Aethera groaned and the second she opened her eyes, she regretted it. Blinding agony flooded her vision, and she had to blink a few times before the pain was manageable.
It only took a few seconds for her to realize that she was in total darkness. Holding back a whimper, she rapidly blinked her eyes, a lump forming in her stomach at the possibility that she was blind. The fall...her heart plummeted as she recalled her last memory...was she dead? Was this what happened after? Or was she hovering somewhere between life and death in a coma?
No. If she was dead, then everything wouldn’t be hurting. She couldn’t exactly tell where the pain was coming from. Her head felt like it would burst out of her skull and her arms and legs tingled with agony. Something warm was trickling down her face. Blood, Aethera realized, reaching up to wipe it off her face with a grimace.
Panic quickly seized her. Her hands were trapped, refusing to spread apart. Something hard was holding them together.
Aethera opened her mouth to scream, to plead for help, but her jaw wouldn’t move. It was as if someone had glued her lips shut. After swallowing a few times, she tried again. To her relief, her mouth parted, but she could only get as much as a croak out.
Where was she? The question demanded answers, and Aethera stretched her hands as far as they would go, searching for clues. Her right arm was useless, and she was pretty sure it was either broken or pinned underneath something. But, using her left, she was able to touch the things closest to her. It was hay that was surrounding her from all sides. Hay that was underneath her. Hay that was poking uncomfortably in her shoes and face. God, she really hated hay.
After a while, Aethera convinced herself that if there was something out there other than the dry, dead grass, she wasn’t anywhere near it. It took her a few more painful moments to reach up slowly to her face. She couldn’t get past her nose, but she knew what was covering her eyes the instant her fingertips touched the rough fabric. She was blindfolded too.
Blindfolded, handicapped, and tied up wasn’t a good combination. It didn’t take a genius to know where she was. She didn’t have many enemies, but the government seemed to have a personal vendetta against her.
Nausea overcame her and Aethera felt her eyes start to water. What would they do to her? What did they want? If they wanted her dead, they would have gotten it over with. But, instead, they had given her life. Did they want information? How long would they torture her until they realized she didn’t have any?
Tears had begun to stream down her cheeks, soaking her blindfold. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to stop crying. It wouldn’t help anything.
She had to get out of here, but the problem was that she didn’t even have any idea where she was. A wagon? A prison cell? Her head was spinning too fast to tell.
Aethera moaned in pain, gasping as another wave of agony crashed over her body. She just wanted it to stop. How did she even injure herself? Had they done something to her already? Or was all of this from her fall?
She found herself thinking of Hestian. He wouldn’t leave her, would he? She couldn’t bear the thought of him abandoning her too. But, even if Hestian somehow tried to rescue her, the chances that he would be successful were almost none. She couldn’t depend on him. She was alone in all of this.
What advantages did she have? She was a Unique. That was the only thing she could use against them. The King would never admit it, but everyone knew that the government feared the abnormality of her species. It was the main reason they had started hunting them in the first place. Erase everything you don’t understand. They were scared of their ignorance.
Aethera subconsciously reached for the wind, but she couldn’t sense it. The hard contraption around her wrists suddenly made sense. Darkstone. Icy dread filled her veins and her pounding headache became even more noticeable. The metal would suppress her powers, rendering her vulnerable until they took it off.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she forced herself to breathe. It would be okay. She would play their game until there was a chance for her to escape.
She felt her body rock, slamming into a rough material that molded around her body when she hit it. Canvas. A wagon cover. She was in a wagon. And it had stopped.
“Please, God, help me,” Aethera whispered, closing her eyes.
She heard something being unzipped and then the darkness lightened a little, she still couldn’t see much, but she could make out a faint silhouette coming towards her. Aethera scooted backward desperately, but she couldn’t get very far with her injuries.
A hand reached towards her and Aethera cried out as a fistful of her hair was pulled, dragging her forcefully to the entrance of the wagon.
She was in too much pain to plead for mercy, but her ears rang with the echoes of her weak screams of agony.
“Quiet!”
The sharp command was colder than it needed to be and Aethera forced herself to grit her teeth, not wanting to see what happened if she disobeyed.
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“What’s her number?”
Aethera grimaced as she felt her arm being roughly pulled straight, cold nails digging into her flesh. “She doesn’t have one.”
Aethera couldn’t help but shriek as her arm was violently twisted. “Why don’t you have a number?” the icy, female voice demanded.
Aethera felt herself start to shake. “I-I-don’t-”
“Let her go. The King can see to this one personally.”
Aethera didn’t dare to breathe as her arm was released and she was pushed forcibly to the ground. The grass, damp from morning dew, stuck uncomfortably to her neck and face and Aethera whimpered as a heavy boot was pressed sharply into her spine, pinning her in place.
“Fine. I deserve a hefty pay for her, though. My team was camped out there for a week.”
“Your team can camp out in prison,” the other hunter replied coldly. “Don’t let anyone catch you on your ride out. If they find out that you’re the thing we’ve been hunting…”
“I know. I’ll be careful.”
“Good.”
Aethera craned her ears, listening closely as she heard the retreat of footsteps. The thing they’ve been hunting. Was the woman a Unique? Was she hunting her own kind? She shuddered in disgust. Surely not. That was an unthinkable betrayal.
“Come on,” the other hunter barked, pulling on her manacles.
“Please, can you take the blindfold off? I’ll be able to move faster if I can see.” Aethera pleaded, stumbling as she was forced to her feet.
Pain exploded in her cheek as her head was blown to the side. She fell to the ground once more, tears springing to her eyes. She had seen and gone through horrible things, but no one had ever hit her before.
“Shut your mouth, you filthy creature.”
She knew it wasn’t worth it to fight back, but she couldn’t help but shoot something back. “Do you really believe that you’re superior and I am subordinate because of a genetic mutation? I can do things that you wouldn’t even be able to comprehend. If these manacles were off, I could blow your head into bits.”
The next blow was delivered to her stomach and Aethera gasped in pain as she curled into a ball on the hard ground.
“Who do you think has the upper hand, now?”
“I’m not scared of you,” she whispered, though she felt quite the opposite.
“We can do this two ways,” the hunter growled. She flinched as she felt his hot breath on her face. “You can cooperate and get on the horse, or I can tie you to the stirrups and you can be dragged behind.”
Aethera swallowed. She did not doubt that the threat was real. “I’ll come.”
“Good choice.”
The hunter grabbed her arm, hauling her to her feet. Aethera swayed unsteadily, nearly collapsing on top of him as he hoisted her on top of the uncomfortable saddle.
She drew back as rough fingertips grazed her forehead, nearly gagging in repulsion at the sudden contact. She braced herself, but all the hunter did was rip off her blindfold, scratching her above the eyebrow in the process.
“T-thank you?”
“You’ll take that back once we get there,” the hunter snapped back.
She knew that he meant to scare her, but she couldn’t help icy dread from coiling her empty stomach into knots.
Aethera tensed as the hunter grabbed her manacles, pulling her wrists to the top of the saddle and attached a chain to the handcuffs that led to the horn of the saddle.
He walked somewhere behind her, and after a moment a loud crack vibrated through the air, making her flinch. The horse obeyed the whip instantly, and Aethera grabbed the edge of the leather saddle as the horse started to trot.
If she strained her head back, she could see a tall, black stallion cantering a few feet behind her horse. The hunter met her eyes suspiciously and Aethera turned back around, beads of sweat appearing on her brow.
How would she escape? They would only add more security once she got there. It would need to be now.
Aethera glanced at her manacles helplessly. Her body was weak from stress, injuries, and the effect of Darkstone. She would be no match to the hunter without her ability.
The wind had always been a part of her. It had always been there, swaying and dancing around her. She could feel its breath on her cheek and its cold hand flicking her hair back whenever the hot sun was too much to bear.
But, now, she felt nothing. She felt hollow and empty without it. She could neither sense it nor control it. The government had seen to that. There had always been rumours about the advancement of technology, particularly to the ones meant to make the Uniques suffer, but they were a myth. They had never applied to her. Never till now. She had always trusted Adam to keep her safe, and she had thought that once she learned how to use her powers, she would be invincible. That she would be able to protect him in turn. It had been her thought process only a month ago, but now it felt childish. Impossible, even.
The horse started to speed up, and large clouds of dust puffed with every gallop. Aethera felt nausea climb up her throat. She had always hated riding. She supposed the fear originated when Adam had bought a goat many winters ago. It had been an older nanny, with silver-lined fur and droopy ears. She had been maybe five, or six then-small enough to ride on its back. But, it had reared and bucked her off almost instantly, resulting in a concession and a pulled muscle.
Without money for medicine or healthcare, she had been unable to work or go to school for three weeks. The memory of empty stomachs and angry curses was still sharp in her mind. Her parents had still been alive then, and Adam had gotten in a boatload of trouble for assisting in the injury.
A stream of whoops jerked her out of her daze and Aethera craned her eyes focusing on the approaching building. Her heart sped up as they got closer. Guards and hunters were lined up outside the entrance, armed heavily with arrows and spears. Her horse slowed down and Aethera swallowed her fear thickly, her eyes darting around her surroundings. There was nowhere to go. No way for her to escape. If she tried, it would only end in her death. She planned to stay alive as long as she could.
“Welcome to Chamber 7,” one of the hunters barked at her and Aethera shuddered in disgust as his yellowing teeth widened in a menacing grin. “I hope you enjoy your stay.”