CHAPTER 36
Zendryk trailed me all the way to my room, begging for me to let him explain, but I didn’t want to hear it; nothing he could say would change my mind.
“Avyn! Please let me explain!” He yelled through my locked bedroom door, but I didn’t respond. “Avyn…. Please…. I’m sorry!” Shadows crept into my room from the gap at the bottom of the door.
“Go away, Zendryk!” I finally yelled after he pleaded for another fifteen agonizing minutes.
The finality of my tone and using his full name rendered him silent. A minute passed, and then another, until finally I could hear his boots retreating on the cold marble floor.
I didn’t even let Maya enter the room until she knocked, holding our lunch. She placed the tray on the small dining table and crawled into bed with me, wrapping her arms around me, letting me cry for as long as I needed.
It was finally the afternoon, and I had no more tears to cry. “We'd better eat, we're going to need our energy.” That was all I could say, knowing we were in for one hell of an afternoon.
She nodded in agreement, and we made our way to the table, slowly picking at the cheeses, crackers, and fruit laid before us.
“I’m so sorry, Maya. You should not be in this mess.” The weight of her involvement crashed down on me, and guilt crushed my chest.
“Avyn, you have nothing to apologize for. This is not your fault.”
Of course, Maya would say that; she was always so optimistic. I was so grateful to have her as my friend. I only hoped I could find a way to get us out of this situation. Get her out of this situation. I would suffer a million times over if it meant she did not have to.
“We need to run. We need to get away from here.” I pleaded.
“Avyn… We both know that is not possible. Even if we got past the guards and manor, the Soulless would find us.” Why was she always so fucking rational?
“I am going to figure something out. We are not staying here.” My mind swirled, trying to think of some possibility that would save us from the future laid in front of us.
“Avyn… let’s just do what we have to for now…” Her voice trailed off as a loud knock rattled my door.
“Miss? It is time for your training.” A guard's muffled voice came from the other side.
I let out a sigh before I responded, “I’ll be right there.”
“Miss? Don’t forget to bring your lady's maid with you.” The ground vanished before my feet as my chest fell away into a bottomless pit.
I looked at Maya, and her two braids, which flowed down over each shoulder. She smiled at me, not knowing the kind of torture we were about to endure.
The guard had brought us to the dungeon and into the room I had seen when we questioned the Soulless. The ground had been cleaned, but the stone was stained with different shades of black from its blood. I closed my eyes as images of that night flashed through my mind.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!!!!! I had to find a way out of this. Maya shouldn’t suffer because of me.
I begged the voice in my head for help, Help me! Please!
Focus on your powers, and it will be over faster. Do not succumb to the torment.
My stomach twisted at its last word. Focus? I could hardly focus on my name with everything that was thrown at me today, and I was supposed to learn how to control my powers in minutes?!
Fuck! I pleaded to the gods, to the voice, to anyone who would listen.
Venryr didn’t say anything; he strode over to Maya, picked her up, and laid her on the table.
The table with chains and wheels. I couldn’t breathe.
She didn’t even fight; she just let him attach a shackle to each wrist and each ankle.
She was chained to the table, just like we were chained to the crown; forever trapped in service.
Shit! Maya, fight this. I begged her in silence, but her eyes remained shut.
She was oddly calm, meditating the fear away.
She had used meditation back at The Academy to calm herself in stressful situations.
I scanned her over; she looked so peaceful, lying there, but that’s when I noticed her thumb picking at the skin around one of her nails. She was nervous and scared.
Fuck! I had to think of something, I had to do something.
“Please, let me be the one on the table, not her!” I begged Venryr, but his only response was a grunt, and he continued to tighten the shackles.
“That won’t work, girl.” A male’s high-pitched, curdling voice came from the doorway behind us. “It seems you need motivation to summon your powers.”
He stepped forward, notebook in hand. Rat Face walked into the room, taking a seat in the black metal chair in the corner. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had completely forgotten about him since meeting him at The Academy.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him, trying my best to keep my voice calm.
“We need someone to record what happens so we can analyze the results later. So I volunteered. It will help us figure out what motivates you, and what doesn’t.
” His tongue flicked to the crust in the corner of his mouth, “We will start with something easier. There is a fireplace in the corner over there. Light it.” A command.
He opened his notebook and brought his pen to the page, waiting for me to perform.
I had only been able to light the candle, except for yesterday's outburst; how the hell was I going to do that? I couldn’t even light the fireplace in my own room, even after trying every single night.
“I can’t, that’s too much.” Despair crept in, and my voice cracked.
Do not break now, girl.
I heard a click beside me, and Venryr had turned a wheel attached to the table Maya was lying on.
Another click sounded, and Maya’s chains began to shorten.
Images of the Soulless’ stomach being twisted and shredded tore through my thoughts.
Shit! They were going to pull her limbs from her body if I didn’t do something!
“No! Please! Give me some time! I can’t just make it happen, I need some time! I need to be able to focus, and I can’t with her on that table!” I was begging. I would do anything to stop this madness.
Another click, and her arms and legs straightened.
FOCUS! The voice was loud, booming through my head. Do not let them see your weakness!
Too late. I was already panicked and falling apart.
GIRL! FOCUS!
Right. Now was not the time to freak out.
I had to focus. I let out a long, shaky breath, gathering what strength I had left in the shell of a body I was standing in.
I pictured the candle and flame I lit during training, and I willed everything in my power to light the fireplace. Nothing. Nothing happened. Shit! Maya!
I looked at her, and her eyes were squeezed shut tightly as she focused on her breathing, but her arms began to shake against the strain of being pulled.
Another click, and her limbs were completely straight now, unable to even shake.
Looking back at the fireplace, I urged it to do anything; the logs didn’t even bristle.
Click. The shackles on her wrists and ankles were tightening, pulling against her skin.
I let out another deep breath and focused on the middle of the log, imagining a spark of flame.
A tiny stream of smoke slowly emitted from the log's center.
Hope jolted through my body, and I focused everything I had on that tiny wave of smoke, but I was interrupted by another click.
Maya let out a small groan of pain as her limbs were being pulled away from her body.
No! I wouldn’t let her endure this any longer.
Anger rose in my body, and I turned my focus back to the logs that were all releasing small clouds of smoke.
Burn! Light! Anything! Please! I pictured the flame bursting from the log, and a tiny spark fluttered upwards and drifted away.
I could do this! I concentrated everything in my being on it, and another spark flew from the mouth of the fireplace, followed by another!
A small light glowed through the narrow gap of the crossed logs, and excitement coursed through my body.
“I did it! See, fire! Let her go!” I screamed at them.
“Not enough girl, keep trying.” Rat face responded flatly, writing something down in his notebook. His face was void of any emotion, as if this whole process was a bore to him.
I turned back to the fireplace as another click sounded, causing Maya to scream this time.
Her scream shuddered through my entire body, and I could slowly feel the heat rising through my skin.
Rat Face must have noticed the change too, because right after the heat coursed through me, he said, “Again.” Instructing the ogre of a man to turn the wheel again.
Venryr responded with another click of the wheel and a scream from Maya, followed by a single pop.
Her breathing was ragged, and rage boiled my blood.
The logs exploded into flames that engulfed the mouth of the fireplace and stretched towards the ceiling.
The flames took on the shape of hundreds of tiny wings, fluttering and flitting about.
I turned my attention towards Venryr, who was grinning wildly at me, and he let go of the wheel just seconds before I sent it up in flames too.
The release of tension on the wheel caused the chains to relax and Maya’s body to slacken.
Her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping, but she had passed out from the pain.
I ran to her side and touched her face; she looked peaceful.
I was grateful she wasn’t awake to see any of this.
“Very good. Too bad she passed out. We will have to wait for her to wake for the next lesson.” Rat Face scratched something in his notebook and looked to Venryr. “Care for a drink?”
I know a rat when I see one.
How. Fucking. Dare. They. I turned to the rat in front of me and set my sight on his book. It burst into flames.
The rat let out a screech of a scream and tossed the now crumbling notebook to the ground. “Easy girl!” He stomped on the flame to put it out. “You’ll pay for that… correction… she’ll pay for that.” He pointed at Maya’s peaceful body lying on the wooden slab.
And with that, they both left the room, leaving me with an unconscious Maya.
I worked quickly and carefully, removing the shackles from her wrists and ankles; sweat coated her body, and I climbed up beside her to look at the damage.
Her left shoulder was completely out of its socket and lay limply beside her at an odd angle.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to hurt her further, and I wouldn’t leave her here alone.
I curled up beside her, just like she had this morning when I had needed comfort, so I put my arm around her.
I had dozed off lying beside her, because Ulric was shaking me gently awake. My eyes burned from crying, and my body was weighted down by exhaustion.
“Avyn? Are you okay?” His voice carried a note of concern.
My eyes drearily opened, and the flame from the fireplace had dulled to a normal-sized fire now.
“Don’t worry about me. Maya is hurt. We need to help her.” I sat up, moving off the table to help him with whatever he needed, and pushed my own weariness aside.
“I know, I came as soon as I could. I could hear her screams across the manor; I couldn’t stay away.
The guards tried to hold me back, but when I heard her scream again, I gave them no choice but to move.
” He looked at her arm and grimaced. “Let’s get her to the healer.
” He quickly moved to the other side and cautiously scooped her up into his arms. He was so gentle with her, delicately lolling her head towards his chest. A small moan escaped from her lips at the motion, but she stayed silent beyond that, curled into Ulric’s chest.
Sorren was waiting for us in my room; Ulric had called for him before coming to us.
He lay Maya down on my bed, and Sorren’s eyebrows furrowed together. “What happened to her?”
“Venryr.” It was the only word Ulric had to speak.
Sorren looked at him with understanding and moved to the bedside to start working. “We are going to need to pop it back in first, but I can manage the pain after.” He rolled up the sleeves of his tunic. “Ulric, can you hold her body down in case she comes to?”
He nodded and moved to the other side of the bed, gently pinning down her other arm with one hand and laying his chest over the rest of her body.
She stirred a little at the contact, and her eyelids fluttered. I gripped onto the bedpost to steady myself, pushing my cheek against the polished wood.
Ulric leaned down and whispered something into her ear, and a trace of a smile crossed her face. The smile only lasted for a second.
“Ready?” Sorren asked.
Ulric nodded in agreement, tightening his grip on her just as Sorren grasped her arm and shifted it back into place with a crack.
Maya cried out, her eyes fluttering open, but Sorren acted fast, placing his hands on her shoulder, and she slowly relaxed as calmness spread over her face.
I rushed over to her, “Maya! Are you okay?”
“I am,” she replied in a whisper, then turned to Ulric. “Thank you.”
His smile mirrored the softness of her words.
She turned towards Sorren, “It’s so warm.” Her eyes became heavy and glazed over.
“That’s my powers coursing through your body, healing what has been damaged.”
I looked at her ankles, where the chains had been before, and the bruising was slowly returning to her normal tone.
“Thank you,” she said again and closed her eyes. She was exhausted, mentally and physically.
Sorren removed his hands from her body, “There, let her rest as long as possible.”
“Don’t go far, we will need you again,” Ulric said to him, but didn’t look away from Maya, who was now drifting off into sleep.
Sorren slowly nodded back at him and left the room.
“We can’t let him do that again to her; it might be worse next time!” I whispered, my voice trembling, just trying to speak.
“I know, Zen and I are trying to think of a plan to get us out of this.” He whispered back.
“Where is Zendryk?” I couldn’t say Zen anymore.
“He is working with the Professor, trying to find another way to get you both out of this situation.” He reached towards Maya and moved a strand of hair that had come loose from across her forehead.
He was so compassionate and caring. Why did I ever get in the way of whatever this was? I had a good reason, seeing how he acted before, but I had never seen this side of him. His gaze was filled with pure affection for the woman lying in the bed before him.
“Would you like to stay here while she rests?” I asked, making a silent vow to myself not to get in their way anymore.
He looked up and nodded at me. I brought him a chair from the small dining table, which he gladly took and sat down, not looking away from her.
This was all because of me. Everything was my fault.
My mother died because I was taken and couldn’t care for her.
Maya was lying in my bed, injured because of me.
I couldn’t keep doing this! I could not stay here! I had to run!
That is the best idea I have heard in a while.