Chapter 10

Vedrac

"I said, get up!"

He prodded me with his baton, but I didn't have it in me to be annoyed. I'd spent the most wonderful night of intimacy with my mate. My storm. I stood.

"I don't require any breakfast this morning, if you want to save yourself the time."

The bald guard looked at me suspiciously for a moment before shrugging.

"No matter to me if you go hungry. This place would be better off if more of you starved yourself to death. I've got things I need to be doing anyway."

The venom in his voice took me by surprise for a moment. It wasn't just hate. His energy jabbed at me with each word. He was filled with anger, and it was ready to explode. There was a sort of cruel delight in there too. Swirls of blood red told me that he was ready to do something terrible.

I left my cell and watched him walking away, a cocky swagger in his step. That sour tang was on my tongue again. I was caught up in the coming maelstrom, and he was at the center of it. I could have dashed after him, laid a hand on him and brought it all to an end. Before I could act, a wave of heat flowed behind me.

"Is it time?"

"Yes."

Everything went gray, and when it cleared I found myself in an entirely different room. A click and my collar fell to the floor. I didn't even glance back at the shadow demon, I walked forward straight to the small box crackling with energy. I could see the magic used to bind it clearly. It was a complicated spell, elegant in a way but nothing I couldn't handle.

I sat cross-legged and began chanting old words of power. Energy around me swirled and built as I spent time repeating the words and making sure they were all pronounced perfectly. When they were so intense that the room felt full to bursting, I fell into my meditative state.

In this place in the weave I saw the prison laid out before me, as it was in this moment. The bald guard and another one were carrying an unconscious woman into my cellblock. A minotaur lay in a room in the center of the prison. My mate sat eating breakfast with a couple of friends. Laughing and chatting. A bright light in this dark place. A dragon out in the yard was being shot at by a guard with a large gun. An orc lay dreaming. A group of guards all running out towards the yard. Other monsters and humans milling around, each with their own concerns and hopes, unaware of the heaviness of fate laying around this place. The smile of a seer, who had seen it all years ago and put the right pieces in place.

A crack vibrated around us, and then an explosion of energy sent me flying backwards across the room, hitting a wall hard. The box swung open. The shadow demon walked towards it, entranced and seemingly untouched by the explosion. I felt the pressure to move, and trusted my gut. A massive axe hung on the wall. I grabbed it.

"What's your name, demon?"

"Descaris."

It came out a whisper. He was completely distracted now by the safe.

"Good luck getting out of here, Descaris. I have my own path to follow now."

I listened at the door for a moment and reached out with my energy. I felt no people around. I stepped out into the corridor. I wasn't very familiar with the prison, but I thought back to when I had seen it during my spell. I could figure out where to go. I moved as quickly as I could.

When I saw the infirmary I moved to the nearest window to the outside. Bars covered it. The axe was extremely heavy; lifting it and swinging it would be a struggle. Goddamn orcs and their ridiculous weapons. I pulled in energy from around me to help, and swung the axe at the bars. The combination of the axe and my magic smashed it open. I stopped for a moment feeling out of breath. It was just as well that I had been able to feed twice on my love's anxiety, because I could not have done this on rats alone.

I knew I had to continue on, and I carried the heavy axe with me, as tempting as it was to ditch the thing. I reached the entrance to the cell block and realized there was a guard there as normal. I hesitated before remembering I wasn't collared anymore. I stepped out and moved towards him with my most intimidating smirk on my face. He saw me and instinctively pointed his little collar controller at me and hit the button. When I didn't react, he looked at my neck and his whole face went pale.

"Open the door please."

He froze. It was against his training. He needed encouragement. I reached out a hand towards him.

"Open the door or become my lunch."

With shaking hands he opened the door to the cellblock, nearly dropping the keys several times. Eventually he opened it and backed away.

"Thank you."

I walked in, and as I turned back, the guard had a moment of unexpected and ridiculous bravery and rushed forward, slamming the door behind me. I laughed. If I'd had a mind to actually kill him, he'd put himself in reach of me and he knew it. He threw himself backwards and fell to the ground.

"What's your name, guard?"

"Trent."

His voice shook, even though he was safe now.

"Trent, you are a brave man, trying to do your job well. So I will tell you this. If you find yourself in danger, head for the infirmary. You will find safety there."

Trent looked confused. I moved further into the cellblock. I heard him on his radio to the other guards, shouting in a panic. We would have company soon. I focused on the cellblock. There was something going on at the back, and I needed to find out what.