Мария Снайдер - Magic Study - Study 2

I spun around, expecting Ferde to be standing there gloating. No one. Confused, I moved to follow Opal but my feet would not obey me. Stumbling, I fell as my body lost all sensation.

I lay on the ground as the paralysis swept through my body with amazing speed. I had only a second to realize that I’d been hit with Curare before the drug froze all my muscles. Only a second to bite down on the Theobroma pill before my jaw seized, swallowing just a drop of the antidote.

Lying on my side, I saw Opal in the gray moonlight, running toward the Citadel. My helpless position was the direct result of my appalling overconfidence. By focusing on the danger from Ferde either from his magic or from the Curare, I didn’t prepare for an attack by Opal. She had jabbed me, apologized and run off.

A muted fear pulsed in my body. The Curare seemed to dull my emotions as well as my magic. I felt as if I wore a heavy wet woolen cap around my head.

Behind me, I heard the slight crunch of footsteps coming closer. I waited for Valek. Would he pounce when Ferde drew closer to me?

The footsteps stopped and my view changed. Without feeling anything, I was pulled over onto my back. My head spun for a moment before I could focus on the night sky. I couldn’t move my gaze, but I could still blink. I couldn’t speak, yet I could breathe. I couldn’t move my mouth or tongue, but I could swallow. Odd.

When a face entered my view, I remembered to be scared again. Until surprise eclipsed my fear for a moment. A woman with long hair peered down at me. She wore a robe and I could see faint lines had been drawn or tattooed on her neck. When she flaunted a knife and brought the metal tip close to my eyes, the air suddenly seemed thick and hard to draw into my straining lungs.

“Should I kill you now?” she asked. Her accent sounded familiar. She cocked her head to the side in amusement. “No comment? Not to worry. I won’t kill you now. Not when you won’t feel any pain. You need to suffer greatly before I’ll end your pain for good.”

The woman stood and walked away. I searched my memory. Did I know her? Why would she want to kill me? Perhaps she worked with Ferde. Her language matched his, but without the lilt.

Where was Valek? He should have witnessed my predicament.

I heard a rubbing sound and a thump then a strange disorientation made me realize that the woman dragged me. My world tilted and straightened. She brandished a rope, and I guessed by the brief glimpses and sounds that she had pulled me onto a cart and was tying me to it. She jumped off, and, after a moment, I heard her call to a horse.

The creaking of the wheels and steady clomping of the horse were the only indication that we moved. From the swish and whack of grass, I guessed we were headed deeper into the Avibian Plains. Where was Valek?

I worried and waited and even slept. Every time some of the melting Theobroma reached the back of my throat, I swallowed. Would I get enough to counteract the Curare? By the time the woman stopped, a pale sheen of dawn had wedged into the night sky. Feeling began to return to my limbs. I moved my tongue, trying to swallow more of the Theobroma.

Pain flared in my wrists and ankles. My hands and feet were stiff and cold. I had been tied spread eagle on the hard cart. My ability to connect with the power source started to wake when the woman climbed onto the cart. My thoughts scattered when I saw her holding a long thin needle. I banished the fear and drew power to me.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she declared then jabbed me with the needle. “We need to reach the Void before I let you feel. Then you can feel cold steel slicing into your skin.”

I thought that this would be an excellent time for Valek to arrive. But, when he failed to appear, I said, “Who…” before the drug numbed all my muscles.

“You don’t know me, but you knew my brother very well. Don’t worry; you’ll know the reason for your suffering soon enough.” She hopped off the cart and the familiar sounds of movement started again.

Anytime now Valek, I thought. But as the sun progressed through the sky, my hopes for a rescue faded. Something must have happened to keep Valek from following me. Perhaps Irys’s message last night about being alone had been a warning.

Various horrible scenarios about Valek played in my mind. To distract myself, I wondered about Kiki. Was she near? Would she follow my scent? With my magic ability paralyzed, would she know I needed her help?

The sun hovered above the horizon when the cart stopped again. A burning sensation in my fingertips meant the Curare started to wear off. Soon enough cramps, pain, and cold air wracked my body. I shivered and gulped the rest of Esau’s antidote, preparing for another jab. But it didn’t come.

Instead, the woman climbed onto the cart and stood over me. She spread her arms wide. “Welcome to the Void. Or in your case, welcome to hell.”

In the fading light, I saw her gray eyes clearly. The strong features of her face reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t think. My head ached and my mind felt dull. I reached for a thread of power, but found dead air. Nothing.

A smug smile spread on the woman’s lips. “This is one of the few places in Sitia where there is a hole in the blanket of power. No power means no magic.”

“Where are we?” I asked. My voice sounded rough.

“The Daviian Plateau.”

“Who are you?”

All humor dropped from the woman’s face. She appeared to be around thirty years old. Her black hair reached past her waist. She rolled the sleeves up on her sand-colored cloak, revealing the purple animal tattoos that covered her arms.

“You haven’t figured it out? Have you killed that many men?”

“Four men, but I’m not averse to killing a woman.” I gave her a pointed stare.

“You’re really not in the position to be bragging or boasting.” She pulled her knife from a pocket of her cloak.

I thought quick. Of the four, Reyad was the only one I knew well, the others I had killed in self-defense. I didn’t even know their names.

“Still don’t know?” She moved closer to me.

“No.”

Rage flamed in her gray eyes. That expression jolted my memory. Mogkan. The magician that had kidnapped me and tried to rob me of my soul. He was known as Kangom in Sitia.

“Kangom deserved to die,” I said. Valek had made the killing blow, but Irys and I had first caught the magician in a web of magical power. I had not included him in my count, but I admitted being responsible for his death.

Fury twisted the woman’s expression. She drove her knife into my right forearm, and then pulled it out just as fast. Pain exploded up my arm. I screamed.

“Who am I?” she asked.

My arm burned, but I met her gaze. “You’re Kangom’s sister.”

She nodded. “My name’s Alea Daviian.”

That was not one of the clan names.

She understood my confusion and said, “I used to be a Sandseed.” She spat the clan name out. “They’re stuck in the past. We are more powerful than the rest of Sitia, yet the Sandseeds are content to wander the plains, dream and weave stories. My brother had a vision on how we could rule Sitia.”

“But he was helping Brazell to take over Ixia.” I found it hard to follow her logic when my blood poured from the stab wound.

“A first step. Gain control of the northern armies then attack Sitia. But you ruined that, didn’t you?”

“Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Alea sliced her knife along my left arm, drawing a line from my shoulder to my wrist. “You’ll learn to regret that decision before I cut your throat just like you did to my brother.”

Pain coursed through my arms, but a strange annoyance that she had ruined Valek’s special shirt tugged at my mind. Alea raised the knife again, aiming for my face. I thought fast.