The Elementals : The Dawn of Darkness

Chapter 39 - The Witch and the Rat

I was trying my best not to scream.

Its seems to me that if you cry out or whimper or yell in pain you're giving the enemy what they want and that in general, is a bad thing. However, when it's your wrist that's been reduced to a pile of marrowy mush and it's being twisted ninety degrees and you can actually see the bone moving, there's not much you can do about it. As James clapped the heavy iron cuff down onto what was essentially splinters, I howled like I'd been hit in the face with a red hot iron.

The little freak was very much enjoying himself as I screeched like a banshee. We may have been frozen in place but the ten-year-old nutter could casually stroll through as he pleased, laughing like it was the best joke he'd ever heard. His mouth was laughing at least. What his eyes were doing was anyone's guess.

With my other intact wrist secured, the wall disintegrated and I found I could move again. Well not really move but you get my meaning. We looked like we were in the stocks. Heavy iron manacles bound our wrists to an even heavier neck iron that was just tight enough to make it uncomfortable to breathe. The only thing missing was the tomatoes.

The heaviness was definitely not normal. It felt like the train carriage Scarlett had locked us in, like being trapped under a million blankets. Sure enough, when I tried to summon a spark it came up completely dry. Right, no powers at all. This could be interesting. Shadow obviously didn't see this as a hindrance as the moment James came within striking distance, he spat at him with such force the yobs at school would have been proud.

James recoiled in disgust. "There's no need for that," he snapped. When he took his glasses off to wipe them down he kept his eyes tightly shut, screwed shut even. "I thought we used to be friends."

Shadow scoffed defiantly. "You tried to kill me. You gave me an aneurysm."

As you do.

"And when the boss is done with you're little friends I'll do it again. Only much more slowly." James snapped his fingers and four soldiers, all armed with spears, jumped to his side. "You may not be able to pop your clogs my old friend but the thing is with agonising torture is you don't have to die."

"I'm going to tear you apart," Shadow growled.

James waved a hand dismissively. "I look forward to it." The soldiers positioned themselves behind us and jabbed into our backs. We're doomed. "Now chop-chop boys and girls, our lord and master awaits."

The guard behind me stuck his spear tip into my back, no doubt drawing quite a bit of blood. Sure enough, I felt something warm dribbling down my spine. I gritted my teeth, my wrist burning every time the heavy weight of the manacle pressed against the fractured bone. We were frogmarched out into the corridor which, surprise surprise, was now overflowing with people.

Insults were hurled like rocks and every taunt under the sun was lobbed at us. Others simply laughed and hollered like drunks stumbling out of a pub, getting right in our faces and aiming kicks at the back of our legs. Shadow was getting the brunt of it, no surprises there. A glass object, probably a leftover from our little experiment, was thrown at his head, shattering messily against his temple. He stumbled into Sheria who, props to her, didn't even flinch under his weight and shoved him upright before his shredded scalp knitted itself back together.

We all could have been kicking and screaming and fighting back against these bastards but we weren't. It seemed that some telepathic link had established itself. To struggle was to give these gits what they wanted and there was no way in hell we were going to stoop to that.

James led us upwards, away from the mocking crowd. We marched upwards, along a draughty corridor overlooking the mountains on a familiar path. This time the grand doors were shut tight, more than likely for dramatic purposes than security, but the enormous pipes still pumped their foul black liquid through the stone walls at breakneck speed. I hoped that the smell of copper and death in the air was just a memory on my behalf, but then again with Molly, you couldn't be sure.