Chapter 12 #2
So, I turned back to the entrance, ensuring I could still see my escape route and the fading daylight. I sat down, hugging my knees to my chest.
There’s been no movement. No visit. No conversation. Just the cold for company since they shut me inside. And as the light disappears, my fear takes hold.
The night does not make for pleasant company. The sky is so dark that I fear not even the stars shine in this place.
As my eyes tire, I focus on Aslendrix, asking her silently to guide me. To help me and give me the strength to ensure this.
My dream comes quickly, transporting me to that same place, that dark well with the vision of the moon—of Aslendrix—crossing overhead.
“What do I do?” I scream at the only light I can see, my anger giving voice to my panic.
But there is no answer.
Can I trust myself, trust that this is her, or am I finding meaning in my hopeful dreams?
Sleep is fitful. The ache in my neck now reminds me of every time I drop off to sleep, the fall of my head pulling me back awake. And each time I wonder if she will be there to guide me. If she will guide me.
I crawl to the gates of the cave and watch the sky, hoping for an answer.
But nothing comes.
I watch the morning light creep into the cave. The silhouette of the man standing guard is still there, as if he’s made of stone. He’s not moved or spoken all night.
With the light of a new day, some of my confidence returns, despite the lack of rest. Standing, I cling to the bars and reach through, just to check.
He’s still out of range, but this time, I force my magic to run along the gap between us, bridging the space to connect us.
It snakes around his wrist like a vine, and I can feel the strength in him.
He’s a Warrior. Not as powerful as Calix or Crimson, but it’s there.
“Please. Help me,” I beg.
He doesn’t move. And he doesn’t respond to the connection my power is now weaving. I pull on the link, and where I might have been tentative before, now I’m purposeful in what I want. I want his energy. His power.
If he’s prepared to leave me to freeze in a cell overnight, then taking something that isn’t mine is payback.
Focusing, I think of how this worked in Kirrasia when we trained. How I took Calix’s power and how it helped me in the obstacle course. I did that instinctively. Now, I know differently. I breathe deeply, opening myself up and letting all his power feed the well in my chest.
Until he slumps forward and falls to the ground.
Guilt sabotages the connection between us, but it doesn’t halt me from grabbing the bars and yanking on them again. This time, they move. The bars groan as I pull all my weight on the bar next to the hinge, but all it does is bow.
“No. No, no, no…” my vision blurs as tears crowd them. “Let me out! LET ME OUT!” I scream, over and over again, until all I can feel is rage, firing me up from the inside, and blazing away the cold.
My tantrum does nothing. I’m still captive, my only weapon blunt and ineffective, unable to release me from this cell. Just as I regain some calm, the realisation of my lack of strength in here sobering me, the Usher creeps into view.
“Good morning, Ever. You are well rested now?” He doesn’t comment on the state of my guard, who’s lying down in the dirt.
My tongue stills in my mouth. I am stronger than this.
“Have you thought any more of our offer to train? You might benefit.”
“And if I say no?”
He makes a point to look around the secure bars of my cell, as if to check if they will bend farther, or if they will hold. “That is your choice.”
“You think punishing me until I agree will be the way to get me to train with you? I don’t get it.”
“I want to offer you the same education as I gave to Fenix. It’s a shame that the Orders didn’t see the benefit of what your power could do. They should have embraced you rather than kept you isolated.”
“Yet, here I am. In a cave. Alone.” I twist my head to look at him.
“Will you speak with us again without being so combative?” He tilts his head as if trying to understand me.
“You have to be kidding me. You manhandled me in here. I’m not being combative.”
“Maybe. However, you must understand. Give Fenix a chance. He’s known about you for a long time and has focused every energy he has on getting you back.”
“Really? If he’s known about me for so long, surely coming to see me when I was in Estereah would have been much easier than breaking me out of a cell in The Court.
No.” I shake my head. “This is about serving you, and you alone. You’ve shown me no reason to believe otherwise, and, as you can imagine, my trust is severely lacking of late. ”
“Is that your final answer—no? No to the answers to your questions? The ones you don’t want to rush to ask your brother, despite yourself?”
My fists curl, and my fingernails dig into my palm as I stop myself from lashing out with words or power. Either would help, but they won’t serve anything more than satisfying my fraying temper, and I keep my mouth shut.
“Very well. We’ll see if there isn’t… something else that could change your mind.” The creepy smile that usually preludes a trick or trap spreads across his mouth, and I stand and take a step back into the darkness of the cave.
“Tell Fenix I’ll talk to him. But only outside of the cave. You said I would be a guest, and the hospitality has been sorely lacking.”
“You’re not in any position to ask for anything, Ever. Are the walls around you not clear enough for you to see that?” He shakes his head, swaying the robes that conceal his frame before leaving.