No other words were exchanged as Shilah tried to trap beast and man into separate illusions. The witch’s spell rippled in the air, and her chant rushed through the room, echoing with the whisper of several voices lifted in eerie unison. Shilah then dug deep, weaving the illusions of peace and love for the man, and one of violent slaughter for the beast. Her fingers trembled, and a wave of exhaustion hit her as she poured her energy into saving their lives.
The taint of bloodthirstiness vanished as if it had been sucked in the vacuum of space. With a gasp, she opened her eyes and swayed. The throne room was a shambled mess. Dozens of bodies littered the ground, and blood coated the floor. She stood on legs that trembled, unable to grasp that he’d wrecked such carnage in minutes. He too was tumbled on the ground, wrapped tightly in valnetium chains. The witch drew symbols atop his forehead and cheeks, muttering, words of echoing voices in the room, and the strangest white light on the tip of her fingers.
Amirah straightened and glanced around at the bloodbath, paling. “The spell is one which dampens the capability by restricting the flow of chakra in the body. It cannot hold him. In truth, it is your illusions, Princess Shilah which have entrapped him, but I cannot say for how long they will last.”
“Take him to the dungeon,” the Emperor snapped.
Shilah turned to face him, surprised to see a brutal scar had flayed open his cheek, and that the hem of his robe was soaked with blood. How could he for even a minute think the dungeon could hold the force they had just tangled with? She did not care how enchanted those domains were, it was improbable. “He needs to be taken away from the empire!”
Cold reptilian eyes settled on her. “Put this Darkan in isolation and the princess with him in the cage,” he ordered without taking his gaze from her face.
At first, Shilah was certain she misconstrued his meaning. Then the horror in her sister’s eyes had his meaning scything through her heart. No. Pain exploded in the back of her head, and it was as she crumpled she realized the grand general had hit her with the edge of his sword. He lifted her, and she wavered in and out of consciousness. Interminable minutes passed, and then she was thrown onto a pallet on a stone floor.
“The sovereign emperor wishes that you learn how to control a powerful Darkan, Princess Shilah. Control this Darkan, and you will live. Fail to control i
t, and he will rip you to pieces and perhaps everyone else imprisoned. Including your sister,” he said with icy satisfaction.
She pushed up and tried to stand, but her weakened legs saw her stumbling to the ground. Several guards were frantically chaining an unconscious Lachlan to the iron wall of the cage as if they were afraid he would awake soon.
She had roused something monstrous in him, and Shilah sensed with every fiber of her soul she would not be able to manipulate him. “I cannot direct the mass of power I felt in him,” she said hoarsely.
“If it comes to that…it means you are useless to us princess. We need a Serangite that is powerful enough to control beasts such as this one.”
The door to the cage closed with chilling finality, and Grand General Shenzhen sauntered away impervious to her screams.
6
The dungeons were a pit of despair. A lone great torch barely lit Shilah’s prison, and the drip of water against rock pinged in the chilling silence. At least an hour had passed since the Grand General left her to face death. Trapped with so many prisoners, at times Shilah struggled to keep her shield in place. Exhaustion weighed on her shoulders like a boulder and the few whose thoughts she hadn’t been able to keep out reeked of hopelessness. The dungeon of the high lords of Mevia created a desolateness that corrupted and withered the souls of its captives. It was whispered throughout the Empire that what was left after being confined in the dungeons was the husk of a person-blank, empty, devoid of hope, emotions, and the will to live or die. A few of the minds she touched were like that, and the pain of it all made her want to weep. Their pain swarmed through the air, the intensity of it choking her, filling her until the pressure was unbearable. And she and her sister had been confined to its cruel walls.
She saw no avenue for escape. They were buried thousands of miles underground the empire, and a bottomless pit still loomed below their cage. When she looked down, she could see nothing but unrelenting darkness, and the only sliver of light was the lone torch hooked high through the small bars of the cage. The cage they were in hung suspended, and it seemed like the only one in the abyss. Several times she had flared her powers and sensed no other aura nearby. It was a wonder the grand general left the torch. Mayhap he thought it more fitting she saw the death that would come for her instead of the oblivion of ignorance. I would prefer not knowing.
A gentle flutter whispered in her mind as Kala tapped at their connection. Shilah did not want to open it for she had no ability to block the emotions tearing through her. She wrapped her arms around her waist, desperate to stop the continual shivering. Another knock came, and she opened the door slightly.
A red-yellow aura flickered. Shilah took a steady breath and did the best to mask her emotions. Her sister needed her. “Kala there is no need to fear. He still sleeps.”
“I…I cannot see you in any of my visions,” her sister said in a weary tone.
“Stop trying, Kala. I love you.”
“I’m so scared, Shilah. And I feel so foolish for I am not the one trapped with it.”
“It is not foolish to be frightened. Our situation is uncertain, but I urge you to not worry about me. How are your ribs? Has the pain lessened?”
“I’m fine, Shilah. My suit took most of the damage. How can I not worry about you? You are my sister and my dearest friend.”
The echoes of her sister’s despair-filled sob battered at her mind.
“We’ve prepared for all eventualities. Stop your crying and conserve your strength. You must be brave,” she pushed back gently, close to tears.
“It is unfair. I am the useless sister. It should be me who dies.”
“Kala! I forbid you from thinking so foolishly. Our destiny is whatever the fates deem it. And I promise you, your powers will manifest. You are only ninety years of age.”
“Our kingdom cannot wait for my abilities to manifest,” Kala said with bitter regret. “You are Dyxriah’s hope and…and I’ve seen it in brief flashes atop your body, it’s terrible fangs piercing your throat.”
The chains rattled.
Fear tightened Shilah’s nerve endings and made her heart stutter. “Kala I must go.” Shilah closed their link. She tried to draw on the memories of Lachlan’s heated kisses that had promised the hottest of lovemaking, mixed with sweetness and erotic heat. Building the memories of pleasures, she could feed to his mind.