Chapter Thirteen: Plan Most Cunning
Zale sat up in his bed, still holding his little brother's hand. He didn't want to let Johnny go, the little blonde boy was the only one of his siblings he'd seen since they were brought here. Johnny was sitting up next to him, playing with the tips of Zale's fingers, pressing them into different sign language words he'd been learning and even after he was finally able to reach out to them mentally, the mute boy would still need some form of speaking with others who were not his family.
"We spoke to him Johnny, we are going to be okay. You know how determined Daddy and Papa are to keep us safe. They will not stop until we are home again."
Johnny nodded but stayed silent.
"JJ, are you okay?"
"I am worried about Greer, we grew up with stories of this world but he did not. He will not understand what is happening to him and the rest of us. We need to get to the others and find a way out of here!"
Zale nodded, "I know you are worried about your friend but there is nothing we can do with the drugs in our system."
Johnny raised his head then, looking into Zale's blue eyes with his dark brown ones, "Burn it out of your system, use your power to do it."
Zale wondered about that, he didn't know if he could do it with the steady drip of drugs from the bag next to the bed and without the voice of his Magis in his mind, dulled by the medicine that the masked men were feeding them. Zale retained his hold on Johnny's hand, feeling the younger boy's need for Zale to do something, anything. He closed his eyes and searched for the fever from within. He knew that he could control certain aspects of his physical body and he could essentially burn through the drugs. He used Johnny's hand as an anchor and unlocked the section of his mind that he felt the focus of his powers, especially the untapped ones. He sought out the heat in his heart and sent it out in waves, burning him with a fever and his skin started to glisten in waves. He didn't need to wonder if it was working, he could feel his focus returning second by second until he was clear headed and Xylander was shouting in the background, wondering what the heck was going on and why couldn't he talk to Zale for so long.
"Quiet Xylander or your going right back into your box," Zale muttered and the magical being fell silent and Zale really started working, he sought out those who were with him, finding his three sisters, then Greer before his focus shifted to finding Jake, Haikon and Ishtar, learning each of their locations as well as how to get to them. Teleporting into rooms that he'd never been inside could be tricky and something he didn't want to screw with until he had to.
Then he accessed his telekinesis, which was the easiest thing to grasp hold of in his slightly foggy state and opened his eyes and looked straight towards the door and thrust his hand out forcefully, releasing Johnny's hand as he did so. The motion and magic jerked the door off its hinges and thrust it back into the opposing wall, making Johnny jump at the crash of sound and then the alarms started blaring. Zale knew they had little time and he wanted to force the people's hand or find all his siblings and friends with enough time to escape. Either way was fine with him so he stood off the bed, ripping the needle from the flesh of his arm and then turned to do the same to Johnny who whimpered at the shock of pain.
Without a word Zale took Johnny's hand and they ran through the shattered door and down the hall to the first door where he knew Zada was. He pressed his hand against the door and pushed, forcing the door to bend and break. He moved it gently off to the side since he did not know where Zada's bed was in the room. He looked around the grey barrier and found Zada lying on her bed against the far wall. She struggled to sit up but she had the same bag and needle in the arm that Johnny and Zale had. He rushed over to her and gently pulled out the needle and gripped his sister's face, making her focus on him.
"Zada Rea! You listen to my voice and use your power to rid your body of the drugs, use your powers to burn it out."
Zada nodded but he could see how dull her usually vibrant brown eyes were at the moment. She still hadn't said anything and Zale could sense others coming for them. He pressed a gentle hand down on Zada's stomach and used his power to pulse out the drug but they'd been giving her more for some reason. He frowned and pushed more of his power into her, wiping away enough of the fog that she snapped up, her eyes a little clearer and he tugged her off the bed.
"Zale?" she whispered.
"Come on Zada, we gotta go!"
"Hey!" someone shouted, Zale turned with his hand out to push the man away only to find the man with his hands wrapped around Johnny's throat, ready to twist and snap the fragile bones beneath the man's large hands.
"No, please do not hurt him!" Zale said, wishing his voice wasn't so high pitched.
"Then let her go, walk back to your room and sit down!" the man ordered. Zale glared but knew that anything he was capable of doing to dispatch the man would just put Johnny in danger. He dropped his hand and the man jerked Johnny out of the room and Zale followed quickly to make sure his little brother wouldn't get hurt in the process of the man jerking him around. Another man grabbed Zada and she was shoved into another room where the door wasn't broken off and undoubtedly reconnected to the stupid bag of drugs. Johnny was led into another room where there were two beds and the man strapped his little brother into the bed before the man turned, hand still on Johnny's throat and gestured to the other bed. Zale waited for the man to remove his hand from Johnny's throat as he settled into his cot and kept his eyes off of the man in question. He would not warn the man of incoming attack, not with his brother's life in jeopardy.
Just as the captor moved away from Johnny, Zale squinted his eyes and glared at the man who froze mid-step then Zale jerked his head towards the wall and their captor flew across the room and hit the wall with a dull thud. Before he could launch a second attack, several more men were swarming them, one shoving the needle back into his arm while many hands held him down and the last jabbed him in the butt with another needle, delivering a heavy dose of the muddling liquid and Zale smiled a little, thinking if Plan A wasn't going to work, at least Plan B had a chance.