48. Chapter Forty-Eight #2
"Get your filthy hands off her," Dex bellows, and they wheel around to face him. I’m relieved to see him on his feet, but why hasn't he drawn a sword or two? His face twists into a pained grimace when he sinks into a fighting stance and raises his fists.
"Did the Commander find you?" Aven asks into my mind, momentarily distracting me. "Witt said he was on his–"
I’m quick to interject. "Not yet, and we’re in trouble."
"Where exactly are you? We'll get him to hurry."
"I don't know for sure, somewhere near the markets. Two Shields from the castle have us cornered, and Dex is hurt."
"Fight back. Do anything and everything to fight back," he insists, dropping out to presumably get in touch with Zenn.
I force myself to pay attention to the present, where Reg considers Dex. "About time. That's more like it. Time for the real fun to start." He leans toward his friend with a hideous smile. "You want this round? I've got the girl."
Mishtarr grins as she steps forward, beckoning for Dex to attack.
Without thinking, I grab for my dagger and launch at her back.
Unfortunately, Reg is quicker on his feet than I anticipated, despite being a mountain of a man, and he wrenches my arms behind my back, sending the tiny weapon clattering to the ground. Oh fuck, not again.
My blood freezes me in place as effectively as his hold.
I can't think, can't move, can hardly breathe.
The thundering in my ears drowns out all sound of the fight in front of me.
Darkness blooms at the edges of my vision until all I get is flashes.
A fist smashing into the woman's gut. Dex slamming into the stone wall across from me.
Her ducking his next punch. Him lying on the ground, curled in on himself as she kicks him over and over again.
I have to go to him, have to help. Why can't I make myself move? His eyes meet mine, one already swollen and bloodshot. He's saying something I can't make out. Gods, why won’t he use magic and defend himself? Sound rushes in, laughter and a low pained murmur, "Suisa, Suisa, Suisa," like a prayer.
A sob tears from my throat at the sight of Dex collapsed on the ground, and I rip my arms free, rushing to kneel at his side. "Why aren't you using your powers? Don't keep our identity hidden at the expense of your life," I whisper, voice raw.
"I've tried. My magic won't work," he rasps. Blood sprays in an arc from his mouth when he turns away from me to cough. Not a good sign. "Don't worry. This has happened before, and I walked away from it. They just need to play out their little power trip. It's not as bad as it looks. I'll heal."
Oh shit, how could I forget? Here I am, asking why he's not using his powers, when I could try Varistia’s.
Letting these assholes see the extent of my abilities is a risk I’m just going to have to take.
Maybe if I'd had eight years of practice, I'd be able to heal internal injuries and leave the superficial ones to not raise suspicion.
I can't leave Dex in this state in the hopes the Shields will get bored and give up, though.
Glancing over my shoulder to check they're still distracted, passing a flask back and forth like it's intermission of the afternoon's entertainment.
I gently place one hand on Dex's torso, just above his cracked ribs, and one on my belly and drop to that molten trench within me.
But nothing happens. Taking a centering breath, I try again. Still nothing.
Before I can attempt a third time, I'm yanked away by my braid. The heels of my hands scrape along the cobblestones when I try to brace my weight to relieve the pain in my scalp.
"What were you hoping to accomplish?" Reg demands, standing over me.
In answer, I wrap my fingers around the amethyst hilt of the slender dagger he'd knocked out of my hands earlier.
Not caring what it costs me, I swing my arm wide, plunging the blade deep into his thigh.
The sensation of steel piercing flesh and snagging on bone turns my stomach.
Hot blood gushes over my hand, and he lets out an agonized howl of rage, releasing his grip on my hair to clutch at the wound.
Mishtarr prowls over, scowling. "That wasn't very smart, now was it?
" She drags me to my feet and shoves me into the wall before backhanding me so hard, my head cracks against it.
Stars explode across my vision and this time, it's my blood being spilt, trickling down my chin from a badly split lip.
The violence of her hit to my face is so shocking, it takes everything I have not to retreat into my mind to escape what my body is experiencing.
"What the fuck?" the Orz Wielders shout in unison while my gaze fixes on Dex, who's trying to crawl to me.
"She's a fucking golden," the woman snarls.
"Not one of ours, though," Reg replies slyly, wrapping his bleeding thigh in the makeshift bandage he's created from a strip of his shirt. "He's clearly not. It's just her."
"So what do we do with them? She may not be Triv vermin, but they'll rat us out if we don't get rid of them." She paces back and forth in the tight space, a conjured knife now gripped in her shaking hand.
"Are you crazy, Mish? You want to execute a Foundation from another realm? If anyone finds out, you'll start a gods damn war."
"Please, just let us go," I beg. "My friend needs urgent help. He’s a Shield, and his absence won't go unnoticed either. He has a family waiting for him. Please, I'll make an everlasting vow, neither of us will tell anyone what happened. We don't want any trouble. We just want to leave."
They look at each other, considering my offer. "And what are you going to sacrifice to seal that vow?" Mishtarr asks, eyes narrowing when Reg cuts in.
"Who cares what she offers in exchange?" Turning back to me, he smiles viciously, crushing the spark of hope we might walk away from this.
"Here's the thing: it's our word against yours, and I'm willing to bet you're not even supposed to be in Sirro.
I don't know of any official visit, and your friend here," he nudges Dex with the toe of his dirty boot, "Has been lurking around for months, likely spying. "
The woman chimes in, seeming to look around the alleyway for something. "You're right, Reg, and I don't think the High General would blame us for dispatching a spy. Especially if we also hand over an unsanctioned Foundation from…which is it, sweetheart? Zel or Tey?"
Without waiting for an answer, she stalks to Dex, drags him to his knees, and picks up what looks like a jagged piece of glass from the ground, thrusting it into the side of his neck.