Descent Into Darkness

Descent Into Darkness Chapter 31

Lookie lookie, I've got a cookie!

She helped him sit with his back against a large boulder, and then sank to sit next to him. “In my land, an Atox is not so unusual. We do not need to kill as you do to receive a second power. Maybe my people are wrong for holding the borders closed, for if we had not, our information would be shared, and you would have known of your abilities much earlier, and learned to control them.”

“What does my ability have to do with my family leaving me?”

“On the morrow, Phoenix, you shall see.”

With that she tied him to a large boulder, his back pressing painfully into the rough surface, and he shifted as much as he could to make himself comfortable. Lian inspected the knots, and nodded before climbing a tree. Phoenix settled in for the wait, hoping it would not be too long.

~_~_~_~_~_

Phoenix cracked his eye open, making sure that he kept his breathing deep and steady to keep up the pretense of slumber. Full dark had fallen, and the moon was hidden behind a layer of clouds. Lian was still in her tree, motionless. With a quick check of his gifts, he found that a small amount of power had returned to him, and he put it to use immediately. His wrists heated slowly, and the rope binding them began to smolder.

The rope fell from from his hands a moment later, and he grasped the one binding him to the boulder, looking up at Lian to ensure she was still asleep. The woman had not moved, so he let his power flow, and that rope too, fell from his chest. He rubbed his wrists, enjoying the reprieve before slowly rising and making his way to his horse.

Blaze nickered softly, nuzzling his snout into Phoenix's shoulder. He patted the horse's muzzle, and moved onto the saddlebags. Even with his power returned, he knew he wasn't at full strength, and would never be able to best Lian in a fight. His groping fingers found the hilt of the dagger in the darkness of the bag, and he pulled it free as silently as he could.

If he ran, Lian would catch him. If he stayed here, as complacent as he had pretended to be earlier, she would exact whatever revenge she had planned for the morning. He had no plans of allowing that, and he knew his only hope was to kill the woman, take her piece of Avec, and wait for his powers to return to full strength.

Once she was dead and his gifts returned, he could continue his quest to gain more of the stones and kill Demetrius. He turned toward her tree, thinking of how best to kill her. To climb the tree, or find a way to bring her down to his level was the question he pondered for a moment.

Deciding on the latter he reached out with his power to find a stone to hurl at her, but frowned when his sixth sense barely reached a foot away from him. Casting his eyes out into the darkness surrounding him, he finally spied a small stone and bent to retrieve it. He sighted in on the woman in the tree, readied his blade, and threw the stone with all his might. It slammed into her head and she tipped from the branch, falling to the hard ground below. She impacted the ground with a hollow thump, and he was on her before she had a chance to react, plunging the knife into her body again and again, grunting and smiling all the while. He finally slowed, and sat back, putting all of his might into creating a weak flame that danced above his palm. He looked to the dead woman, expecting to see a pool of slowly spreading blood, but instead he only heard a chuckle behind him. “If you are quite finished now, Phoenix?

He now realized that he had been stabbing his own bedding, which the woman had rolled up and placed in the tree. He turned on her with a snarl, swiping at her abdomen with the blade. She jumped backward, a handspring taking her well out of danger.

“You think me dull me dull, Phoenix?” she asked. “You think I would not recognize fake emotion? As if in your current state you could even be capable of emotion. While I now know why you do the things you do, I will not let my guard down until you are cured of your delusions of grandeur. You will submit, or I will kill you.”