Another Chapter ready! I know it is a little short, but it was a good stopping point. I may fall a little behind this week, as I have an importnat paper due soon, but I will try to get something posted each day. Hope you enjoy and please review!

Chapter 16:

Irony

Fenrir held onto Evalette's hand as they hurried through the burning forest. They had left the palace a few minutes ago, along with Aerin and Valeria, to go check on the dragons and search for Icerara along the way. He felt utterly useless. His pride in his abilities during their sparring session had faded and he was faced with the fact that he was completely unable to fight in a real battle. The sound of a falling tree or an explosion left him wincing in pain at the massive noise.

"Valeria, are we close to the clearing yet?" he called forward.

"I think so, but the flames show no sign of slowing. The fire wasn't supposed to have reached the clearing yet" she replied with a hint of worry.

They pressed on with still no sign of Icerara either.

Suddenly Fenrir heard a small snap followed by Aerin screaming "get back!" before an explosion knocked them all backwards. After a few seconds, his mind cleared slightly. He had a massive headache from hitting a tree, and his left ear was ringing. He tried to get up and felt blood dripping from his ear. He could hear muffled noise all around him.

A powerful mental attack stunned him as a chain net was thrown over him. He called out for the others but could not hear a reply before he was quickly knocked out with a blow to his forehead.

Arya waited impatiently for the Riders to return. She knew it was necessary for them to check on the dragons and locate Icerara, but she wished they would have stayed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of her guards walking towards her.

"My Queen, we have caught sight of the enemy. They seem to be retreating."

"Retreating? We have barely been able to counterattack, why would they be retreating?"

"Perhaps, they didn't find what they were looking for? They have not entered any of the vaults or the palace. Nothing worth pillaging was taken."

Arya thought over the matter for a moment. Then she grew pale as the frighteningly obvious became clear.

"Where are Riders?" she demanded.

"They have not reported back, they are still on their way to the hatchery…"

Even before the guard had finished, he had turned around and began gathering the others into a search party.

Arya almost collapsed as she realized that she had delivered the Riders right into White Fire hands.

Fenrir slowly regained consciousness and tried to sit up. His hands and legs were bound. He was strapped down to a cold metal table. His calls for help were muffled by the strap bound tightly over his mouth. He could feel dry blood crusted around his ear. Cool air stung his exposed face. They had removed his blindfold. His tender eyes burned against the open air.

He heard a door open and slam shut.

"Well, you're finally awake, are you?"

Fenrir couldn't recognize the voice. That wasn't a good sign.

Cold fingers pulled the strap off his mouth.

"I would not advise attempting any spells. Just answer when I speak, stay silent when I do not, and we should get along just fine."

Fenrir said nothing. It was disorienting, hearing the man's voice through his one good ear.

"No need to be shy, Fenrir. I have no quarrel with you. You are but a means to an end."

"What do you mean?" Fenrir asked, unable to resist.

"While you are interesting, no doubt, you are little more than bait, same as your sister."

Fenrir struggled to break his bindings.

"Let her go!"

"We will, don't worry, after we get what we want."

"And what is it you want?"

"Thank you for asking. We only want the Name."

"What Name?"

"The Name of the Ancient Language, of course. The knowledge of which your father selfishly took with him when he ran away from Alagaesia."

"Why do you need us? We don't know it."

"Isn't it obvious? Like I said before, you are bait. While he is the master Rider, he is also a father, and will undoubtedly come to your rescue when he hears of your situation."

"He won't, he left forever. He has not contacted us at all, he does not care whether we live or die."

"Hmm, possibly, but either way, we have you and the other four Riders. It will be intriguing to study the abilities of a Rider HighBorn."

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you not noticed? You, as well as the other four, have enhanced abilities compared to past Riders, a direct result of your father upsetting the balance. When he began taking all Riders and dragons with him to his sanctuary, the balance was broken. As a result, the few Riders left in Alagaesia have been gifted with enhanced abilities to counteract their loss of numbers. This is also the reason for your peculiar Gedway Ignasia placement."

"Our palms?"

"Oh, my apologies, I forget you have not been able to see for yourself. No, you have each been marked differently. Yours, for instance, is in your eyes. I did not notice until removing your blindfold, but you indeed have faint designs on your eyes. It is most unusual, and is the reason for your loss of sight. Most Gedway Ignasia inscriptions are developed on skin, not a functioning part of your body."

"Why weren't the others blinded then?"

"As I said, each of yours are different. Your sister's is a particularly long one that stretches the entire length of her right side, from just above her ankle up to her palm. The small female Elf has hers circling her waist. The large male has his around his left arm, and the other female Elf has hers down her spine. You can thank me for having the decency to not see how far it continues."

"Keep your hands off of them."

"I cannot promise that. If your father fails to give us what we need, we may have to settle for a complete dissection of you five. We may learn how to replicate your abilities."

The door opened again.

"Ah, I am afraid we are out of time for our little talk. Our healers have arrived."

"Why would you waste time healing me?"

"Some of our torture methods require sight. But don't worry; this will not be nearly as gentle as your Elven healers. We will complete what they could not, because we will not bother taking it easy."

Fenrir could not imagine how it could be any worse than before.

He was wrong.

The pain was indescribable. He screamed as they spared no time reshaping his eyes. Blood ran down his face as they hastily went about fixing his sight. He fainted shortly, unable to handle the torture.

When he next awoke, he was lying in a small puddle of his own blood. His face was covered with a blood-soaked rag.

"Finally awake again are we?"

"What did you do to me? That was not healing."

"We fixed your sight, Fenrir, you should be thankful. You almost died from the experience, but in the end, it worked. Unfortunately, you were without sight for quite a while, so we will have to slowly introduce light, otherwise your eyes will become damaged again. I have rid the room of all light sources so we can begin the recovery."

Once again, cold fingers touched his face as the bloody rag was removed. His eyes ached, even in what seemed to be pitch-black.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine, but I still don't understand why you have gone through the trouble to heal your prisoner."

"If we are to study you later, you have to be healthy. Now, I'm going to begin to introduce light into the room."

He heard the man whisper a quick spell and a dim were-light shed light into the space around him. His eyes burned as they adjusted to the small light. He slowly began to make out basic shapes in the darkness. The man added to his spell and the were-light continued to brighten. It seemed like hours as they proceeded like this, slowly adjusting his eyes to normal light, until eventually Fenrir could see without much pain in light as bright as a summer day.

He had to stop himself from thanking the man as he looked around the stone room. Any other time, it would have been a hideous, dirty sight, but in his eyes, it was beautiful. A few tears escaped him at the recovery of his sight.

"You can see well again?"

"Y-yes, I can."

"Good."

The man pushed the table where Fenrir lay strapped down through a narrow, damp hallway. They emerged into an open room. The man turned a crank on the side of the table and Fenrir was raised into an uncomfortable vertical position. He could see they were up on a rotten wood balcony overlooking a stone pit. And in the pit were the other four Riders, chained to the wall.

The man sat in a chair between Fenrir and the pit.

"Now, I want you to contact the Master Rider."

"I can't, I don't know how to contact someone I've never met, let alone at this distance!"

White Fire soldiers wheeled a table full of a sickening array of torture devices into the pit.

"I suggest you figure out how, and quickly" the man replied.