Heart of a Warrior

Chapter 7: What Lies Unseen

Arabella shivered as she came to in a dark room. The air was cold and thin, and she couldn't make out any of her surroundings. The chains that bound her jingled as she panicked and the weight of her surroundings truly hit her. She could feel some form of writing etched on the shackles. It felt like runes but she had no way to know for sure. In her panic she attempted to use her magic. Pain shot up her arms and she screamed in agony.

"How do you like those magic suppression runes?" A voice called out from the dark. "You can thank the dwarves for that." He continued.

"Why am I here!" She pleaded. "What do you want?"

"I want your magic." The voice said plainly. "There is a war coming your highness. And if history tells us anything, it's that the army with the most sorcerers will always win. What's the point of having infantrymen and archers when you have sorcery and necromancy. Undead and elementals are all but invincible, men and elves are not. Did you know that you can animate anything with even a remote semblance to a human as long as it's made of earthen materials? At this very moment I have a group of very hesitant druids animating a bunch of scarecrows in some hidden village to the east. All it took was threatening to burn one of their sacred monuments, and now I own one of the most strategic fortresses in the north and some measly peasants to boot." His speech continued. "And who will stand against me? Dragonhold? Your armies are laughable. And your Huntsmen? They think that because they've put a few corpses to rest, and one of their ancestors slew a dragon that somehow that makes them elite warriors? Ha! The whole lot of them could hardly kill a single elemental. How do you think they would fare against an army of elementals and undead?"

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked hoping to keep his monologue going and distract him. If only she knew where the door was.

"Because dear princess, even if you did escape, where would you go? Who would you tell? This tower is heavily guarded and you're at the top. You might be able to kill a few guards, but not all of them." Even in the darkness where she could see absolutely nothing, she could still feel his cold smile.

A light began to appear, as if from thin air. Upon adjusting to the light, her eyes saw a ball of orange flame resting on the man's hand, it's tendrils dancing in the dark. His face slowly came into view and she could see handsome yet rugged features with black hair and piercing green eyes. He was young, maybe mid twenties at most, but there was something about his eyes, they were equally as intoxicating as they were terrifying.

"Maybe you've heard of me princess. I'm prince Marius. The phoenix of the south. The bastard son of king Casimir." The look on his face contorted into one of confusion and almost looked offended that she didn't recognize him. "The prince who started the Amuran civil war because I may have stabbed a nobleman once or twice." He said with a smirk. "Or was it ten times? I honestly can't remember. And the nobleman may have just happened to be my father. But the point is, they call me the phoenix of the south because I'm a pyromancer like my father, and I'm fairly famous. I've set a bunch of villages on fire. I know you've heard of that. You m'lady, are incredibly sheltered if you don't know me."

"What makes you think I would ever fight for you?" She asked.

"Oh that's an easy one princess." He replied. "Because your lover is walking into a trap and I'm the only one who can ensure he lives. So I don't imagine you'll be doing anything except my will from now on."

...

Isolda rode gently north through the forest to spare Sir Arthur as much pain as possible. The trees around her looked utterly dead the further north she rode. Even the underbrush seemed to be withering. But with every step she felt as if she was being watched from multiple directions. Having long ago left any established path, she did her best to focus on finding  north with the stars being hidden by the trees.