Chapter Forty-Eight
‘Asha, wake my child…’
Oriah’s voice shakes like an earthquake through my brain. My body tenses as I slowly remember the betrayal of the Xoro army and the pain etched on Ryder’s features as he fought his way towards me. I work at trying to open my eyes, my eyelids feel heavy and fight back as I try to lift them.
‘Oriah… what happened?’ The sound of metal clanking sends a cold jolt down my spine as I recognise the uncomfortable sensation of cold metal digging into my wrists.
I blink, my vision swimming as I finally manage to peel my eyelids apart.
My movement is restricted, and I try with all my strength to lift my arms. Panic flares through every cell in my body as I realise I am chained to a chair.
Thick ironclad chains strangle my wrists, and no matter how much I resist and writhe, they are not budging.
The strong smell of disinfectant poisons my senses, and a cold shiver screams down my spine.
My mind races in a whirlwind of fear and confusion.
I tug at the chains in a desperate, futile effort.
The walls are white and sterile, and my bare feet feel cold against the white marble floor.
I know where I am. Right back where we started. Only this time, I’m the one in chains.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Panic takes over my body as I attempt to fidget my way out of the unforgiving, metallic grip of the chains clamped tightly around my wrists.
It’s no use. The metal doesn’t budge and just eats its way further into my skin, leaving my wrists raw and irritated.
I work at igniting the void and imagine the blackened ember dancing on my fingertips, but it doesn’t come.
Instead, a sharp pain courses from my wrists, surging through my body, causing me to cry out in pain.
I watch as the silver chains glow orange as if touched by fire, branding my wrists before cooling down again.
The Enchantra chains. My breath becomes heavier and more erratic as I search for a way out of this vice, the chains clank and shout at me, stifling my cries.
“Oriah… Where’s Ryder and River? Are they okay?” I ask whilst trying to ignite my Gifts again. The pain surges through me like a hurricane, and I shriek out in agony again. The skin on my wrists inflamed and burnt.
‘Ryder is trying his hardest to get to you, but he is restrained like you,’ Oriah answers, and I feel the slight unclenching of my muscles as I let out a shaky breath, the tension that had gripped my shoulders and jaw relax, only a little.
He’s alive. Captured but alive. And I do not envy the person who tries to hurt him.
“And River?”
‘They have him in a cell,’ she states flatly. The grip that relinquished from my gut reclaims me, churning and twisting painfully with guilt and remorse. I brought him here. I let him come with us. And now they have him.
“What do we do?” I ask, hoping she can get us out of this mess.
‘I can’t interfere; this is the way it must play out,’ she replies, and I retaliate by fighting the chains again.
“You can’t be serious? Help us, Oriah!” I scream, but she does not reply.
Looks like I’m on my own.
My head jolts suddenly at the sound of the bolt sliding across the metal door. I feel red-hot anger seething in my bones. An anger I have never felt before.
“LET ME GO!” I scream, awaiting a figure to walk through the door. The hinge opens slowly, and my nails bite against the iron armrests.
“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?”
I thrash my body against the restraints until my bones ache and try my Gifts again. The searing pain of hot metal screams at me and chars my wrists again. Hot, stinging tears that feel like they are eroding my soul, well in my eyes. I feel so hopeless.
“Amazing things really, wouldn’t you agree?” Ryder’s father saunters towards me and crouches down to my level. “Those chains are engraved with an Enchantra spell…no Gifts for you…well, unless you want third-degree burns.”
He laughs menacingly and comes uncomfortably close to me, stroking the eaten skin on my wrists, making me wince. I flinch away from his touch and stare at him with hatred, a sickening pool whirling in the pit of my stomach.
“How rude of me, I don’t believe we have had the pleasure of an introduction yet, I’m Darryn.” He holds his hand out to taunt me, laughing at the chains making my wrists immovable.
“LET ME GO!” I shout, trying to conceal the shakiness in my voice.
His hand strikes me, and I tremble, feeling helpless…
my fear is too immense to hide. His heavy footsteps invoke a sickening tension in me as he drags his finger forcefully under my chin so my eyes are forced to endure his icy stare.
His pungent breath eats into my nostrils, and I feel like throwing up.
“Nice little stunt you pulled…freeing the Moons,” he snarls through gritted teeth. “Of course, we have them all back now.” He chuckles, and I feel the anger begin to seethe under my skin.
“Ryder trusted you… How could you?” I spit at him, bracing myself against the back of the chair, trying to get as far away from him as possible.
“Some things are bigger than you, dear.” His voice is stern and unwavering. “Ryder will understand one day.”
He licks his teeth slowly and closes his hands tightly into fists. I imagine breaking out of these chains and battering him relentlessly to the point where his face is so swollen and bruised he cannot see, and he is too weak to even move.
“He will never forgive you,” I curl my words to emphasise my anger. “He will hate you for this.”
“SHUT UP!” he snaps, and I know I have clearly hit a nerve.
I fight the chains again, but my body is feeling tender, and the pink flesh is showing on my wrists. “See, you really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His voice simmers and he begins walking closer to me again. “He will thank me for this!” His words are laced with bitterness and fill me with a sense of dread and confusion. The pool in my stomach is swirling violently.
“If you believe that, then you really are deluded,” I spit at him, and I can tell I’ve hit a nerve again. “Killing your own people. YOU’RE A MONSTER.”
“I AM NOT A MONSTER!” His face contorts in rage as his lips pull back to reveal clenched teeth, the veins on his forehead and neck gasp for air as they pop and bulge. “Do you even know why we are taking the Moons?” he spits, his body rigid with tension.
“To do some sick experiments on,” I retaliate and fight the chains again.
“Close.” He smirks for a second before returning to a pile of tensed muscles and clenched fists.
“Over two hundred years ago, there was a race that existed. Not Sun or Moon. They were much more powerful than that.” He continues while pacing the room, and I fidget uncomfortably in my seat. “Do you know what they were called?”
Now I’m the one who’s tense, every muscle strained as if ready to explode. I shake my head.
“A product of Sun and Moon.” His stare grows more intense as he studies my face closely, his presence making my skin crawl. His hot breath triggers the swirling in my stomach again, and I stifle back a gag. “Hmmm… Not jogging your memory.”
His fingers caress the side of my cheek, and all I can think about is getting away from him. I take my chance and snap my head quickly, biting into the flesh of his finger. He yanks it away, his eyes ablaze with fury, and winces.
“YOU BITCH!” he erupts, and saliva sprays outwards from his mouth.
He consoles his hand with his other hand, and I fight the urge to smile.
A sheen of perspiration glistens over his body as he breathes erratically, as if he is trying to control himself.
Red liquid drips from the tip of his finger onto the floor.
“You’re a feisty one. I can see why my son likes you.
” He chuckles a menacing chuckle, an odd show of emotion that makes me uneasy.
“Fuck you.” My words escape through pursed lips and gritted teeth.
“The Star race were defiant little fuckers that ended up needing to be put down,” he continues, wrapping his hand in black tape he pulls from his cargo trousers.
“But we thought, what if we could make them? What if we didn’t need the Gods?
What if we could make a Star race that obeyed us?
Then the Xoro army would be unstoppable. ”
He chuckles again, this time reading my expressions like a novel. I try to conceal my emotions, to conceal the mixture of shock and intrigue I am feeling right now, but his raised eyebrows tell me I have failed. “HA… I knew I’d pique your interest.”
“You think you can make a race. You really are deluded.” I smirk condescendingly and roll my eyes. “You can’t play Gods.”
“I thought that at first, when the Moons kept dying from our serum.” He shakes his head patronisingly and searches around in his pocket.
“But with trial and error and a little bit of sky serpent venom. Voila.” He pulls out a syringe filled with a yellow liquid from his pocket and examines it in front of him.
“I bet you were angry when you found out we freed your little sky serpent,” I taunt, letting out a small chuckle.
“Not really… He was with us twenty years, so we have more than enough venom to power our army.”
His lips curl into a bitter smile, and I want to punch him so bad.
“You bastard. Sky serpent venom is poisonous to anyone infected; you’re killing people,” I exclaim in disbelief. He’s lying.
“Volatile… not poisonous, there’s a difference,” he states and flicks the glass of the syringe.
My face is a picture of confusion.
“You see, the serum requires an element to stabilise the mixture, an element immune to the venom.”
I can see from his face that he is getting excited; his teeth shine in the white light of the room as he smiles widely. “And my son… my incredible son has brought it straight to me.”