Rune Mage [Fantasy/Adventure | Book 1 +2 | Complete]

CHAOS MAGE Chapter 18: Deep Beneath the Palace

For hours Seiren lay with her face pressed flat against the blissfully cold stone ground. Her back began to numb and she was aware of the ropes digging into her wrists and ankles. Water trickled endlessly from some hole. Guards paced every so often, sharp spears glinting in the tiny streaks of light peeping through the gaps in the walls. Hynn watched her in silence.

Madeleine. Without a voice of reason in her head or the reassuring presence of her sister, Seiren was at a loss, the darkness eating away at any coherent thought and the pain devouring logic. Flash magic itched at her fingertips, but she knew the moment she tried to blow anything up, Hanna would declare war on Karma — plus she was in no fit state to even sit up, let alone stand and fight. Gulmore was so confident Soleus — another Daemonium member? — could extract information from the insurgents, the declaration was as good as announced.

Seiren closed her eyes, focusing on the ebb and flow of the magic in her core, the only constant in the world of madness right then. The pain eventually dulled to a distant hum and, as long as she lay still, she had peace.

When she next opened her eyes again, Hynn crouched before her. She tapped Seiren's elbow and gestured. Seiren stared. Hynn gestured again, hands flying before her, making various shapes, but Seiren couldn't understand what she wanted to say. For some reason, Hynn's hands weren't tied.

"I don't understand," she said loudly, shaking her head against the ground. "No... Understand."

Hynn sighed and rolled her eyes with a sassy exasperation Seiren didn't expect from her. Snorting, Seiren turned to face the other side, grateful to not feel knives dragging through the muscles in her back. The tingling, electrified feeling was still there. Seiren waggled her fingers before her face, watching the tiny trail of smoke floating from each fingertip and dissolving in the air. Tentatively, she pushed herself up onto all fours, wincing not from the deep gouges in her back from Cazadia's assault, but from stiff, unused muscles. Frowning, she pulled her shoulders back. No pain, just a deep ache as if she'd taken a battering, but not sustained life-threatening wounds.

Hynn suddenly crawled forward and grabbed Seiren's hands. Seiren yelped and almost fell backwards. Those huge brown eyes stared into hers.

"What?!" Seiren demanded. "What do you want?"

...hear me?

Seiren stared, stunned. A presence spoke in her head, one she had never heard before. Young. Hoarse. Quiet.

You can hear me now, right?

"Y-yeah," Seiren said, blinking. "Who—?"

You can speak in your head. Try.

She didn't need to be told twice.

Who is this?

Me. Hynn. Duh. As if to prove her point, Hynn released one hand and waved right in Seiren's face.

You can talk?!

Well, if you call this talking. We can communicate, at least.

How...?

Daemons. You're a summoner too, right?

No. Seiren shook her head. I have... summoning potentials, I think? But all I can do is make smoke come out of my fingers. So how is this—Seiren gestured at the two of them—happening right now?

My daemon speaks to yours. I speak through Castiel.

Castiel?!

From the top of Hynn's robe, a head poked out, followed by the rest of its body, wrapping around Hynn's neck. It was the length of Seiren's arm and thin. What a tiny daemon.