Keeper of the Lost Cities Story; The Lost Secret

Chapter 27

"Kai, you don't need to worry," Tiergan says softly. "They've got it all under control," 

Kai isn't so sure about that. Umber can completely immobilize the moonlark, what do the others have that can top that? She knows that Tam is a strong shade, but he's not that strong.

"Yeah, I guess," She says. "I- I think I'm going to head off to bed now. Let me know if anything crazy happens," 

Tiergan nods as Kai walks off into the dark hallway. She could've sworn she turned the lights on, but she probably just forgot. 

She walks into her room and tries to clap on the light. 

"What?" She asks out loud. 

The light is activated by clapping. She tries again, but it isn't working. 

"Tier-" Kai starts to shout, but someone has covered her mouth. The cloth smells sweet, too sweet. It smells like the stuff she took to sleep when her dad died. 

"You are heading off to bed," The person says, "Just not the one you thought," 

They pick her up as her consciousness fades. She can feel them carrying her, but she's not sure where she's going. 

Kai hears voices, but she's not sure where they're from. She no longer smells the sweetness, but rather smoke. It smells like smoke. Kai begins to flail and quickly finds that her hands and legs are tied to something. She can't see either, something is covering her eyes. 

"She's awake," someone says. 

Their voice sounds far away from Kai, but she feels them touch her arm. Their touch is cold and seems to seep into her. Loud footsteps begin approaching her. 

"Ahh, and we meet again Kai," the person says. His voice sends a shiver down Kai's back. 

"We just need a few questions answered Kai," The first person says. Her voice is familiar, but Kai's brain is too foggy to remember. "Where is the scroll?" 

Kai has no idea what scroll she's talking about. 

"I'll ask you again," She says. "Where. Is. The. Scroll."

Kai freezes in fear as the woman grabs her neck. The cold touch of her hands makes Kai's skin tingle. 

"Answer me," 

Her voice is so familiar, it sounds soft and raspy. Like smoke. 

Kai coughs, when her fingers leave Kai's neck. "I have no idea what you're talking about," 

She really didn't. She had never seen her dad's scrolls before, she never went through them. 

The person laughs. "I guess I'll have to force it out of you,"

The pain shoots through Kai's body, the coldness of the woman's fingers seems to seep into her skin.

"Stop!" Kai screams out. "Stop it!" 

The darkness goes inside her skin and she hears a sickening pop. Kai screams in agony, her ankle feels like it is being torn apart. She is going to die. 

"You know how your father died, right?" The woman asks stopping the assault on her ankle. 

Kai's screams seem to echo in the place she's held in. It feels like all the muscles in her leg are melted. She isn't sure she can walk. 

"He... burned," Kai choked. She could barely speak, the pain coursed through her whole body although her ankle was the worst. 

She laughs. "You silly girl. He never died in a fire," 

Kai sobs, her leg was in too much pain. Her brain was too foggy. She couldn't handle this right now. 

"He didn't die in light," She says her cold breath stabs Kai's cheeks as she talks. "He died in darkness," 

Kai's sobs fill the silence. Her father was murdered, and she knew who killed him. 

"You did it," 

Umber killed her father. Now she is going to kill her too. Kai feels the cold again and she braces for the attack. 

"She really doesn't know," the other person says, and the cold feeling seems to leave her. 

The pain doesn't stop though, it never stops. 

"She has to!" Umber yelled stepping away from Kai.  

"She doesn't, I even searched childhood memories," they say. "She's never seen that scroll before," 

Umber yells out and hits Kai across the face, but she is already in so much pain that she doesn't even notice the sting.

"Sedate her," Gethen says, "I'll have to figure out what to do with her later," 

Kai feels someone grip her head and put the sweet cloth back onto her face. She screams into it, but it doesn't do any good. If anything it just made Kai's throat sore. 

Kai doesn't hear any voices when she wakes up next. She isn't even sure if it is day or night, all she sees is darkness. She stays deathly still in case anyone is there, she doesn't want Umber to come back. 

Unfortunately, she hears footsteps coming towards her. Kai begins to shake, her ankle throbbing in pain. 

"I'm going to help you," A woman's voice says. 

Kai says nothing. She doesn't know who to trust. 

"You can trust me," she whispers as if she can read her mind. Maybe she can. 

Kai tries to speak, but her voice fails her. It feels scratchy and raw. 

"Don't talk," The woman shoves something into Kai's hand and pulls off her blindfold.

The woman has the signature Neverseen cloak covering her face. 

Kai again tries to speak, but it only comes out as a raspy noise. The woman begins to untie Kai's bonds. 

"I know, but you'll need to trust me," She says, again reading her mind. 

Kai nods in a very shaky agreement. 

"Good," She says. 

She begins to untie the bonds at Kai's feet. 

"You need to go down that hallway and take a right. I have made a distraction, so there won't be any guard," she says, "Once you get there, use that leaping crystal,"

Kai looks at the small leaping bead in her hand and gives another shaky nod. She tries to stand but her ankle does not agree at all and she starts to fall. The woman catches her. 

"I guess Umber went hard on you," She grumbles. "I'm sorry I can't help you more, you'll need to get there somehow," 

The woman drops Kai onto the floor, making her cry out in pain. 

"Oh and Kai," The woman says from another doorway. "Say hello to my son for me. I think you'll know who he is," 

She runs out into the dark hallway and disappears leaving Kai shocked in total surprise. 

Why would Lady Gisela save her?