Chapter 62

Torturous hours drug by, potion bottles littered the floor, sometimes breaking under the weight of boots crushing them.

And now, Filvas had brought in a table.

"Hold him steady," The sound of water being poured followed the sound of Tobias choking and gurgling.

"May the Thirteen curse you!" He sputtered.

Half an hour drug by, torturing Riley with every infinite second. The sound of choking, mixed with his screaming, formed a soundtrack that defined her blackest hell.

"Throw him back into his cage and remove his blindfold," Filvas sounded disgusted.

Riley caught a scraping noise coming from Cid's cage to her right.

"He won't talk to save his own skin; perhaps he'll care more for her's?" A wicked grin chased across the steward's face, "guards, bring the beast to me."

"Riley! No!" Tobias gasped, his voice harsh and raspy.

"You can stop it. I'm going to hurt her, but I don't have to. We know what we seek wasn't on you when you arrived. We know that means he probably buried them or secreted them away in some tree or whatever you types do. Just give us a location; no one has to know, and you two can go on with your lives," Filvas offered, sounding preeminently reasonable.

"Don't give them anything!" Not knowing what else to do, Riley tapped out her rhythm again, shaking her head no, the collar biting into her neck.

Shave and a haircut, two bits.

Tobias craned his head towards the sound. "Riley?"

She tapped it out again, furiously shaking her head.

Tobias straightened, finding his steel.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm trapped," He chanted like an agonized prayer.

A man reached into her cage. Sensing her moment, Riley went perfectly still, waiting for him to unlock her from the ground, not moving when what felt like a leash chain was clamped onto her collar.

Suddenly, she could move her head, and, rearing back on her hindpaws, she clawed and stomped at the man's face, her powerful back paws pushed off, slamming what weight she had into the man's face.

Gnawing without direction, Riley tasted blood as she tore a chunk from the man's nose.

"Argh… She took my eye! I can't see!" The man worked back in panic before two guards pulled him to the side.

Filvas sighed and flicked a finger.

An arc of blue lighting sparked across the room, impacting Riley, as her muscles betrayed her and her muzzle smacked rudely into the ground.

"You son of a bitch!" Tobias sneered, straining against his shackles.

Regaining some control, Riley pounded out her rhythm, worrying more about Tobias than herself at that moment.

"Don't you do it! Don't give in!" Riley shook her head, ignoring the bite of the collar into her abused neck.

"Oh, so you do care about her? Do you care enough to save her any more pain?" Thrusting his hands forward, more sparks arced through the air, forcing Riley to seize as the steward stalked nearer.

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"I'm going to claw your eyes out next, asshat!" Riley spat, holding on to the hope that Cid was up to something.

"You need to teach your beast better. Attacking one of the House Guard is a crime," he laughed.

Electricity coursed through her as Filvas reached in, grabbing Riley's collar and raising her by the chain to eye level.

She choked as the crystal from the collar cut off her airway; the world began to fuzz as her body spasmed in panicked rictus.

Defiantly, she squelched a squeal, but some of it still escaped her throat, making her sound all the more pathetic and helpless.

"Stop it! Stop it, you bastard!" Tobias screamed.

Filvas grinned in triumphant victory, "Ready to talk?"

Riley found the ground as he stooped, allowing her a brief burst of air.

Panicked, consciousness surged back, "Well? She's stronger than she looks but won't hold out forever."

In perfect threat, he rose just enough so that her paws scraped against the stone, barely leaving enough contact to keep her airway open.

"I…" Tobias' voice wavered.

With all of her strength, Riley let herself choke and thumped out her rhythm.

"We'll get through this together. I swear by my spirit and my magic, I won't let this fucker break me!" Riley intoned, but there were no prompts, no feeling of magical impetus, only hardened steel within her spirit, rising out of the fires of hell she found herself in.

She thumped out her rhythm one last time as Tobias found his courage.

"No. I'm not going to let her down," he spat.

Filvas shoved a vial into Riley's mouth. Recognizing the taste of a healing potion, as much as the smell, she chugged it down, desperate for relief, as he resecured her in her cage.

It did little for the neuropathy. Her nerves sang a tortured aria as some of the pain blissfully eased.

"That should keep her alive. We'll give you all some time to recover before we get to our next session," Filvas stalked out, with the injured Guard being helped out by the rest.

"Ok, I've seen enough. I'm leaving; this has gone too far," Cid said as if he had the key.

"I'm open to ideas. I know I can't take much more of this," Tobias admitted.

"You're doing fine, son, and Riley did too. She's got some fight in her," He admitted proudly.

"They're going to kill us," Tobias replied in resignation.

"Let's not give them a chance," The sound of scraping on the stone returned as Cid, with all the dexterity he was allowed, began wearing the crystal shackles around his wrist. A small pile of powder already building around them.

"Boy, you get to working on yours just as I'm doing, now that you can see," he ordered.

Tobias dutifully began smacking his shackles into the ground, ignoring the pain, and rubbed them against the stone.

"That's it, son. Either you break 'em enough to get free, or you gain a spark of your magic and use that to get free."

"I'm just going to wait for the heroes to rescue me," Riley's nerves were burning; every twitch, every breath brought with it an agony.

Time stretched out. At least an hour passed by her reckoning, as the thwacking and scraping didn't stop.

The sound of growls and paws being drug across rough hewn stone drew Riley's attention as the door opened, bathing them all in the light.

Cid went stiff as all the blood drained from his face.

"Commander Iskaros? What? Why do you have Zorna?" Cid asked, sounding puzzled.

"Another conspirator?" Tobias wondered, "But if he's a ranger, why do they need your codes?"

That's when he noticed the midnight black-feathered hawk resting on his shoulder.

"Chadrick," Tobias spat.

"I'm afraid your training is over, son, but don't worry, you'll still get a chance to serve your betters," The commander said with a sinister sneer.

The bird flared its wings as its eyes pulsed with hate upon seeing Riley.

"I guess it's fried chicken for dinner tonight," Riley said, her internal voice ringing with false bravado working against her fear.

"What the hell are you on about! I'm calling this! It's over! Ashrain, Five, Victor!" Cid ordered.

"I'm afraid you've reached the end of your road too, old friend," Iskaros' words were dreamlike, strangely detached.

"Cid? What in the name of the Thirteen is going on?" Tobias roared.

"Your final trial son. You have to be able to take it and live with it afterward. I'm sorry to have put you through it, but we've all been where you are, for me, multiple times," Cid replied, sounding pained.

"You bastard! You let them hurt Riley!" Tobias raged.

"We serve, and we bleed for the ashenrealm. You know that now. We aren't allowed the luxury of choice," Cid's voice rang as if hollowed out by regret.

Tobias sighed.

The hawk cried in a tone resembling a malevolent laugh as Iskaros pulled a vial filled with glistening black sand from his belt. Pouring carefully, a complex magical geometry traced itself on the ground as if the material were a living thing.

"Iskaros, snap out of it! This has to be a spell! You've got to be fae blinded. Think, man, we've been working together for twenty years!" Cid pleaded.

"And for what? How many of our fellows have we seen buried? How many lives were lost? There needs to be change, Cid, and what are two more rangers against a brighter day?" He replied sadly before continuing his work.