The Crimson Dragon

Chapter Four

Ada rushed towards the door, yanking as hard as she could at the handle, but it was locked tight, refusing to budge.

She spun and looked around the room, desperate to find anything that would help her escape.

Her mind was overtaken by a flurry of panicked thoughts, none of them settling long enough for her to get a handle on them.

She closed her eyes tight, forcing herself to take a deep breath. This wasn't helping.

Eventually, after focusing on nothing but forcing her lungs to take in deep and slow breath after deep and slow breath, the panic began to subside and her thoughts, though sluggish with exhaustion from the retreating anxiety, started to clear.

She looked down at her shackles. She needed to get them off first if she had any hope of finding a way out.

She was never going to use magic to get out of them because she wasn't a mage, but as she examined them, she saw that the chain between the two bracelets was rather thin. It was woven in such a way that brute strength wouldn't get through, but she was sure that there had to be something of use in the room.

Thankfully, the Hunters seemed to organise their things not unlike hers, and while her hands were clumsy with the shackles, it didn't take her long to mix up a strong, acidic mixture that she thought might cut through the metal.

Of course, that also meant that it would probably cut through her flesh if she wasn't careful, but she tried not to think about that.

She carefully took the acidic mixture and angled it over the chain as best she could, contorting her wrists in a painful position that she knew she couldn't hold for long.

She slowly and carefully tipped the vial, hoping to get just a couple of drops onto the shackles.

A torrent of acid crashed down onto the shackles and workbench beneath, a few droplets splashing back up to hit Ada's arms.

Ada bit down on her lip hard to stop herself from screaming in pain, every curse word she knew flying through her head as the chain between the shackles broke and Ada moved like lightning to the basin in the corner of the room, thankful that the Hunters had a tap with running water.

She sighed with relief as the water washed away the acid, though quite a bit of damage had already been done, the droplets having seeped deep into her skin, exposing the raw flesh beneath.

She would manage, but it would hurt for a while and it would definitely scar.

Still, if it got her out of here before anyone could put her through any kind of 'ritual', she would take it.

Once she was sure that what remained of the shackles no longer had any acid on them, she pulled her sleeves over them, hiding them as best she could as she examined the room.

She still needed a way out.

She continued to bite her lip, re-opening her previous cut to the taste of blood as she examined the door.

Like all of the doors in the tower, it was made of a thick, heavy wood and Ada doubted she would be able to break through it with brute force.

The lock was large and made of metal. Ada hummed in thought, wondering if her acid would work on it. But she hadn't been able to make much of the acid, and there weren't enough ingredients to make more. If she wasted it on this lock and it wasn't enough, she could be trapped there.

She looked over to the window.

It, too, was locked, but the metal keeping it in place was much thinner.