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“What do you want with us?!” Rijjat shouted to the riders. “You are in the presence of a holy temple, and you are trespassing. Thessia will not look kindly on this vulgar offense!”
I glanced at Remus in confusion, and he simply shrugged back, his eyes flitting back to the riders. It was at this moment that I wished I hadn’t forced him to drink his potion. Had his shifted form been readily available, perhaps he could have given us the upper hand.
The riders didn’t speak. They only gestured at one another strangely, leaving me confused. Instead of appearing savage and wild, they seemed to be coordinated somehow.
One of the riders pulled something from his belt. A glass vial that he promptly threw on the ground with force. Immediately, the air filled with a blue hued smoke that filled my lungs and had me sputtering. My eyes stung, and my throat felt like it was closing up. It seemed we’d discovered the reason for the masks they wore.
Remus fell to his knees first, dropping his weapon as he choked on the smoke. Whatever concoction they’d created affected the shifter harder because of his sensitive nose, but we would be next. I tried to hold my breath, blinking through the tears that streamed down my face. My eyes felt like somebody had poured sand into them.
Caldor was the next to fall, only he didn’t even have time to choke on the smoke before he went limp, losing consciousness completely. My heart dropped at the sight of his motionless body, and I lunged for him.
That was a mistake. Before I could make it to him, an arm wrapped around my torso, creating a vice grip around me. I was being hauled upward by one of the riders and dragged up onto his horse. I tried to scream, but all that came out were choking, wheezing breaths that nobody would ever hear.
I even tried to slash at the rider with my dagger, but it was no use as the strength began to drain out of my body. I grew impossibly tired and impossibly angry. I was better than this, and it was shameful. Perhaps the Ravens deserved better than a leader who fell so easily for a handsome face that spat nothing but lies.
Before I fell unconscious, the last thing I felt was a strong, warm hand gripping mine, pulling on my arm until I felt like it would pop right off. I blinked through the haze to see Rijjat holding on for dear life, running alongside the rider’s horse as it began to back away from the smoke. The strangest sensation traveled up my arm, flowing through my body as if lightning had filled my veins. Rijjat stared at our joined hands, his once black eyes shining an unnatural blueish purple.
“Let go…” I choked out as I tried to pull away from him, but it was as if our hands were fused together.
My body was on fire as strange magic raced through. I looked down at my skin as strange markings appeared, first as lines of bright blue before fading to black, as if I’d been branded. The marks faded into my skin a moment later.
“It wasn’t me…” Rijjat said as he too choked around the smoke. His grip was beginning to loosen as the horse backed away. “Please, believe me, I had no part in this, and I will find you.”
My eyes were falling shut now, heavy with sleep. I still managed to shake my head. “I hope Thessia curses you until your very last breath…”
He sucked in a pained breath as his hand let go of mine, and he tumbled to the ground. The last thing I saw before the smoke consumed Rijjat were his bright blue, glowing eyes closing as he fell unconscious. It didn’t take long for me to do the same as the riders carried me away.
Caldor
Ishould’ve followed her. How could I have allowed myself to be ambushed by street rats and criminals? Shame welled up inside of me, accompanying the rage that set my blood on fire.
I groaned in pain, trying to get my mind in order, imagining what just happened from every angle. What could I have done differently? There was no question about it that the Source was at play here. There was no logical way that a ragtag bunch of untrained civilians could get the jump on the captain of the royal guard, a shifter and a clearly trained fighter.
I was beaten down like a dog, and Remus didn’t fare much better, but Rijjat, the little rat, did manage to bloody one of them pretty badly. Nevertheless, the end result was the same. I was stuck here with a shifter who couldn’t shift and a stranger who lied about having an injured Raven to lure Xmara into a trap.
Xmara handled herself beautifully, despite having been taken in the end. I never understood the extent of her training and never bothered to investigate the rumors. They said she was powerful and deadly but it rivaled the memories I had of the woman I used to know so well. Now she was a woman who could fight almost as well as any man and had the tools to kill.
Finding out that Xmara was the infamous X, the leader of the most infamous spy ring in the kingdom, was a shock to my system, and I still had trouble processing it.
I suppose in my head I always assumed X would be a cruel sorceress who wielded absolute power, sending her Ravens out to do her dirty work. I pictured her cunning and without conscience, but never could I have imagined that X was living under the same roof as the King himself.
I did wonder about her training. Who trained her? How had she come so far and held such secrecy? Was it Waylan Bane himself? I doubted that. He could barely keep his cock in his pants long enough to realize he had a wife, much less take the time to train her. She could weld a knife or a dagger almost effortlessly, but could those skills match mine if I handed her a crossbow or a spear? I’d have to test that if and when I ever got her back.
Rijjat, Remus, and I were tied together with rope on the front steps of the temple and left there. Rijjat woke up first, then me, then Remus, probably slowed down by the concoction Xmara made him drink to keep his shift at bay.
I was concerned when I found out he was a shifter, but not Xmara. The Xmara I once loved had a kind, deep heart, and she always tried to see the best in everyone. I just wondered if remnants of that woman still existed now after all she’d been through.
“Do you plan on speaking to anyone, or are you going to wallow in your head while I figure out how to get Xmara back?” Remus growled out, breaking my concentration. I suddenly pictured running him through with my blade just to see if it would get him to finally shut up.
“I would advise you watch your tongue, kitty cat” I muttered as I scanned the forest in front of the temple.
It was silent and still, which meant bad weather would be coming. It was always calm before a storm, which would mean trouble for us if we remained tied together like a bunch of idiots for much longer.
The hairs on my neck stood on end as I felt a fourth presence somewhere behind me. It crept closer and closer until it became stifling. My skin buzzed uncomfortably, and there seemed to be a low humming in my ears that I couldn’t shake.
“Why do you stand on my temple steps without an offering?” The woman’s voice was low and melodic. I turned slowly and took the woman in.
White hair and markings down her face and body that I couldn’t read or interpret, she had to be a priestess. I could feel the change in the air around the priestess. The buzzing only grew, and I knew it stemmed from the Source. Magic emanated from her skin and hovered around her like a cloud, setting my teeth on edge. Nothing good ever came from wielding magic, and this kingdom was lawless with their use of it, making them a dangerous enemy.
