Blood War

Chapter 4

"WHAT THE CRAP IS THIS!"

I snapped open my eyes only to shut them again as light pierced my cornea. My head throbbed making it hard to hear my own thoughts, of course, the yelling didn't help.

"Shut up," I told Rogue. Slowly rolling over, I sat up.

"Easy for you to say! You don't have stupid metal bracelets on!" he shouted.

Taking a chance, I opened my eyes again. The brightness was bearable this time but my head still beats like a drum. Reaching my hand up to my forehead I gingerly touched a goose egg that had probably formed when I'd fallen.

I looked around and discovered I was sitting on a creaky cot in a damp cell. Mold was gathered in the corners and a rat was eating the last of a stale piece of bread off the floor. The light that had stabbed my eyes was coming through a small 6' by 12' inch window in the middle of the single solid wall. Besides that, I was surrounded by the classic jail bars that separated each prison cell.

This is just great, I thought sarcastically. We had been caught just as we'd stepped into the Capitol City. So much for our great break-in. And to top it all they took all the weapons I had on me. Understandable but also really annoying.

For the first time, I noticed I was in this cell alone. All the prisoners I could see were also the only ones in their lockups. Rogue was in the hold right next to me but I couldn't see Maulo anywhere.

"Are you done checking out the accommodations?" Rogue was leaning in between the bars connecting both of our cells. He had scratches on his face and arms that weren't there before going through the gate.

Rolling my eyes I stood up to walk over to him and gestured to his wounds. "How'd you get those?"

"How do you think?" he asked, lifting his hands. "Your fantastical plan was a complete bust. The gate closed and they shot you with a dart thingy, you collapsed and were completely useless. I got some good hits in before they decided to stab me with one of those darts." Glaring at nothing in particular, he growled. "Scaredy cats."

"What about Maulo?" I asked, completely ignoring his anger.

"Who? Oh right, Marshmallow. She's right behind me," he stepped aside to reveal another cell I hadn't seen.

A girl lay on the cot. Still unconscious, her ash-blond hair had come out of her bun and was strewn across her face. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked.

"Is she alright?" I asked, feeling somewhat surprised at my concern.

"I think so. She's not dead if that's what you're asking. But that's not important right now!" Rogue whipped his head away from Maulo and pushed his wrists into my face. "They stuck these on me and I don't know how to get them off!"

Pulling away so I could see better, I realized he had two metal shackles on each of his wrists. They weren't connected like handcuffs but they seemed to do about the same thing. I'd seen these before, they're magic restricting cuffs. Doing as much as their name, they block the mana from reaching the being wearing them.

And Rogue had them on.

Just great.

I sighed. It was to be expected I guessed. Rogue had used a high amount of power to open the gate, high enough to cause a threat to them.

"So?" I raised an eyebrow. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Get them ooofff," he elongated the last word like a needy child.

I considered this. Taking them off would certainly help us if we wanted to escape, but I wasn't sure if that was the best option. I only did this to satisfy my own curiosity and I didn't want to get Maulo in more trouble than she already was even though she agreed to come. Plus I didn't even know how to remove them.