I was forced out of my connection with Sylvie as a heavy leather strap whipped against my side with a loud crack. Shooting pain radiated from my ribs, but I did not make a sound. I glared up at the sadistic soldier, burning with fury.
He was grinning down at me. Holding the leather with both hands, he pulled it tight. A popping sound echoed through the tent.
“I do not like that look. You should treat me with respect!” the soldier shouted, swinging the leather again. this time it hit me in the face. the taste of blood filled my mouth.
I continued to glare at the soldier without making a sound. I knew from experience, people like this like to hear crying and screams. I would not give him that satisfaction even if it meant I would be hit a few more times than if I did what he wanted.
“A tough one,” The soldier said with a grin and another swing of the leather strap, “I love breaking your type the most.”
The leather strap struck my chest, and before I could even react it came down again on my thighs. Chained with my arms above my head, I could not do anything but take the blows. Pain shot through my body with every strike, but I still did not cry out. The soldier frowned as he looked down at my unchanging glare.
“Leave her alone!” Donte screamed.
“Who gave you permission to speak!” the soldier shouted. He rushed over to Donte and brought down the leather strap on him this time. Donte cried out as the leather strap hit his stomach, bringing a smile back to the soldier’s face.
He was about to hit Donte again when he was interrupted by another soldier entering the tent. He raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of him but did not move to stop the soldier. Instead, he simply moved to a nearby chair and sat down.
The sadistic soldier smiled, and brought down the strap again, hitting Donte’s shoulder. Donte cried out again as he tried to get away from the pain, but the most he could do was flail his legs uselessly.
“You know, Orias does not want them harmed Istvan.” The new soldier that entered the tent spoke slowly, dragging out each word.
“You have got to be kidding me!” the sadistic soldier, Istvan, shouted angrily, “Do you know how many of our comrades these two have killed, Ferenc!”
The new soldier, Ferenc, shrugged his shoulders. “I am not telling you to stop. Just warning you.”
This time, I actually heard my mother chuckle. “A little late. That welt across my daughter’s face will not fade for at least a day or two. I wonder what Orias will do when he sees it. I hope it is painful.”
“Do you want one to match!” Istvan shouted, stomping over to my mother.
“You are not brave enough for that,” my mother replied with a grin, “I was finally able to place your accent. You are one of the Avari. A bunch of cowards who always flee at the first sign of trouble.”
“Silence!” Istvan roared angrily, bringing the leather strap down on my mother. The strap hit my mother in the face with a resounding slap that echoed through the tent.
There was a moment of silence as unbridled rage welled up within me. It took all my self-control not to erupt into an inferno of flames.
“I. Will. Kill. You.”
I spoke slowly, trying to control my flames, but while I was suppressing the fire in my body something unexpected happened. The power in my right eye responded to the fury burning inside me. It activated faster than I could react, burning with a bright blue flame.
The soldier took a step back, frozen for a moment as his eyes met mine. He started shaking and took another step back.
“Istvan are you ok?” The second soldier stood from his seat and reached out to grab his comrade. The moment his fingers touched him, Istvan began screaming. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his head, as he looked at me in horror. He clawed at his face, leaving long deep scratches from his nails. His terrified shrieks rang through the camp as he scrambled to get away. The soldier only managed a few steps before he collapsed into the dirt. He screamed constantly, flailing his arms wildly as if fighting off something only he could see.
I stared, dumbfounded at the terrified guard. Pain throbbed in my right eye. I had no idea how I had done that, but I knew something had changed. The power in my right eye was no longer a gentle light, but a roaring fire. Responding to my fury, the innate talent had fully awakened in a way I did not expect. Whatever this new talent was, Aurielle was wrong. It did not suppress emotions. It was something much more terrifying.
“Istvan, what is wrong?” the soldier, Ferenc, shouted, trying to calm his companion, but nothing he tried worked. It was as if Istvan was trapped in a nightmare only he could see. Nothing could shake him from the terror that consumed everything.
Ferenc turned, glaring at me. “You! You did this!” he roared as he stomped towards me. He drew the blade on his waist and held it to my throat. “Release him!”
“I- I don’t know how,” I stuttered, feeling the cold metal up against my neck. The sharp edge cutting into my skin.
“Don’t you dare hurt her!” my mother screamed, followed by more shouts from the rest of my family.
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“What is going on here?” A shouted a booming voice. Orias stepped into the tent, and his eyes narrowed as saw the events in front of him.
“This brat did something to Istvan!” Ferenc shouted in reply, still holding the blade to my throat.
Orias looked down at Istvan, then at me, finally at my mother. “Why are they injured?” Orias spoke, the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.
“Istvan was just-“
“Disobeying orders!” Orias shouted, his body began to bulge as he grew bigger. His voice became a thundering roar. “Do you think my commands are just empty words? Did you really think three innate talents were helpless just because you put shackles on them? you useless, sorry excuses of…”
“We just…”
“Just what? Thought I would overlook insubordination just because you two are Avari nobility?” Orias had grown twice his normal size now. His presence filled the tent, and he had to be slightly hunched to avoid ripping it from the ground. “I am the captain, not you or Istvan! When I tell you what to do, you do it.”
Orias raised his massive foot and brought it down on Istvan, still screaming on the ground. the earth shook as Istvan took the full force of the blow. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he cough up a mouthful of blood. Istvan instantly fell silent. He was not dead, but he would wish he was when he woke up.
Ferenc’s eyes widened in shock at the brutality of what he had just seen. I could see his pupils become small than a pin, as pulled the blade away from my neck. “Sir, I am sorry! It will never happen again I swear!”
“I know,” Orias replied as his hand reached out grabbing Ferenc’s entire head with a single hand. Terrified, Ferenc slashed out with the blade in his hand. Fire ignited along the steel. Metal clashed with skin, but it did nothing. The flaming blade barely scratched the massive hand.
With terrifying ease, Orias lifted the soldier by his head. He let him dangle helplessly in the air for a moment, before slamming him into the ground. The earth shook again as Ferenc’s head was practically buried up to his shoulders.
Orias sighed as he shrunk back to his normal size. He looked down at the two broken bodies. They were both still breathing, but just barely.
“Absolutely useless,” Orias cursed, shaking his head. Then he walked over to my mother. “I am sorry Tia. This was not what I wanted.”
“I know…” my mother responded quietly.
“They will be punished appropriately for their actions, but I am leaving you chained to that post. Can’t let you escape or my superiors will do to me what I did to them,” Orias said, motioning to the two broken soldiers. He then ordered more soldiers to our tent. “Triple the guard in the tent. Crossbows ready to fire at all times. Without Ferenc and Istvan, none of you can handle the silver blades alone. Blindfold the girl. I do not know what her talent is, but it should hinder it. Also, shackle their feet. I do not want any more incidents before we get back to base. Understand?”
The nearby soldiers saluted, and soon six men were in the tent with us. Their crossbows were loaded and aimed at us at all times. a smelly man with calloused fingers wrapped a torn cloth around my head. Heavy iron shackles were then clamped onto each of our feet.
Blinded and unable to move, all I could do was hang there weakly. The rough iron shackles on my wrists dug into my skin and my calves had started burning from being forced to constantly be on my tiptoes. If I tried to release my poor calf muscles the iron shackle would dig deeper into my wrists, and if I tried to relieve the pressure on my wrist, my calves would burn even more. The was no rest from the pain.
I cursed Istvan, wishing I could have actually killed him, and Orias for leaving us like this. It was still a long time till sunset, and even longer till morning. An entire night strung up like this would be torture worse than the few slaps Istvan threw.
I started wracking my brain, trying to think of any way out of these circumstances. My biggest weapon was Nox. I had not realized how much I had been relying on him until I could not use him anymore. If I had not drained his energy for that stupid test, he could have gone on a rampage and freed us easily. Without him, my only tools were a tiny bird that was only good for reconnaissance and two stallions who were currently enjoying the attention of a squire brushing their manes. My own flames were not strong enough yet to take out this many soldiers, and I had no idea what the power in my right eye could do.
I had somehow terrified Istvan with that power. The problem was I had no inkling how I had done it. I thought the talent suppressed certain emotions, but what I had done was the opposite of that. It was extremely rare for a newly born innate talent to be able to do both without training. I had no clue what the origin of this power was. It seemed like a mental ability, but I did not enter his mind like a telepath, and I did not have to conjure an image like an illusionist. I needed to figure it out. Without training, if I was not careful, I could accidentally do the same to my family.
Of the many memories Aurielle had, there were many horror stories of a newly awakened ability going on an uncontrolled rampage and hurting innocent bystanders. The only advantage I had was that I had limited the power to my right eye. It meant I had to see my target for the ability to take effect. An eyepatch, or in this case, a blindfold was enough to completely suppress the power.
The downside was I could not experiment with my new power on the nearby guards. Causing a bit of panic, and nobody understanding what was happening would have been hilarious. I tried to work the blindfold off by rubbing my head against the post, but a guard noticed what I was doing immediately and tied the blindfold tighter.
As I was forced to stand there for hours, unable to do anything. Reality started to sink in. There was nothing I could do. No way to escape, and no backup plan. Memories of a little girl welled up within me. I struggled against the chains in a moment of panic, but it was useless. I fell still, taking a few deep breaths.
I was not that helpless little girl anymore. I would stay strong no matter what, and once I was free… I would kill them all.