Wild and Out of Control

|chapter thirty-five|

|danica|

Humming and the faint sound of running water woke me from my nightmare where an ugly troll kidnapped me.

     Pounding in my skull and the smell and feel of blood dried to my face tells me that it was, in fact, not a nightmare. I groan as I try to move my limbs, but can't move them more than one inch. When I look to investigate, I find myself bound to a chair, a flimsy rope holding both my hands and feet. The room around me is dark, the only light is the small candle on the desk. But it's not the candle that makes me stiffen, my whole body tense in preparation for an attack. It's the man sitting on the chair, humming a tune to a song I don't recognize as he works on something.

      He hasn't noticed I've woken up, and I need to stay that way. His back is facing me, so I can't see his face, but that means he can't see me either.

     I hope.

     I slowly and quietly move my wrists, trying to loosen the ropes bounding me to the chair. As I'm doing it, I'm watching my kidnapper—who's not a troll but also not a rider—as he fiddles with what looks like a box. He's not a scribe, for they don't normally go around kidnapping girls. He's most likely infantry, but even then, why the hell would he kidnap me? Or he is a troll disguised as a human?

     I like that option better.

     "No, no," he says all of a sudden, making me halt my escape. Has he seen me? "It has to be perfect. It must be perfect." He's talking to himself.

     He's crazy.

     All the more reason to escape this lunatic. I hurry with my ministrations, the rope rubbing against the sensitive skin of my wrists. Finally, the rope became loose enough to slip my hands through. I rub my sore wrist before moving on the my feet. One tug on a loose end and the whole thing comes undone. Honestly, if I was going to get kidnapped, couldn't it be by someone more competent? Then at least it could be worth a story.

     Standing slowly, I map the room. I should've done it earlier, but oh well. There's a door to the side and a window on the other. I have no idea where the door leads, but I know there's a stream outside the window because I heard running water when I woke up and still hear the faint sound of water rushing through a canal. Sure enough, outside the window, there's a canal that carries water throughout Basgiath. I recognize it as part of a system of irrigation throughout the college from the map I saw in General Sorrengail's office the few times I've been there.

     Looking behind me I stifle a gasp as the man is no longer sitting behind the desk and is now standing three feet away from me.

     "You're not supposed to be up yet." The look in his eyes is desolate. He's looking at me with this weird glaze over his dark eyes.

     "Well, you can fuck off, you freak." I grab a brick from the window sill and throw it at him. I only stay to see the brick hit him directly on the nose and to hear his cry before I throw open the window and heave myself up.

     My landing wasn't the best, but I'm blaming that on the drug he clearly used on me. That drug didn't only knock me out, I realize as I try to summon my signet. I can't summon my power. I can't summon the shock waves I've learned to control and to use as a way of moving. I can't summon the earthquakes I control to knock him off his feet.

     I tremble as I run in the space between the mountainside and the canal. I can't tell where the hell I am and that is scary. I don't hear him behind me, and I don't check. I should've just taken care of him back there. Killed him with the brick instead of running away. But I didn't know who or what he was, so I wasn't going to risk it.