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The fragrant air fills my nostrils, reminding me of fields of overgrown flowers. I hear voices coming from behind a curtain. Straining to listen, I can’t make out what they’re saying. Suddenly, an older maid servant burst through the curtain, holding a tray of medical supplies with a younger girl trailing behind her.
“We have much to discuss,” the older woman tells her companion.
“How do we know he won’t run?” the younger woman asks.
The first woman laughs at the younger one’s ignorance. “Master Yurghen has him bound in a dampening. Besides, this is his destiny,” she says, eyeing the wound on my chest.
As the two women approach me, they bow their heads just enough to show a semblance of respect for my heritage. “Prince Dan’thiel,” they say in unison.
I growl at them. “Where’s Mira?”
“She is safe with Master Yurghen. The other Shard is also safe… in a cage,” the older woman laughs cruelly, while the younger one averts her eyes.
“What do you want from me?”
“I’m sorry, Prince Dan’thiel. Only Master Yurghen can explain that to you,” she says dismissively, preparing some kind of poultice on a nearby table.
I reach for my Chroma again, but my well is dry. Inspecting the restraints that hold me, I don’t think I’ll need magic to break these. The leather wraps around my wrists have a thin loop of metal connecting to the rope.
Despite my injuries, I howl with rage as I flex and press hard against my confines, easily bending and snapping the metal ring, releasing the ropes from my arm restraints. The two women stand motionless, gaping, as I quickly sit up and tear through the metal loops on my ankles as well.
As if suddenly awakened, the younger woman screams and runs to the door, startling the older woman into action as they flee together. “Guards! Guards!”
Two guards quickly rush into the room, pausing for only a half second to see the naked beast in front of them raging. I quickly glance around the room for something to use against them but find nothing.
Then the guards are upon me.
The first guard swings her sword but misses as I duck beneath it and tackle her, sending us both crashing to the floor. The second guard tries to stab me with his spear, but I roll off the first guard too quickly. The spear misses my torso by only an inch and rams into the stomach of his companion, causing her to scream in agony. He freezes in horror just long enough to give me an opening.
Lying beside the fallen guard, I yank the spear out of her gutted belly, quickly rolling onto my feet. I level the spear at the stunned guard, ready to kill.
“Tell me where my mate is being kept,” I growl at the scared man. Before he can reply, I hear someone else enter the room. I shift slightly to see the door while keeping my spear pointed at his chest.
“Enough,” Yurghen tells me, as the spear vaporizes between my fingers, shattered into thousands of tiny splinters.
“Where is she?” I bellow. Yurghen looks at me like I’m a petulant toddler having a tantrum because he won’t let me give the dog a haircut with a chainsaw.
The air shimmers and black ropes form around me, binding me. I struggle against Yurghen’s bonds, but they hold me tight, lifting me off the ground until I’m hovering limply a few inches above the cold stone floor. The ropes that bind me continue to shimmer and swirl in an intricate black pattern, darker than any shade I’ve ever seen. It’s like they absorb light itself.
I’ve already seen Yurghen channel a yellow hue. Now, he channels the darkest shade of black, revealing his true multi-chromatic nature. I curse myself for coming here, shaking my head in disbelief. Meeting someone who can channel more than one color is a rarity, something I’ve only seen twice in my lifetime. I lift my gaze, my eyes burning with rage and hatred, as Yurghen speaks.
“Your mate lives, as I’m sure you can feel. The past two weeks have…”
“Two weeks?!” I roar, my voice filled with anger. Yurghen remains silent, instead using his power to transform the ropes into a gag made of black strands. I can feel the energy buzzing as it fills my mouth, but it tastes of nothing.
“Yes, these past two weeks have been quite interesting indeed. I released you from your slumber because I’m ready to test you both together. However, you shouldn’t have killed my guard. You will be punished, of course,” Yurghen says, a quiet tsk escaping his lips as he glances at the lifeless body on the floor.
He barks at another guard, ordering him to clean up the mess, before floating my bound body behind him as he strolls down the nearest hallway. Yurghen talks casually, as if he’s discussing an intriguing discovery with an old friend.
“She is truly extraordinary. The powers she possesses are unlike any other human I have tested. Typically, when a human is blessed with the bond, their powers are weak, their control feeble. They become little more than a mere echo, amplifying and expanding the powers of the Giver. But this one…”
Yurghen pauses, turning down a dark passageway that leads to a stairwell. He gestures towards me as we float together, my bound and gagged body by his side. His face becomes serious, but his tone remains soft.
“This is highly abnormal, my friend. Her Chroma runs deep, akin to the purest bloodlines. It’s almost as if she also carries a Shard within her, but no, that can’t be,” he muses to himself, his brow furrowing in confusion while his eyes light up with intrigue.
Ascending a spiral staircase, we enter a large observatory. My eyes widen at the bronze spectacle in the center of the room, but Yurghen quickly leads me to a wooden door off to the side.
As the door opens, I eagerly peer inside, desperately searching for any sign of Mira. The room is a horrific sight, resembling a torture chamber where strange rituals and experiments have taken place. Mira is chained limply to a pillar at the center, her naked body covered in bruises and fresh cuts. She weakly looks up, her eyes widening suddenly at the sight of me.
