Page 70 of The Eyes of Tamburah
“Being chained to the floor didn’t tip them off?” She couldn’t resist the sarcasm.
“That’s not what’s going on and you know it,” he chided.
“All I know is that you’re keeping me here against my will. And doing some kind of hypnosis to knock me out. Other than that, I got nothing.”
“You figured out how to counter our magic.”
Oh boy, more evidence these people were delusional. “No. I figured out how to counter your stupid chanting. Why am I here?”
“You’re being tested.”
“For what?”
“A few things. We learned you’re not a cold-blooded killer.”
“That can change,” she growled.
He laughed. “Also, you’re resourceful.”
“Not enough, I’m still attached to this fucking chain.”
“No need for that kind of language.”
“I think there’s every need.”
“The biggest challenge was our magic and to test if you could block it. Which you did.”
Best to humor the crazy man. “Great. Does that mean you’ll let me go now?”
“Not quite.”
She gauged the distance to him. Perhaps if she was fast enough—
“Don’t try it,” Bazia said. “He’s one of our best.”
He beamed at her. “That’s sweet.”
“Finish this, I’ve other things to do,” she said.
“We’ll be back with another and he’ll explain everything,” Ximen said to Shyla as Bazia completed restocking Shyla’s provisions and cleaning out the collection bins.
Panic boiled up her throat at the thought of being left alone in the darkness. Again. “No. Please, take me with you.” She hated how desperate she sounded.
“I can’t. I don’t have the key. Don’t worry, we’ll leave the druk and it won’t be more than a sun jump. I promise,” Ximen said.
No way to stop them. She kept the sob locked in her throat as they left. As promised the druk remained on the floor. A cold comfort. Once her eyes stopped tearing due to the light, she lifted the lantern and explored her prison. Numerous old scratch marks scored the wall, hinting at prior desperate occupants. Long-dried stains painted the floor. Evidence of what happened to those Ximen said hadn’t figured out their trick? Or just accidents? And who was this other person?
Questions without answers swirled in her mind. Why was she being tested? And what else did they have in mind? More isolation? Torture? What would happen next? Anxiety swelled and dipped like the dunes in the desert. Only the reminder that she still lived helped calm her thoughts. Eventually she dozed.
* * *
The chanting stole into her dreams, darkening the pleasant dreamscape of lying on warm soft sand as the sun’s landing streaked the sky with bands of color. It ordered her into the cold hard ground. Now familiar with the compulsion, Shyla dodged the commands with minimal effort and woke.
A muscular man wearing a sun cloak crouched near her. Joy licked her heart. Rendor! But this man’s wide scarred face, while sour, didn’t even resemble the captain. Besides, Rendor was dead. Grief laced with icy dread coated her insides. She shivered as the man continued to study her. His song drummed inside her head, but she pushed it back.
Ximen and Bazia stood behind him. Red marks shaped like chain links ringed Bazia’s neck. Not a bit of remorse touched Shyla.
The strange man changed the pitch of his chant. It deepened and soaked into her bones. An odd flickering impeded her vision almost as if her eyelids slowly fluttered. The three people flashed into and out of existence. Then they disappeared altogether.
