The Order of Dragonfire

Chapter 5

Two figures, a disheveled male and female, stood over Alex looking down at her.

"What's it matter if she's alive? She won't trouble us like this." The woman said, a wave of agony moving through Alex's leg as she kicked at it.
"Get her stuff and let's go."

"Doesn't look like no merchant to me... Thorn'll be pissed if we've busted a trap on some nobody. No one'll come down 'ere with all this blood." The boy said. Alex could do little to stop them as they tossed her over and ruffled through her belongings. Their beige clothes were patched together from various pieces of material, and their hair was a filthy knotted mess.

"Nothing special." The woman snorted. "We can't go back empty handed."

What was it they wanted? Alex couldn't think of anything to give them or a way to get rid of them, and she was in no position to bargain even if she did. She wasn't sure of the extent of her injuries, but the pain and blood curdling angle of her leg told her it was broken, and her arm didn't seem much better. She wasn't counting on any help from these two, but she wouldn't be much use on her own. Her basic regenerative magic wasn't going to put her bones back in place but she could at least slow the bleeding from the crossbow wounds. She closed her eyes and willed as much power as she could muster into the open wounds. Without a heartstone conduit even an experienced sorcerer would struggle to heal much damage, but Alex had little other option but to try. It was a minor fix at best and the damage was still very much present, but at least they likely wouldn't be fatal.

"We could always... y'know. Thorn wants more workers." He raised his eyebrow as he spoke, nodding to Alex's twisted form. The woman, a little older and presumably in charge, seemed to consider it a moment before bending down. She sniffed and looked Alex up and down, her eyebrow raising as she fell to one knee.

"It's your lucky day kid." She said, grabbing Alex by the hood and dragging her ahead and out of the ravine. Alex screamed as her shattered limbs were contorted, but was mostly ignored.

"It'll be worse if you don't shut it." She eventually shouted, twisting Alex's hood and choking her to prove she was serious. They couldn't have been pulling her for more than a few minutes, but it felt like hours before they reached a horse and cart hidden amongst some rocks. She was picked up and thrown amongst its contents, eliciting another torrent of pain. Alex had never felt so hopeless. Half her body useless, at the mercy of clearly merciless strangers, and being taken into what she could only assume was forced labour. At least that would mean there was someone to heal her, presumably magically as they didn't seem to care about making the injuries worse. She was no use to anyone in her current state. Although not as powerful as dragonstones, heartstones to help with healing magic surely existed even out here. Perhaps someone could help her more than her own abilities could, and then she could try to make her escape. If the two bandits had confused her for a merchant they clearly didn't recognise her armour or rank as a trained sorceress, so perhaps she could take advantage of them underestimating her. A blisteringly agony shot through Alex as the cart rocked with beneath her pack being thrown besides her, and the two captors climbing on to the front. The woman took the reigns and away they went. For what felt like hours the two bandits muttered to each other. Being too focused on her injuries, Alex didn't pay attention to most of it. She did learn that they would be stopping for the night and meeting up with some of their tribe the next day, though. Perhaps she could sneak away whilst they slept, but she had little idea of how to manage that.

The boy looked her up and down for a few seconds, seemingly unsure what to make of her.
"What are you good for then? Work? Fightin'?" He said, but Alex only managed a sneer and looked away in response. She had no desire for small talk and wouldn't have been able to speak much anyway.
"Not feelin' chatty? Maybe this'll change your mind..." He grabbed her broken leg and started to twist it every which way, causing a blood curdling scream to escape her. She could barely believe it, why would he resort to this just to make her talk? Could it really not wait until they reached wherever it was they were going?