Chapter 32

Piers opened his eyes. They were bleary for a moment as the world around him appeared fuzzy. He immediately noticed a sharp pain in his lower back. His eyes focused and the pain became more intense. He grimaced as he sat up, rubbed his back, and checked his surroundings. As it appeared, he was in a large cell. On three of the four walls there was stone, and on the other, cell bars. From the darkness of the room, it was obvious that he was underground. Outside the cell bars, there was a stone hallway and more cells.

As Piers attempted to stand up, the sharp pain in his back made him wince and sit back down. It was clear from the placement of the bruise that whoever had brought him to this cell had simply thrown him in. He took a deep breath, and once again attempted to stand. This time, by using the cell bars and dealing with the intense pain, he brought himself to his feet.

He leaned on the bars and looked out. There was nobody in the long hallway of cells. At the end of the stone hallway, there appeared to be a dark, winding staircase, leading up. He then examined the other cells. There were many of them, but they all appeared empty at first sight. Then, in the cell directly across from him, he heard something move. He snapped his head to see what had made the noise.

The light in the hallway was not very bright, and Piers had a hard time making out what he was looking at in the opposite cell. He squinted, putting aside the pain in his back. Then, there was another movement in the cell and Piers saw a small human roll over on the stone floor. The long, sandy hair was unmistakeable.

It was Sheba.

Piers was ecstatic. Even though it felt like only minutes ago when he had been protecting Sheba, it was still good to see a familiar face in such a strange place.

Piers whispered across the hallway, "Sheba…hey, Sheba!"

The body in the opposite cell rolled over again, and Sheba's face appeared in the dim light. She was on her side, wearing a mute expression. Her eyes were hollow. Piers was chilled for a moment. She had changed so much since that vision in Vale.

"Sheba?"

Her passive, hollow stare slowly moved to Piers and her expression changed to a haunting smile. Her lips cracked with the smile, a tear of blood falling to her chin. Her hollow smile was followed by her voice, which had become monotonous, "Hello Piers."

Piers felt so much pity for her. She was so weak and frail. Her body was slumping once again as Piers wondered aloud, "Sheba…what's happened to you?"

Sheba's smile faded at this question and she closed her eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed as an expression of pain seemed to wash over her. As the expression passed, her eyes remained closed, and she gave Piers an answer in a whisper, barely audible, "I can't tell you."

Confused by this unexpected response, Piers replied, still whispering, "What do you mean?"

Sheba's body slumped again. It appeared that it was taking all the strength she had just to remain conscious. Her eyes still closed, she answered Piers, her voice growing weaker still, "I can't tell you Piers."

Piers decided to leave the subject alone. It looked like even talking was taking a toll on Sheba's dwindling energy. He turned his focus from Sheba for a moment to look at the bars that held him prisoner. The lock on the door was hanging just out of arm's reach for Piers, he could not seem to squeeze his arm through the narrow bars.

Then, as he stared intently at the lock, an idea came to him. The lock appeared to be made of steel. Perhaps, with a bit of ice, he could break the lock from the inside. It was becoming obvious that there were only a few people who knew or cared about where they were. If he were to break himself and Sheba free, perhaps they could get a better idea about their whereabouts and how to find the others. It was an indefinite plan, but it was a plan nonetheless.

"Sheba…"

She had turned over again, her back to Piers. There was no response.

"Sheba…I'm going to try to get us out of here."

No response.

Realizing that he was probably going to have to carry Sheba out of this dungeon, Piers second-guessed his initial plan. But he did not debate long, his mind was made up.

He stood up, taking the pressure off the bars. His back singed for a moment, but this pain did not matter anymore. He pointed his open palm at the lock on the bar door, focusing on what it was he had to do. A blue light came from the center of his palm, filling the dark room with a blue glow.

In an instant, the lock was frozen. And, as Piers became even more focused, the ice became stronger, and after a few seconds, the lock split, falling to the ground with a loud clank.

Clearly these cells were not made to hold adepts.

Piers looked up and down the hallway to see if the noise from the lock had awoken any previously unseen guests. He saw nothing, and slowly opened the door. A quiet creak accompanied him as he tip-toed out of his cell. It was then that he realized the usual weight of his sword was missing. He did not think much of it, it would probably not be too hard to find.

He quietly approached Sheba's cell and peered inside. Sheba was huddled in the fetal position on the floor, her blank eyes wide open, staring off into nothingness.

"Sheba, come on, we have to go."

Immediately after hearing these words, Sheba slowly turned so she was lying on her back. She looked up at Piers, her face white with an expression of panic, "I can't," she whispered, her voice trembling noticably.

Piers could not understand her, she must have been out of her mind! He decided that he had to get her out, whether she wanted to or not. He reached for the lock on her door to see if it was the same type, "Come on Sheba, I'm getting you out. Now."

Sheba seemed to go into a state of full-blown panic. She jumped up, standing without help for the first time since they had arrived in Shaman Village. She grabbed the bars with her left hand, and grabbed Piers' outstretched arm with her right. She spoke again, this time her voice was not monotonous, it sounded like the old Sheba, and it sounded scared, "No Piers. You really can't."

Piers was getting angry at her stubbornness, "Why not?" he asked, distressed.

Sheba closed her eyes again. Then, just like a few moments ago, a wave of pain seemed to wash over her. Her whole body shuddered as she staggered back a few steps. After a second, she opened her eyes again. She staggered back to the door, staring with fear at Piers the whole time. She looked up and down the hallway, as if expecting to see someone, before answering him.

"I can't go…" her voice became panicked and rushed, "B-because he'll kill me if I do."

Piers was taken aback by Sheba's words and actions. Here was a woman who was clearly out of her mind. "Who will kill you?...Oh come o-"

But he could not finish his sentence. As if hit by a train, Sheba opened her mouth wide, in what appeared to be an inaudible scream. Her face changed quickly from terror back to a mute expression. Her eyes once again became blank. And she fell backwards onto the floor, lying frozen in a sprawled position.

As all this happened to Sheba, Piers snapped his head in the other direction to the staircase at the end of the hallway. He could hear footsteps coming down.

Frozen in his place, Piers watched as an old man robed all in white walked into the hallway. The man was looking directly at him, and he was smiling.