Elizabeth sat on the rocky floor, wondering what was going to happen. She didn't know how long she'd been there, but she was starting to get really bored. I think I must be the only person in the world who gets bored when they're about to die. Elizabeth had already made up her mind that she would die. She figured it didn't get any worse than that, so if she resigned herself to that fate she'd be ready for it when it came and if it was something else it would seem good in comparison to death. So that was that and Elizabeth was going to die. I must also be the only person on Earth-or wherever we are- she thought, remembering she was in a different world now and realizing that she had never bothered to ask what planet they were on-that decides on her own that she's going to die. Just then a man stepped out of nowhere. He had long blonde hair tied back in a horsetail. He had full lips, high cheekbones, and clear blue eyes. He was wearing a robe of red silk with gold trim that skimmed the ground, with a red shirt, black tunic, and black breeches underneath. The man looked at Elizabeth as if he expected a reaction from her, but she just stared calmly back at him. She was beyond being shocked now.
Unphased by her lack of caring at his arrival, he smiled at her. "I've been expecting you." He said.
"Really? I was under the impression that if you're expecting someone, you're usually there first. For "expecting me" you sure took a long time to get here." She replied without emotion. Ignoring her comment, the man went on.
"I've been waiting a long time to finally meet you, my dear. And I must tell you, if it weren't for the efforts of young Adam here, I may never have." Elizabeth glanced over at Adam who wouldn't meet her gaze. "Oh, don't blame him." The man said with a dismissing wave of his hand, "He didn't really have a choice in the matter."
"Whatever." She said, her voice still devoid of emotion. She really didn't care one way or another anymore. "Since you're apparently the master mind of this operation," she began, saying the words "master mind" in a mocking tone, "I suppose you'd be able to tell me why you're hosting me in these lovely accommodations? My tiny brain can't seem to understand why I've been dragged out to a cave at some odd hour of the night to meet a guy dressed like a giant valentine." (A/N: I don't know if they have Valentines Day, so let's just pretend that they do)
"Oh, it's really quite simple." He answered cheerfully, "I'm going to strip you of your magic."
Dan walked through the dark woods. Behind him were Tris, Daja, Sandry-who had been staying at Discipline that particular night (A/N: How convenient!)-and Evvy. Briar was leading the way, asking the trees and plants if they'd seen Elizabeth coming through and navigating the way. No one had been particularly happy at being awakened, but when Dan explained the situation they had all rallied to his aid. Why do I feel like there should be some theme music or something playing for us? Dan wondered. Even though his thoughts were light, his heart was heavy. He was getting really scared. They'd been walking for a while now, anything could have happened since Elizabeth left. She could even be- Dan cut his own thoughts off. He refused to think that. But even if she was alive, he didn't know what would await them when they found her.
Elizabeth was now fuming. Despite her efforts to stop them, Adam and the man in red had shackled her to the wall of the cave (even though she could have sworn the chains hadn't been there when she arrived). She now sat on the floor, glaring at them both. The man smiled at her as if she had just told him he was the most handsome, lovable, and powerful person she had ever met and she admired him to the very core of his being, instead of the string of curses she had flung at him that would have made a soldier blush. Adam still wouldn't meet her gaze. The man in red- or cupid as she had started to think of him ("the man in red" was just too long)- opened his arms and began to chant in another language. Elizabeth could feel the energy in the room begin to pulse, then grow, until she felt she was swimming in it and it hummed all around them. Then his chant changed, and Elizabeth felt something stir inside of her. Suddenly it was as if her insides were twisting around, trying to burst through her skin. She let out a scream and fell forward. Trying to keep her wits, she stood and ran at him with as much energy as she could muster, but the chains that held her captive stopped her only inches from him. She let out another scream, but one of frustration.
Adam forced himself to look at her. What had he done? This wasn't what was supposed to happen! He wasn't supposed to care about her, about what happened to her! But here he was, watching as her screams tore through him to his very soul. He wished the ground would open up and swallow him rather than be here for this. Elizabeth looked at him, her eyes pleading with him to help her.
Elizabeth looked at Adam, who was watching her writhe on the ground in pain. She felt like screaming at him in anger, crying to him in pain, and begging him for help all at the same time. He held her gaze for a moment, then his eyes changed and she watched as his fist flew at cupid and hit him square in the jaw, causing him to fly backward. His chant was cut short and Elizabeth felt the pain inside her ease.
Adam looked at the angry man lying below him. Shit. What did I just do? The man's eyes flashed and he realized exactly what he had done; I just got myself killed.
Elizabeth watched as the man got up and fixed his gaze on Adam who seemed to be frozen to the spot. He seemed to grow to fill the space of the cavern and the air crackled around him.
"Boy, you don't know what you just did." He said, deadly calm. Adam shrank away from him in fear.
Briar stopped in front of a barrier made of tree branches. Pushing them back, he led their group into the cave. He stopped there for a moment. "I can't feel anything. Damn it, I can't even see anything!" Sandry rolled her eyes and stepped up to him.
"Here thief boy." She said, giving him her globe that held lightning inside it. It was a token of friendship that Briar, Tris, and Daja had given her a few years ago to help her with her fear of the dark. "And let me remind you that you have a student who's a stone mage. Maybe she can do something?" Briar glared at her, embarrassed at his own stupidity before turning to Evvy.
"Well, think you can find her?" He asked her. Evvy closed her eyes. Why am I always the one that has to come to her rescue? She thought irritably, still cranky from being up so early. Pushing her feelings down, she concentrated and then began to lead the way. After following a series of turns they came to a wall. Evvy looked at it oddly.
"According to the rock, she should be behind this wall…but there isn't a way to get there. This should have been a passageway…I don't understand." Tris looked at it for a minute, then put her hand through it as if it were made of water, not rock. The wall hid her hand completely, as if it had swallowed it up to her wrist.
"Illusionary magic." She stated simply before walking through what had seemed to be a solid wall moments before. The rest followed her. When they emerged, they were standing in a small room. They all took a second to take in the scene before them. A man in a red robe was standing in the middle of the room, looking at Adam with a look of pure rage contorting his features. Adam was shrinking away from him, practically radiating terror, and Elizabeth was shackled to the wall at the rear end of the room.
Briar, who couldn't use his magic in the cave, pounced on the mage, cursing himself for not wearing his daggers. Daja ran to the back of the cave to order the metal cuffs on Elizabeth's wrists and ankles to let her go. Tris hesitated for a moment before running over to Adam and standing in front of him in a protective way. Evvy stood there, stunned, until she realized she was a stone mage standing in a cave. There were stone spikes hanging from the ceiling and coming up from the floor of the cave (A/N: I don't remember the science names, but even if I did, I doubt Evvy would know it). Evvy urged the ones on the floor to curl around the robed man's legs and the ones above him to grab his arms.
The man had just tossed Briar to the ground and was about to pounce on him, when he felt himself bound. Looking at himself, he saw the ropes of stone about him and began to laugh. "You think this will stop me?" He paused to let out another burst of laughter. "I'm a powerful mage!! Don't you people understand that? I can kill you all right now if I want to!" He shouted. Calming down, he said "But I won't. Well, at least not all of you." He closed his eyes for a moment and then they heard Adam scream. He fell to his knees clutching his head.
Adam felt as if someone was driving a dagger into his skull. He let out another agonized scream as his vision went blurry.
Briar started punching the man, kicking him, doing anything he could think of to break into his chant but he might have been punching a dummy for all the good it did. Tris grew a lightning bolt and shot it at him, but an invisible shield around him deflected it. She tried again, growing the next one bigger and stronger than the last. Again it failed.
Elizabeth had to do something. She looked at Dan who seemed to be terrified. Grabbing his arm she said, "Connect your power with mine."
Coming back to reality, Dan replied "We can't use our magic in here. There isn't any water, I checked."
Elizabeth gave him a patronizing look. "No shit Sherlock! I've been trapped here for hours, don't you think I would have checked too?? I don't care if there isn't any water."
Dan looked at her, confused. "Then what the hell are you planning to do? We're water mages," He said, drawing out the last two words for emphasis, "without water, we can't do anything."
"Look, I don't care!" She shouted, exasperated, "I'll just hit him with raw power then. I have to do something! Power is power! We have it with or without water. Water is just the tool we use to direct it. If you don't have a shovel to dig a hole, you use your hands. So what if we don't have water? We have the power, and that's the important thing. Now connect your damn power with mine before he dies!" She screamed. Dan, still looking doubtful, merged his power with hers. Together, they pushed it toward the robed man with as much force as they could. The man gasped and sagged in his bonds. Sandry went up to him and put her fingers on his pulse. "He's alive." She stated. "We better get out of here, I doubt this stone will hold him when he wakes up." The others nodded their assent. Tris and Briar helped Adam out of the cave and back home to Discipline.
Author's Note: Come on, like I'd let Adam be a jackass? He was too much fun to mess with, I decided to keep him as a good guy so I could play around with him still. If he's evil it takes the fun out of it, then he's just evil and I either have to kill him or make you all hate him because he lived. Anyway, be happy I didn't leave it in a cliffy. I almost did, but I kept going cuz the next chapter was too short alone. Please excuse my spelling and grammar errors. I REALLY don't want to proof read this. It's kind of long for me.