Hi!
I'm so stresssssed, can't believe I'm moving out in a week!
But I finally managed to finish this chapter :D
And we're getting closer to the end of the book… :0 (a bit)
Thank you to everyone voting and commenting <3
Enjoy!
TW: mention of violence, little bit of blood
After the soldiers had brought Karl back from his interrogation they pulled Darryl out of his cell and led him through the same corridor.
Clay was nearly squeezing through his bars, trying to spot Karl who was standing a few cells away, leaning against the wall so he would not fall.
"Karl?" Clay asked carefully. "Are you okay? What did they do?"
He could hear the rebel take a shaky breath.
"I'm… I'm fine. They tried to squeeze everything out of me. I tried not to give away too much information."
His voice sounded dead.
Clay's hands started to feel numb as he tried not to think about what must have happened to Karl.
"Did they-"
"Yes." Karl said.
Clay heard a noise which he assumed to be Karl slowly sitting down next to the bars of his cell, leaning his head against one of the bars.
"Oh."
Clay's heart started to beat painfully as he thought about what was happening to Darryl at the moment and about him being next.
"Karl?"
The rebel sighed and stood up again, walking to a corner of his cell from where he could see the other Vilis.
His eyes were tired and there was no rebellious glow in them anymore.
"Hi Clay."
His voice was not as numb as before.
"So… they got you?"
Clay did not know what to say, every word that came out of his mouth seemed to be awkward. It was all helpless.
"Yeah."
Karl looked down, apparently thinking the same. There was no point in hoping.
"How's Nick?"
Clay asked and Karl looked up, his eyes full of grief.
"I think he's okay. At least he didn't get caught. I hope he isn't doing anything stupid, he would be the type of person who would start a fight with a Pretiosi just to protect his friends."
Clay nodded, not sure if Karl could see it. Nick was that type of person.
Everytime he saw a flickering light in the corner of his eye, he quickly turned around, expecting his best friend standing in the door of the cell, grinning at him like there was no tomorrow.
But of course Nick was far away.
Clay could only hope he was safe there and would not try to do something stupid.
"Why did you want to kidnap George?"
Clay asked into the huge silence.
Almost at the same time his stomach started to rumble. He had not eaten for the whole day.
"Blackmail of course." Karl answered. "But also information. One rebel thought that we could change George's mind, he's still young and manipulable. Maybe he would have fought for us. But mostly it was because of his and Fulga's planned wedding. Fulga is very powerful and after their marriage it would be way more difficult to come near George."
"Oh alright."
Clay tried to feel bad for George but the disappointed and hurt look in the Prince's eyes were haunting him.
George might be able help him, he could get him out of this cell but of course there was no reason to.
Clay was sure that George had stopped caring for him entirely after he had realised what Clay had done.
The slow breathing in the cold complex was the only thing that could be heard.
Both rebels were in their own thoughts but still there was this unspoken truth, hanging in the air between them.
They would both die.
A loud noise made the two men look down the corridor where a soldier was walking towards them, followed by the Prince and a slumped person on his side.
The moment Clay saw Darryl's face, he knew it had hit him worse.
His eyes were red and bloodshot, his whole body seemed to be shaking and he could only walk due to George's supporting arm around him.
The soldier opened Clay's cell door and he expected to be taken out next, but instead George let Darryl fall into Clay's arms who struggled to keep the weak man standing and slowly let him down to the floor.
Clay was shocked.
Darryl's fingers were trembling while he tried to hold onto Clay's sleeve.
He wrapped his arms around the shivering body, furiously staring up at George while trying to hold back his own tears.
"What- what did you do to him?!"
He hated George, he hated the cold expression on the Prince's face, the selfishness and how he would hurt a Vilis who could not even defend themselves against a Pretiosi power.
George shrugged. There was absolutely no emotion in his face.
"He did not want to talk. So we made him."
Clay's stomach went weak and for a moment he felt like he would throw up.
Darryl buried his face into Clay's shoulder, whispering something.
The trembling body in his arms broke his heart. He did not even want to imagine what those Pretiosi made Darryl go through- he could only feel the hate towards them, the incomprehension about the cold-bloodedness.
He felt helpless. He wanted to take at least some of the pain away- from the man who had always been there for him and who was now broken by the Empire, just like so many other Vilis.
"How could you do that?"
His voice was only a whisper.
George raised an eyebrow, causing Clay to tremble out of disgust towards the cold look in his eyes.
How could he ever find those eyes pretty?
It felt like he was staring into an abyss, falling deeper and deeper while the already weak light faded.
"Do you really think I care only a bit about what you have to say?" George was leaning against the door of the cell as if he was having small talk with a friend.
"You are a monster!" Clay shouted.
"You're a monster and a torturer!"
Darryl slowly shook his head into Clay's shoulder. "Don't- don't say that. Stop it. Stop."
Clay looked down at the boy in his arms, squeezing him a bit more. His eyes wandered over the countless wounds on the older man's skin, put there to make him talk. Most of the blood had already dried.
George laughed quietly.
"Be careful, you could be the next one. I managed to keep them from interrogating you but I can always change my mind."
Clay let out an ironic laugh.
"Oh you mean you kept them from torturing me? So you still care about me? Maybe because I'm not a Vilis like we all thought? But you're still gonna let me die? How merciful! You're selfish and hypocritical!"
Clay spat out and stood up after he made Darryl sit down against the bars.
Being taller than the Prince gave him a feeling of power.
George frowned.
"Hypocritical? I'm surprised you even know this word."
Before Clay could even think about a reply his whole body heated up and his vision started to fade into a deep red.
The Void in his mind reacted instantly.
It caught a small part of the red, pulled it back and started to form it.
The heat in his skin backed away, staying behind a narrow barrier that surrounded his whole body.
George seemed to notice the resistance against his power and he clenched his hand into a fist.
The heat got stronger and stronger, making Clay sweat and his mind go weak.
He closed his eyes and focused until a white place started to form in his imagination.
He dived into the Void, running towards the floating red which looked like it was on fire.
The moment he got control over it, the heat got less again.
He watched George's eyes go wide as his power got redirected at him- the more heat he sent, the more heat came back to him.
A drop of sweat started to form on the Prince's forehead.
Clay was in a rush of victory.
He could defend himself.
He was not helpess.
He could stand up against his oppressors- maybe he could even defeat them.
In his lightheadedness he did not hear Darryl starting to whine, only when the other Vilis let out a scream Clay turned towards him, noticing his red skin and the burnt ends of his hair with horror.
Without knowing what he was doing he forced the Void to extend his blocking field until Darryl was safe from the heat aswell. The hate towards George, how he would use his power against an already wounded man made the shield grow thicker and stronger.
George stared at him in disbelief but Clay was smiling. He did not know how, but apparently he could protect others aswell.
While Clay continued to hold against the unbearable heat, he could see the pain in George's eyes, all his frustration and disappointment in the boy he believed to be his friend.
The air between them started to curl and slowly turned red while the humidity rose as steam.
Clay could feel the power in the steam, it was pushing against both of the men but neither of them was going to give up.
The red color in the Void was getting bigger and bigger and Clay got more control over the fire in the air.
He tried to move it, tried to push it behind George and surrounding him with his own power but he did not get this far.
A face appeared over George's shoulder, staring at him with its golden eyes.
Clay winced and nearly lost control over the heat. The blocking field around Darryl started to fade but George had already stopped sending fire in his direction.
Clay managed to stabilize the force field again, balancing their powers and making them equal.
Fulga was standing behind the Prince, following the silent battle with narrowed eyes.
"That's enough, George. You're hurting the boy." She said with a soft voice.
George did not turn around, instead he stared at Clay, his eyes full of disgust.
"Stop pretending you care about this dumb Vilis."
"He is not a Vilis. And I know you're gonna regret this later. I know you care about him, you just feel backstabbed right now. His power could be our chance. You want to kill of our only chance to defeat the Rebellion."
Suddenly the heat was gone.
George turned around while Clay slowly slumped to the ground, exhausted from blocking the Prince's forceful power.
"You killed a Vilis without hesitation at the Queen's Competition!"
George shook his head at Fulga, frowning.
"Maybe I learned something there." Fulga said quietly.
George stared at her, then snorted and turned around to leave the cell complex.
Fulga looked at the two Vilis in front of her, apparently in her thoughts. Clay was surprised to see no hate or negative emotions in her golden eyes.
Fulga shrugged, turned around and the cell door got locked behind her.
Clay had asked one of the soldiers for bandages and started to wrap them around Darryl's wounds.
His hands were weak and trembling, the whole fighting made him extremely tired.
A dull bang far away made him and the other two rebels jump.
A few seconds later there was another bang and this one seemed to be closer.
It sounded like something or someone was thrown against a wall or onto the floor.
Clay could see Karl leaning against the bars of his cells, tilting his head so he could watch the other end of the cell corridor.
At least 20 soldiers were running towards them, surrounding their cells, opening the doors and forcing them out.
They were in panic but tried to remain calm while escorting the three rebels down the corridor and out of the cell complex, through the castle and into another cell complex where the bars and doors were thicker.
Just after they had entered what seemed to be the high security section, the soldiers around Karl started to shout and take out their guns.
With one arm around Darryl's back Clay could only watch Karl running in the opposite direction- towards the light and into the arms of five rebels who were armed to the teeth.
"CLAY, COME HERE! RUN!"
A hourse voice screamed and Clay could see his best friend Nick, standing between Karl and Laricia who was causing water to rise from everywhere.
The soldiers around them reacted instantly, using their whole weight to press Clay and Darryl onto the floor while their colleagues were forming a barrier around them.
Laricia created a high wall out of boiling water behind the soldiers and the two prisoners, cutting off their opportunity to lock Clay and Darryl into the high security cells.
This was their only chance.
The incredible strength of the soldiers kept them down but Clay suddenly relaxed and closed his eyes, reaching for the Void in his mind where he already saw a stripe of orange floating around furiously.
He tried to grab it but the orange dodged, dancing around as if it was making fun of him.
There are too many of them.
Clay thought desperately.
It is impossible to block all of them off. And after that they still have their guns.
The soldiers now seemed to remember about their guns, too, starting to shoot bullet after bullet towards the group of rebels while Clay was trying to get control over the orange in the Void.
The grip of one of the soldiers on his arm got less and he managed to pull his hand away.
The bullets of the soldiers were stopped by little water shields which closed around them and splashed to the floor.
The air started to flicker in an alarming shade of red and seconds later the rebels had to dodge a racing fireball.
George was standing behind them.
The boiling wall was already too hot- it only took a little heat from George to evaporate all of the water.
Behind the disappearing wall there seemed to be a whole army of soldiers waiting. On the other side of the corridor more and more Pretiosi were coming together, some of them still fighting with more rebels.
The group of now six rebels quickly turned around and ran, followed by Pretiosi-made fire, lightning and killer plants.
Surrounded by unbearable heat and the smell of burnt hair Clay and Darryl were too weak to resist the soldiery dragging them through the high security section and quickly pushing them in two of the cells, making it impossible for them to escape.
Heavily breathing and shocked about what had just happened Clay was met with the silence and the motionlessness of the dimly lit room.
While his brain was still in a fighting mode and the adrenaline spread through his body inexorably he tried to calm down and understand how the attempted rescue of the Rebellion had been his last chance to escape the castle and the murderous Pretiosi.
Now nothing could get him out of this high security cell- except for his own execution.
The area around his cell was still silent and he was sure that Karl and the others had managed to escape.
He could only imagine his friends running into freedom.
Clay winced when a tiny flap in the door opened and a hand with strong fingers let a scratched panda plushie fall into his cell.
He needed a moment to reflect the absurdity of a plush toy in such a hopeless situation- he would die and this person was giving him the panda plushie of his best friend? It seemed like mockery.
The anger about this unnecessary action created a painful knot inside of him.
But then he realised what that kid's toy really meant. He was not completely cut off from the world. There were people out there who cared about him and tried to safe him from being killed even when he felt completely lost in the hands of the Pretiosi.
He just hoped that they would come back and get him out of that cursed castle.
This tiny glimpse of hopse was too much for Clay.
He grabbed the paw of the panda before breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably.
(2739 words)