The Crystal Keeper

Chapter 2 - The Rescue

She was watching him again. Torin could feel her heavy gaze on him. He felt ashamed of himself, letting her see him in the state he was but there was no choice. He tried to raise his head up tall when he felt she had entered a trance bond with him but after a month of captivity and torture, it was almost beyond him. He somehow managed to find the strength for her and kick out as much as he could at the Grouslings, the shadow master's choice of servants. They were hardy creatures with tough grey skin and tusks embedded with venom that could kill even the strongest warriors. He knew that his kicks would do nothing but enrage them but he could not stand still and let them terrorise him whilst she was watching. Now that he had formed an immature bond with her, almost his every thought was consumed by her. She was what was keeping him alive - the thought that he might, no he would one day find his way to her.

One of the Grouslings who seemed to be in charge goaded him out of his thoughts, "Special treat for you today, crystal keeper!! Ohh yes, master has a very special surprise for you!!! Hehehe!!" Torin reached his leg out to kick him again but the shadow master came in at that very moment. He silenced the Grouslings with one word and once again tried to convince Torin to join his army. The shadow master wanted the blüdstone and Torin was damned if he was going to tell him where it was, especially now that Torin knew where it was located. He tried not to think of it however and continued his efforts to shield his mind. Torin's worst nightmare came to life when the master admitted that he had no further use for Torin as he knew where the blüdstone was. It took a great effort for Torin to keep a blank mask, even more so than when they would later reveal his death sentence of being drowned by blood eels. I have to escape, I have to get to her! Torin's eyes blurred with his rage and he struggled to maintain his composure.

Torin knew that she would be watching and that he would have to beg her forgiveness when he first met her for making her watch his supposed death. Of course, Torin had a plan, but it required the Grouslings to think he had indeed died. So, it was with grim determination that he allowed them to lower him, to push him into the tank, the blood eels to draw his blood and then to shock him. He had to push all thoughts of her aside and to focus on his breathing, on his mental barriers. Torin had had a great crystal master when he was younger and he had taught him to channel great energy through his body alone without the aid of crystals. It was using this technique that Torin transferred the electrical currents from his body back into the ground. The Grouslings left him once he was 'dead' and didn't bother to remove the tank.

Torin took his head out of the tank and gulped the air around him as if he was a parched man and the air was water. He was stronger than any mortal man but he still had his limits. When Torin had been suspended fully by the chains, he had been unable to create enough momentum to break them, even with his own weight. However, with no such restrictions now and no time to waste, he used the tank as leverage to lift himself so the chains around his wrists were slack then pulled hard from the ceiling to break them. He grinned when he heard the chains fall to the floor.

All of sudden, Torin felt the ground shake beneath him and flecks of dust rain down on him from the ceiling. He heard shouting and the sound of metal clashing metal from outside the chamber he had been held in. What in the world was that? There was the sound of another collision, closer this time, and this time he recognised the voice shouting.

"WHERE IS HE YOU FOUL CREATURES?" Torin's right-hand man, Jox, roared. One of the Grouslings screamed and their tar-like black blood splattered against the wall near the entrance to the chamber, steaming as it reacted against the stone. Torin grinned and rushed out to the corridor to join Jox.

"Torin! It is good to see you!" Jox embraced Torin in a warriors clasp as Torin came into his line of sight. "We didn't know if we would make it on time. I had the men watch the castle for weeks, waiting for the Shadow Master to leave but-"