Connor Pallitan isn't normal, he's known that since the day he was born. Left alone in the woods, cloaked in protective fire, its a wonder the boy survived for a year. But eighteen? A miracle.
But then, all hell breaks loose, and it's up to Conner t...
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CHAPTER XXIV
Gracyn awoke to a strange feeling in his arms, like his muscles were being slowly torn, and it didn't take long for him to put two and two together and come to the conclusion that he was being hung, dangled by his wrists like stripped meat. His side still bled, staining his tunic, and he could feel the chilled blood awkwardly caress his skin, sending a shiver up his spine that forced him to his senses. "Celeste..." Was the first thing he managed to say, coughing right after her name passed his lips, blood forcing itself up his throat, dripping down his chin within moments. "Celeste...Where are you?! Show yourself!" He demanded, pulling against his restrains as he dangled in his cell, the brightness of the moon shining down on him. "Coward!" He taunted when his demands were met with no response, but still, she did not respond.
"You are...Wasting your breath, friend." A weak but familiar voice spoke, and the rustling of chains brought Gracyn's attention to the ground. Emile! He was alive! Gracyn couldn't help but smile, even if his friend looked absolutely pitiful as he was crumbled against the floor, his usual tanned complexion paper than he remembered, his eyes hollow and red, his voice clearly strained. He was covered in small cuts, the blood having dried against his skin, and Gracyn was appalled, but also terrified by the sight.
"Emile!" Gracyn gasped, struggling aimlessly against his restraints in an attempt to reach Emile, who was crumbled against the floor, while he was hung dry, "Emile, what has she done to you?!"
"Nothing, Gracyn," he said, forcing himself to sit up against the wall of his cell, "Celeste has...Barely touched me...My mother is to blame for this." He confessed, forcing his heavy eyes open just in time to see Gracyn's reaction.
"Your...Mother?" He asked, hoping for an explanation, but their conversation was quickly cut short when an emerald light bursted from Emile, prompting a scream. His voice strained greatly as he struggled through the pulses coursing through him. Gracyn could only watch, fear bubbling in him as he watched the emerald glow slowly die down from inside his friend, his eyes closing slowly, chest rising and falling shakily and heavily as he fell onto his side, likely passed out.
And Gracyn knew that, if they didn't escape this, him and Emile would suffer the same fate. A fate worse than death.
•••
"Where in Goddesses name is he?!" Bex fretted as they travelled into another area of hell, dead and barren, almost like Fenjar after the battle with Stephen's father. "I shouldn't have slept, I should've stayed awake with him!" She mumbled, scolding herself angrily as they continued to walk. They awoke merely hours ago, and found that Gracyn was gone, and after walking aimlessly for a few minutes they found Bex's sword, and a small puddle of blood, about a mile from their camp. The blood left a trail, and they had followed that for about an hour before the trail let up, leaving them – again – aimless, and Bex was getting more and more worried by the minute. "He could be dead, Conner!"
