48. Captured
48
Captured
Talon
I gritted my teeth, forcing healing into my wings and arm, dealing with the worst of the damage. I struggled, trying to free myself from the grip of the stony golems who held me, but it was futile.
I bared my teeth as Cassandra approached. Her bare feet padded softly along the floor.
“My Kaine really did a good job with you,” she said, coming close.
I freed my wing and slashed at her, but she stepped backwards with ease. The golems’ cold, hard hands pulled me back, slamming me into the wall. She approached and grabbed my face. Her nails were digging into my neck, close to drawing blood. My breaths came in sharp pants, and I couldn’t tell if it was anger or fear.
“He’s good at that, you know,” she continued. “Manipulating the weak minded. But to have you running back to him after he already left you—to give up your own quest for him.”
She laughed, leaning in close. She smelled like lilies and cloves, the scent sickeningly strong.
“It’s for your own good I’m doing this. Despite what he may have you believe, he doesn’t give a shit about you. ”
No. She was wrong. He had offered to leave with me. To risk everything.
“He always had a knack for picking big, strong heroes. I’m going to need you a lot weaker than you are right now, though.”
She murmured a spell, pressing her hand to my forehead.
I struggled, but it was useless as the spell took effect. I felt like my head was splitting in two. The pain was excruciating, but I couldn’t even cry out. My eyes watered and my body shook. She was draining me, sapping every cell in my body of energy to fuel her own magic.
My hands went numb, and a prickling sensation started in my feet. My head was pounding, my heart beating out of my chest, my breaths coming sharp and fast. My vision swam, and still, she didn’t stop; I was forced to draw upon my healing to stay conscious.
I held there as long as I could, sustaining myself on magic as she continued to draw more and more. I wondered if she planned to kill me right there. Finally, she released her spell, and the golems dropped me to the ground.
She wasn’t even looking at me, and my mind was racing. Would Kaine know I’d lost when he came? He might see my sword outside on the ground. Perhaps that would be enough.
Cassandra turned her head back to me. “Get up, dog,” she said, her voice laced with compulsion. Under normal circumstances, I could have resisted such magic, but I barely had anything left in me.
My muscles were shaking as I struggled to rise to my knees. She kicked me, hard enough to send me to the ground again. I gasped, the wind knocked out of me. She let out a cruel laugh.
“Up,” she insisted again, and this time, she allowed the golems to help.
They grabbed me roughly, half dragging me along .
“Let’s go,” she said, turning to the winding stairs that led up to the top of the tower. “You have a quest to finish.”