Blood Bond

Darkness swallowed us and my strength vanished. I crumpled against Tamas, my bloody hands smearing wet, red streaks over the coarse wool of his sleeves.

"Hey!" he snapped, his grip tightening as he dragged me deeper into the tunnel. "Just bear with it. We'll get to a healer later. But I don't like the way Valerius was looking at you. He's one of those acts and never says sorry kind of guys. He has taken heads for less… far less."

Tamas's yellow eyes glanced nervously back behind us. His voice dropped a notch lower, holding a touch of dread. "And Lelian... I've never seen her look so incensed."

I risked a breath, and no blood spilled from my lips or nose. It seemed my blood had finally stopped revolting against being forced to go against its nature—to give up essence instead of drawing it in. But my insides were still broken. Every movement from Tamas sent spasms through my body.

Tamas's gaze dropped over me. He noticed, but dragged me faster along, driven by the sound of footsteps echoing against the hollow stone in the darkness behind us.

The pain, at least, was something physical I could grab hold of to pull my mind away from the other horror that had stirred awake inside of me: the hunger. That ravenous void now stretched far deeper than it ever had. It clawed at my insides demanding to be fed.

After an eternity of stumbling steps, and the constant battles raging between pain and hunger within, an ash-haired figure fell into step alongside.

"You sure know to make trouble, your highness," Roderic said. That scarred eyebrow of his arching as he winked at me. "Just had to keep upping the ante, huh?"

He jerked his chin back. "Anyways, here's your man, good as new. The healers did a bang-up job."

Another set of arms took hold of me and I sank into their comforting warmth. I twisted my head to Kael and he was indeed healed; the only reminder of his wounds were the torn cloth on his shoulders. My lips formed a tired smile.

"I had to..."

He nodded. His grip on me was tight as we continued moving down the tunnel.

Another set of figures joined us, wearing plain traveler's cloaks instead of the Ironfell uniforms everyone else wore.

One lowered his hood, revealing the dark curls of the adventurer-bard, Tanner. "We've got trouble. The Veridians have over five hundred men blockading the main roads and gates."

Roderic whistled. "They expecting a battle?"

"No, they were expecting a riot, if Saleic won." Tamas paused at a junction in the tunnel. "They haven't been too popular after the mess they made assaulting their section of the city."

He rubbed his beardless chin, his yellow eyes sharp and calculating. "We'll take the side exit. I requisitioned a carriage for our visit to the construction site. We can use the travel pass for that before they realize we're gone."

My head and body was a delirious swirl of flashing spots, spasms of sharp pain, and gnawing, clawing hunger as Tamas led us down the new path. Just as the light of the exit appeared, Roderic leaped in front of me, throwing a fine mist into the air. The water droplets clung to the shimmering, distorted outline of a figure that appeared out of nowhere.

WACK!

Before I could even process the shape, Tamas had moved. His elbow struck the outlined head with a sickening crunch, and the figure crumpled to the stone floor.

"Elves!" he cried out.

Blades sang from their sheaths. Roderic's sword stabbed forward and caught an invisible elf mid-step, its contorted face coalescing into view as it slumped over the sword. An Ironfell dwarf swung his axe, and a disembodied head tumbled out of the air, followed by a body dropping like a felled tree. A fourth figure materialized, lunging for me, but Tanner was already there. There was a flash of steel, a gurgled gasp, and the elf folded at his feet.

It was over in three heartbeats. Four bodies lay on the stone floor.

"Keep moving!" Roderic commanded, his voice crisp as he herded us toward the exit.

We piled into the carriage. Kael threw a cloak over me to cover me from view, but regardless we were turned back at several checkpoints. Apparently all paths to the main keep were currently closed.

In the end, we had to go back to our original destination: the construction site for the Regency Quarters.

—

This wasn't at all what I'd expected. Instead of a chaotic mess of mud, timber and men, this was a city in the making, a modern one, laid out with clean, exacting precision. Streets formed perfect square grids, and foundations were clearly marked for buildings of immense size. There were labels for a library, temple, administrative building and sprawling barracks.

But it was the scale that stole the air from my lungs. This wasn't a temporary camp or a simple expansion. Some of the foundations laid out before us were for structures that would rival the main keep itself. This wasn't a project; it was a statement of where the true power lay.

"What... is this place supposed to be?" I whispered, my voice strangled by a dawning horror. "A second capital?"

"It's still part of the capital. It will just be the main part," Tamas said matter-of-factly. "This will be where all the kingdoms of the Concord will gather to make decisions and settle their grievances. The true center. Quintus's idea."

Despite my wobbling mind, I did a double take. That sounds eerily like the United Nations, which wasn't a bad idea in and of itself. But wasn't there an earlier version that failed spectacularly? And we have certainly seen it abused by dominant nations, which Rodinar will definitely be.

"Let's move," Tamas urged, waving us forward. "They'll be able to scry our location if we stay put for too long. We need to give my father a little more time to realize that something is wrong."

He then glanced at Roderic. "No comms, still?"

"Cut off. Someone's got interference spells going."

Tamas shook his head as he kicked dirt off the ground. "Elves again. Always mucking in things."

As we hurried through the perfectly planned streets, my shock returned. It's only been a week, I thought, staring at the skeletons of stone and timber rising around us. How could they build all this so quickly?

My question was answered by the sight of a few robed men holding hands as they seemingly levitated a massive stone column into place. Another group of men in rags then swarmed its base, their hammers ringing out as they secured it. Of course. Magic.

A few street urchins darted across the street, and Tamas's hand shot out, snatching one by the back of his tattered shirt. The young, emaciated boy stared bug-eyed at him, struggling to get away.

"Hey, kid," Tamas said impatiently. "I need you to take a message to your leader for me."

The boy just stared in confused terror.

"You know, the one they call Scrap Crow," Tamas ordered. "Tell him we need help. He owes my father. Now go!"

When the boy only stood in place, paralyzed with fear, Tamas growled and shoved him away. "Bah! Useless vermin!"

"I'll take your message to him!" a new voice called out. A teenage boy stepped forward. He stood taller and straighter than the others, and despite his hair being covered in dust, I recognized him instantly—he was the one who had protected the little girl from Saleic in the square. He pointed a finger at me. "I'll do it for her."

Tamas blinked, then nodded sharply. "Fine, good. She'll be in big trouble if we don't get away. Find Scrap Crow. Tell him we need a way out of this city, one of the secret ones. Tell him it's a request from my father... the big, loud dwarf."

The boy gave a firm nod and, with one last look at me, disappeared into the labyrinth of the construction site.

Moments after he left, a half-dozen figures coalesced from the air before us—elves with daggers drawn. Kael grabbed me and wheeled me around, only to see the path behind us blocked. Titus Valerius stood there, flanked by his own contingent of green-clad Veridian soldiers. He was smiling.

"Oh, where do you think you children are going?" he boomed. "You all left in such a hurry."

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Tamas stepped in front of me, the tone of his voice soft and diplomatic. "I was just giving her highness the tour I mentioned."

"Really?" Titus's smile widened. "Seemed more like you were running. And why would you be afraid of me?" He took a step forward, his voice turned lower as his dark eyes glinted dangerously. "Could it be that you two have just been a colossal pain in my ass? I think it's time we put a stop to that."

"My father won't forgive this!" Tamas warned, his hand moving to his own weapon.

"That's only if he can hear you scream," Titus sneered.

The words had barely left his mouth when a spear flew toward Tamas. Roderic shoved him aside, taking the spearhead in his gut with a grunt of pain. At the same time, the elves moved like lightning. An Ironfell dwarf fell with a dagger buried in his throat. Another man stumbled, a wet cry escaping his lips as a matching blade appeared in his chest.

In the chaos, Tamas threw his hands up, and twin walls of roaring flame erupted from the ground, cutting us off from both the elves and Titus's men.

"RUN!" he shouted as he slipped his arm under Roderic's.

We plunged down a side street, the roar of the fire and the enraged shouts of our enemies at our backs. After a few desperate turns, the teenage boy from before appeared from an alleyway, looking completely out of breath. He frantically waved us toward the half-finished skeleton of a building.

—

We moved, hurrying, stumbling and dragging our wounded through an active construction zone. The air was thick and brown, heavy with the taste of sawdust. A chaotic symphony of hammering, shouted orders, and the screech of saws. Workers stepped past and around us, carrying logs, stone and equipment. The sheer volume of life, of activity, of blood pulsing over muscles made the ravenous void inside of me thrash against its confines. There is so much within reach!

I shoved it back into the depths within, and then looked over everyone else. We were in bad shape. Beside Roderic there were several others wounded, but he was the worst of them. His face was deathly pale, devoid of blood, and his hands were trembling as they clutched at the wound in his gut. Blood seeped through his fingers, forcing me to look away.

We had to stop to let them rest. Tamas pulled out a potion and pressed it to Roderic's lips. He winced after downing it. His face was still pale, but it looked less pained. I thought about helping him with my power, but could I really stop myself once my blood is in him? Especially with the hunger in this state? Thoughts of draining Kael were already lurching out of the recess of my mind.

The teenage boy led us to a makeshift elevator at the edge of an open shaft leading into the darkness below. It was a wide wooden plank with ropes tied to all four corners. The ropes joined at the center to a cable that was looped over the pulley above and led down to a hand crank bolted to the ground beside us.

It was crude, precarious, and our only way out.

"Down below is an escape tunnel. At least that's what the Crow said," the boy yelled over the din of hammering and shouting. "It's tight. You'd need to crawl a bit, but then you'll end up outside the wall."

I looked down into darkness and then back to all the wounded beside me. Tight. Crawl. Tunnel. There is no way I can be down there in that confined space with all the wounded bleeding around me. My eyes met Kael's. It will be dangerous even for him!

A cacophony of sounds rose in the hallway behind us: a jumbled mixture of shouts, protests, and equipment clattering to the ground.

They are coming.

"Hurry! Let's go!" Tamas shouted as he helped Roderic onto the plank.

Everyone followed them on, and I did as well. I placed a hand upon Kael's back. "Go, help the wounded, please."

Then I stepped off the platform. The boy looked at me in shock as I placed my hand over his and we began to turn the crank together.

As the platform descended, Kael spun around. "No, your highness!"

"Please, Kael, just stay and help them. I will catch up with you later." I pleaded with him as I kept turning the crank.

"I won't leave you!" he roared, his eyes searching desperately for a way up. And with his powers I was sure he would find a way.

"I will be fine, Kael. Really." I needed to keep him and them safe from me. I looked into his eyes and searched desperately for the right words, but all I could find was the warmth of his fingers against my cheek, the way he looked at me then even with all the blood staining me. The words dropped from my lips.

"I love you."

That stopped him. He froze, staring up at me as he sank into the darkness.

Tears rolled down the side of my face. What have I done? What have I done?! What am I going to tell Astrid?

—

When the crank came to a grinding halt, we released it. I turned to the boy as the sound of shouting came closer. "What's your name?"

"I'm… Celrian, your highness." He then looked behind us. "Are you sure you'll be alright? Come with me, we can protect you!"

I shook my head and smiled at him. "Thank you Celrian. Was that your sister you were with before?"

He nodded, still looking at me worried.

"Keep protecting her, for me please. Now go." I gave him one last, fleeting smile, then turned and walked toward the rising clamor.

I can at the very least buy time.

—

Each step toward the commotion stirred something new inside me. The thrashing of the voracious hunger. The pain of my broken insides. Kael's brown eyes, his chest against mine. Naomi's fingers hovering in the air. Astrid's smile as she ran her calloused fingers through my hair. Maya's little hands holding out the key…

Footsteps sounded beside me. My wrists were grabbed, yanked back and twisted, hard. More pain. A silky voice whispered right beside my ear as my head was forced down. "From prince Jarlen, with regards."

I was dragged to a cleared space in the heart of the construction site. The workers were gone, the equipment shoved aside, but the air was still thick with the smell of sawdust and raw wood.

The hands that held me pushed me down to my knees, pulling my arms further behind my back and twisting my wrists harder. They are taking no chances.

"So your friends abandoned you? Or are you supposed to be the distraction?" Titus's voice rang over me. With my head held down, I could only see his black, dusty boots. "That's funny, because I'd consider you the main catch, especially with the stunt you tried to pull at The Arena. What are you trying to do? Stir the rabble up after they've just been taught their place?"

A large hand grabbed my hair and wrenched my head sideways by the roots. My knees scraped against the debris-covered ground as I twisted against the pain, but the hands that gripped my arms and wrists bit in like steel shackles. All around me, stood the Veridian contingent, arrayed like cold metal trees with splashes of dark green.

Titus's face twisted into that nasty smile of his. Up close, his crooked, brown teeth showed as his hot, acid breath spat in my face. "I think it's time we refresh that lesson. And you will be the instrument."

He swept his arm back to his men. "We will let each of these fine gentlemen have a dance with you. And after we're done we'll drag you out into the streets to show people what happens when you have too much of that Aethelgard pride."

A coarse laugh as he tossed my head aside. "I wonder how long you'll last this time? Four? Ten?" He rubbed his chin, looking over his shoulder at his men as if counting. "Maybe a hundred."

I tried to hold myself still. Be strong! Don't give in! I just need to hold on until they get close and I can stab them! But my arms being twisted behind my back told a different story. My body couldn't stop shaking. And the thought of all these hands grabbing me, touching me, violating me made me gasp.

"Don't!"

My broken, tear-drenched word drew more cruel laughter out of Titus. "Oh, by the time we're done, you won't be able to stand in that haughty way of yours anymore."

"Father, please. I think she's learned her lesson. There's no need to go this far." Saleic's voice sounded. There was hope, a possible relief.

SMACK!

Saleic's body hit the wall behind me and then crumpled to the ground. He tried to get up, his lips cut and bleeding.

"You have failed me twice already. I'm not giving you a third. No, it's personal now." He yanked my head back up by my hair. "I'm going first."

My body flailed against the hands holding me down as my mind raced to find a way out. All the searches I did online, all the powers I gathered. Then, the chemical simulations I did popped up. The air was filled with wood particles, a combustible material. A powder explosion. All I need is a starter. Then I remembered the Flame Bomb, the skill that I'd stolen. I tried to recreate all thoughts I had from it—all the memories I'd taken from the Fire Stalker.

Flame Bomb!

I projected the image of flames exploding outwards onto my Soul Seed and imagined it centered on Titus. The air shifted. Something was taking shape only for my thoughts to fall apart as if they had run straight into a wall.

"What's this? Did you try to cast a spell, Princess?" Titus's eyes shone with amusement as his lips took on a contemptible sneer. "That was the most pathetic and sloppy attempt I'd ever seen. So that's all this broken thing is capable of."

His finger flicked the orb on my chest and a chorus of laughter followed.

"Strip her," he commanded.

I struggled and thrashed against the pull on my dress. The fabric and threads were tearing. No! I kept frantically digging through the avalanche of ideas crashing down at me, and then I hit upon: beans. They contain Potassium, normally inert without its single valence electron. But once it gains that single electron, it becomes its pure form: an alkaline metal, violently reactive, especially with an acid. I've seen it in the simulations.

RIPPP!

A section of my dress was shredded off my shoulder, but I focused, sinking into my Soul Seed through my blood and connected with that molecular view. I reached out to his stomach and then I saw it, all the large stable Potassium atoms from the beans drifting in digestive acid. There were so many of them, just sitting there, dull, unmoving. All I had to do was to push like I had done with the water molecules, to give them energy. This time I had to give them one packet of energy: a single electron.

I did just that, reaching and pushing at first one, then hundreds, then millions until I felt myself going cold. But there they were, a sea of excited, lit up Potassiums, swimming in hydrochloric acid.

I turned to Saleic. "Saleic, throw up your Wind Wall!"

Then I looked back into Titus's eyes. "Enjoy your beans, asshole!"

His dark eyes widened, but it was already too late. An explosion ripped open from his stomach expanding outwards.

I tried to project the mental image of a force field onto my Soul Seed—a shell of electromagnetic radiation—but the explosion had ignited the air, and all around me raged a cataclysm of fire and destruction. A blinding white wave of heat engulfed everything, catching men, elves, splintering wood and rock. It closed in on me. A shattering, resonating, annihilating…

BOOOMMMM!!!!!