Chapter 17 #2
The images invade, more and more, relentless in their force, threatening to split my mind apart with their presence. Fenix, Crimson, Kalan, and others, fighting to be the last image I see before passing out.
And then nothing.
The steady beat of pain throbbing in my head is the first thing I’m aware of, and it doesn’t get any easier as I come around. Everything feels fuzzy and unfocussed.
“Zuns, you’re awake!”
“Crimson?” I check because I can’t remember why she’d be with me as I wake. There’s no reason we’d be together, and I wasn’t drinking last night. In fact…
Stars, as I sit up, it all comes rushing back, tilting the memories back into place. I’d forgotten everything that had happened over the last few months.
“You scared the shit out of me, Ten.”
“What happened?” I groan, rubbing at the bridge of my nose.
“Your little trick went sideways, that’s what. I didn’t even have to knock you unconscious. You did that all on your own. And then you wouldn’t wake up. I’ve been watching over you all fucking night.”
“Sorry.” The headache thumping a beat on the inside of my skull tells me something bad happened. Shielding, blocking, protecting myself from Ever’s power left me feeling weak, but this, this, was something else.
Something worse.
The connection I reach for between me and Ever is frayed and weak, and it takes too much to focus on that right now, like smoke slipping through my clutches as I grasp for it.
“Did you at least get any good information from your little trick? Anything we can utilise, build a plan around?”
My memory is a mess, and I can’t even recall anything clear and concrete that Ever showed me.
“No.”
“Great.”
“Sorry, Crim. We had to try something.”
She huffs. “I know. I’m just mad at you for making me worry. Being left here alone is not my idea of a plan.” She digs her toe into the dirt. “So, what next?”
“We wait.” Another excellent plan to add to the list of stellar ones I’m coming up with of late. “There’s a reason we’re here. It’s only a matter of time before we find out what.”
I just hope it’s not as bad as I think it may be.
The first light of dawn breaks the horizon, and the pounding in my head has subsided. I still feel like shit, but I can think without wanting to throw up.
The shadowed silhouette of the man guarding our cage is now the focus of my attention, given the limited vista. His features become clearer as the light breaks across the sky and warms the hum of colour seeping through.
He’s taking his post seriously; it appears he’s in the same spot he was when I last checked. What happened in Kirrasia that was so bad that he’d turn against us?
“Dedicated. What did he promise you?” I ask, striking up a conversation aimed to find out something of use. “To ensure your disloyalty over your own people.”
“Easy for you to say, Ciro. You grew up as a Chamber member.”
So he knows me. “Our duty is to Aslendrix, to ensure peace throughout the kingdoms, to keep balance,” I remind him.
“Balance and peace are only a theory. A story, just as fake as the tales of the Jarkoreth, Sur’gos, and Zuns.” His voice is full of hate, lashing the words against the bars that hold us.
“I don’t know about Zuns, but the other two are pretty fucking real,” Crimson joins in. “I’ve seen what those monsters can do firsthand. And if your power isn’t enough for you, then how about you stand up for yourself and do your duty, rather than running off to whine about it like a baby.”
“Crim.”
“No, Ten. Who said life is fair? We have these gifts. Just because some decide they want more doesn’t mean they should have it.” She bares her teeth as her words drip with the vengeance she’s here to deliver, and I watch to see if the metal bars holding us quake in her presence.
The guard doesn’t answer her.
A safe decision.
The brightening of the sky is the only indication of time passing, aside from our growing hunger, but finally, another keeper joins the sentry and pushes a single plate of food under the bottom bar of the gate. “Breakfast. You’ll need your strength.”
Great.
Strength isn’t something I feel in abundance today.
But, as if a reminder, I tug on the connection to Ever, to see if I can control it now that the pain has waned.
After blacking out last night and my likely following silence, I want to let her know I’m okay.
But the power I feel is still off, like when I first stepped into Estereah.
A faint connection is better than nothing, but even that is beyond my ability right now.
I watch Crimson, and push the web of energy towards her, seeking to infiltrate and get her to do something—anything—to confirm I didn’t lose all my power in that attempt with Ever, and I still have my magic.
“Ten?” She snaps and turns to me.
“You felt it?” I pull back the tendrils of power I sent her way.
“Like you came up and knocked on my skull with your fist. What in the stars?”
I shake my head to try to clear my focus, but it’s still pounding. “I don’t know, maybe I just need some rest. Last night’s still giving me a hangover.”
“You think? Come on. Eat. Looks like we’ve got, oh, bread, fruit.” She holds up an apple. “And some sort of burnt meat?” She grimaces as she prods the charred offerings.
“It’s calories.”
“It’s disgusting.”
“Have the apple and the bread. I’ll have what you don’t or won’t eat.”
She pauses, her fingers gripping the greenish apple. “They will let us out, won’t they? They can’t keep us in here indefinitely?” She raises her eyes to meet mine, and I’m struck by her fear, radiating like a sunbeam directly from her chest.
And I don’t know what to say to her.
I think of Calix and what he promised. We’ve already been gone a week. Will he convince his father to come for us after everything we’ve uncovered?
I don’t answer her.