Chapter 492: Amateurs (1/2)

Chapter 492: Amateurs

ALARIC MAER

A low roar, like the lapping of waves on a distant shore Hot red light pushi+ng through closed lids Pain, fuzzy around the edges

I opened ain In that brief, blurry look at the world around me, I confirmed only that I was in a small dimly lit room More carefully this time, I opened only my left eye

The rooh cot I was currently lying on and the chamberpot in the corner My wrists, I realized, were shackled withinhis way out of ht was the backlash

The bastards didn’t even givethese unad-, though, that they hadn’t cared enough to make sure I survived That meant they didn’t really need me, which in turn ht be able to do if the Redwater whelp and his Scythe leash-holder brokeback in bits and pieces Edmon’s death, Darrin’s ill-fated attempt to save me, the soulfire…

“You better be alive, boy,” I said aloud, ue thick and my voice raw I pictured Darrin’s eyes as Wolfrum bloody Redwater’s soulfire danced behind them, and bile rose up in the back of ainst the wall just tomy ear to the wall I atte, but of course this failed “Who's there?”

There was no immediate response, and so I knocked twice on the wall

“Keep it down!” a man hissed from the other side “We’re not allowed to speak to each other”

“Who are you?” I said,h the ithout sounding across the entire complex, wherever ere

A few seconds passed before the tirin Caelum You don’t need to know me”

I felt a jolt of interest that helped to clear rin Caeluainst everyone as there after the shockwave? What—”

“I-I’ot out” A pause “If they hear us talking, they’ll hurt us”

I snorted “They likely intend to kill us both anyway” When this didn’t engender confidence in the Instiller, I tried soht in with a man named Darrin Do you know if he’s in one of the roouards don’t speak around us” Another hesitation “None of the other rooh At least not close to ainst the wall in irritation, but I wasn’t too worried yet Wolfruet me here; he’d already defeated ht us both if they didn’t have some plan for Darrin as well, which meant he was probably still alive

Unless I’ve been unconscious for longer than I think

The shadowy figure of Cynthia sat down on the foot of the cot “You can tell from the depth of your cottonmouth that it's been a few hours or so The cuffs have chaffed your skin, but they haven’t broken through fro”

I sat up and considered the cuffs, trying to ignore the hallucination They were standard issue mana suppression cuffs, reliant on exterior runes By destroying the right runes, it was possible to disable them Then, with my mana back, it wouldn’t be too much trouble to break out of them I knew this, but I didn’t act im forward slightly and looking at ht where you wanted to be, so there’s no hurry to get out of here Not before learning ht now, only your enemies knoho this runaway Instiller is and as on that recording That’s priority”

“Darrin is priority, the fool,” I gru h the hallucination

There was nothing else to do, then, but wait As it turned out, I didn’t have to wait for very long Only about an hour later, I was roused by the sound of heavy booted steps stopping outsideup and down the hallway, , but he’d never stopped before They were co for me

As the door was unbolted, I stood and placedinward, justthe foot of the cot

“I demand to be taken to the proprietor of this establish le step in, his htly and pointed a shortsword shakily atme to be unconscious or too battered to move

“Hey! What are you—s-sorry, what?” he asked haltingly

I snorted “The service here is abysmal, the bed’s shi+t, and”—I rattled the short chain of the manacles—“the provided sleepas damnably unco auntleted fist into my e and took the full force of the blow My lips split open with a shock of bright pain, and ht ed, half pushed me past him I stu into the opposite door, which shook frohtened shout frouards yelled for her to shut up Two of theedhauled bodily down the corridor

It took a minute to shake off the knock, but by the tiain The indistinct silhouette of a woman and her babe looked sadly out at azebo

Aside froes, the Central Acadeone, as was the staff Whatever folk Scythe Dragoth had under his cos were dark, and with the cuffs on, I couldn’t sense anyblind

They dragged uard, and the ancient portal frame, sans portal, that the acadeh with the campus from my previous exploits there, but when they hauled , I realized I didn’t knohere ere going

“No ti my head, I sniffed my underaroth s like—oof!”

An elbow caether I felt aroundwas still in its proper place

The building I was dragged into had a sterile air Portraits of Instillers I didn’t recognize lined the entryway, and then we descended a dark but clean stairwell I guessed that ent doo floors before I was hauled through a door, down a corridor, a left, a right, and then through another door into a die but was nonetheless cra its exterior The middle of the chaical table, complete with straps to bind a patient

The soldiers tossedan to drive their fists and elbows into s, and arms with ruthless efficiency I curled in onto shout or plead with them

Stars exploded behind ht me in the cheek and bouncedlie of consciousness, no longer caring about the assault, but aears, and the attack halted My ars were jerked into place, and by the time I came back to my senses, the straps around my wrists, ankles, throat, and waist had been secured

I coughed up blood and spat off the side of the table One of the soldiers cursed and jumped back as red spittle sprayed across his shi+ns

“He’s a tough old piece of rawhide, you have to give him that”

My head swam as I turned toward the source of the voice I was disappointed to find Wolfruoth hi with a

He approached,out of the corner like one of ainst my chest Black flames erupted from his flesh and burrowed into mine My jaw clenched and my body bucked despite my best efforts; every nerve in my torso burned like a candle wick underaround at the acade down to peer at ainst the pain “Looking for…evidence,” I ground out through clenched teeth

“Evidence of what?” he demanded

“That…th-that…” I paused, forced to s, hoping I didn’t choke to death on oat”

Wolfrum smirked “You’re old, Alaric Only a little life force left And it’s burning away by the second Each word you utter should be spoken with care It could be your last”

“Then I’llout a chuckle that turned into a bubbling cough as blood seeped up the back of my throat

He patted my shoulder “And I’ll try not to kill you too quickly”

The questions continued The pain ca, consistent Theonly to swell again, burning first in one part of rew half-hearted and ill thought out I lost track of what Wolfrum had asked or how I’d answered Naanization, infornized the tactic He was verifying infor a baseline for how truthful I was being Unsure exactly what I’d told hi essential Not that there is anything essential about our operation at this point, I thought somewhere deep in the back of my mind, where the pain couldn’t reach

When Wolfru plunged into icy cold water I gasped and choked, writhing in the straps as the leather burnedin place of the pain A seething, wrathful intent

Powerful fingers wove intomy neck