Page 28

T he first thing she felt was the tight rope that bound her hands above her head.

The cloth around her mouth made it hard to breath.

It tasted bitter and had a faint aroma coming from it.

Blinking a few times she looked around to see where she was.

She was alone in a stone room with one small square window.

Her bound hands hung from a large hook that was mounted on a long ceiling beam.

In front of her were a couple barrels and a wooden chair and to her left was a closed door.

Lilith began frantically looking around as she pulled on the ropes.

Calling to her mana she began drawing on the energy.

Maybe she could burn the ropes and set herself free.

Nothing. She could feel only a small pool of mana.

They must have given her a suppressant. No.

This can’t be happening. It would take time to set herself free.

She came up with a new plan. Remembering back to Sir Hawthorne’s class on using mana to heal, she focused on drawing whatever mana she could gather into burning through the suppressant.

There was no sense of how much time had passed, but she was sweating, detoxing her body from whatever they gave her.

Little by little, the pool of mana became deeper .

The door to the left opened. A balding man with a long beard came in, wearing black pants, a dark red top and a dark brown vest. His clothes were worn and stained.

In his hands, he held a single lit candle and a bag.

It cast a warm glow into the room. He placed the candle on a barrel and then dragged the chair closer to Lilith.

He sat and looked at her with an amused expression.

This was just a bit of fun for him. A helpless young woman at his mercy.

Lilith felt strangely calm even though she looked wretched.

Droplets of sweat cascaded down her face and formed a little puddle underneath her.

He cocked his head and said, “Didn’t think anyone would notice you watching us?

But someone spotted you.” The herbalist. It had to have been her.

He unraveled the bag, which held an assortment of knives.

“Apothecaries. Hmm.” He held up a short carved knife.

“Who is your master?” He dropped the rest of the knives onto the chair as he stood and approached her.

She muffled curses at him against her gag.

As he came closer, the smell of ale and smoke that clung to him invaded her senses.

He picked up a strand of her hair and sniffed.

Lilith shot daggers with her eyes. He unbound her gag and smelled the cloth. “I’m waiting for your answer.”

“I’m training under Sir Glenbrooke of Merkworth.” She recalled a famous herbalist from the depth of her knowledge.

“And what reason do you have to be near the restaurant tonight?” He lightly dragged his knife carefully down her chest. He paused and gave her breasts a squeeze with his free hand. A pit of disgust settled at the bottom of Lilith's stomach. She tried wiggling out of his hold.

“I lost my friend at the festival and followed her trail to the restaurant. Please. Just let me go. I’ll find my friend and leave. This was a misunderstanding.” She pleaded with him, making herself tear up. The man was not fooled by her answer.

"You know, you fried one of my good friends with your magic.

" He reared his fist back and punched her in the stomach.

Lilith heaved until she threw up. Good. She thought.

Another way to cleanse her body from the suppressant.

She spat on the floor. The man chuckled and then backhanded her hard across the face.

“You puked on my favourite shoes,” he said as he once again hit her in the face.

“You will pay for those.” He caressed her figure, tearing down her dress with his knife.

He tossed the knife down and ripped her green velvet dress apart with his hands.

Lilith was seeing stars. She felt blood dripping from her nose.

She had to act fast before she lost consciousness.

The last of the suppressant gave way to her mana. It felt as though chains were breaking.

Lilith creepily laughed as he wrapped his hands around her neck.

“It’s too late to leave now.” The man paused and looked confused at her words.

Lilith snapped through the ropes, her fist pulsing with mana.

Dropping to the ground she dove into him, knocking him down.

With her knee against his chest she raised her hand above his face.

Panting, she said, “I’m going to enjoy this.

” Her hand became fire. She pressed her blazing hand down on his upper leg.

She burned through his pants and grabbed his thigh.

The smell of burning flesh filled her nostrils.

The man wailed and thrashed against her, trying to buck her off.

She wrestled him until his belly was on the floor.

“Tell me, who do you work for?” Lilith asked with venom lacing her words.

The man yelled unintelligible curse words.

"Who are the fanatics?" The man clenched his teeth together.

“ No answer… Fine.” This time her hand came down higher, gripping his balls.

His pants gave way as she pressed through them.

The faint sounds of hair sizzling filled the room.

“What? Do you not like my touch?” She lifted her hand.

The skin she touched blistered. The man screamed loudly until he passed out.

“Pathetic.” She spat on his unconscious body.

She got up. Dusting her torn dress, she took the man’s vest off to cover her exposed breasts. Seething with rage, she gave the man a forceful kick in the face. A shiver ran up her spine at the sound of the man’s nose breaking.

No doubt someone will have heard his screams, Lilith thought as she rummaged through the bag of knives and grabbed the largest one.

She crept to the door and peered around the corner.

There were no signs of movement. Moving slowly into the hall she spotted a wooden staircase leading up.

Above her stomping footsteps were rushing across, making their way towards her.

She sank into a defensive position as the door blasted open.

In rushed Danai, wearing the face of death and covered in blood.

“Gods, girl, what happened?” Danai moved in to support Lilith.

Lilith bent over and heaved from relief, she wiped her mouth and venomously said, “Where were you?”

Danai raised her hands. “It was a setup. We had been made by the locals. Some men came at me while I waited at the inn. I fought them off and went to the restaurant, but you had already been taken.” Lilith gave her a weak nod, accepting her response.

“How did you find me?” She asked Danai .

“I followed your scent. You’re in the cellar of someone’s home.” Danai walked around her and peered into the cellar room. “Gods, what did you do?” She came out covering her nose.

Lilith weakly laughed and then made for the stairs. “We need to leave. Do you think we can make it to our sheep?”

“If we hurry.” Danai led them through the house and out towards the inn.

Their sheep were waiting for them, their packs clipped to their saddles.

“Let’s go.” They heaved themselves into the saddles and turned to make for the main path as several faces burst from the inn.

They yelled and chased them. Lilith felt exhilarated.

She shot a blast of air at the mob, which caused them to fly backwards.

They got off the main road towards a less traveled side path that weaved in the forest.

“You look happy, even though you’re bleeding and beat up.” Danai scanned her partner.

“Did you get injured?” Lilith reached into her pack and produced one of the purple vials. She uncorked and tipped the substance into her mouth. Her cuts and wounds stitched themselves shut. “I have another one if you need.”

Danai shook her head, “I am fine. We’ll take the long route back to make sure that we aren’t followed.”

Lilith recapped what she had overheard at the restaurant.

They stopped by a river to freshen up. Lilith changed out of her torn dress into her skirt and a white blouse.

She washed off any traces of blood. She could only imagine the faces of the students if she rode up to Skilheim wearing a torn dress and covered in dried blood. Danai did the same .

“I could have sworn when I first saw you in the cellar, your runes were faded.” Danai looked at Lilith's back as she threw on the top.

“They do that sometimes. I’m not sure why though.” They returned to their sheep. “It’s getting dark; we should hurry.” They mounted their sheep and carried on, finally reaching Skilheim Stronghold.

“To think I’m actually happy to see this place.

” Danai took in the old castle. They both broke out in laughter.

They hitched the sheep in the school’s stables and then walked over to the school entrance.

Prince Demetrius was waiting for them with Sir Tornbury.

Demetrius said nothing, but carefully scanned the two ladies.

His eyes roamed down Lilith's body and scowled.

“Follow me.” Sir Tornbury led them up the stone staircase that was off of the main hall into the teacher’s area.

They passed a set of locked ornate wooden doors into a hallway and went into the second last door into a warm room.

The room was simple. A bookcase filled with leather bound books, a small table and chairs, a simple looking bed and a small black fireplace.

A large arched window filtered the glowing sunset into the room.

Locking the door, the men turned on them. “You’re back early. Any issues?” Sir Tornbury asked them.