Legacy of the Necromancer [Legacy, BK1 - Completed]

Chapter 6:4

I awoke to something sweet in the air, almost as if I'd been sleeping in a bakery. But that didn't make any sense. Why would I be sleeping there? I tried to move. My arms were pinned behind my back somehow. The floor was cold and hard.

"Set him up."

Hands grabbed me, pulling me upright as the world spun around. I tried to catch myself before falling to the side, but I soon figured out that my arms were tied. A hooded figure caught me instead, steadying me until they were sure I wouldn't fall again.

"What is your name, Necromancer?"

It was the same feminine voice that spoke before, coming from the figure standing in front of me. Her robe was different, made of a finer cloth in a bright shade of green. Delicate stitching of the same color scrolled along the cloth edges. A Priestess, maybe?

"Your name," she demanded again, but this time pain shot up my arms.

I gasped, trying to think. I couldn't give them my real name. "Asher," I breathed. "Asher West."

The green-hooded figure in front of me stepped closer, raising delicate hands to push the hood of her robe back to reveal dark, smooth skin, angled cheekbones and a plush lips. She looked only a little older than I was. Her black hair was pulled up, to tumble in a waterfall of tiny braids around her shoulders. Her eyes narrowed, making me wonder if she knew I was lying.

"And how did you get in here, Asher West?"

I shrugged, and more pain lanced up my arms.

"Answer me."

"The back door," I said the first thing that came to mind, which wasn't too far from the truth.

"And your friends. Where are they?"

I looked at her. "Anywhere, by now."

And it was true. I could faintly sense Avery, our connection pulled taut like an uncoiled spring. All I could say was that she was west of me, somewhere far west.

The witch clenched her jaw and glanced around the circle of hooded figures, all studying me with an icy gaze. I was pretty sure she wanted to kill me on the spot.

"Why are you here?"

"No reason."

My head snapped to the side, my cheek stinging as if I'd been slapped. Except that she hadn't moved. No one had.

"I will not be so forgiving next time. I'll ask you once more, why are you here?"

I stared at her, not knowing what else to do. The hell I would tell her what we'd been doing. The last thing I wanted to do was send this back towards my family, or the other Necromancers. It was all my fault. Liam had warned us and I hadn't listened. I only hoped he and Avery made it back safely.

The Priestess tsked and snapped her fingers. The chains on my arms tightened and grew hot, the metal burning my skin.

"Let's see how you feel after a day in the Bindings. Most men go mad."

The priestess, because who else could she be, replaced her hood and turned on her heel to stalk away. Surprisingly, the others followed. I was left alone on the cold concrete floor, still trying to wrap my head around what had happened. I'd gotten caught. Then they'd knocked me out, but I was forgetting something. The face in the hood, the guy with the vial. My memory blurred, and the more I reached for it the faster the image slipped from me, like a dream the morning after.

They left my feet untied, but there wasn't anything in reach that would help free me. I twisted, gasping a little with the added pain, and tried to get a better look at what bound my arms together. All I managed to find was that the chain they'd used was bolted to the floor. The more I struggled with the bindings, the stronger the pain grew, making me light-headed and dizzy. Still, I fought it.

The warehouse around me was quiet. Light grew in the windows as day broke. Maybe I could do something with my power, something to short-circuit the spell that caused the pain. I reached mentally for my Talent and screamed. The pain intensified, exploding a thousand times worse than before. Darkness crept over me again and I ran towards it.