The Lost Sigil; Dawn of Light

Chapter 20: On Death Row

There were several taps on his shoulder and Lester's voice kept calling his name. Rhys opened his eyes and as his vision cleared, he could see that he was back in the cell.

He was laying on the ground with Lester sitting on his left. Rhys rose to sit but his body was in no shape to move. Bones did crack as he sat and a sharp pain in his back and arms made moving even worse. His head was still spinning and he felt drowsy.

"What... what happened?" Rhys' voice was low and hoarse. His throat did feel sore and dry. His clothes were gone and he was dressed in a dirty sack-cloth.

"They brought you in unconscious,"

Rhys nodded as he recalled the battle that had ensued. The pain in his body slowly receding.

"What is their judgement?" Rhys asked fearing that he had provoked more than he should have.

Lester took a long pause and looked worriedly at Rhys.

"We have been sentenced to death. They execute us tomorrow morning." Lester stopped to look at Rhys. "What did you do?"

Rhys shook his head knowing he had no control over what happened. He also did not know how it happened.

"They tried ...t...to drown me," Rhys struggled to say as tears started filling his eyes. "Then they burnt me," Rhys said aggressively and looked at the window.

Rhys stood and walked towards the window looking outside at the city. It was peaceful, oblivious of what had taken place. There were no crowds gathered, no loud murmurs nor protesters. It was peaceful. The sky was growing ever orange and for a moment, he felt good.

"Something happened to me." Rhys started. "It was unlike anything, I've ever felt or done , Lester."

Rhys turned back to Lester. "There was a warm feeling all over my body. An insurgence of power that had everyone, even the High Watcher, terrified."

Lester did not look too excited. He slowly paced back into the dark shadows of the cell, ears drooping and head low.

"Then the voice. How did you do it?" Rhys felt grateful to Lester.

"What did it say?"

"Told me where to go, what to do. Don't you know?" Rhys sat next to Lester. "But then I lost control," Rhys grew less excited. "I wanted to get the stones for some reason and I attacked the High Watcher."

"Can you use your magic?" Lester asked.

Out of curiosity, Rhys spun his hand around, trying to create some wind but not even the slightest breeze was produced.

"Can I even use magic in here?" Rhys asked.

His answer was interrupted when loud steps came quickly at their cell. Harren's big face pressed against the cell as he heaved with red eyes full of rage.

"What were you trying to do, boy?" Harren's voice was hushed yet high-pitched.

With one hand on his waist, he pointed at Lester. "If you don't see to it that the boy is controlled you can say goodbye to your freedom."

Lester scoffed and looked at Harren. "Goodbye," Lester said and slowly looked away.

Harren was thrown off. He stopped pacing and stood still looking at the two furiously.

"What?" Harren said.

"We're done," Lester said.

Harren started pacing around again. He stopped and held onto the bars pressing his face on it.