:t-fear:

Ch. 14

Rynu looked at the small satchel in his hands, hating to let go of what few possessions he had… but he had a feeling if he brought them with him, he'd never see them again. He looked over at Conintor's stables and snuck over to one of the stalls. He flinched when Conintor's elk looked over at him, the bells hung around her neck jingling loudly. He put a finger to his mouth to keep her quiet and leaned down, setting the bag in a pile of straw and putting some of the straw over it. He padded it down carefully and looked down at the one possession he had kept out. The small leather bound book felt awkward in his hand, since he still didn't know how to read it. He didn't know why he wanted to keep it so badly, but he stashed it in his pocket and ran out of the stable silently.

Rynu opened the door of the castle, looking at the guard with a dark glare before entering the dark main room. The people inside stared at him as he walked over to Carline, his green eyes hard and emotionless as he stopped in front of the older man.

"I'm here." He muttered angrily.

"I see that." Carlile smiled in satisfaction. "I'll go get Demetre." He said, walking down the hall as Rynu struggled not to show the raw panic that shot through him at the mention of the leader's name.

He glanced around, but saw no sign of Tam anywhere… where was he?

"I see you've decided to make the wise decision and come back within our ranks." Demetre smiled, looking at him with interest. "My, you've grown quite a bit, haven't you? You look quite strong."

Rynu didn't say anything, just continued to glare at the man, his eyes narrowing skeptically at the compliment.

"Oh, now no need to get so angry." Demetre frowned. "I invested a lot in you boy, and you decided to run away before I had a chance to finish the spell."

Rynu's eyes widened in surprise at the comment, taking a quick glance at the tattoo that had been embedded in his skin the last time he had been here.

"I'll ready the others." Carlile said, walking down the hall toward the room at the far back.

"Will you come with us willingly, then?" Demetre tilted his head curiously.

"I'm not going anywhere other than here. I'm back with you, and that's all you'll get from me." Rynu growled.

"Pity. Well, we'll have to do this the hard way then." Demetre sighed, but raised his hands with a happy smile. Rynu froze as black magic started swirling from the man's fingertips, surrounding him until everything around him was darkness. The magic seeped into his skin, burning his flesh with searing pain until it was too much. He heard the faint laughter of Demetre's amusement as he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Kid, wake up." A familiar voice said, the sensation of being shaken bringing Rynu back to the world. He startled and yelled, looking around him wildly and reaching for the knife at his back- but it was gone.

"What?" Rynu felt his face, unable to see anything- all he heard were garbled voices around him.

"Calm down, Rynu!" strong hands grabbed at his flailing arms. "There's not enough room in here for you to freak out like this.

Rynu faltered, feeling cold stone beneath him. What was going on? "Who are you, where am I? Why can I not see?" He blinked a few times, hoping that would fix things- but it just made him dizzy.

"The spell probably overloaded you for a while. You've been sleeping for days. Just calm down and I'll explain everything. I'm Tam, remember?"

Rynu froze, looking in the direction the voice was coming from. "Tam?" He asked cautiously.

"Yes, now just keep quiet. I don't want the guards coming to take anyone yet." The older man hissed.

"What's going on?" Rynu said in concern. He didn't like the sound of what he had said… come to think of it, he could hear someone else breathing in the room too.

"We're in the Raza jungle from the sounds from outside. I haven't been able to see outside since I got here though, so I'm not sure." Tam answered in a soft voice, trying to be quiet.

"How did I get all the way to Raza?" Rynu said in shock. "Who brought me here?"

"Demetre did." A female voice said, anger lacing her voice. "he brought all of us here, damn him."

"Shush Dela, he's in shock." Tam said, then firmed his grip on Rynu's shoulders. "Are you going to be okay?"

Rynu nodded, his vision starting to clear a bit so that he saw shadows of what was around him. There were two other people in the small room, which should have been suited for only one. He hissed suddenly in pain as his shoulder burned, the other two flinching suddenly as well.

"What did he do to me?" He held the tattoo in shock as it burned.

"He's cursed you. Can't you feel it in your head?" Dela said, her voice sad. "He tries to take us over."

Rynu stared at her shadowed form in terror. "What? Something's in my head?" He gripped his hair, as if that would pull whatever it was out.

"It probably won't start talking until later. Just try and get some rest." Tam said soothingly.

Rynu looked to the man, his vision clearing a bit more to reveal Tam's concerned face, a long and jagged cut covering his face over his eye, which was puffed and swollen in protest.

"Gods, what happened?" Rynu gasped at the injury.

"You'll see soon enough." Tam said grimly, looking to the small door at the other side of the room as someone walked past. "Just relax for now, you'll need all the rest you can get."

Rynu nodded uneasily and leaned back against the wall behind him. He had no idea why he was hear, but from the injury on Tam's face it couldn't be anything good. He looked around and spotted Medusa curled in the corner of the room, sleeping just as soundly as he had been and sighed in relief. At least she was still there.

"NO! Let me GO!" A screeching woman's voice woke Rynu up, Tam yelling from across the room as he woke up as well, scrambling for her as she was dragged out the door by her hair. The man kicked Tam back as he grabbed for Dela's hands when she was drug away, screaming and flailing in protest.

"What the hell?" Rynu shouted angrily, lunging for the woman as well, but only got a good kick to the face as a result. He reeled back as stars filled his vision and he staggered backward in pain.

"Tam, help!" She screamed as the door slammed behind them when she was taken into the hall.

"Dela!" Tam yelled as he beat on the door angrily. "Damn it!" He hissed in anger, setting his forehead against the rough wood in frustration.

"What happened, where is he taking her?" Rynu watched Tam's reaction with confusion.

"He's taking her to the chamber." Tam said angrily, his fist hitting the door one last time. "He should have taken me again."

"Who is she?" Rynu asked.

"She's my older sister. She got trapped here because of me, and now she's going to be tortured again. I can't stand this!" Tam stood and kicked the door, flinching in pain when his threadbare shoe hit the wood.

"Tortured? Why?" Rynu stared at Tam with wide eyes.

To destroy you. A voice hissed in his head. Rynu hissed in panic, gripping his hair. "What was that?" He gasped in terror.

"The voice started talking, huh?" Tam looked over at him sadly. "Unfortunately now that it's started, it won't stop until you're gone."

I will destroy you, and take your body for myself. The voice hissed happily. I will make you a powerful magi- more powerful than your cousin or that man.

"Gods, this thing… it knows me." Rynu whispered, his eyes wide in panic.

"It reads your mind to try and find your weakness. Show your tattoo." Tam walked over to him and kneeled next to him.

Rynu watched him for a moment in hesitation before lifting his black tunic to revealing the serpent tattoo. He gasped as he saw it writhing across his skin, the normally black ink turned purple with glowing red eyes as it slithered across his arm.

"You're already pretty far gone, aren't you?" Tam said in dismay. "Have you dealt with dark magic before?"

Rynu frowned uneasily. "When I killed a sorcerer." He whispered. "Why?"

"You probably won't last very long, kid." Tam whispered sadly. "But I'll take care of you two as best I can until we can figure a way out of this hell hole."

Rynu nodded, lowering his sleeve as his skin continued to burn. This was very bad.

Rynu and Tam looked up as the door opened, the large guard throwing Dela back into the room. She groaned on the floor as blood pooled beneath her onto the stones.

"You." The guard pointed to Rynu, who stared at him in terror.

"No- take me." Tam scrambled forward in front of Rynu. "He's just a kid."

"No, he said for me to take him. The dark one." The guard kicked at Tam to keep him away as he grabbed Rynu's wrist, his large grubby hands painful as he dragged him away.

"Just take care of her." Rynu pointed to the woman as he was drug out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

Rynu walked willingly behind the man, staring at the doors around them. The hallway was lined with them- voices from behind each door telling that each room was occupied.

"In." The man said, opening a door and shoving Rynu inside. Rynu fell to his knees when he lost his balance, glaring back at the guard as he slammed the door shut and bolted it.

"Ah, Rynu." A voice said in amusement, making Rynu freeze and stare forward to see Demetre smiling happily to him. "I was hoping you wouldn't struggle too much. Wouldn't want to get hurt, would we?"

"To go hell." Rynu spat, standing up and clenching his fists angrily.

"Gladly, but first I must see to your death as well." Demetre smiled wryly. Rynu looked at him in confusion when he noticed wrinkles around Demetre's eyes that hadn't been there a few days ago. What was this nutcase up to?

"I see you will not be cooperative." Demetre sighed as if disappointed. "That is unfortunate… for you."

Rynu flinched as a tendril of magic lashed out and grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him down to the ground so that he knelt in front of Demetre.

"So then, Rynu. Will you agree to do anything I say? Will you become a powerful magi, and be able to defeat any other who crosses your path? Just think about it- absolute power. You could do anything you wanted." Demetre tilted his head as he smiled, waiting for Rynu's reaction.

"Fuck you." Rynu growled, spitting at Demetre's feet.

Demetre let out an angry yell, the black tendril from his other hand lashing out at Rynu's back, cutting a deep scar into his flesh. Rynu gasped for breath as pain throbbed through his spine. He gasped in terror as the tendril lifted him into the air, pinning him to a wall behind him.

Demetre walked over to him, holding his chin painfully with one of his hands. "I will destroy everything you are, boy. I will take you for myself and use you how I want, and you'll never be able to stop me."

Rynu only bared his teeth in anger, starting to struggle against the magic.

"Idiot boy." Demetre growled as he started lashing Rynu on the chest, the black tendril ripping away shreds of clothing with each blow.

Rynu closed his eyes, his fists clenched as his sides as his teeth clenched so hard his jaws hurt. He would make it through this somehow… he would live, and he would kill this bastard.