It was supposed to be a quick job, in and out, no problems. Accidentally freeing a high profile prisoner on her way out and subsequently discovering an evil scheme, was not part of the plan.
Suddenly, it's her own face that Kaia finds on the front o...
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I woke up in a dimly lit cell, feeling as if I had been hit by a log. Or set on fire, I wasn't sure which feeling dominated my body, the strange heat or the pounding headache.
Groaning, I slowly got up, causing the blanket to slide down. The cell was sparsely furnished, but it looked much better than the ones I had seen on my way in. I was sitting on a narrow bed, my clothes folded on a small table next to me. There was a sort of bathroom at the other end.
My body felt unsteady as I slowly got to my feet. Shaking slightly, I lifted my arms. Thick metal straps were chained around each one of my wrists.
Mana suppressors.
They were weaker than mana chains but still more than enough to restrain a normal mage. Bending my arm, I looked at the new rune. It was definitely a fire rune. That would also explain why I didn't feel cold anymore.
Still, the foreign sensation of heat crawling over my skin felt uncomfortable rather than pleasantly warm. Though, overall, my body was doing surprisingly well considering the fact that my system had to adjust to a new rune of power. Too well actually. After my last rune I was out for at least a week, and it still took me another month to completely recover. I was pretty sure it hadn't even been a day.
Weird.
Had Frost done something different? I inspected the rune further, but it looked like all the other ones I had.
Carefully, I reached for my clothes and dressed myself again. Then I took inventory. Of course, all my knives were gone, just like the necklace and, I touched my earlobe, the earring was gone as well. But when I touched the back of my head, I found the hair pin Ty had given me. Not much, but at least I had something.
I checked out the cell I was locked in. The walls and metal bars were infused with fortification runes. And I was pretty sure some sort of mechanism would activate if I tried to use brute force. Great. I was trapped again. I sat back down on the bed frowning. My situation could be worse, but if Frost got back and I-
"Great, I see you woke up."
Startled, I jumped back up to my feet, my head turning around searching for the speaker. There was another cell on the opposite side of my mine. An older man was sitting in the middle of it on a chair with a table right next to him. His black hair was streaked with grey, and his friendly brown eyes couldn't hide the spark of intelligence in them.
"Oh hello..." I trailed off, feeling confused. Aside from looking slightly gaunt he seemed to be fine, especially considering the fact that he was trapped just like me.
"May I know your name?"
I hesitated, but something in his look made me decide to reply truthfully. "It's Kaia."
"Well, Kaia, you didn't happen to have seen a grumpy, dark looking boy, rather tall, on your way in here, did you?"
"Er... no I didn't." I was puzzled at his description. Why did it sound so strangely familiar?
