CYRON (Completed)

Chapter 22 -S.

    Chidum opened his eyes and tried to rise to his feet fast, but he was pulled back down hard by the cuffs around his wrists.

"What is this?" He spoke, looking at his wrists. The cuffs around them were attached to chains which were bolted to the floor.

The sound of loud snarling caused him to look away from his hands. He saw Klex struggling as she tried to break free from a huge iron collar around her neck. She was bleeding from wounds in her head and arms. She was struggling as she saw him awake. She wanted to come to him.

"Calm down, Klex!" He cried and the dirge wolf relaxed.

"Captain," said a voice behind Chidum and he looked back. He saw his first mate, Anon and the other eleven people he'd been trekking across Shoden with. They were all chained down to the floor like himself, but Sunibe and Mayu were missing.

"Where is Mayu?!" The half-elf asked.

"No one has seen her or the shaman since awaking," Anon replied.

Chidum looked around now. They were chained down next to the ruins of what was a large, three story house in its glory days. The walls were all gray and cracked. The doors were missing and holes filled the walls of the upper floors. The sun was setting and there was no sign of anyone besides him and his captured companions. There was no fire, no tents, no weapon, no footsteps.

This desolate place sat in the middle of the forest and there was nobody to blame in sight.

"Has anyone seen our captors?" Chidum asked.

"No," several voices replied.

"Any idea who they could be?" He asked next.

"Neither centaurs nor humans would be able to walk about without leaving even footprints in the sand, Captain," Anon replied.

Chidum looked around and the place was silent.

"The dirge wolf bears injuries from a fight with something," One crewmate announced.

"Yes," Chidum murmured, looking at his Dirge wolf.

"Please, friend, show me what you know," He whispered, shutting his eyes and opening his palms towards the animal.

Klex sat down and placed her head on the ground. She shut her eyes and opened her mind to the half-elf.

Once the connection was made, Chidum screamed in pain and fell on his side.

Klex quickly opened her eyes, rose to her feet and began growling again, struggling against her chains.

"Captain!" Anon yelled at Chidum who twitched on the floor as though current flashed through him at intervals.

"Captain!" Another fellow called.

"Captain, is it?" Asked a voice as it's man took form before the downed half-elf. He was tall, dressed in gray armor with a belt of glass around his waist.

"Belt of invisibility," Anon said, referring to the belt.

"Shaman," Chidum added, staring at the strange man's feet which did not touch the floor; just hung some three centimeters above the ground.

"Correct and correct," the man spoke.

Chidum sat up on the floor and stared up at the fellow. He was old, at least sixty, but he looked strong. His black hair was cut short and his mustache made him look funny, but they knew better than to laugh.

"A shaman taking prisoners in centaur territory," Chidum spoke. "I am confused."

"It was simple to spell you all. Your little baby shaman fled the second she sensed me," the shaman bragged. "Placing you against your worst fear was all I needed to take out the only real adversary in your team. The rest I just put to sleep. Your Dirge wolf was immune to my magic, but she was not immune to my swords. I thought the bloody things were extinct"