Surrender (Book 1 of The Baneseeker Project)

Chapter 5 - The Liberator

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Lyna opened her eyes and broke the trance. She sat cross-legged on the floor of her rented room. The low bed, unused, stood behind her, pushed into the corner. The small desk was empty. She had not used it since sketching the bracelet. In fact, she had spent very little time in the room.

A cool breeze made it's way in the space through the small northern window, which Lyna had not been able to close completely since she had opened it. Solarius' dime light fought against the night, slowly winning as it rose in the east.

The meditation had not worked. In fact, she had lapsed twice, playing with time, slowing it and drinking from the energy that using the ability brought her. The fact that she was not able to focus would displease Argon greatly.

"All you are, all your skills, are nothing if you can't control your thoughts." It was one of the many lessons he had pounded into her head while under his tutelage at the Mount Kolt. A part of her missed the mountains, the cool air and the sound of the wind fiddling with the leaves, the perpetual and natural calm, the breathtaking sights, the long valleys, the rocky slopes, the clear azure sky. There, she had felt alive. It was strange to realize this now, so far away from Kolt.

Yet, it wasn't her encounter with Argon that had stopped Lyna from maintaining her trance, and recuperating. It was knowing that her liberator was here, in Tanazu.

She had not seen Onthar since the day he sent her to Istagon to train under Argon. It hadn't been a pleasant separation. Lyna had not wanted to go and she hadn't understood why Onthar had made her leave.

She still didn't understand, but it didn't matter. Not anymore.

Not much mattered...

Yet, she wanted to see the man who had taken her away from the Nether and brought her to the Surface, giving her a freedom she had never known existed, a freedom she hadn't been able to tame.

Some days, she wondered if it would have been better for Onthar to leave her to her fate in the mines of Quartas.

How she felt did not diminish the valour of what Onthar had done. She remembered freeing him from his cell in the dark dungeons of the mines. Another had been there with him, a wizard of the Synod, Andon Zaporavo. An adjacent cell had restrained Rann, a man of few words, as well as Onthar's mother. Lyna remembered the woman dearly. She hadn't survived their escape to the Surface. It was a sad thing, as she had been the reason why Onthar and his friends had ventured that far in the underground world. Instead of returning with his mother, Onthar had reached the Surface with Lyna in tow.

"For liberating me, I vow to give you back your freedom," Onthar had promised the moment she opened his cell door.

Initially, she was doubtful, but later learned that he was a bravador and had dedicated his life to serving the god of strength and courage, Tyr. Still, what convinced her to give him her trust was not his title, but his actions. Onthar was caring, loyal and dedicated to those he loved. His intentions and his heart were pure. But there was more. His presence alone had been a beacon in the dark tunnels of the Nether. A powerful aura had floated around him, keeping the darkness at bay.

The journey to the Surface had spanned over months, but in the end, Onthar had kept his promise. He had given her freedom and something else: hope.

Lyna stretched her legs out and rolled up to her feet. She walked to the window and pushed it open. The jungle appeared ahead, covered in darkness, always in darkness, the rays of the rising sun not able to reach the woods of Sij. The lone spike rose on the horizon, tilted to one side, menacing, yet dying.

Breathing in the cold air, Lyna closed her eyes and wondered how disappointed Onthar would be to learn that after all his effort to give her hope, she had lost it.