A World With/Out Home

Chapter 12: Awakening (Part 2)

Before Kyle even opened his eyes a soft smile split his lips. Estile had made it out alive and the dreams continued. Despite not knowing what her future may hold knowing that she was okay at that moment in time filled his chest with a gentle warmth. That warmth however quickly faded. It wasn't just from the realisation that they had also called their enemies demons but from a much more direct response. It was cold and with his eyes now open, all Kyle could see was a dimly lit stone wall. A turn of his head and it was clear he was in some kind of cellar. Worse still were the thick metal locks tied with chain that bound him to the wall.

Kyle's mind churned fully awake as he remembered what happened. Chasing down Marisha and then the blow to his head. After that he couldn't remember a thing. There was no window to see outside let alone a clock. Judging from the hunger in his stomach however he must have been there for quite a while. The instinct to panic flared but he managed to force it down as he pushed out a calming breath. If he lost his mind now it would only make things worse.

Slowly Kyle tried to focus bring out a light with magic but the instant he did a sharp pain struck through the cuffs and into his heart causing him to writhe. Only after a minute did the pain ebb away. A swathe of sweat had built on his brow and as he wiped it away still shaking, he finally noticed the clumped up heap by the far wall.

"Marisha?" Kyle could barely recognise her from the dim light and tried to charge towards her only to fall as the chain snapped tight. "Marisha!" He called again louder.

The bundle finally shifted and looked up at him, "K-Kyle you're finally awake." Her pretty face had been bruised on one side and the elegant dress she wore was in tatters.

"Are you okay!?" he stretched as far as he could not even reaching half the distance.

"I'm... fine," the girl sounded defeated. "They just hit me a little."

"What happened?"

She faced the floor clutching her knees, "It happened so fast. A man suddenly hit you and then when I screamed he took me as well. I'm sorry this is all my fault."

"Don't say that. None of this is your fault."

"But if I hadn't run away... if I hadn't come at all."

"Marisha look at me," Kyle implored her. "Whatever bad thing happened could never be because of you. The ones at fault are the ones who did this."

The girl finally looked him in the eyes, "Still... what are we going to do?"

"How long have we been here?"

"I'm not sure. I woke up before but then they hit me when I asked. After that...," she shivered.

"It's okay. We'll figure this out." The first thing Kyle had to do was find out exactly why they were kidnapped. He couldn't think of a reason someone would target him, and Marisha while having good linage wasn't much compared to a lot of other people in the city. There was also the chance it was random but he somehow doubted that. The cuffs that bound his arms were too sophisticated for the everyday person.

The sound of a shifting block caused the two to look up as from the roof a ladder suddenly descended. Marisha pulled back into herself staying close to the wall. Kyle remained where he stood. There was no point in hiding with the chains tying him down. Instead he'd rather face them head on. More than just the training he had gone through recently, he had been inspired by the Mercenaries of the Ever-Garden in his dreams. They hadn't backed down. The least he could do was emulate them.