The Fireborn Chronicles: The Lost Maiden

Chapter 21: The Last Child of the Ram

Wh...What...

Isaac? What are they...going to do with...him?

His real name....is Ivan Gudensøn?

What do I do? I don't want to talk about him, but I don't want to see them all killed! What do I do?

"Let me say it again," Illska stated affirmatively, and he slammed his hand on the table. "Tell me what you know about him and where he could possibly be at this very moment."

"I don't...know," was all Silva could muster, as she was undecided of what she should do. "Tell me...what you are going to do to him?"

"Do not get pushy with me," Illska said to her with a commanding look in his eyes. "I am the one in control here, and you will do as I say or you can say goodbye to the Siegfried family. Talk or they die!" Silva glared into his eyes again, and they looked like they wanted answers quickly. She had to make a choice, and she had to make it now. 

I'm sorry, Isaac, Silva said solemnly, But I have to do it. I'm sure these guys really will attack them if I don't say anything. Markus and Guren can't take them, even if Markus is a talented magi warrior. He can't stop an entire Viking squad. I have to tell them......but maybe...

Silva waited, at that moment, for something or someone to disturb this conversation, allowing her to escape the ship. She had already started clawing at the knots, but she couldn't do anything if the brute Nebb was in the room. Silva concluded that Illska wasn't much of a fighter, since he wanted a guard in the room with him. She needed a way to distract Nebb, and she had to do it fast.

"Beneath the stars, above the clouds," Silva began to sing, remembering her mother's melody. "To that, I leave behind."

"You're getting on my nerves, elf," Illska said slowly. "I don't know what you're playing at but it's not getting you anywhere."

"The ocean breeze and the flowers that bloom, I wish I wonder why. Why I must go to places where-"

"Stop your damned chanting!" Illska wailed. "I am threatening you here, so stop with your accursed song and tell me about Ivan Gudensøn!"

"The tears would pass me by."

"That's it. Nebb! Silence her this instant! We'll try this again tomorrow. Nebb, what are you doing?"

Silva had hoped for Nebb to fall fast asleep, which was the reason why she began to sing. Nebb was indeed doing so in the corner of the room, as his soft and curious side for Silva made him entranced by her lullaby. 

And at that moment, Silva untied the knot with her long nails and lunged at Illska, taking him by surprise. She tackled him, and using a piece of cloth she ripped from her leggings, she tied the cloth around his mouth. Silva used the torn rope from her knot and also tied it around Illska's hands and legs.

"You made a mistake underestimating me," Silva whispered in his ear. "I'm much quicker than you think." 

She then knocked Illska out with a painful gut punch, and he lay still after that. Even though her plan was successful, she knew that the harder part was yet to come. Silva had no idea how to escape the ship, as she had yet to find out how many Vikings were aboard it. She looked out the peephole of the door, and she saw a corridor beyond the darkness.

Silva found two Vikings that were standing by the walls to the end of the hallway, talking leisurely and having a drink. She had to find a way to get them over to her room without opening the door herself, and Silva pondered this a bit. The worst part though was that she couldn't tell if it was daytime or nighttime, as this corridor was completely barred with no windows or cracked beams. Perhaps this was the bottom hallway of the chambers below deck, or Silva wondered if these were jail rooms and she was in one herself.