She didn’t say anything. I followed the glowing light in the distance, knowing that I had no choice but to keep going, but I could ask questions. I could find out more information the further we went. I had to believe that by keeping her distracted, I might be able to get some answers.
They hadn’t been working with the Djarn, but they were leading the dragon into the forest. Still, it was more than that.
I chuckled. “You didn’t know the mesahn was here.”
She shoved me from behind. “Get moving.”
I had no idea whether or not the mesahn would pose a danger to me or if it would attack us simply because we were with Elaine. Obviously, Elaine feared the mesahn, and the man who led it, but I didn’t quite know why.
“Who is he? He’s someone you fear,” I said. “And if he’s not with the Vard, is he from the Wilds?”
She grunted again. “He’s a man who has gotten far too full of himself.”
She knew him. Which meant he was from the kingdom.
“If you keep talking, I am going to—”
“Going to what?” I said, spinning and facing her. “You need my help. You might as well answer my questions as we go, otherwise you’re not going to get my help.”
“Is that right?” Elaine held her hands outward, her thumbs pointed up, two fingers pointed out away from her, and her fourth and fifth fingers curled up toward her palm and began to twist in a pattern that reminded me of my father working with the string in front of the hearth. “I think I have ways to ensure that you will speak.”
An agonizing torture suddenly flared throughout my body, dropping me to my knees. Thousands of needles pressed into my skin, like dozens upon dozens of lightning bolts streaking through my skin and into my belly , almost incapacitating me. I could barely breathe, let alone speak.
I heard shouting nearby but I couldn’t focus on it. All I could focus on was the overwhelming pain that rolled through me.
Then it was gone. A face loomed above me. Elaine.
“If you think I have no power over you, then you are mistaken. Get up. Lead me toward the creature. If you do that, you might find that I will be far kinder to you. ”
I slowly got to my feet and looked over to Alison. Tears still streamed down her face.
I tried to mouth a reassuring sentence to her, but there was nothing that I could say that would reassure her.
Finally, I started off again. The pain seemed to linger with me this time, a memory of it that stayed deep within my mind, as if she wanted to ensure that I was fully aware of what she could do to me. As if I could forget.
I could no longer travel nearly as well as I had before. It was almost as if my feet were numb, causing me to stumble when I struck some of the underbrush that snagged at my feet. With the light glowing in the distance I could see easily, though that didn’t help when the branches seemed to grab at me, or when the vines attempted to snare my feet. It didn’t help when I would duck, and suddenly a branch would seem to appear out of nowhere, practically slamming into me. I weaved around, feeling as if I were intoxicated.
Through it all, that glowing light began to intensify. It was out there, close enough that I could swear that all I had to do was take one more step, but each time I took that step, we still didn’t reach it.
Gradually, I became aware of something else. The heat around me intensified. It was the same heat that I had felt when Elaine demonstrated her power, but also the same as when I was near the dragon.
The burning I noticed began to start anew.
It started deep in my belly, a gnawing sort of pain that rolled outward, working up my chest, down my arms, and then down into my legs and my feet. The numbness faded. All I was aware of was that burning.
Pressure built within me. It was like the anticipation of waiting for something to happen, knowing that it would, only not knowing when.
Every so often, I would pause and look back to Elaine, but she seemed oblivious to it. How could she not see this glowing light?
I pulled on the bindings holding my wrists trying to fight through them, but I couldn’t. My hands were trapped behind me, preventing me from doing anything other than stagger forward. I couldn’t even use my hands to block the branches from my face.
I stumbled again, sprawling forward. As I did, I noticed a clearing in the distance.
Beyond that clearing was something. I had no idea what it was, only that I could feel that energy out there, as if there was something more beyond. I crawled forward, keeping my head down.
Elaine grabbed me, jerking me to my feet again. The needles stabbed in to my skin, as she forced me to look over to her. “If you think that you will escape now…”
I could shake my head, but that was the only movement that seemed to work. “I’m not trying to escape,” I muttered.
She shoved me forward. I looked over to Alison. She was so far unharmed, but before this was over, I had little doubt that we would have to find a way to escape, o nce Elaine had what she wanted. Once the dragon was back in her possession, I doubted Elaine would have any reason to keep both of us alive.
Which meant I had to think fast. I had to be ready to act. I had no idea what that would entail, but I had to start coming up with an idea.
I pressed forward. This section of the forest was denser than the last, and as I shoved my way through it, fighting through the undergrowth, I stepped out into an opening.
The
