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I quickly raise my other hand, throwing a large fireball at his back. Before it reaches him, he lazily tosses an opalescent spiderweb-like ball into the air. It extinguishes my fireball and rushes towards me. I let out a small scream and try to run, but it’s too fast.
The web engulfs me, leaving a small translucent glimmer hovering just an inch over my entire body. I fall to the ground, the wind knocked out of me. The well of Chroma inside of me instantly disappears, and I feel gutted by its absence. I lie on the ground gasping for air, but none comes.
I reach for Sunder through the bond, but it’s gone. He’s gone. The bond is gone.
Something like panic claws up my neck when Yurghen plods towards me. He looms over me as I struggle for breath, unable to inhale.
“Do not test me. I can end you with an eye blink.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Mira
Finally, air rushes through the glimmering barrier, filling my lungs. I sag to the ground, taking deep breaths.
Yurghen turns with no further words, and I quickly rise to follow, not willing to earn his ire again. He’s too powerful. Silently, I walk through cold, empty hallways with him. I don’t see any servants or students. The heavy wooden doors that line the halls are closed, leaving me to only guess at what lies inside.
We climb the stairs to the highest level of the tower, which opens up into what appears to be a large observatory. A giant bronze telescope points into the sky. Yurghen leads me to a smaller room off of the observatory.
The highest room in the tallest tower, my mind instinctively quotes in Shrek’s voice. Like I need something to latch onto. Something normal. From before.
I am shocked as I step into this room, which seems to have been specifically made for studying a captive. There is a dungeon-like cell to the side and a thick stone column in the middle with iron loops for chains. On the side is a cluttered desk filled with notes and books, and a few bookshelves stand behind it. I can’t help but wonder how many people he has tortured in this room as a chill runs down my spine.
“In,” he says, his tone bored, as he points to the cell. When I don’t immediately comply, something unseen slams into me, knocking me hard onto the stone floor. A flash of light dances in my vision. When it clears, I see my body being dragged into the cell by… nothing. I slide effortlessly against the stone.
My clothes rip along the sleeve, along with the skin beneath it. I groan in pain as the skin sloughs off my arm and hip. My dirty dress tatters around me, barely hanging off my shoulder.
When I finally stop moving, the door is already shut behind me and Yurghen is gone. I look around the windowless cell, finding only a small cot and an empty bucket.
I turn back and pound on the door. I scream. I smack the wood so hard that my hands sting. I throw the bucket against it, the sound echoing like a gunshot down the hall.
Nothing.
I feel for the bond.
It’s weak this time, but it’s there. I breathe a sigh of relief, my back hitting the wooden door as I slide down onto the cold floor. At least Sunder is alive. But what about Bobble?
But no, Yurghen wouldn’t kill him. He’s far too eager to… study us. I swallow a lump in my throat.
It sinks in.
I’m alone. Captured in a wizard’s tower.
My mates are in danger.
I reach for Chroma, but it’s distant and oily, too slippery to grab. Eventually, I’m out of breath and energy. I can’t pull on it anymore. Defeated, I put my head in my hands.
Tears leak from between my fingers.
I’m alone.
And I have no idea what I’m going to do next.
I don’t know how many days pass before Yurghen shows his face once again in my cell, accompanied by a young woman with short, curly hair. Her eyes remain fixed on the stone floor as she sets a tray on the ground, topped with a small blanket. An apprentice, it seems.
Yurghen, dressed in his usual simple robe, clears his throat as he walks in, jotting something down in a nondescript leather-bound notebook.
“Is Sunder alive? Or Bobble?” My voice, hoarse from disuse, doesn’t even sound like my own. Yurghen ignores me, examining something on the pages in his hands. Finally, he lifts his eyes from the paper to glance at me.
