CHAPTER 5: FINALE!

PRIDE AND FURY

Caleb turned to Lucas. Lucas met his eyes, determined not to let the pain show. If they thought he would go meekly along with whatever plans they had, they were in for a surprise. Caleb shook his head with mock sadness, looking at Lucas’s Aura again.

“This one doesn't understand a damned thing. Well, I'll give you a lesson for free lad. Want to know what weak means? Weak means I do what I want with you and there is nothing you can do about it.”

There was no bravado in his words, it wasn't a bluff, this is how Caleb saw the world. Caleb pointed his finger at Lucas’s chest and a small glittering bit of steel left one of his leather belts, hovering over to Lucas. As Lucas stood frozen, watching it glitter in the sunlight, it shot suddenly into his chest and started slowly sinking. Lucas reflexively jerked but froze when the movement caused the little shard to tear his flesh.

“I'd stay still if i was you, this part’s a bit delicate,” Caleb said as he concentrated.

Lucas felt the bit of steel grind painfully into a rib bone just above his heart then go still.

“There we go,” Caleb said with a friendly smile. “Now listen here lad. That bit o’ steel will track you wherever you go. If I decide it's time for you to die, you die. If you do something I don't like, you will soon understand why everybody wishes for nothing more than to make me happy. Understand the situation now?”

The frank honesty of Caleb’s Aura made the threat extremely intimidating. There was no room for doubt, none of it was new to him. Lucas felt somehow detached, like he was outside himself watching the scene. This can't be the real story. There has to be some mistake. He didn't speak or move.

“Put him in the wagon with the others,” Caleb said dismissively.

“And keep your guard up boys, or you might end up with something like this stuck in you,” he said, picking up the piece of Porcupine Quill and tapping the point curiously with his finger.

The nails lifted out of Lucas’s feet. Lucas didn't resist as the guards pushed him roughly towards the back of the wagon, his mind fixated on the little piece of metal in his chest. His hand went to the bloodstain on his shirt. The little hole would heal soon, leaving a tiny shard of death a centimetre from his heart. The thought of Caleb’s threat buried in his body was unbearable, he felt like ripping his own chest apart to get it out.

The wagon was full of other people, silent and sullen, their Auras sick with fear and hopelessness. They didn't even look at Lucas as he climbed up. There were no shackles or ropes, none were needed. The little blood stains on their chests proved that they were bound more surely than any chain could achieve.

Horse shoes clanked on the stones and the wagon jerked into motion. Lucas watched the road begin rolling away behind them, clutching his chest. Caleb was right, he was weak. But he was wrong about the rest, Lucas would never submit. At the very least he could choose when to die. If he was going to die, he would die giving himself the best chance he could to get out of this alive. Even as he sat there, a sense of doubt and fear was creeping in. It annoyed him greatly. It wasn't like him. He kept trying to shake it off, but it just came back. After a moment Lucas looked around and realised it really wasn't him.

Fear and hopelessness from the Auras around him was seeping into his own. His Aura flared with pride and anger, dispelling the sullen energy around him. The others in the wagon looked up at him in shock. They shied away, their eyes flickering to the guards, as if Lucas would get them all killed with his arrogance. Lucas looked over to the guards who eyed him with hostility, as if his lack of fear was an open challenge. Lucas returned their hostile gaze, sure they wouldn't kill him. He was worth more alive. It was going to take a while to get used to having your inner thoughts and feelings being broadcast for everyone to see.

The wagon continued to roll lazily down the road and the sun slowly approached the horizon. Lucas was agonising over how he ended up here, repeatedly picking at the tiny wound on his chest. The moment he had said he had no place to store the waterskin, Lucas’s Aura would have broadcast his intent to deceive. Caleb tossing him the waterskin was probably an attempt to trip him up. Finding someone with no possessions in the middle of a monster infested forest was obviously suspicious enough to warrant some probing.

Lucas cringed, thinking of all the obvious giveaways;

Do you have a family that would look for you? Do you have any weapons? Can you fight?

It was like a checklist for kidnappers. He had been so excited to meet some other people, to not be alone anymore, that he had openly declared his helplessness with no consideration for the kind of people he was dealing with.

‘So you were born yesterday?’

Lucas grimaced. Caleb had been very careful to control his thoughts and emotions, very little was given away by his Aura. That was a useful lesson. Caleb was obviously clever, but he was wrong if he thought Lucas was helpless. The instant that he saw a chance, or could create an opportunity, Lucas would kill him. That was the sure way to disarm this trap above his heart. But it would not be easy to kill someone who can rip open your heart with a thought.

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The one advantage he had was that his life was worth something. They wanted a Nexus, or they wanted to sell him to someone who wanted one. If having an inventory like his was rare, the value of it was obvious. Lucas wasn't sure if his other powers were the result of ‘Dimensional Magic’ but he also wasn't sure exactly what that was. It sounded like it could result in all kinds of incredibly useful and powerful abilities. It might have been ‘Dimensional Magic’ that brought him to this world in the first place. In any case, he was being led like a lamb to slaughter.

Lucas needed to get away, even if they could track him. Caleb's magnetic power must have a range. His Aura had taken on a quality that reminded Lucas of static electricity. There was a good chance that Caleb could not control his metals from outside the reach of his Aura. That's likely why Caleb damaged his feet, it would make it hard to outrun his guards. It was speculation, but it seemed like a gamble worth taking.

As he thought, Lucas looked out over the road as it retreated behind them in the slowly dimming light. A movement from the forest's edge caught his eye. Someone had made their way out of the trees and was approaching the rear of the wagon. It looked like a woman, with an axe… She had green and brown smudged all over, as if she had crushed up bark and leaves and rubbed them all over her skin and leather armour. It made her eyes look very bright, wide with obvious hostility. Her Aura was tightly compacted around her body, brimming with fiercely contained energy that only stood out if you looked at her directly.

She was staring with deadly intensity at the closest guard as she approached, the rattle of the wagon wheels masking her footsteps. With an effort of will Lucas tried to suppress his surprise and excitement, to keep it out of his Aura while he mentally prepared himself to act. She was clearly hostile, if she attacked a guard that was likely the best chance he was going to get. The effort was only partially successful, the two guards in the rear of the wagon eyed him suspiciously. That ended up working out nicely though as it distracted them from noticing the woman until she was on them.

Her Aura exploded with wrath, washing over the area with the sound of her battle cry. The force of it was overwhelmingly imposing. Everything, even the ground and sky seemed to shrink away from her as she loomed like judgement from on high. Lucas was not the focus of her ire, but even he was momentarily stunned. The guard who spun around, stumbling in surprise, shrank in horror like a bug under the boot of inexorable death. His Aura was bleached white with shock and he barely flinched as the axe fell, cleaving into his chest between the shoulder and neck.

The menacing energy receded and Lucas sprang into action, just as the other guard leapt to his friends' defence. Jumping off the wagon and wincing as his feet hit the ground, Lucas sprinted for the tree line. He heard shouting break out from behind

“It's her again! She got Dan.”

Looking over his shoulder he saw Caleb run to the back of the wagon. A flurry of steel was shooting through the air towards the warrior woman as she rolled to the side, having dislodged her axe from the guard with her boot.

“Get the boy!” Caleb yelled, pointing to Lucas.

“I’ll deal with this crazy bitch!”

Lucas faced ahead and ran for all he was worth into the forest.

Lucas ran, recklessly vaulting over rocks and fallen trees. His only chance was a sudden burst of speed to lose them, even if that meant risking breaking his legs on something half seen in the dimming light. Desperation was his only edge. Stealth required him to stand still for a moment to activate it, making it useless unless he could get out of sight. The guards couldn't track him by the steel in his chest. If they lost sight of him they would have no choice but to go back to Caleb. He had no idea what he would do if Caleb came for him. Regardless, he was determined to make things as difficult as possible. Even if only out of spite.

The forest rushed past in a blur. When he began to feel his speed flagging he chanced a look back and, to his horror, the guards were still in sight. He could feel the holes in his feet ripping open, becoming clogged with dirt and debris. The adrenaline pumping through his blood made it easy to ignore the pain, but he was doing real damage to his feet. His lungs burned and sides felt like they might split. His body was slowing no matter how hard he willed it on. He turned, making his way down to lower ground whenever possible to make the running easier. Soon he ended up skidding down into a rocky ravine. He could hear them now, panting hard and scrambling over rocks behind him. He was out of time. At the bottom of the ravine Lucas noticed a large dark opening amongst the rocks. If it was a dead end he was doomed, but he was doomed anyway. He bolted into the dark hole, which turned sharply down into a much darker cave. He was half scrambling half tumbling down the slope as rocky edges gouged into him mercilessly. The darkness had become absolute as voices echoed from above.

“You go in after him, I'll tell Caleb."

"No you go!"

"Think I'm stupid? You know what’s down there."

"Think I'm stupid?"

"Caleb's not gonna let this go, you know how he gets once he’s sniffed out a bit o’ coin. If the boy is worth a fortune we are going to end up going down there anyway."

“He’s dead anyway, no way he survives down there. We can come search for the Nexus anytime. Once we get back to camp we can put a team together, Caleb... won't kill us for it. Maybe a few cuts…”