Warrior's Touch (Deadly Touch book 2)

The only clue to the passing of time was the passage of women and children into and out of Llew’s cell. After the last test, Llew would receive a simple meal before most of the candles would be dampened and the guard changed.

She would be woken for the opportunity to bathe from a bucket of cold water, and to eat a bowl of oatmeal, and the procession would begin again. She couldn’t decide if she preferred the solitude of the night-time hours, or the busyness of the day. She settled on disliking both. It was as bad as being held captive in Braph’s home. There, her body had been used against her will to create crystals for Braph’s magic device, or to sate his physical needs. Here, her body was used against her will to find out whether or not families got to keep their home. And there was no way out that she could see. If she refused them, they withheld food and it wasn’t long before the painful clutches of hunger gripped her.

The life she now lived was her nightmare, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to refuse to eat and end it. Whether it was because it was more than just her life on the line, or some bizarre need to live no matter how miserable, she didn’t know.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she held out hope that Jonas would find a way out for them. He knew these people. And if that no longer held sway, he was still Syakaran. Surely no cage could hold him for long.

And while she carried his baby, she, too, had Syakaran strength. She walked up to the bars of her cage, gripped two and pulled outwards. The whole metal wall rattled at the points it connected with the stone.

“Hey! Stop that.” One of the guards stepped forward.

Metal squealed, and Llew was almost sure her hands were farther apart. She renewed her efforts.

“Stop. Now.” The guard’s arm swung up, holding a small crossbow pointed at Llew’s head.

“Ah—” One of the other guards began and was waved silent by the first.

Llew didn’t stop. If she had the strength to get through this iron wall, she had both strength and speed to deal with the guards.

“I said stop.” The first guard lowered the crossbow and fired.

The bolt sunk into Llew’s left forearm, missing the bone; the point entering where her muscle bulged and exiting just below her elbow, like a sewing pin.

Pain, frustration, anger, and sorrow exploded from Llew in a bellow that reverberated around the room as she released the bars and fell back on the floor. Barely thinking, she ripped the bolt from her arm and hurled it back at the guard with a growl. The bolt clipped a bar and fell to the stone floor, landing across the line between inside and outside her cage. She lay back covering her eyes with the forearm of her right arm and cried.

Peering out from under her arm, she watched the drops of blood add to the growing puddle, the time between each steadily growing. It didn’t bleed for long, mustn’t have clipped anything major.

They would send someone to heal her soon. They had to before she was expected to test any more children. And so, she lay, trying to ignore the pain and the cold stone beneath her, and waited.

And waited.

They left her; didn’t bring anyone to heal her.

She was teetering on the brink of sleep, attempting to use the power of her mind to transport herself from the dark, dank basement back to her little piece of paradise on the banks of Cheer’s Big River – long tussocks, soft clovers, the fresh scent of the river – when the main door opened and brought her crashing back to reality. Morning already?

While she couldn’t see them, the rustle of the guards’ clothing suggested uneasy movement as the footfalls grew nearer.

A figure blacked out the entrance to the small room.

“Go.” That voice. Aris.

Llew froze.

The three guards hesitated then headed up the steps, and Aris stepped forward with Karlani a half-step behind him.

Llew pushed herself up from the floor. Her arm ached, but it was ignorable.

Aris lifted something, handing it to Karlani. In the dull light, Llew could hardly see it, but the flash of orange candlelight off a metal blade left little to decipher. They were there to kill her.

Aris pulled out a set of keys.

Llew’s body prepared her to run. Muscles tensed, heart beat stronger. That part of her brain that had been holding out hope screamed at her to do something, but she didn’t know what. She was surrounded by stone and iron. The only way out was through Aris and Karlani.

She crouched, ready.

Aris stepped back from the gate, letting Karlani move in.

As soon as the Syakaran stepped through the gate, Llew ran at her. But, this time, Karlani knew what she faced, and she planted her feet, holding her ground. Llew crashed into her, pushing her back a step. Karlani spread her arms, catching herself against the bars. Then she swung wildly with the blade, catching Llew under a breast. Llew jumped back, Karlani moved with her. Aris took the chance to lock the gate between them and him.

Llew wasn’t ready to be a lost cause. She crabbed around the enclosure. Karlani turned to keep facing her, knife held ready.

“The girl’s got some fight left in her,” said Aris, leaning against the bars.

Figuring on the latch being the weakest part of the cage, Llew prepared herself for a lot of hurt. And if she failed, well, it was die easy or die hard, and she wasn’t going to die easy.

Coming around enough to have a straight line to the latch, Llew launched herself at the gate. Karlani rushed at her, knocking her aside and following her down, striking with the Syakaran blade.

The metal tore through Llew’s chest below her right shoulder, broke bone and sunk deeper. Pain. Hot, cold. It didn’t matter. All she knew was the pain. She lay on the cold floor, scared to take a proper breath.

Keys rattled, ringing around the small room, and the gate swung open.

“I’ll make sure the job’s done,” Aris said as he entered.

“Don’t you trust me?” Karlani laughed, like Aris could be joking.

“I’ll make the killing blow.”

All humor left Karlani’s face, and she returned to good soldier, stepping out of his way.

“Good. Good.” Aris knelt beside Llew. He pulled the knife free.

Llew gasped as the pain she’d been trying to avoid fired through her. Her right arm was useless, and every breath hurt. She waved her left arm at Aris, trying to brush him aside, but her attempt was feeble, and she failed to connect, let alone push. Blood seeped from the reopened crossbow bolt wound.

Aris held the knife over her, taking great care positioning the blade over her belly. Calling on all her strength, she batted the knife aside. Karlani positioned herself at Llew’s head, gripped her forearms in gloved hands, and pinned her to the floor.

“Don’t make this harder on yourself,” Aris said. “If you’re lucky, you might get to say goodbye to Jonas.”

The knife hovered.

Finding its target, the knife plunged into her belly.

Llew’s body arched, and she screamed. She pulled one arm free of Karlani’s grip, but it flailed weakly, striking nothing. Karlani pushed it down again. Aris frowned at his hand gripping the knife handle. He held it a few moments, watching, watching.

He pulled the knife. Llew heard a trembling whimper in her own voice as the blade slid free.

This wasn’t happening. It was some crazy dream. Heat spread across her shirt. Some part of her knew it was her blood, yet she felt detached, like it was happening to someone else.

Aris guided his knife a little over from his initial strike, his brow furrowed.

Llew tried to move again, but Karlani still held her, and even tiny movements were agony.

Aris drove the knife down again. A fresh wave of pain rushed from Llew’s core, compounded by sorrow at the certain knowledge she had lost her child. She started to tremble, her ears ringing, her vision tunneled. She couldn’t breathe.

A blue spark shot up the blade and disappeared into Aris’s wrist. Gasping, Llew peered at him as his lips spread in a devilish grin. She looked back at where the blade disappeared – into her, but her brain still wouldn’t accept that fact – and a purple lightning bolt shot up, from her belly into him. His eyes grew bright with triumph while her vision darkened.

“What the hell is happening?” Karlani asked.

Aris didn’t answer, just kept grinning down at Llew as more power slipped beneath his skin.