Page 25 of Marked By the Dark Lord
“Yeah,” I said. “With you.”
I recalled the way I’d felt back in my hovel. The anger. The fury burning me from the inside. The words on my lips, thepower. I closed my eyes, swearing I could feel it swelling.
“What the fuck are you doing?” the cat-lady hissed, backing away from me. “Are you insane, girl?!”
“What are you talki—”
I stopped talking as I lifted my hands in protest and saw the glowing red balls of energy.
“You’re crazy!” the cat-lady said, backing away. “You can’t do that!”
“Why not?” I snarled, stepping toward her. “It sure looks like I am.”
“Stay away from me!”
“You deserve it,” I said coldly, thrusting my hands forward.
Nothing happened. The red glowing stuff stayed in my hands as if stuck with glue.
“Uhh,” I said, shaking my hands, trying to get rid of it. “What the …”
Alarms began to scream, and guards in full armor came storming into the yard. They had large silver shields, which they locked together as they advanced.
“Hey!” I said, lifting my hands. “I didn’t mean it. I don’t want to—”
Something hard hit me from behind. I fell forward just as the guards rushed for me, large truncheons descending with vicious force all over my body, beating me senseless. I screamed at first, but one of them clipped me across the jaw, stunning me into silence.
“Get her on her feet,” one of the minotaurs barked, and I was hauled up roughly, my feet not responding, forcing them to drag me across the ground, blood dripping from several wounds.
“Where are you taking me?” I tried to ask, but it came out as “dfh fhhh uuu fngg eeeee.” Or something like that. I was barely conscious. Their response, however, was crystal clear.
“Let’s see how long you last in solitary before your mind breaks,” one of them chuckled.
“Nah, she won’t break,” another said. “I saw the schedule. She’s up for trial soon. And you know how the dragon likes to punish lawbreakers like her. Human.Female.”
The entire group chuckled nastily.
I started sweating with fear again.
Chapter Twelve
Korr’ok
“Ididn’t touch her!” Abhed shouted as he pleaded his case, a miserable satyr sitting next to him, the latest person to be punished by having to defend those at trial. He hadn’t done much, simply letting Abhed make his own plea.
“Jury Member Rokk?” the dragon rumbled.
“He’s lying,” I said. “The girl was terrified of him. He wanted her back to continue his nasty ways, so he enlisted me to deal with the ghouls who had supposedly ‘taken’ her. Seven of them died in the process of me rescuing his daughter.”
“And was she truly in danger?” Dannorax pried.
“Unknown. She claimed no, but she’s young, and they were ghouls, so it’s entirely possible that they would have turned on her. But at that moment, I don’t believe she was in mortal danger. I was able to return her with all digits attached and no flesh wounds, despite them having a six-hour head start. Everything points to the defendant being a liar.”
“But I’m not lying!” Abhed shouted, sweat pouring down his temples.
The room was rife with fear, filling my nostrils in the most pleasant ways. It was my favorite stage. Terror. But before he soiled themselves, which was never fun. The fear was the best.
“Jury, please vote,” Dannorax said, flicking a paw in our direction.
