NOVEL NEXT Book 9 - The Deal - Chapter 50
Despite the heat, it was damp.
So much that it almost felt like I was breathing hot mist. It was also dark, with a strange purple glow that barely illuminated the room.
"Trent?" I willed the room to get lighter and looked over at one of the corners.
My teacher looked bad. There were thorny manacles on his wrists and ankles keeping him chained to the wall. His clothes were torn and the blue jacket that I'd gotten used to seeing him wear was completely missing. He looked thin, like he'd been starving, despite how we'd been making sure to get nutrients into him while he was unconscious. We might have been able to take care of his body, but his soul had taken a beating.
All it took was a thought and the manacles released him. I caught the man that was pretending to be my father as he fell. Mumbling about nothing coherent. It pained me to see him like this. It reminded me of just how devious and dangerous the demons were. Unfortunately, they were just one of the dangers that I had to be worried about.
Another thought, and the room faded away, leaving nothing but myself, Trent, and a blue box the size of a room in empty darkness. I wasn't sure how to get Trent back into his body, but I did know that he was at least out of the trap that had been holding him. I collapsed the room, spreading it to make up the floor underneath us.
Astrid was still lying on the ground, unconscious, but from what I could tell, she was okay. But I wasn't a doctor and had no idea how to check or care for soul damage that the two of them had endured.
I watched the two of them for a little bit before Trent kind of became like smoke and started drifting away. I wasn't sure if he was going back to his body or dying. Either way, there was nothing I could do to stop it.
With Trent gone and Astrid released from what had been imprisoning her, I decided there was nothing left for me to do, and I needed to see what Klix had to say.
I closed my eyes and focused on leaving. There was a little vertigo as I snapped back into my body, but I was getting more used to that as well.
"Did it work?" Klix was almost touching our noses together; she was so close to my face.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"GAH!" I fell backwards as I tried to put distance between us.
"Did it work?" Klix pointed at Astrid. "I saw what you did with the seal. Clever, but you should have just rooted it yourself. You took a big risk with all three of you by doing that."
"Then why did you try to fry us before I was ready!?!" I picked myself up off the floor.
"I didn't fire it until you were done." Klix chuckled and patted Astrid's arm. "I thought some motivation might help speed things up."
"So you…?" I shook my head. "Whatever." Arguing with her after the fact could only end badly for me, so it was better to just stop before she got insulted. I walked over to Trent and checked his pulse. It wasn't weak, but it wasn't strong either.
"We probably need a Healer to come and check them out." I looked back over at the Goddess. "I'm pretty sure they're both free, but that trap really roughed them up."
Klix was busy inspecting the seal over Astrid's heart. Unlike the one that we'd tried to put on her that was the size of my palm, this one was barely bigger than my thumbnail.
"Is there any of the demon seal left?" I walked over and touched Astrid's arm.
"Did we do it?" Oz yawned and stretched as she sat up on her cot.
"I think so." I looked from her to Klix. "Is it all gone?"
"No." Klix pointed at the dark line that was barely an outline around the blue seal. "But it's breaking down."
"Good." I swallowed. That was something that I'd have to remember to keep an eye on.
The door to the room opened to let Miel and Gesai in. Despite being a higher Tier, Miel moved out of the way as the silver teacher stormed over to us. The fury on her face softened as she looked at Astrid, then over at Trent.
"Did you do it? Are they going to wake up?" Gesai looked at me.
"I think it worked." I grumbled as I nodded at the violent Goddess. "Klix destroyed almost all of what was left of the demon seal and I released Trent." I craned my neck to see if there was anyone else coming through the door. "I thought you were the Healer that was coming to check on them."
The fury that Gesai had shown earlier was gone. Her face was a strange mix of concern and relief.
"Did something happen?" I looked over at Miel, who did not look like she wanted to be in the room.
"There was an incident last night." Miel swallowed as she looked at her mother. "We would have told you sooner, but you barred the door so you couldn't be disturbed."
"What happened?" There was a hiss in Klix's voice and I could tell by the reaction of the other two women that neither wanted to be the messenger.
Gesai was the one who found courage. "Rix and Pixie disappeared."