Page 143 of Deadly Maiden

“Can you pull it out?”

I cannot aid him in this and must watch as he inches his body along the spear, pushing it through his body so he can get to where I broke that weld. Just imagining how that must feel makes me despair. It’s obvious he cannot squeeze between cage and spear. When he starts to rock back and forth along the arc of the cage, and then the intact and opposite weld groans and creaks, I see his purpose. To twist the spear enough to snap that last weld.

How can he do that to himself? My stomach churns as he uses his bodyweight to bend the iron.

He will need to shift, fast, when he gets free. Will my necro healing be enough? If nothing else is possible, I will leap into the ocean with him and take my chances that way.

I glance at the tower.

We may need to jump. More soldiers have arrived. They swing off the top of the stairs and immediately head for the door and onto the rail. They’re moving fast, boots banging onto the metal.

“Rorsyd!” I warn him, fear rising as they pound nearer. “Get away if you can!”

No. I…me, it is I who has to do something! Anathema? I could use him. I could…

He materializes beside me, from a hiding spot in the shadows beneath the rail.

I don’t want to, but Ihave to. I’m looking into his pretty eyes, when something slams into me.

Cold, extreme cold that frosts the air, turns breath to mist, flesh to ice.

And I stiffen. My hair crackles and freezes.

What was it I needed? No more fire mages. Nothing killing my undead… Heal Rorsyd, pull out that spear. Everything has gone wrong.

I cannot move my hands, my arms, my legs.

And I fall…

Flopping onto my side, paralyzed. My skin sticks to the icy bars of the cage.

Dazed, confused, I’m aware of a bag being thrown over my head and tied at my neck. My sight goes. My hands are forced behind me into manacles.

Iron hooks are thrust into the flesh of both my sides. I’m taken elsewhere, and consciousness fades in and out. Sounds are muffled…scraping, distant voices, laughter. Orders are being given but something muzzles my brain.

An ice mage hit me with something.

Chapter 45

Rorsyd

Despair fells me as they haul Wyntre away.

For all of ten ticks of a clock hand.

Get yourself in order. She needs you.I cannot afford to be a weak asshole.

At the command of a sergeant, Aos Sin soldiers jump into the cage with me and cautiously wrap my neck and hands in chains before breaking that last weld on the spear.

The pain is tremendous and has me gasping and falling to my knees, whereupon they haul out the spear. No warning, just the iron is torn free, leaving a hole.

“Fuck!” Head down, I am shaking, watching the spear tumble into the water below and splash. Somebody has dropped it. That is good.

I am ready to throw up all over their boots, though most of my vomit would also go into the sea, some of it would dirty them.

My blood drips freely, leaking over the cage bars in a red, red rain.

They’ve made a mistake though. These chains they use to pull me from the cage are not made of iron. This is both good and bad. Bad, as they’re far stronger than pure iron, good in that my magik is building like a tidal wave.

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