Page 52 of Catastrophe

ZAIDE

Abead of water hung so precariously from the ceiling above me that it seemed to vibrate for an age until it collected one droplet too many and fell, splashing against my forehead.

I was alone, on a metal-framed surface, my arms stretched above me with thick manacles around my wrists chaining me to the bars of the cage. Manacles also gripped my ankles, pinning my legs to the bottom of the platform. It was a vulnerable position which made me dread the arrival of my captors.

However, I could stretch my fingers out and grip the bars of the cage with the edges of my fingers. There was little space between the bars, which seemed thicker, but I could touch them. The blue hue of magic didn’t tinge the darkness, and my fingers didn’t suffer the consequences of a spelled cage.

The council spoke of an escape plan and gave away our strengths and power. Which is why I assumed they separated me and felt confident I couldn’t escape using my power. But we also revealed information on the nearby task team and my bond with Clawdia.

I wracked my mind to remember whether I mentioned her by name.

You gave up information on her. Even from inside a cage, even as she is free, you can’t protect her properly.

With each moment I spent alone, without distraction, with only a drip for company, the cruel voices of my mind encroached. My scars glowed a dim purple in the unending darkness of my new cage and reminded me of how I got them. And for a moment, my mind flashed back to the darkness of Akar’s fighting rings, where I awaited my battles and, worse, the blooding.

The chains chimed as they shook from my trembling, I cataloged every difference from my cave in Akar to this cage, and my heart eventually calmed and stilled. But without Clawdia’s bond glowing in my soul, I felt more lost than ever before. My thoughts clouded my mind in a thick smog, and the voices there whispered evil things.

You are going to die here. Die a weak, pathetic titan.

You had the chance to be great. Your gods offered you a way to save the entire universe, your race, your soul pair, and yet you’ll die in a cage because you couldn’t escape a powerless bunch of humans.

You deserve to be here. Whatever the humans do to you, you deserve that too. You’ve let down your gods, your race, your siblings, and your newfound family.

They await their doom now because you are trapped. You are going to cause their death.

You had the greatest gift of a soul pair and a soul mate, and you wasted it.

I tried to ignore them and pushed through the smog to clear my mind. I focused on my breathing, closing my eyes, shutting out the world.

When the fifteenth drop splashed on my forehead, I finally heard a voice not from inside my mind and strained my ears to listen. Although muffled, I could discern the conversation was between two people.

A man with a rough voice said, “They were speaking of a dragon on the island. Reports from the hunters have confirmed this, too. They avoided it, but this doesn’t bode well for your ability to control it, Darren. Were you even aware the beast had wandered off, or were you just too afraid to admit your failing?”

What does that mean? The hunters believe they have Fafnir under their control?

“Failing? The dragon wasn’t on the island the night of the attack. You’ll have to check your sources.” Darren’s voice was familiar, but I couldn’t place it when I was so interested in the conversation itself.

“I did. I checked the cameras in their uniforms. There was a dragon.”

I hadn’t hallucinated, then. There was a dragon. And I just confirmed that information by asking Joseph about it.

There was a long pause. “You have this? Here?” Darren asked, a dangerous tone to his voice.

Silence echoed around my cage. Then I heard muffled and small screams and gasps, which sounded as though they were through the tinny speaker of a phone.

“There is another,” Darren announced with an eager hitch.

The other hunter was not excited. “Where the fuck did this one come from?”

“I can’t imagine, but I must know. I will find it, capture it, and ensure it is under hunter control. That, I can promise you.”

“You’ll have it here for the presentation?”

They are presenting dragons? Are there more than just Fafnir? Fafnir can’t be the one they have captured.

“I hope so. If not, we can still go ahead with our plan. All the hunters are here?”

“We have a few more arriving from their scouting missions.”

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