I blinked.
The last thing I remembered was Erin grabbing me, then darkness. The first thing I realized, was that I was laying on my back. I groaned as I shifted my weight to sit up, and I immediately realized I was surrounded by bars.
I scrambled to my feet and ran to the edge of the cage. I recognized this place...I had been here before. I was hanging in a cage from the half crumbled stone arch...except last time Xornoth had held me hostage here. I looked down and realized I was even higher than last time... My head started to spin, and I forced myself to look back up.
That's when I heard a burst of wind and Erin landed on the edge of the cage. Just like the last time, she grabbed onto one of the bars with one hand and leaned backwards.
"Ey fungus." She said with a smirk.
"What. Do. You. Want?" I asked, my voice shaking with more than rage.
"Not much..." she said with a taunting grin. "You see," she held out her arm and waved her other arm around it. As her forearm passed over it, the ender dragon egg appeared in her hand. "I want to finish the spell Xornoth started. All I need to do is slit your throat and your free to go."
I backed away from her, until I felt my back press against the cold, curved bars of the cell. I went for the knife I normally kept in my boot, but it was gone.
Erin smirked again as she crossed the cell in one stride. "Fortunately for you, I don't need you dead just yet. First, I've got to let him out." she said as she held up the chain the Xornoth crystal was attached to.
"You wouldn't." I said in absolute fear, but Erin's grin just got wider. "You- You wouldn't betray Scott like that."
For just one second, Erin's face fell, and her fingers fumbled the chain she was holding. But the next second her grin had returned, and she stuck out her lower lip in a pout. "Aw, I wouldn't? Would you like to test that theory?"
In one swift motion she pulled the chain from around her neck and dropped the crystal. I screamed and dove for it, but she kneed me in the face before catching it around her foot, the tip of the crystal just brushing the ground.
Blood splattered from my nose as I tumbled to the other end of the cage and smashed my back into the bars. My arms shook as I pushed myself up, but Erin kicked my face again, and I heard something snap as blood gushed from my nose and mouth.
But I forced myself to look up as Erin watched me in content. "Your- your still in there Erin. I know it." I said, wiping my mouth on my sleeve.
Her expression faltered, but then returned angry. "Is that right?" She growled. Her wrist twitched and her red magic went flying from her body, curling around my torso, neck and arms like hot wires and raising me up to her eye level before slamming be back into the bars, vertical this time.
"Scott's- Scott's coming-" I gasped, it was hard to breathe with her magic pressing against me. "They're coming Erin. They're going to- to help you."
Again, her expression faltered, and her eyes faded to a shade of purple for just a moment before her eyes shut and she cried out before smashing her head into one of the bars. I was released from her hold, but I hit the ground right next to her. Blood dripped from her hairline and her breathing was heavy as the whites of her eyes flickered black and white.
I sat down on my knees in front of her and squeezed one of her hands. "It'll be ok-" I started.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed, and magic exploded from her hand, blasting me back into the cage bars. My legs instantly curled up to my chest, so I formed a ball and I moaned. My back ached from the bruises Erin had induced and I felt something hot and sticky in my hair.
Erin got to her feet, before slamming the heel of her hand into her temple. Her eyes settled on black, but just before she was about to glide down off the cage, I called, "They'll help you, Erin! Just hold on a little longer!"
She glanced at me, and I swear she jerked her head in a nod before jumping down towards the ground.