Chapter 30

I watch the infinite tsunami of the sun's golden light wash over the fabled forestry. Casting the leaves, Jurassic floras, everything beneath its beams under a golden chimera. My eyes snap to a small, scuttling miser searching for food under bristles of wispy moss.

Tall walls rise as a bowl beyond bough and leaf, a gargantuan stone mortar stands tall in the forestry bosom of the celestial glade. A gaping clearing made to accommodate the expansive construction. Suddenly seven more robed beings filter from the foliage, heading straight towards us from the sides.

"The rules of the tournament are simple. Find the gilded scroll and escape."

Brennon huffs, throwing a hand to the soaring structure. "I think it is more complex than that by the look of that colossal edifice. It's almost as large as the coliseum in Sorcia."

The robed being nods with an ominous smile. "The obstacles and manoeuvring are much more convoluted. But it will depend on your own intellectual capacity to discover the gilded scroll and getting out of the Vespasian. Alive."

Each of the robed beings takes each pureblood and leads us all on our own to the different entrances of what I believe to be an arena of somesorts. Promptly, I'm placed before the rangy and slender threshold with a vault of knotted vines entwined over a mesh of tangled branches.

"So when—"

I whirl around to see no one in radius. On the ground. Nevermind to the multitudes above.

Wordlessly, I focus my gaze at the hidden target beyond me, grounding myself to the present moment, rooting myself to the very soils of the celestial forest. I feel the dank, warm air press against my skin, scented with the smell of the earth. The aromatic plants that flower all around us. My ears erect at the blare of the ram's horn that is a continuous, deep and reverberating sound that blasts through the forest.

Alert, I take off into a sprint. A fanfare of drums and horns announce the commencement of the tournament. The gate of vine and limb creaks, unravelling the wooden knot, granting me entry. Warily, I make my approach inside and when I glance back the lattice of bough and vinery suture back together again. I look ahead at the linear passage like a sepia valley of flattened stone walls, too high to see what lies beyond them. The walls are segmented with a horizontal boundary in its middle and several vertical markings that run in succession.

What interests me more is the ringed emblems on some of the slabs and even on the smoothened ground. A distant pattern on the floor in which the pathway is divided into lanes with the talismanic symbols crossing onto the other lane with every second block on the other side and vice versa.

I reach a dead end. In the centre of the wall is a huge ringed symbol with the markings on the outer shell that has light carvings which only darkens until the centre. A round bulge protruding from the rest just begging to be pressed. And that is what I do, depressing the centre and to my right a slab of stone pushes back, retracting to the side to reveal another passageway. I enter, creeping there to reveal a multi-network of passages swirling and slithering into different inputs and outputs. Wildly confused, I embark on a random path into the maze; a complex system of passages. The only difference I'm can distinguish is the round emblems, the tattoos within the ring differ slightly, various curvatures of symbols and interconnected markings.

I falter in my steps. I look down at my foot sunken a few inches into the ground. A pressure plate beside a tattooed block. I lift my foot carefully and the plate rises to camouflage flawlessly with the rest of the ground. A gust of churning sounds rips through the sepia canal, sounds like heavy and rusted mechanisms roiling. I jerk around and a slab from the wall rockets across the passage to slam into the opposite wall then it sweeps back until another strikes out like a stone fist to crumble the wall on the other side with another strike, followed by a stone barrage of solid rock punches.

I take off running and the stomping and crushing pursue me.

I leap into the air, springing over a long rectangular slab, landing on the ground with a roll, using the momentum to launch to my feet again. I jump up on one rocky limb to jump onto the next before the one beneath me sucks back into the wall—the wall ejecting body-crushing, refined chunks like a hundred stone tongues lashing out, seeking to pulverise me into dust.

I encounter another gigantic ring at the end but when I press into the centre. This time the rest of the middle to the outer segments snap out. I fiddle with them frantically until I realise the segments can move, it turns around and around like a spinning wheel. I whip it into a spin until it slows to a stop and a doorway opens to my left. I hurl myself through it, crashing onto the ground and the doorway behind me seals close with a booming thud.

I drag myself up to look at the identical maze.

Mindful of my steps, I wander warily into the elaborate labyrinth of death. I know that we all are being watched, but it is as soundless as the night. I know the Terra are far above in the treetops, silently spectating, but they spur not even a single cheer of encouragement or a whoop of excitement.

Eventually I came into a passageway that expands enormously to accommodate the foot of a colossal tree whose puffy green head I saw even several passages back. The circumference is saturated with vegetation, the ground carpeted with overgrowth. The tree is a castle of wood that towers most edifices in cities. But I'm so focused by the enormity of the north, I'm ignorant of the south.

I hone in a particular sound, crinkly and crispy as something slinks through the undergrowth. Reluctantly, I turn my face to the ground and see a creeping, green trailing plant.

A burst of panic—I lurch forward. But it's too late. The vine coils around my ankle; I try to jerk my foot out of its grip, but I barely move an inch, the tendril of nature coiling around me. My world turns upside down as I'm yanked up, foot first. A scream escapes me but I cut it off instantly as the ground shrinks from me with every second, heaved up into the air.

The panels of the skirt flop past my head. Dangling upside down like an oblivious prey that stupidly wandered into a hunter's trap, blood rushing to my head already. Hoisted up metres in the air I have a birdseye view of the arena and it is not an arena. It takes the shape of a coiled snake whose body is divided into rectangular spaces with different numbers of segments, with distinguishing marks and ornamentation. The form of a spiral of depressions with the central and outer depressions differentiated its larger size. These also display a variable number of depressions. It's not an arena. It's a massive game board. The game of mehen.

I curl my torso up, moving to snatch the one dagger from its scabbard. With it in my grasp, I begin to swing; swaying to and fro to generate enough momentum. Once I do, I shoot up to slice only a thread of the tendril and it lowers me back down. Once I'm close enough to the ground. I curl up again—relinquishing its siege—I plummet to the ground; I flow into a backflip and in seconds. I land on both feet. A startled Solaris darts back in fright, clutching his heaving chest. He is sopping wet with his golden hair plastered to his head.

"Did you quite literally fall out of the sky like an angel?"

Releasing a built-up breath, I shove the dagger back into its scabbard.

He and I lock eyes and tension springs to life.

I look him up and down distrustfully. "Is this the part where we kill each other?"

He nods exaggeratedly. "Possibly, or we can pretend like one did not see the other." An idea pinches his expression. "Better yet we can form a coalition of sorts. The rules of the game said to find the gilded scroll and get across. It never said the victor cannot be victors."

My head slants to the side, considering. "Alright," I agree. "Betray me and you will regret it."

His hands flip, then he drops them back down. "Never crossed my mind."

I jerk my head, motioning him forward and we walk onwards together.

"You should know that the arena is a game board of mehen," I inform. "The Game of the Coiled One. An ancient game that was played on a spiralling track, employed by stick dice of two types of pieces, one representing a predatory animal. The one before allotted six counters to each player rather than only one."

"So to win by finding the scroll…we play the tournament as one would play the game?"

I nod, semi-confidant. "I do not know what the life-size version entails." I lift a hand to gesture at the interlocked emblems tattooed on the various panels on both the walls and the floor. "I have no idea what that means or the spinning wheel at every dead end."

Solaris brings us to a stop. "Well, they're not there for decoration. It must be a clue." He rushes to the closest emblem on the wall, his hand hovering over the convoluted patterns. "The reason I am drenched is because both ends of the passage closed off to flood it with water like a bath. I think these emblems resemble maps or symbols depicting each deadfall of each section of the maze. The problem is comprehending what peril lies in wait."

I nod at the plausibility. "That is viable."

We walk on and my eyes peruse over the following emblems.

"It all looks like a mesh of twirls to me," Solaris says.

My mind still ponders on his theory. "Though, it does not explain the—"

Solaris falters.

I refuse to look down. "Pressure plates…"

I shuffle back with mounting panic, his eyes are darting everywhere at once. Instincts yank me back and my head whips to move out of the path of a flying arrow that embeds itself into the opposite wall. Without needing to say anything we sprint on with arrows whizzing past our heads. Solaris latches onto me and wrenches me back so hard and fast, I collapse into his arms that are tangled around my form as he twists me towards the ground, using his body as a shield as a deluge harmlessly zips past him by a fraction of an inch.

I turn my head and we face each other, our breaths becoming one.

He releases me, staggering back, pushing his slick, sunny strands from his face. "We should head on."

"You know…your odds of victory are awfully diminshed, if you seek to sacrifice yourself for your rivals."

He steals a furtive glance. "You are not wrong. But you have better use to me alive then dead, your knowledge has proven to be of value."

We journey aimlessly in silence, both of us vigilant, eyes surveying the tattooed landscape. We come to a jarring stop, a distant scream cleaving to the wind. One of the Herems in evident peril. Solaris and I look at each other and come to a mute accord to continue onwards. After a long interval of no danger we arrive at another spinning wheel.

He and I gawk at each other.

"Not I," we say simultaneously.

He jabs a finger at his test. "The last time I spun that horrific thing I nearly drowned to my death."

"And the last time I did, I was nearly crushed to a million pieces."

He folds his arms stubbornly. "Not I," he repeats.

I release an explosive sigh. "You are a child." I go up to the wheel, dragging the segment into a dramatic spin. "If we perish, know now the fault is not mine."

"How bad can it—"

The floor beneath us falls away, plunging us into darkness, the air whooshing in our rapid descent. When we land, the impact is pampered by a profuse bed of scattered straw and hay. Pain sends a tremor through me and Solaris groans awake, struggling to sit upright, faffing through the unbridled stalks.

"At least we are not dead."

A rumbling growl announces we are not alone.

"Apparently not yet," I murmur.

Another growl—a ferocious burst sends us to our feet with ease. The only source of light is right above us from where the block of the ground vanished, allowing a downpour of sunlight to immerse us in. Insurmountable dread seizes me in its grip. Frozen on the spot like an invisible hand drove a pike through me, nailing me to the ground. Too close to me, the sound of a fear-instilling growl, cavernous and rumbling that bespeaks its size.

From out of the shadow, a creature of lithe and brawn skulks towards us, a body like a wolf but three times as large. And its fur is of the grass alike to the celestial forest with oak brown boughs intertwined as the creature's muscles with vines for veins, entwined over sculpted wood for limbs. Its snout aimed downwards, glaring at us down its nose. Its eyes gleam with unnatural verdure. The creature is nearly the same height as Solaris.

My hand snaps out in front of Solaris as I retreat. "Behind me."

"I–" he pushes my arm away to shove me behind him, "must be the one to say that."

It continues to stalk towards us in a slow, daunting gait.

"There is nowhere out from this pit," Solaris says. "The breach above is too high to reach."

The creature barks a half roar, enough for shameful trembles to wrack my frame. So close to me I can hear its huge paws meandering closer, a heavy stroll. I nearly stumble to a fall, my body nearly yielding to terror. It bares its grisly maw and pounces at us and we soar in opposite directions, caught by a mattress of hay-like bundles. I spot another spinning wheel integrated into a wall.

"Solaris, I found our exodus!"

"I am about to maimed alive," he hollars, "so forgive me if I do not look!"

I look back to see him, scuttling backwards on his elbows, pushing back waves of straw. I search our surroundings for anything of use to obstruct the creature for a blade will do nothing to its impenetrable bulk. I scamper on forearms to snatch a circling uva, as long and clingy as a hanging vine but as flexible and resilient as sisal rope. I snatch at, spurting up. Solaris dodges deftly, evading another attack but before it can attempt another, I loop the uva and fling it, and the cord falls around its neck. I tighten it so it clamps around its throat. I yank it back, its resistance searing through prominent muscles as I reel the creature back and it begins thrashing violently.

I signal to the wheel. "Go!"

Solaris streaks across and throws him to the wheel. He takes an assesming moment to study it, muttering his calculations whilst I strive to tame a beast. The creature writhes and its tugs me closer by a few staggers before I regain control, resisting, forcing compliance. Solaris spins each circular segment until all the patterns within align with each other from the outer until the inner ring.

My eyes find a bulging root, thick and strong enough to have infiltrated the stone ceiling, jutting out of the darkness. Summoning everything inside of me, I heave, pulling the heft of sheer sinew with every trudge towards my sole salvation. Muscles and tendons generating strength, thews gathering in my back. A grumble from the earth shakes the pit. Something lifts from the ground and clusters of hay melt from a slow-rising tiered platform. Our only escape.

Instead of running to safety, he joins me and we successfully haul the creature back enough to bind the uva around the meandering root that shall never hold but it will endure long enough. Once we it is done we dash to the outbound platform. I spring up, gripping onto the two steps to make it to the flat top. I scramble to brink to see that Solaris had let go, he rushes to a nest-like area with a dent matching the size of the creature. And a golden glint captures my attention until a heart-pounding snap cracks from the other side.

"Solaris, run!"

Solaris races towards me and tosses the gilded scroll and I catch it midair, tucking it behind me in my waistband. On my knees, I learn over the verge to extend my hand. The creature barrels straight to him from the opposite side.

"Give me your hand!"

Solaris jumps just high enough to seize the last step and I elongate myself so he can reach my hand. I haul him to me with blinding speeds just as the breach is about to close. My back hits the suface and he falls onto me, knocking the air from my lungs. Solaris lifts himself up halfway, his hands planted on either side of my head, face glistening from exertion.

"Did you get it?"

I arch against him to pull out the gilded scroll, fluttering it victoriously.

He flashes a grin. "That's my Hera." He clambers up to his feet, lending me a hand as we both rise.

"Now that we have the prize. How do we get out of here?"

Solaris shrugs and takes the scroll, eyeing it inquisitively before he unravels it. "Heh, you will not believe this." He holds it fully open, shaking his head with frustrated shock. "You were right. It is a game board and the scroll is the map, it's illustrating a clear path out of the maze and these symbols." He flicks a finger to the markings. "I suppose they are danger zones, but now we have a way out of here."

He goes to the spinning wheel with confidence this time and inputs the code, spinning the different segments. A new entrance opens up from the left. He wags his brows at me and nods for us to move. From there I follow Solaris's directions since his navigation has been sound and we have not encountered any perils even after several turns. Once I see the colossal tree looming in the distance I think for sure that we have gone in a loop but the patterns in the passageways within the rings are different. This tree is another only allusion to the enormity of this game-like arena.

"Are we almost there?"

"According to the scroll, we should be free within minutes."

"That's great to hear—" Brennon rounds a corner, revealing himself, "—I have grown weary of this game." He waltzes towards with his face caked with filth and mud. "I would love for this absurd, arduous tournament to be over, and to claim the victory I have dearly deserved."

"You are not the only that has suffered," I say.

Solaris rolls up the scroll, readying for a fight.

"What's this?" His finger bounces between us. "An alliance." He snorts. "I wonder how long that will hold."

"Long enough for us to revel in victory," Solaris says, tucking the scroll safely into his waistband. "Will you yield now or will you grant me the satisfaction of forcing it from you?"

He chuckles with mocking humour. "You're not the only ones that have brokered an alliance."

Alarm electrifies me. I push Solaris sideways and I jerk to the opposite side—the current of a blade slashes between us. A hand grips the tail of my hair like the reins of a horse and yanks me back. A sweaty arm hooks around my shoulders to keep me in place with a dagger to my throat to ensure that I stay there.

"Tsk, tsk," Markivues chides. "You didn't actually believe you would win, did you?"

Solaris rushes toward me and Brennon delivers a blow with surprise force that sends Solaris to his knees. I grip Markivues's wrist and before I can manoeuvre out from his hold. My world splinters, my breathing hitches and I look down at the dagger submerged in my gut.

"Adalia!"

Markivues trails his nose up my neck. "Don't look so distraught, a gut wound is a slow death but the blade has missed vital organs. You will survive."

Solaris lunges up but Brennon is quicker, swiftly hurling him against the wall. He strikes his jaw then steals the scroll, slamming his hand against the emblem like an ignition. The wall flips up, scooping him up like he's on a table, before it swivels around completely, leaving me alone with them.

Markivues tears out the blade that sends me to my knees. My hand pastes on the puncture, I crouch over, bracing against the torrent of pain. The two share a cackle, running off into the distance. A whimper escapes me, tears slipping out. I wring out conviction, forcing myself upright to reach for my skirt and I tear off a bolt of fabric. I take it to my waist, applying adequate pressure on the wound and binding it in a tight knot.

I rise wobbling, nevertheless, I rise.

Solaris was navigating but a Valwa's memory serves me well for I remember every inch of that map. I only need to interpret it despite a cloud blooming to disarray my thoughts. An arm around my waist, I forge onwards, alone but alive.

My foot sinks deeply and I trip, taking the blow on one knee. The ground quakes, foreshadowing my doom, gears churning once more. From all four sides, the walls close in at an inescapable speed, I nearly burst into a sob. When the walls draw close enough I spurt up, leaping up the wall, rebounding against the sides until I reach the apex. I grip the ledge and pull myself out of the crack before it closes. I lay on top, on my side, gasping, the wound clenching, squeezing the life from my body. I lift myself up to lean upon my elbow, gazing at the possible end of my pain. A circular structure in the centre with a domed gilt head with the perfect size slot to fit in a scroll. Not only is it a map but it's a key. The structure is suspended in the air by unrailed bridges, four paths stretching from four great corners. And far below is Rimnick, watching from a safe distance as he wrestles with another Herem. A violent mesh of limbs, so ferocious I can't even see who the other Herem is. I don't know how he came into possession of it, with Brennon and Markevius out of sight. Rimnick now has the scroll. I have only but one chance to take advantage of this broil, distracted by their tug of war for the scroll. I have no idea how to steal it, and still preserve my life.

Being the fiend that he is, Rimnick gains the upper hand with animalistic force, battering the other Herem, his face whipping in the directions of his jabs. Even though he is defeated, Rimnick continues to brutalise him, unleashing a volley of punches, knocking him flat on the ground. Then he slams his boot into his side, repeatedly. His crippled body minced and curled in a foetal position.

Occupied by his mindless brutality. I strategies my own attack.

If I attack head-on I won't last a second. I might have been able to take him on before but my injury makes the possibility slim with each passing second. No, I will have to fight fire with water and coordinate an ambush of my own. I push myself up the rest of the way, wincing, bloated cheeks holding a cry. Once I'm up at full height I tiptoe on the head of the wall towards the northwest corner to reach the bridge. Shortly, I arrive, a faultless trajectory from where I stand on high to be above my target below. His cruelty satiated, he jerks from the severely beaten Herem, only to return to launch one last kick.

I make my ploy. Not giving myself the chance to dither. I dive down with the ground rushing at me and the impact drives Rimnick to the ground. He groans and turns his head the capture a glimpe of me. I snatch a fistful of his hair to lift his head and smash it against the floor, rendering him unconscious. The aftermath reverberates through me and I roll off his motionless form, clutching my waist. I crawl to the glittering gold scroll, towing my body towards it, using my one forearm. Pain flares, concentrated in my right side, my fingertips scraping against gold—a hand locks on my ankle—I twist around to see Rimick's feral face, blood seeping from his temple.

"Come here."

He hauls to him with on pull and when I'm close enough I thrust my foot at his face, sending him sprawling. I scramble back, grabbing the scroll on my way back up and bolting towards the closest passage.

"Run Hera," he barks out, scrabbling up to give chase. "For if I catch you, you will leave these lands in a corpse's shroud."

I zigzag through the maze, eluding him through evasive manoeuvring.

"Adalia!"

His rage-fuelled bellow chases after me, only loaning speed as I push harder. After a while the noise I hear is the drums of my heart beating wildly, soon to burst, my legs throbbing. My body giving me no other choice, I decelerate to a stop. My flank falls against the closest wall for borrowed support, salty tears and sweat merging, my torso hunched over. I allow myself this recess, the fresh-forest air replenishing my lungs and restoring a morsel of my ebbing energy.

I mend my posture to bear the scroll aloft, unravelling it to evaluate the map. I look at the emblem on the wall from across me and my eyes dart back to the gigantic coiled diagram representing the game board. And there I locate where I am and how to return to the centre of the arena via an alternate, safer route. I trudge onwards with single-minded determination.

Long after the ambush, I reach the last tree, three of them marking major points of the board. According to the map, four more passageways and several turns until my return. Engaged in a unstable walk, I turn my gaze to the rooftop; a lattice of interwoven leaves. Shafts of sunlight stab through the breaches; wood sorrel flecks the drape of the sward. The sun is about forty-five degrees above the horizon in the west. Eventide approaches and my time dwindles with each passing moment. Alarm blitz my neurons. A flash of green. A trailing plant ropes around my neck, bound a tattooed hand. And then the scroll disappears from my grasp and emerges in another's.

"Bow master," he whispers with malice. Dario. "And you were a good one, Hera. I do this not because I do not care for you. I merely care for me, more."

He releases and the trailing plant whips me back, tightening around my throat like the cords of death, nearly crushing my osegogues. The view of the world shrinks rapidly until I dangle like a criminal, hoven up sky high, gagging and floundering. I lift my leg, unlatching open hand from the plant to unsheathe my dagger. My face knots into a determined frown, I nick a thread—it lowers me, then only do I sunder my bonds. I drop. The ground races to catch me, agility impaired, I collapse to the ground, this time, unable to rise again.

***

"The wound is sealed." The nymph raises the mould-green elixir. "This tonic contains phytochemical allantoin that will aid your recovery but it is a potent mixture. It will disorient you before it renders you cold. Take it before you slumber, the more rest the better."

I nod, lying on my side on the cot. "Thank you."

She puts on the bedside table, then turns around to address him. "I will retrieve you one as well, then you are both released to your chambers."

She moves away, revealing Solaris reclining on the cot next to me. The infirmary accommodates a row of white-clothed single beds, occupied by bruised and battered Herems. The open ceiling is nothing but sheet-like drapes strung over at spacious intervals.

"How did you get here?"

Solaris smiles, hand cemented to his stomach. "I found Marivues, then the others found me. I was assailed by greed, damaged by hands rather than hidden deadfalls."

He looks over at me, comforting me with his crippled smile. "Do not look so sad, at least I wasn't impaled."

I laugh jaggedly, pain prickles at my stomach. "Do not humour me."

The tournament ended with Dario as the champion. As a reward, an elite banquet will be held in the honour of the Virdi Victor in the coming days. For now, we are given a recess to prepare for the banquet with only Terra nobility in attendance. And for us conquered candidates to heal from the wound of defeat. This will be the only chance I get to rest before then and my body desperately needs it.

I force myself upright. "I must bid you adu and abscond. I need my bed."

"I'll escort you—"

"You will not." Vince leans against the frame with his arms crossed. "You need to await your medication. I will accompany the Hera to her chambers."

"Wouldn't you like that," Solaris spits out.

"Though your chivalry is appreciated. I do not need aid." My eyes spear through Vince. "Especially not from you."

A frown flits across his face. "It was not intended as a slight. I am very aware that you need no man's help Hera. I believe it will ease both Solaris and I to know you are safe."

Solaris doesn't argue.

I hoist myself to my feet, taking the elixir and hobbling to the exit, shouldering past him. Only when we reach the lofted bridges am I able to navigate the way to the annex and back to my chambers at the very end.

"How is it that not a single bruise marks your body?" I throw a glare at him. "Your face, untouched."

"You say that as if it would distort my features," he says with a semi-smug smirk. "Well, the Herems wouldn't dare obstruct me and the deadfalls I survived easily enough."

"Are you gloating?"

"I never have to."

I groan internally.

"Which one of them stabbed you?"

I glance at him sideways. "Why?"

"So I can repay his deed in kind." He meets my gaze briefly. "A cowardice deed that I am as certain as the sun will rise tomorrow that it was Markivues."

I conjure a smile. "You are smarter than you look, Herem."

He gives me a cheeky grin. In due course, we reach the archway to my chambers and he respectfully remains within it. I stroll to the bed afloat and slip on it. Vince observes me, shoulder resting against the frame with his chin raised.

"Would you like for me to join you?" he asks with a sultry smile. "For your safekeeping, of course."

I uncup the glass elixir. "I would rather take a blade to the gut again."

Vince nods with a crooked grin. "Insolent as you are resilient." He shoots me a confident wink. "I will return to check on you before the banquet."

He recedes. I take a swig of the tonic, nestling into the cushioned bed. I relax, patiently waiting for its effects to inundate me in sleep. Soon a fog washes over me and I sink deep. Alarm reaches for me in the haze, permitting me to see a figure at the archway. I narrow my eyes, the effects taking a serious toll on my clarity.

"Vince?" I utter, breathing the word.

The wood whines. The figure stalks towards me with menace in his stride.

A feral face bursts in front of me. Rimnick.

"You think you can ambush and make a fool out of me. And still live?"

I lurch forward. He pins me down without effort. Biliousness billowing in my mind, shutting down my body each function at a time. His hand claims my neck, gripping gradually. My vision quavers with flashes of black. He lifts himself up to climb upon me, his knees on either side of my hips.

Rimnick comes too close to hiss into my ear. "Did I not warn you of the consequences of what should happen if I were to capture you?"

My mouth falls open. A silent, strangled scream tries to make its escape, but it's diminished to nothing but a rasping breath. His life-threatening hold cuts off my air supply. A surge of panic blazes through me, dread shredding my insides.

"You shamed me in front of all those green savages. But we both know I cannot kill you. And I would like nothing more than to hear you beg for my forgiveness. But I know of a way that will remind you to never dare cross me again." His death grip tautens. "And your punishment will have you completely surrendered to me."

The edge of my vision goes dark. I can feel my oesophagus closing with every breath stolen, morsels of my life torn from my lungs, flaming pain explodes within, coursing through me. Horror gnawing at my insides.

I must stay awake. I must fight.

Blood pounds in my ears. My heart thunders in my chest.

I must stay... awake. I must...fight.

He drops his voice to a dangerously low whisper. "If you will not give me a part of you, willingly. I will just have to take it."

Summoning all my strength, thrashing violently, I try to pry off his arm, scratching, beating, clawing, but his merciless siege will not relent. My hands soon become lame, numbly stroking at his wrist. Amused by my breathless desperation to escape him. His sickening cackle blares into my ear, ricocheting throughout my body.

I can barely breathe, let alone scream for help as he slithers backwards. And the ends of my gown rise. My eyelids flutter close, consciousness fleeing my grasp.

Darkness consumes my vision.