you to divulge some useful information?
” He prodded. I met his gaze with a look from the hells themselves.
He straightened, his grin fading into something colder, sharper. “Don’t worry. I’ll break you. They all break eventually.” Vyper turned, his violet cloak sweeping behind him as he strode toward the door.
“Rest well,” he called over his shoulder, his voice dripping with mockery. “We have a long way to go,” the door slammed shut, leaving me alone in the suffocating darkness. My breaths came in ragged gasps, my body trembling from pain and exhaustion until I finally lost consciousness.