One of the attackers walked into my shield spell, bouncing off of it, falling down. The next closest person laughed at him. “Well, we're lucky it's gone this smooth. We knew we'd have some resistance.”
“You sure we've got the right ones? I mean, look at her - this can't be the girl who took back the ship and that guy went down way too easy,” another said.
I prayed they decided we were the wrong people. I kept my shield spell up anyway.
“Not my problem if they aren't as long as I get paid,” one from behind me said. “Now be a good girl and drop this barrier. Make things nice and easy.”
I looked down at the unconscious Elven man I held. I jumped when someone pressed against my shield spell. I clenched my teeth at the additional strain.
Gun fire went off in the distance. Was help on the way? I needed to hold out until they arrived.
Another pushed against the shield. I held onto Silver tighter as I struggled to keep it going. I absolutely had to get him out of here, but how?
A third pressed and my shield spell shattered like glass. Disappearing shards fell around us. Something stung me in the back of my shoulder and my vision immediately blurred. I immediately turned my focus to teleport Silver, but the fog kept me from completing it before blackness took over.
~*~
The first thing I noticed was my wrists hurt a lot. I hung between my outstretched arms. My feet were on the ground and I struggled to get them underneath me.
“Ketayl?”
That name in Silver’s voice sounded strange. I managed to crack my eyes open. It took me a moment to find my partner chained to the floor on the side of the room. Bars were directly across from me and a metal wall with a door beyond that. Our cell was fairly large and unfurnished.
“Remind me to listen to you next time,” he said.
I let out a soft huff. My head hurt too much to roll my eyes at him. “Where are we?” My mouth was dry and my voice cracked. I licked my lips.
“I’m not sure. On a ship I think. I haven’t seen anyone.”
Even with the pressure relieved from having my full weight hanging, my arms ached. I studied the restraints.
“Why didn’t you run?” Silver asked.
I shook my right arm a little to see how loose the manacle was. “I told you I wasn’t leaving you. I… I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold out until help arrived. Couldn’t get you to safety either.” I hung my head.
“Hey,” Silver said softly and shifted so he knelt as close to me as his restraints would allow. “You did what you could. Now we need to find a way out of here.”
The screeching of metal on metal stopped our conversation and we both looked toward the door as the bolt slid open. Three Human men entered. Two of them carried a large black case between them. They entered our cell.
“Wasn’t too hard getting both of you. Lost a few causing the distraction, but that’s the price of business,” the man not holding the case said. I assumed this was the leader.
The men behind him set the case down on the floor near the bars. A fourth came in carrying a covered tray and set it down on the floor on the other side of the room from Silver. He departed quickly.
The men who carried the case took up spots next to us. The one in front of me grinned broadly. “I think you and I will have some fun later.” He trailed his fingers up my thigh.
Snarling at the man, I jumped, grabbed the chains, and kicked him square in the chest with both feet. He stumbled backwards, tripping over the case.
The one on Silver laughed at him. The leader looked down at the man I kicked as he got up off the floor hurling curses. I pulled hard at my restraints, snarling and ready to kick him again. My power wild and ready for a fight despite my low levels of arcane energy.
The leader turned his attention back to me. “Oh, so you do have some spunk. Worry not - I'll have him removed from this duty. I’ll have no harm come to our guests.”
An Elven man came in this time and pulled the one I kicked away. Once the Elven man shoved him out the door, he returned, standing out of my reach.
“Funny way to treat guests,” Silver spat. He moved at the man standing next to him and got punched in the stomach for the effort.
The leader shrugged. “Until we come to an agreement, consider this me protecting my assets. Though in one way I should thank the two of you for stopping that tactless display some of my former colleagues thought appropriate to reclaim what was ours.”
“The ship belongs to the Navy,” Silver argued.
“But the system is ours. We loaned Jacob Martin a good sum of money and equipment to get his company started. Not to mention the connections and other miscellany to get him going quickly as a successful weapons developer.” The leader signaled to the men to go to the case. “We already have the plans, but he withheld a vital piece.”
The cover lifted barely an inch when I sensed the pull from what sat inside and backed away as much as possible. My wrists burned, but I needed to get away from that thing. They lifted the lid to show the glowing blue orb nestled deep inside.
“You’re afraid of this and yet you’re the only one to master the system. Curious.” He signaled for the men to close the case. “If you’re wondering, this is the one from the ship. It’s good to have friends in the Navy.”
They took the case back out the door and returned.
“What do you need us for?” Silver asked.
“I’m fairly certain I gave you your answer. Your female friend here can operate the system and you can get her out. You will be her caretaker. It also makes a nice little package, being able to keep the two of you in line should one of you attempt to break this deal. Though it would be interesting to see you try as we’re over 200 miles out.”
Too far for me to be able to teleport myself let alone both of us.
“I don’t think you understand how hard it is to pull her out of the system,” Silver said, his eyes toward the floor. “I might not be able to if she goes in again.”
“After reviewing the information, we’re modifying the system to compensate. We’ll start with a conjured defense barrier and keep her time limited. I assure you, our standards are far higher than that of Spelltech.”
The Human man guarding Silver pulled a knife out and held it to my partner’s throat.
“Stop! Don't!” I begged.
“Easy, child. This is a show of goodwill,” the leader said.
The Elven man who guarded me went over and undid Silver’s restraints.
“Now, I can only afford to have one of you free in here at the moment until I’m certain we have an understanding. There’s food for both of you on the tray.” He left first followed by the two who quickly closed and locked the cell door.
My legs gave out from under me when the bolt of the door beyond slammed home. My wrists hurt from the sudden weight of my body pulling against the restraints, but it mattered not to the situation we found ourselves in.
Silver struggled to his feet, coming over and picking me up. He held me with one arm and brushed the hair which had fallen out of the braids out of my face. “Ketayl. Ketayl, look at me.”
I rested my head on his shoulder - everything felt heavy. Lifting my head to look at him was too much right now.
“Kela,” he whispered in my ear. “I’m going to do everything I can to get you out of here.” Silver rested his head against mine. His hand undoing my hair. Once my hair was down, he threaded his fingers through it, rubbing my head. He stayed holding me for a while, whispering assurances.
Despite his attempts, I could not see a way out of this. I shifted to get out of his hold as I was sure I was heavy.
“Can you stand?”
“Think so,” I said as I put my weight on my feet.
“Okay, I want to see how bad your wrists are.”
I stood with my head hung. My arms had only a slight bend in them at my full height.
“You surprised me,” Silver said softly. He held one of my elbows to get the weight
off of my wrist.
“Huh?” I turned to look up at him.
“When you attacked. I guess I got off lucky with only getting slapped.” Silver’s smirk sat wrong against the tension in his face. “By the grace of the Gods, I wish they at least made it so you weren’t putting so much strain on your arms.”
“It makes sense: even if I wasn’t low, the pain makes it hard to concentrate.” I read about it years ago at the Arcane College. As well for a traditional mage, it kept them from being able to use their hands for the cast. “Sorry I slapped you,” I mumbled.
Silver lowered my arm and stood in front of me. He reached behind his neck with both hands and undid the clasp of his necklace. He held it for a moment, looking at the small sun pendant before clasping it around my neck.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he tucked it down the front of my swimsuit top. A small thrum of power emanated from the pendant.
“Praying the God of the Sun can light the path to free you from the system if it comes to that.” Silver rested his hand over where it hung under my clothes and then raised an eyebrow at me as soon as the heel of his palm pushed against where I stowed my watch. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Something?”
I bit my lower lip thinking through how to word it without being obvious. “Time,” I whispered it in my native dialect of common and for the first time hoped he understood me. I also prayed someone had the sense to track the small device before we got out of range of the communication network.
He mouthed the word against my ear. Then he smiled before he kissed my cheek.
My partner moved back to examining my wrists. His power washed over my arm. “I’ll have to be careful with this since you absorb divine energy. Don’t let your full weight hang for too long. I’ll hold you when I can to give you a break.”
Closing my eyes, the small thrum of power coming from the pendant pulled my attention. It was warm and comfortingly familiar. When his power washed over my other arm, I realized why it felt so familiar. It resonated the same as Silver’s power. “How long have you had this?”
“Hm? The necklace?”
“Yes.”
“Depends on which part you’re asking about. I don’t remember a time I haven’t had the sun, but I’ve needed to change the chain out a few times over the years.”
I returned to the familiar sensation. Was it possible the pendant absorbed magical energy and attuned itself to my partner over the years?
I caught Silver rubbing the area the pendant usually hung around his neck. “Have you used it like this before?”
He shook his head. “I'm trying to come up with ways to make it easier to call you back no matter how far-fetched. I’m hoping it’ll be a physical anchor for you. I've never taken it off except to change the chain.”
“Then you should…”
Silver put a finger over my lips. “I'm not taking it back until we get out of here.”
I sighed and shifted away from him. “Go eat. I'll be fine.”
Once he moved toward the tray, I looked back up at my current predicament. Thick chains were bolted to the ceiling and there was no way I could pull out of the manacles around my wrists. If I had more arcane energy, I might be able to teleport out, but I lost too much maintaining my shield and we moved away from the ley line. By the time I regained my arcane energy levels, I might not be able to concentrate enough to pull it off. Where would I go though? I would only put Silver in danger if I did.
“Here,” Silver said softly. He held up a bottle of water.
I shook my head.
“Please, you need to keep up your strength.”
“I'll wait until I can get down.” They would have to let me down at some point otherwise I would never be able to use their system. I refused to be degraded further.
“We don't know when that will be. We don't even know when they'll be back,” Silver argued.
I bit my lower lip. “They have to hookup the orb at least. I’m not hungry anyway.” Thirsty, yes, but I could manage.
Silver grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. “You need to listen to me here.”
I stared at him with wide eyes and nodded under Silver’s intense gaze. He held me for a moment longer before shifting to give me water from the bottle he carried.
My partner was careful and deliberate with how much he gave me of anything. He ate with me at the same time.
I shook my head as he went to give me another piece of bread. “No more. I’m going to be sick.” The nausea had grown steadily and I was uncertain the cause.
Silver put the food in his hands aside, and made a soft hushing sound, cradling my face in his hands. “It’s okay.”
“This is degrading,” I voiced out loud.
“Well, it might be fun under different circumstances.” He gave a half-hearted smirk. “Definitely could do without the chains though.”
I sighed and admitted, “I swear I’ll never understand you.”
“Maybe someday, but right now I still need to come up with more ideas to make sure I can pull you out.”
“Do you have any yet?” It was something I could focus on. Maybe not help with, but I would try.
Silver bent down and moved the tray to the corner. He kept his back to me. “I do, but you’re not going to like it.”
I looked up at how I was attached to the ceiling, moving my arms a little, causing the chains to make noise. “There’s already a lot I don’t like right now. I don't think one more thing is going to matter.”
“It matters to me.”
I stopped analyzing the chains and tilted my head at him.
“I, um…” Silver stood over me. He touched my face, running his thumb over my bottom lip. “I hoped for better circumstances to share this with you.”
“Wait, share what?” I stepped back, but my current predicament kept me close to him.
Silver stood there for a moment staring at me. “You really are oblivious.”
I was about to give my partner a hard time for his words when something caught my attention. I twisted to look behind me, as futile as the gesture was.
“What is it?”
My eyes went wide as I analyzed what caught my attention. “We’re moving toward a ley line. An extremely dense one.”
“What’s a ley line? I’ve never heard you talk about them until this trip.”
Shifting back to the most comfortable position I could manage, I explained, “Normally I don’t pay attention to them. There’s typically enough arcane energy in an area I don’t concern myself with where one is. Ley lines are like wind currents of arcane energy, but they don’t shift nearly as much or as often. On land they disperse and spread out making them more indistinct.”
“But we’re out in the ocean.”
I nodded, hanging my head. “I’ve never been near something so concentrated before. I don’t know what will happen.”
“We’ve flown over the ocean a few times now.”
“We’ve been too high in the atmosphere to be affected.”
“Okay, I get it - you’re likely going to have a power spike. Can we get back to how to make sure I don’t lose you to the system?”
“How about how to get out of here?”
Silver clenched his jaw and looked down at me, his face tight with anger. “You should have run all of those scenarios already and realized there are too many unknowns to formulate a plan. And where can we go so far out to sea?”
“Yeah, well, you’ve been planning so much for me using the system, I assumed the idea escaped you,” I shot back.
Silver grabbed my head and leaned down quickly, stopping only a couple of inches from my face. It took a few warm breaths on my face to realize his attention was lower.
The necklace warmed and a strong desire from it to complete the connection washed over me. I followed the impulse and stood on the balls of my feet, pressing my lips to his.
I bet Kitteren would insist this did not count either given the circumstances.
I blamed his necklace, which I only received contentment from.
Chapter 22
“We’ve made a number of improvements to the system,” the leader said. “The original lacked imagination, and, as you yourself pointed out, a lack of zonal shielding. Something we consider of great value.”
I trailed behind him, my hands bound in front of me with guards both in front and behind. Silver followed with his own guards. My power resonated with the ley line. The close proximity to it made me slightly nauseous and despite my arcane energy levels being back to full, I wanted to collapse to the floor.
My legs took action on the thought and I dropped to my knees. I would have hit the deck if the guard behind me had not grabbed my arm.
“Dammit, let me help her,” Silver said.
“Oh, come now. You haven’t even gotten to see the control room. I thought you would be excited to see the improvements,” the leader said, kneeling down in front of me.
And to think, I had initially been excited about this assignment.
“You kept her chained up for how long? What did you expect? She’s not going to be able to operate the system,” Silver yelled at him. I heard movement behind me followed by my partner grunting in pain. He was getting hurt because of me. How am I supposed to protect him like this?
The leader stood back up. “It’s a simple test today and depending on how things go, we may be able to make adjustments to your accommodations. Something to keep in mind as we work together.”
I hissed at the pain from my arm when the guard pulled me back up. I swayed on my feet for a moment before being pushed forward. I stumbled to keep up with being mostly shoved along.
“At least let me help her,” Silver begged. “You want me to be her caretaker, then let me care for her.”
The leader stopped and signaled at the men behind me. I closed my eyes and hung - my legs too tired to support my weight.
Conjured Defense (Terra Chronicles Book 4) Page 23