Fireborn

30 ¦ Transformation

My body jolted against a vertical metal slab holding me upright in the center of a stone dungeon. The Fireborn had stripped me down to my undergarments, leaving me in a sleeveless white chemise. A cold draft blew through the room with a howl, and I shivered.

Where in Hades am I? How did I get here? 

Rearing my head, I grimaced at the crick in my neck, which must have been dangling like a broken ragdoll. My tongue stuck to the roof of my parched mouth.

Where's Bragda?

With a desperate yank, I tugged at the iron chains binding me to the metal slab, but they didn't budge an inch. "Release," I commanded as I focused on the restraints. The locking mechanism stubbornly refused to shift no matter how much I strained.

"Where in Hades is my sister?" I yelled into the empty room. "You promised me I could see her! You'll die if you don't keep the heart blood oath."

That was a private agreement, came his sinister hiss from nowhere. Not part of the contract.

My blood curdled in my veins. "Please let me see her one last time. Let me explain to her."

The only answer came from machines whirring to life with a cacophony of mechanical sound. Various switches cast an array of colored lights on the granite walls of what seemed like an underground lab. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the glare.

Stabbing pain in my skull. I groaned.

A hiss came from metal spigots on the ceiling, and my eyes widened in terror. "No, please," I yelled as I tugged in vain against the restraints. "Don't do this! Father!"

The rank smell of disinfectant clashed with the stale air in the dank dungeon. When the fumes burned in my lungs, I began to gag. But to my utter relief, the hiss stopped, and the air cleared.

I was still alive.

"Where is Bragda?" I roared as I tugged against the chains. "Please tell me she's all right."

Stay calm. The rational part of my psyche echoed in the caverns of my mind like a distant, distorted murmur. Just observe.

"Avian sight," I muttered with a flick of my wrist.

My psyche broke away and floated to the ceiling, watching the scene from above. I could feel the astral tether tugging at me, forcing me not to stray any further from my physical form.

Thank the gods! It worked.

My spirit froze in shock when I gazed down at my physical shell.

Covered in grit and ash, my body was dotted in welts as though an acid was burning through it. The Fireborn had shaven my fiery locks. Not a single strand was left on my head, which glowed like a white skull under the unnatural fluorescent light.

My scarred flesh and shorn head were monstrous. My eyes hollow and lifeless.

What had they done to me?

My hazel eyes flashed with fiery hatred. Thanks to the tether, every wave of that anger crested and crashed upon my soul like an ocean of flame.

Father will pay for what he's done.

My unspoken words tasted like bitter ashes in my mouth.

"Shield," I whispered under my breath.

A gray energy field thrummed in front of my hovering spirit, protecting my psyche from my volatile emotions. My physical shell ignored me, not once glancing up at the ceiling.