The Order of Dragonfire

Chapter 20

"You need to eat." Alex was awoken by the sound of Rain's voice. She groggily opened her eyes, squinting in the bright sunlight that poured through the room.Rain stood before her with some bread and water, setting it down gently besides the cage's bars.

"What's happening? Where are going?" She asked. The more she knew about whatever was going on, the easier she should find it to escape.

"We're heading back the way we came. We've just stopped for a break." He said. So they were getting further from Dragon's Jaw, as she had feared. She had been planning on trying to make a break for the dragonstones, and once she had them she would be unstoppable. That didn't seem so likely now, though.

"And what then? What's going to happen to me?"

"Most tribes have slavers and there are merchants who deal in them. You'll go to one of them, I'm guessin'." Rain shuffled his feet and avoided eye contact.

"Rain, help me." Alex said, finding the strength to climb to her feet and grasping the bars to support herself. "You said you cared about me. If that's true you'll help me escape. Please. You can come with me if you're worried about what they'll do, once we have the dragonstones you won't need to be scared of them."

"I... exaggerated." Rain mumbled with palpable shame in his voice. "I like you, sure. We were friends... but that's about it. I can't help you and don't really have any reason to. I'm sorry, Alex."

"So this was all a lie? Everything?" She gasped, beginning to realise the full extent of their scheme.

"Yes." Rain sighed. "We took your supplies so you'd be dependent on us, persuaded one of the small forest tribes to put on a show we could save you from..."

"But the shadowhawk! And the bridge! You couldn't have planned all that. I saved you, Rain. You have to do the same for me."

"...I'm sorry." He repeated himself. "I don't like this, but it's how it has to be. You're too valuable to let go, and now you'll try to get revenge if we let you out. We did as much as we could to make you stay, but you just wouldn't. I left it to the last minute, we couldn't do it once you had the stones and couldn't be controlled. I'm sorry Alex, but I really did everything I could to avoid this. This is your own fault."

She couldn't believe how ruthless he was. She had saved his life, arguably twice. Did that mean nothing to them? Without her they could have all died on the bridge or been eaten by the hawk. They spoke about loyalty a lot, so where was theirs? Was that a lie as well? He surely knew that she wasn't to blame for this, so if he was doing that to make himself feel better then he must know he was in the wrong. Maybe she could use that to change his mind.

"I'll be back to check on you later." He said glumly, turning to leave and closing the door behind him. Alex was left alone again. She miserably took the meager meal, desperately trying to think of a way to escape. Aside from being in a permanent state of exhaustion, she had no conduit or the power to use even the small magic available without one. There wasn't any apparent locking mechanism on the cage door so assumed that was magical too. Even if she could get out of the cell the carriage was a formidable prison in its own right. Even so, she had no intention of giving up. She would be out soon enough, and she would make them pay.

As usual they traveled for a few hours before taking a break. They seemed to be going at a slower pace this time, apparently not in as much as a hurry as they had been to get to Dragon's Jaw. As promised it wasn't long before Rain reappeared, opening the door a crack and peering through. Alex only glared at him, determined not to give him the satisfaction of any further pleading. She didn't feel like she had the energy to talk anyway. Caine, who would be sat at front of the carriage managing the horses, had no way of looking back into the room and had made no effort to see how she was. Evidently he didn't care much about his cargo, which he undoubtedly saw her as.