Page 13 of Cage of Darkness
He lowered his voice and whispered,“From here on out, whatever I say to Soma, whatever I do at theRussek court, it’s all to save you.” There was an intensity to himthat she’d never seen before.
“But who will save you?”she countered.
“I can take care of myself.Have faith in me, and I promise to protect you.”
“Time to go!” Soma calledout.
The two soldiers guarding her and Odarshoved them forward. “If we enter Russek, we are entering hell,”Odar murmured. “It will change you, and you will never be thesame.” His face hardened as if he had made up his mind aboutsomething. Cold fear slithered down her throat, choking her. Shehad the notion that her horrible situation was about to getworse.
Allyssa moved slowly to the tunnelleading out of the cave.
“Hurry up.” A soldierpushed her forward. She stumbled and caught herself. The tendons inOdar’s arms protruded, but he made no move to help her.
They exited the tunnel. Soma took halfthe soldiers a few feet away where he quietly spoke to them. Whenhe finished, the men, all heavily armed, pounded on their chestsand left.
Soma came over and checked herbindings, ensuring they remained secure, before tying the prince’swrists together. “Let’s go.”
Two soldiers led the way, then Soma,followed by two additional soldiers, Odar and Allyssa walking sideby side, and then the last two soldiers brought up the rear. Theyremained in this formation as they walked along the narrow dirtpath they’d previously traveled on. At the waterfall, instead ofdescending, they turned and made their way to the other side of themountain.
The path wound its way down themountain at a manageable grade. No one spoke, which affordedAllyssa plenty of time to think. How close were her men to catchingup? Every time she slowed, the soldier behind her shoved herforward, hurrying her along. Had her men run into the six Russeksoldiers who’d parted ways outside the cave? If her men didn’t saveher, how would she survive Russek?
At the base of the mountain, a crudefenced-in area with a dozen horses was nestled in the shade of someboulders and tall trees. Soma pointed to three of the horses, andthe soldiers immediately saddled them, strapping the bags they’dbeen carrying to the animals.
“Get them on,” Somaordered. One of the soldiers roughly grabbed her, sitting her atopa horse. He attached her bound wrists to the saddle.
The assassin approached and withdrewhis knife. “This will only hurt a little bit.” He shoved her sleeveup and pricked her arm. A moment later, it went numb from hershoulder down. He did the same to her other arm.
“How do you suggest I stayon the horse without falling off?” she inquired, panic setting in.She couldn’t feel her arms. The situation kept gettingworse.
He smiled and then reached down,pushing up the bottom of her pants. He pricked her calves. “Useyour core to remain upright. If you lose your balance and fall offthe horse, I’m not stopping to help.” He pinched her thigh, but shecouldn’t feel it.
Satisfied, he went over to Odar, whowas similarly situated atop a horse. Soma pricked Odar’s limbs andthen pinched his arm. He didn’t flinch.
“Do you plan on paralyzingus for the remainder of the journey?” she asked. If he did, therewould be no chance to escape unless her men caught up to them.Allyssa suddenly found it hard to breathe.
“Yes,” Soma answered,mounting his horse and dismissing his men. “I won’t risk losing thetwo of you again. And this time, you’ll be lucky if I feed you.” Hetook hold of the rope attached to her horse and the one attached toOdar’s. The three of them made their way across the valley, leavingthe kingdom of Emperion behind and entering Fia.
Chapter Six
After a week of hard riding throughthe countryside of Fia, Allyssa had lost nearly all hope ofescaping or being rescued. They hadn’t seen anyone in days. She wastired of being on the blasted horse. Every night, Soma dumped Odarand her on the ground, not even bothering to untie them while heslept peacefully with the luxury of a bedroll. He faithfullyreapplied the paralyzing substance every ten hours. She feared thatonce it wore off, her muscles wouldn’t work properly. What shewouldn’t give to feel her arms and legs, to be off this horse, andto be back in Emperion.
A thick layer of dark clouds hid thesun, making it impossible to tell the time of day. Her clothes weresoaking wet from a light rain that had been falling on and off.She’d never been so miserable.
“Russek is just over thisrise,” Soma said, speaking for the first time in days. He carefullyremoved his arm from the sling and nudged his horse faster to gainmomentum for the incline.
The three of them crestedthe top of the hill, and Allyssa’s breath caught. As far as shecould see in both directions, Russek soldiers lined the Fia border,evenly spaced thirty feet apart. In between each soldier, a spikehad been impaled into the ground, a decaying head skewered on topof each one. She wanted to dismount, run the other way, and neverlook back. However, neither her arms nor legs would obey herfrantic, screaming mind. She glanced at Odar. His ever-present maskof indifference cracked; his eyes were wide with horror. The wordshe’d spoken not long ago rang in her ears.If we enter Russek, we are entering hell. It will change you,and you will never be the same.
As they descended the hill, her panicintensified. Once they passed the line of soldiers, she would bedoomed. Soma tossed his long, black cape over his shoulders,revealing his tunic embroidered with the Russek royal family’screst. Not a single soldier broke formation as they approached. Sheexpected to be surrounded by these vicious men and dragged beforethe king. However, maybe they didn’t know her identity, especiallyif this was a secret mission sanctioned by Jana and Shelene, notthe king.
They reached the line of soldiers. Hermind shrieked at her to run; yet her limbs wouldn’t obey. The manstanding only a few feet away on her right didn’t even turn hishead as they passed.
And they were officially on Russeksoil. A shiver ran through her body. About a mile ahead of them,the lush, green valley butted up against large mountains cappedwith snow. Hundreds of black tents had been pitched at the bottomof one of the mountains.
“Is this a military base?”Allyssa asked, not remembering this location on her father’s warmap.
“One of many,” Somaanswered.
When they neared the tents, a squad ofheavily armed soldiers dressed in battle gear marched out to greetthem.
