Author's Notes: I'm out of school for the year! Wahoo! Anyway, I'm going to go back and forth between this story and Changing History until this story is complete. Neither one will be seen as a 'focus' over the other until I've completed one of them. Happy reading!
Warning: This chapter contains violence and some possible disturbing images. If this bothers you, I suggest you only skim the chapter for plot.
Drifting Destiny: Unbearable Burdens
My wrists are chafed and swollen, but I bite the ropes with my teeth anyway. Blood is flaked on the ropes where they bit into my skin, and I spit out the coppery taste. I didn't notice crissed-crossed scratches on my tan pants before, but now that I do notice them, they hardly bother me. I do wish my shirt hadn't been shredded into a million pieces again though. The tailor is getting tired of making me new ones.
Folken is coming for me and will probably be here long before Hitomi. My beloved will do her best to find me, but Folken has both more resources and more patience. If I'm lucky, he's on his way right now. If I'm not lucky, he ignored my call to him and went straight to Fanelia anyway. I don't know what's more annoying: the fact that he doesn't listen to me or the fact that he picks and chooses when he does listen to me.
My bonds have loosened slightly, but any attempt to move my hands will make the pain worse. I give the rope one more tug, and it falls to a pool at my feet. I grimace at the look of my wrists, but there isn't much I can do about it now. I do have a tiny amount of healing power within me, but I used up most of my energy when I called the forsaken man I deem to call a brother. I'd probably faint of exhaustion.
Maniacal laughter floats into the room, and I withhold the urge to roll my eyes. Doe the guy ever take a break? The K'alin ran his gruesome looking tongue over his pasty lips, as he looked the ropes at my feet. "Pity; I guess I'll just have to tie you up some other way later. Chafed wrists? I know of a few plants that could aid in the amount of pain you're suffering. Of course, I also know plants that would make it ten times worse."
"Oh, humble Nameless One," I begin sarcastically as his silver eyes pierce the bars between us. "It would be too much trouble to aid me. Please, enjoy yourself immensely as you prey off my pain to satiate the hunger within you," I end as I lean back farther against the wall. I will neither stand up defiantly against him nor grovel at his feet. I will not give him to kill me off faster as I need to give Hitomi and Folken more time. Maybe they will take pity on me and come faster than they thought they could.
"Your scything remarks will do you no good here. I have offered you shelter in my magnificent home, and you dig at the rewards I have to offer. If you will not cooperate, we will take what we need from you forcefully," the K'alin snarled as he whipped around towards the door. He paced back and forth for a moment as if he had forgotten Van was in the room. His boots cuffed on the floor as he walked, and I studied their soft leather appearance as I spoke.
"You would take what you want from me forcefully anyway. After all, you take pleasure in my pain. I decided that since you're planning on killing me that I will keep all feathers from your sight at all times. Even my corpse will defy you in every way," I answered as I stood. I wasn't planning on being defiant, but I felt that my patience had been tested rather well. I had fallen for the bait hook, line, and sinker.
The K'alin left in a whirl or fury, and I managed a snicker. The procedure I might have to endure would probably be moved up to the quickest time possible, but I now had a plan. I had seen the K'alin's weakness, and I was ready to take full advantage of it. The K'alin had left the door open to escape, and I was ready to move forward beyond this prison in the deeps.
In his haste, the K'alin had knocked a lantern over next to the door. The bars were only slim enough for one of my shoulders to slip through them, but it was enough for me to reach the lantern. Oil coated the floor, and I grinned as I imagined my captor 'accidentally' falling face first in the door. My right wrist screamed in protest as I stretched as far as I could for the metal, but it was worth it.
The smooth metal touched my palm, and I sighed in relief at the feeling. Slowly, I made my way through each of the bars until I reached the lock. I broke off the piece of the lantern, which held usually held a chain, and placed it into the lock. As a younger child, I used to pick the locks of the rooms my parents didn't want me to go into. Unfortunately, the servants usually got in trouble with my parents as they were blamed for my misconduct. At the moment, I can't say I'm guilty for my actions.
The small loop creaks in the lock and rust cuts into my fingers. I think I've gone numb to pain by now because people have made a hobby out of torturing me. The locks snaps open with a hiss, and the door swings open. I would consider this to be a good thing except for the fact my wrist was still between the bars. As it is, I had to bite my lip until it bled so that I didn't scream loud enough to wake the entire house up.
I tear off a piece of my pants as I try to staunch the flow of blood from my wrist. My head is beginning to feel light from the blood loss, and I find it hard to walk straight as I make my way to the door. I groan slightly as I find the door to the outside world is also locked. I blink as my gaze crosses the room to land on the small window. The window isn't large enough for me to crawl through, but it is large enough for something else to come in.
I debate whether or not to break the window before doing so anyway. If they hear me, they hear me. I'm just going to throw all rationalization away as I succumb to my fate. I grab the remainder of the lantern and grip the strong metal in my lathered hands. I only have one shot doing this correctly, so I swing the lantern the glass as hard as my weakened arms will allow me. The window shatters on impact.
I hear raised voiced to the outside, but I ignore any other people who could be living in this strange place. I whistle through the air as loudly as possibly, and I pray the myth about the Draconians as true. They say we're half-birds, and I do so hope the birds come when I call them. They may not understand every word I say to them as I've never tried talking to them before, but I only need to get a few words across.
A sprightly little starling flutters to me at a short whistle. Its feathers are preening, and the sharp bird doesn't look like it can travel more than a few miles, but this bird could be my last hope. The sun is setting in the distance and although the starling has probably been flying off day, it pecks at my fingers in anxiousness. I consider letting my wings burst from my back, but the K'alin would just collect the feathers later.
"Little brother," I whisper to the bird after a fashion. The starling brings its wings up in a fashionable dance at the sill around the shards of glass. "There is a halfling like me out there coming in this direction. I need you to bring him to me as quickly as possibly. Please, I need you to save me, Little Brother. I will forever be in your debt," I pleaded with the bird as I stroked the soft gray feathers.
I blinked in surprise when the bird seemed to answer me. I will do as you ask, Strange One. May your heart be at ease tonight. There was a softness about the voice as if the bird were talking to child who thought he did something wrong. I stroked the starling a final time before he took off into the setting sun. Voices were getting louder now as the K'alin tried to barrel his way to my prison.
I edge my way to the door as I prepare myself for whatever trials may be ahead. I wish Hitomi were here, so I could hear the musical sound of her voice beneath my chin. I am not afraid of the K'alin, but I am afraid I could be ripped away from Hitomi, our bond snapped in two. I have only touched her mind briefly as a Draconian, and she has yet to share everything I have to offer her.
I squeeze my eyes tightly shut as footsteps stop right outside my door. I know he is here as I can here his husky voice slip through the cracks of my cage. He doesn't want me to know he's here, but with all the racket he made here, I don't know why he bothers. An iron key rattles in the lock, and I bend my knees in a springing motion. My wrists still sting fiercely, but I must ignore the pain.
The door creeps open, and I push off the wall toward the intruder. The K'alin gives a brief gasp of surprise as I slash at him with one of the glass shards. He yells in pain as I kick him to the ground. I force my legs into a roll as I use the momentum to push myself off the floor. I race blindly through the hallway with my captor shouting after me. "Catch him, you fools!" he shouts to the guards.
My speed slows from my earlier exertion, and one of the guards soon tackles me to the ground. I give him a quick undercut to the jaw, and I somehow manage to force my way out from under him. He catches one of my legs as I try to run once more, and the ground rapidly approaches me. On reflex, I attempt to catch myself as I fall, but I can't help the high-pitched scream that leaves my lips when my wrists scrape across the ground.
I can see nothing but blackness for seemingly hours, and when the light hits my gaze once more, my captors have me strapped to some sort wooden board. I try to relax my body to prevent chafing, but the bonds are so tight that it doesn't do much good. A sweat has broken out on my forehead, and I can do nothing to wipe the perspiration from my brow. The air is stifling, and all I can do is breathe.
I had heard about these experimental labs before, but I had never hoped to see one up close and personal. These were the labs where the creatures and screams of the night came from. Cross-species were designed in the experimental labs for weapons against Dornkirk's enemies. Unfortunately, most experiments in the later years were successful, and Dornkirk used the maddened victims as obedient soldiers.
Torn and twisted cages lay off to the right, and I can only imagine what it was like in one of those. The larger cell I was up in earlier must have been for one Dornkirk's oversized experiments of the growth rate of Whisklions. The giant cats were an uncontrollable species that Dornkirk soon loosed on the other side of the Valley near the dragons. Both the dragons and Whisklions had become endangered soon after.
A reptile-like man is putting together a cart in the corner. He's mumbling to himself about this or that, and I think the poor man must have lost his mind. He might have even been one of the successful experiments himself as it looks like he might have bits of hair ingrown on his face. Glass bottles chink together, but I can't see anymore than what I can hear. The man's oversized brown coat hides my view from his work.
If I weren't strapped upside down, I would probably be able to get a better view. The reptilian creature pushes the cart next to my bedside, and a sickening feeling wells up inside of me. All sorts of sharp objects protrude from the tabletop with oozing liquids in some weird glass things with needles.
I've never wished for my brother so much in my life.
Author's Notes: This has got to be one of the top ten darkest chapters I have ever written for anything. As a final thought, the next chapter will be my last for this fic. I'll probably have that out sometime next week. Ja ne Insane Pineapple from Naboo
