Oath on Obsidian

Oath on Obsidian | Discoveries and Deals

His muscles ached familiarly as he rolled onto his side. His chest felt hollow as his mind recalled the images moments before he fell from consciousness. Logan shuddered as the images of Noda watched the change and approached him, fingers outstretched to wrap around his torso. He felt his heart leap into his throat, pounding dangerously fast. His chest unintentionally constricted, keeping his lungs from taking in sufficient air. [What is the group going to think? The entire company was present. How were they going to react? Would there be a fight to see who would get him? Calm down. Breathe.] Logan managed to coach himself as he reminded himself of the facts. He was breathing, granted with difficulty, which meant he wasn't dead. He could feel all his limbs with a subtle stretch, so he was intact. He was aware, which was all he needed to solve the problems in front of him.

Two things worried him immediately, perhaps three. The first was that something was covering his body. It felt like cloth. Who put it there? Was it Noda? He shuddered again thinking that someone other than his brothers approaching him and, quite possibly, holding him. The second was that Noda and their traveling companions were most likely nearby. Who knew what she would do to him once he revealed he was awake. The final problem, more alarming than the thought that Noda was near, was his inability to use his magic. His hand turned quietly as he tried to disguise himself with invisibility, yet nothing happened. [What is happening?] Logan thought. Carefully, he opened his eyes just a slit to get a better view of his surroundings.

There was a small fire a little more than a meter in front of him. The sound of heavy rain dripped from leaves, yet he was mostly dry. A quick glance up revealed they were in the mouth of a small cave. The slightly moistened ground and air were cool with the breath of deep earth. He could not see Noda at the moment, but his senses reminded him she was probably not far. Logan forced his mind from reeling out of control on the task at hand. Glancing down after pushing himself up into a kneeling position, a pit formed in his insides. There were symbols scratched into the ground followed by a ripple of circles. Logan was familiar with these symbols. Entrapment sigils. Meant to keep natural magic users, his people, trapped in place. The sigils, carved into the ground, effectively kept him from using any magic he possessed to free himself and to get back to his brothers.

His mind had a hard time keeping up as it frantically darted from one possible solution to the other, each time only finding there was little chance of him escaping. Panic stretched its thin, intrusive tendrils through his body. His body began to shake uncontrollably despite his efforts to rein himself in. Logan suddenly picked up on the sound of quick, quiet footsteps. Silhouetted by a streak of lightening, he watched as Noda slid into the small entrance, her hooded cowl scattering raindrops across the ground. In an act of desperation, Logan threw himself back onto the ground in an attempt to appear asleep. He kept his eyes squinted to continue observing his captor.

Noda placed a bundle of something onto the ground. It looked like some kind of woodland creature she had trapped and killed for sustenance. She removed her cowl and placed it on a rock near him to dry. Every impulse screamed to dart away, but Logan knew his act of pretend must not fail if he were to survive. He watched as Noda cleaned the creature, deeper into the cave, and hooked the flesh onto sticks to cook by the fire. Every few minutes, she would cast her gaze onto him. Logan could not quite place a name to the expressions on her face, nor guess what was going through her mind. After cleaning the creature, Noda sat adjacent from his imprisonment sigils. She sat, unmoving, for an unnaturally long time, dark hazel eyes watching him. [Breathe. Don't move] Logan coached himself. Without warning, Noda leaned forward with incredible speed, hand outstretched to grab him. Logan twitched involuntarily, curling in on himself for what little protection he thought it might offer. The hand never reached him though. Instead, he heard Noda's single, breathy snort. She shifted back to her original position.