Spaces Between

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•Chapter Forty-Seven•
Swan Song: Part II
(ASGARD)

My throat closed up.

Käro whimpered.  The sound of his claws scrapping against the stone floor echoed through the corridor.

"Your father believes me magic-less," Alder bit out, "but he does not know all.  Each Noble family was selected for a reason."

As he spoken, he nodded his head at the guards. Before I had a chance to move, both my arms were pinned behind me. I went utterly still as I glared at Alder. With what? Fear? Anger? Confusion?

Or all three.

"A trait passed down through every member of the family—a subtle ability not easily detected.  Nobles from Aequum were diplomats and meditators with their Wyrd Speak and soft voices, Lady Koa's people gifted with Dyrkevda, forcing their will over animals.  Salen with his translation and Asher with his strength. Even Lord Eco, gifted with seer like abilities."

A smirk ripped across his lips, "pity he did not see his own death before my men put a blade through his chest."

Bile rose in my throat.

"Maybe I miscalculated," Alder crooned, "but so did Nydri."

He twisted his hand again and a sickening whine of pain left Käro.

"Stop it," I shrieked, struggling against the guards.  "Stop hurting him."

Alder threw up his other hand, his palm towards me.  A lead weight dropped on my chest and I couldn't catch my breath.  I gapped, feeling a pressure building in my head.

"I'm known as a Taweli. A silencer."

It felt like my head was in some sort of trash compactor.  As if my body was folding in on myself.

"I can strip some one of their magic," he explained, his onyx eyes flashing dangerously.  "And if they have none."

"Well, I can take their life."

I couldn't breathe.  Every time his alabaster fingers would clench tighter together, the air was ripped from my lungs.  A raging fire tore through my body from the lack of oxygen.  I jerked, involuntarily.  My eyes wrenched shut and my teeth clamped together trying not to scream.

But I couldn't even if I tried.

Something like a laugh or a warning left Alder's lips, but I could no longer hear his taunts. 

I felt the muscles in my limbs contracting and nearly forcing me into the fetal position despite the guards pinning my arms.  It was like body was being forced together and split apart at the same time.  Nothing about the rune Stone could compare to this.

He released me and I slumped forward, limp in the guards' arms.

"You were always the variable I could not predict. You, and your brother's rage." Alder hissed but I could barely hear him over the pounding in my head. I drew a ragged breath, looking up at him as something warm slipped down from my nose and across my lips. I tasted copper.