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“If you leave my wrist unattended, I may never be able to use a sword again,” I boldly addressed Captain Garvith in the makeshift mess hall at my first opportunity. Volker, agreeing to support my pleas, stood at my side, visibly uncomfortable, as he maintained the binding rope securing my hands behind my back.
“Nonsense, it’s a clean break,” he retorted as he finished the last of his rations. “But if it fuses wrong before we exchange you, we’ll just break it again.”
“Are you planning to negotiate with Chairo for my release while denying me proper aid?” I asked in sheer disbelief. “Holy Sage Relias won’t let you get away with this!”
“Relias… Relias?” Garvith mused, feigning forgetfulness as he leaned back in his seat. “That name sounds so familiar... You mean that coward who begged for my help? The one who left you in my care as a child yet constantly questioned my disciplinary approach?” He paused to take a long swig from his rusty canteen. “What do you think he’ll do, petition the council to write another letter of condemnation? I’ll have a full dozen if he dares!”
The more decorated knights erupted in laughter, though the younger recruits shifted uncomfortably at Garvith’s awful attempt at humor.
After the tent fell silent, he continued. “You and I know the Holy City would do anything to secure your return. I want what’s owed! I’ve dedicated decades to serving my country, defending it from the clutches of darkness and vanquishing demonic beasts. And all for what?!”
He jumped off his stool and started to pace with an impressive intensity. “To be told I need to be more tolerant? To consider retirement?” His voice grew more fervent. “If anything, those who make the rules need to be reminded who paves the way for their luxury!”
To my surprise, Volker, who had kept watch over me, finally spoke up. “Captain Garvith, Sir,” he began hesitantly. “It’s just that Captain Lightbringer requested quarter, and you accepted. However, she cannot even eat properly of her own accord.”
That wasn’t exactly a problem because of the splint so much as the arms bound behind my back.
“Volker.” Captain Garvith turned his piercing gaze on him, his lip curling to reveal a canine. “Did you grow a spine while I wasn’t looking?”
“Yes, Sir.” He saluted, though his legs trembled slightly.
“Very well then,” the captain said in a strangely subdued voice before turning to the man on his right. “Lieutenant Balor, go fetch Mother Sorine.”
Mother Sorine’s weather-beaten features made it hard to tell her actual age. Lines crinkled around the corners of her eyes, but her hair was lustrous black without a hint of gray. She wore riding leathers, but the bright star and staff pendant hanging from her neck heralded her as a priestess.
Her only command was very brief: “Arm.”
Volker untied me, and I presented my right arm as requested. After removing the splint, she took my forearm in one hand as she gripped and pulled my fingers with her other, eliciting an audible crack and a wave of nauseatingly sharp pain.
“Be healed,” she said in an almost bored monotone, illuminating my limb with a glowing aura. It took a few minutes, but the pain ebbed and eventually subsided. I tested my wrist cautiously, noting it was back to how it had been, although I was privately disappointed that the old scarring leading up from it to my mid forearm was still present.
“Thank you.” I inclined my head to Mother Sorine and Volker, intentionally turning my back on the captain as I did so.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Volker,” the captain called as he retook his seat at the head of the table. “No need to tie her back up since you hereby assume all responsibility should my daughter use her abilities against us. May the price of your newly found spine be something you can afford.”
As we headed west, I dozed off in the saddle at the strangest times. The relentless hours of riding had left me with a general soreness that turned quite acute in my hips and upper legs. Our route was unfamiliar, regularly featuring small hostels between wooded areas. Here, horses were hastily exchanged for fresh ones, even as local intel was shared and gathered.
Despite my weird weariness, I listened for any mention of the Order of Silver or my companions. Given that the captain had not attempted to threaten me with their lives, I assumed their escape was successful. I didn’t want to think about the other extreme possibility.
Every few hours or so, I would note the return of an increasingly oppressive heaviness in the air, and I would reflexively look around each time, trying to pinpoint the conjuring culprit. Whoever they were, they were subtle and precise. Even Volker, sitting right behind me, never seemed affected.
The elder knight who had actively engaged in my story had been keeping me under a watchful eye. “Are you all right, Captain Lightbringer?” he asked at one point, his voice full of concern.
“I think—” but the words would not come out. Spell. Dark magic. Curse. Animus. Sorcerer. Runes. Demon. Demonic. Devil. Voodoo. Juju! It was like they were all locked up and inaccessible. “I’m just tired,” I finished with a sigh. What other words was I banned from using? And where had Raedine gone? She didn’t even say goodbye this time…
During the first few days, I dared not to try and cast my inner vision, but after waiting and holding my breath for intel, I couldn’t hold back any longer. Was I just banned from talking about the fact that something was trying to suppress me, or was it genuinely affecting my abilities? The answer was something I couldn’t wait for any longer. If things took a turn for the worse, I would need to know what I could and couldn’t do.
It was much more challenging to focus now, and it took a few minutes before anything appeared before my closed eyes, but eventually, I could see it again. Blue had merged into a long line retreating west, but Silver was following at a steady pace. How could they not know about them at this point, though? Could they not see each other’s colors?
“Gah!” Volker suddenly cried as Lieutenant Balor rode up and smashed a gauntleted fist into the side of his helmet. Even I, sitting on the horse next to him, shook from the force of the impact. I whirled around just in time to see the initial trickle of blood leak from his nose.
The captain, who I swore had been far ahead, smirked and slid his horse to the other side of mine. “Tsk, tsk. Were you trying to pick out an escape route, perhaps? Do you plan to bring Volker with you? You won’t be able to protect him otherwise.” He laughed coarsely for a moment before again moving to the head of the column.
Using one of his own men as a card against me now? How low could this guy go?
Once again, I ignored the captain as best I could. “Are you alright?” I asked Volker, knowing the answer. “Let’s go find Mother Sorine!”
“No,” Volker said as he pulled out a cloth to staunch the blood. “She won’t be allowed to help me, and I wouldn’t want to put her in such a position.”
“I’m sorry… I…” What excuse could I give? I had been warned, and yet I did something that got him hurt.
“We’ll get through this if we work together, Holy Captain,” he advised quietly, suppressing what I could only imagine was irritation with me. “Let’s just do as we’re told.”
Later that afternoon, after winding around a series of forested hills, we arrived at a large garrison. The walls of the secluded fort were made of large stone blocks, and the entrance was guarded by thick wooden doors studded with rusty iron.
Within its confines, soldiers in variable qualities of chainmail and plate armor honed their combat skills, all of which looked patchworked, as if there was no official uniform and no one could decide what color blue to wear. Off to the left, a rickety stable was half-full of contrastingly well-trained warhorses, waiting patiently for their next foray into the field. Would my horse get to rest here? How was she doing? What… was her name again?
Volker extended his hand, and I sluggishly dismounted with his assistance. After proceeding a few steps toward the interior hall, my left leg gave out, causing me to trip.
“Careful!” He grabbed me by the shoulder. “You’re just tired, right?”
“Uh... no...”
“Captain Garvith!” the ever-watchful elder knight, whose name I still hadn’t learned, shouted urgently from my other side. “Something’s wrong with Captain Lightbringer!”
No… don’t tell him!
“What do you mean, something is—”
I never heard the rest of Captain Garvith’s declaration of disbelief as I was too busy succumbing to the darkness that drained the last remnants of my consciousness.
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