Annie Hayden's Arc

Chapter 19 of 27

Annie woke on cold stone. Chains held her arms to the wall behind her. She pulled once, hard, and the iron bit her wrists. The cell was small and dark, built from heavy blocks slick with damp. Her armor hung torn from her fight in the woods. Her boots were still on her feet, but her wand was gone. So was the fox. Without either she had no way to touch magic. She swallowed the panic rising in her chest and made herself think. The lock clicked. The door swung open on rusted hinges. Vael stepped in, hood back, white hair pale against the dark. He was the hunter who had cornered her in the cave, the scout who caged bonded souls for a master she had never seen. He moved like a man who owned the room. "So you're awake," he said. "Someone important wants to meet you, little pet. We shouldn't keep him waiting." Panic clawed up her throat. Annie fought it down. She had no fire, no wand, no fox. But she had learned one thing under Frostwyn. Magic followed intent, and intent needed no crystal to begin. "I can't walk," she said. "My leg. You dragged me too hard." Vael studied her. Then he crouched to unlock the chain from the wall ring. His face came close. That was the moment. Annie drove her boot heel up into his jaw. Bone cracked. He fell back with a grunt, and the chain went loose in her hands. She scrambled up, wrists still cuffed but free of the wall. Vael rose fast, blood on his lip. He raised one hand, and frost gathered at his fingers. With one swing he hit her. Annie was frozen where she stood, unable to move “Now, shall we go?” Vael said, a hint of frustration in his voice. When he got close he whispered, voice low in her ear “and if you cause me any more trouble, I won’t be so generous with how I deal with you” Annie’s eyes widened, fear crept through her as she realized her position, and that his threat was more serious than that.