Ortai Legacy

16 - Lost (L/M)

I arrived at Cadmus's house ahead of the rest of his men, and Sparrowfoot took me straight to his stall to eat and drink. I half-jumped, half-fell off his back before working to undo his saddle and tack. It was difficult to get his bridle off while he was drinking and scarfing down food, but I managed it. I even managed to get the saddle off, despite the darkness in the stable and my own yawns interrupting me. Unfortunately, two days of physical labor I wasn't used to and napping on the ground had left my arms way too sore to lift the saddle off the ground. I had to drag it out of the stall and over to the saddle posts sticking out of the wall.

As I straightened, my head throbbed. I leaned against the wall to catch my breath and hopefully ease the pain.

Something touched the base of my skull. I jerked forward, and cold metal dug into my neck, holding me back. Spinning around, I clutched the solid metal collar at my throat.

Falek stood to the side, watching. A red-orange scalewing reached for me with a steel chain. I dodged. He caught my arm and twisted me back to face him. The room spun.

[Help me,] I shouted to every drykon within range.

A click at my neck. The chain, he'd attached it to my collar. Why weren't the drykons helping? Falek knew I had a guardian. He couldn't- Mark said- My head hurt so much. Why was the room spinning? The ground was hard. And smelly.

"You said you wouldn't hurt her unless-"

What was Raeve doing here? Was she that little blur?

"It's just an arka suppressant. She's faking." That voice was new.

I couldn't feel my fingers or toes. "Please-" Only a whimper came out.

"Are you sure-" Thyr started.

"It's only a suppressant collar. I checked the equipment myself." The new guy sounded unsure.

Falek cleared his throat. "It must be faulty. I'm still reading twenty gerts coming off her. Switch it out for the stronger one."

"Twenty gerts?" the new guy muttered as he leaned down to unclasp my collar. "It can't be broken already."

As soon as the collar was off, I regained enough energy to lift my head, but the second collar dragged me down again. My neck burned, sending bolts of pain down my spine and through my skull. I couldn't feel my limbs or move them. I wanted to scream, but only the faintest whisper escaped me.

"She looks like she's in pain," Raeve insisted.

"She does," Thyr agreed.

"She can't be. It's a-"

"-an arka suppressant, I know. But have you ever tested it on a human?"

Before he could answer, Falek interrupted. "I'm reading forty gerts."

"Then it's your meter that's full of prip; my collars work. If she was really emitting forty gerts, I would feel-" He paused. "I would feel-" He gagged and luckily turned away before vomiting.

"Felk," someone cursed under their breath.

"Get the collar off her," Falek snapped. "She must have a protective charm."

The new guy staggered over. He touched my collar with a sizzle and a yelp. "Damn thing is burning."

"Then put on some gloves. And hurry, she's at fifty gerts."

"I told you this was a bad idea," Rave shouted.

All the blurs ran around looking for gloves and generally sounding chaotic. Darkness crept into the edges of my vision. I couldn't seem to fill my lungs with enough air. Were they even moving?