Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
~ Shade ~
“Jensen, please!” I beg as Jensen and the other student haul me down the tunnel, their fingers digging painfully into my arms. “Let me go! This isn’t you.”
My friend doesn’t look at me. He stares straight ahead, his face emotionless as his iron grip remains on my arm.
“He’s gone, isn’t he?” I say to the shadows, my heart lurching.
I want to believe that this is all an act that Jensen is putting on for the Xalgrith king, but there’s no life in Jensen’s pale eyes.
Eyes that were once bright and mischievous.
I blink back tears, because if Jensen’s like this, then Leira and the other students probably are, too.
What did King Malgur do to them? I try not to think about it.
Try not to imagine how the Xalgrith king broke them, or how he’s planning to break me…
“Don’t cry, girl,” Elgen chastises. “Tears won’t help you now.”
I sniffle. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one with a flesh and blood body who’s going to be tortured.” The nausea is back, and I fight hard not to throw up.
“Perhaps not, but if you die, we will also be lost,” Elgen replies. “You’re stronger than you think. You will get through this.”
I don’t know how she can sound so certain, because right now I don’t feel very strong. No, I feel like a rabbit caught in a lion’s den, and unfortunately, this kitty likes to play with his food.
“I bet you’re wishing you were back in the academy now, aren’t you?” I joke to the shadows, because I’m sure when they hoped for freedom, this isn’t what they had in mind.
“That is still to be determined,” Tarlaz replies.
The tunnel winds downward and the air grows thicker, the scent of decaying bodies growing so strong I start retching. “You’re both seriously lucky you can’t smell this,” I tell the shadows.
Aside from the smell, the temperature is also rising, and warmth seeps into my boots. Sweat streams down the side of my face, and I decide I’ll never take cool, fresh air for granted ever again. “I think we’re getting closer to the lava pit.”
Eventually, our tunnel branches off, and we veer to the right, entering a narrower tunnel that’s almost pitch black. I’m jerked to a halt in front of a wooden door with strips of metal bolted to it in a zig zag pattern. Two Xalgrith guards stand sentry, and they unlock the door, pulling it open.
Jensen and the other student drag me into the large holding cell, and the smell gets so bad I throw up again, getting some of it on my arm. Inside, the only light comes from the open doorway, and I can’t see what’s at the back of the room.
The students release me, and I blink around in the dim light, slipping on something before I manage to correct myself and stand. Jensen turns to leave, but I grab his arm.
“Jensen,” I rasp. “It’s me, Shade. Tell me you’re in there somewhere.”
He turns woodenly toward me, and his eyes are unfocused, making me feel like he’s some kind of character from a horror movie.
“I really wish you wouldn’t look at me like that,” I whisper.
Fumbling in my pockets, I hastily pull out his finger that I collected back in the shadow realm.
The flesh is cold, and it takes all my effort not to launch the appendage across the room.
It’s just a finger, Shade. A cold, bloody, lifeless severed finger.
Wincing, I lift Jensen’s hand and place the finger against the stub like I’m trying to stick it back on there.
“See? Professor Yevar had it,” I say nervously, the words coming out in a rush.
“I’m here to save you.” I look at the other student.
“To bring you all home. Where are the others? We need to get out of here.” Of course, I have no idea how we’re going to get out of here, but one thing at a time.
Jensen’s pale gaze lowers to the finger I keep pressing against his stub.
“Okay, so you might need some stitches, but we can make it work, right? Come on, Jensen. I know you must remember me. Kenzie told me how you tried searching for the students.” I give him a weak smile. “I guess you found them.”
The other student gives Jensen an impatient look, and I yelp as Jensen jerks his hand, sending the severed finger flying across the room. It smacks against the wall and bounces out of view. I’m about to retrieve it when Jensen’s words stop me, his voice cold and robotic.
“This Jensen you speak of no longer exists. I am warrior Jozrac, and it is my honor to fight for our king, King Malgur of the Damned. You will come to see. Then we will battle together in the land of shadows. We will drown their realm in blood and feast on their suffering.”
His words are like a slap across my face, and the last shred of hope that I had for the students vanishes. The students haven’t just been brainwashed. No, this is something else. Something evil.
I stumble back a step, and when Jensen turns to leave again, I don’t stop him.
I can’t breathe, and it’s not just because of the unbearable stench. I stagger toward the closest wall, and I press my back against the stone as the cell door slams shut. The lighting dims even more as the only illumination comes from the small, barred window high up on the cell door.
This is fine, Shade. It’s totally fine. You’ll get out of this. Unfortunately, telling myself that doesn’t help because it’s definitely not fine.
I stay pressed against the wall for a long while, but when no one else comes and my cell stays quiet, I try to pull myself together. I rub my academy ring and try to use my magic to clean myself, but nothing happens.
“Why isn’t it working?” I hiss to the shadows, feeling like everything that could go wrong today absolutely has.
“The rings were only ever designed as temporary conduits, to allow humans to connect with the magic of the shadow realm. But we’re in the land of the Xalgrith now,” Tarlaz explains.
“So you’re saying I have no powers?” I say with horror.
“Exactly.”
“Crap.” I clench my fists and unclench them again. Truthfully, I think I knew that since the moment we arrived here, but I hadn’t wanted to test the theory. I’d wanted to hold onto the hope that at least my magic could help me escape. There goes that idea.
Something shiny glints on the floor, and I reach down, retrieving Jensen’s ring.
I don’t bother saving his finger this time.
I’m pretty sure it’s too late for that now anyway.
“I guess that explains why Jensen didn’t care about his ring,” I mutter.
“Though, wouldn’t King Malgur want the students to have them?
Then they’d get their shadow powers when they battle in the shadow realm. ”
“It’s possible he will still want his ring, yet. We don’t know what King Malgur’s intentions are,” Tarlaz replies.
I slide Jensen’s ring onto my finger, because if he wants it back, he’s going to have to come to me for it.
With nothing else to do, I take a moment to explore my cell. Going by the muck in one corner, I’m not the first person who’s been kept here. At the far back, my boot kicks a small pile of fur, and I squeal, jumping away. “Crap! Is that a rat?”
“Correction, it was a rat,” Elgen replies.
Swallowing, I gingerly move toward the fur, my heart pounding when multiple carcasses come into view. There must be at least a dozen of them, but considering the rats aren’t much more than bones and scraps of flesh, it’s hard to tell the exact number.
“What happened here?” I rasp to the shadows.
“Dinner, I suppose,” Elgen replies dryly.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I,” Elgen quips. “If I had to guess, the rats had been entering this cell through that small crack in the wall, and whoever was being held here at the time took the opportunity to feast.”
I make a face. The word ‘feast’ sounds so inappropriate for the massacre I’m looking at. I’ve never been a huge fan of rats, but as I stare at the pile of bones, I feel sorry for both the rats and whoever was trapped in here.
I’m not silly enough to tell myself I’d never do the same. This is my first day here, and I already feel as though I’m losing my mind.
There’s not much else to see in the cell, and I sit on the floor in the cleanest corner. The ground is still covered in grime, but there aren’t any dead rats or piles of filth, so it’s the best I’m going to get.
It’s only when I lean my back against the wall, that I notice the scratches on the stone beside me.
I jerk, twisting to make out the letters.
Many of the scratches are unintelligible scribbles, but the rest are names.
There are dozens of them carved into the rock, and going by the different handwriting, I’m guessing they were written by different people.
Maren.
Silas
Dominic.
Sasha.
Ashton.
Freya.
With every name I read, the air feels heavier. In some places, there are prayers or pleas carved into the stone, but otherwise, it’s all names.
I trace them with my finger, wondering which of these names belongs to the student who was with Jensen. There are so many names. How many students were taken?
Then I come across a name that makes my heart stop beating for a second.
Leira.
I blink at the scrawled letters, wondering if I’m seeing things, but the name is still there. Leira. I trace my fingertips over each letter. L-e-i-r-a.
“She was here,” I murmur to the shadows. “Kenzie’s friend. Or at least, someone who has the same name.”
I know this doesn’t change anything. Even if Leira is alive, she’s likely in the same condition as Jensen.
But there’s something about seeing her name that chases away a little bit of the darkness.
Kenzie had always talked about Leira being clever and strong-willed, and as ridiculous as it sounds, just knowing she’s here somewhere makes me feel a little less alone.
I continue on, scouring the wall until I come to another name that makes me pause.
Jensen.
Each letter is carved so deep it’s like he went over the same spot again and again. My heart tightens as I think about my friend, and I rub his ring. “We’re going to find a way out of this,” I say as if Jensen can hear me. “Somehow.”