Enter the Frey

Chapter 2

Selena sat with her back to the cold, slime-covered wall. It was the most comfortable position she could find, being held down with sturdy metal chains around her feet, hands and neck.

Even so, it wasn’t the worst prison she had been walled up in and with any luck, it wouldn’t be the last.

The Raithien guard – the same one who had earlier spat in her face – entered the hallway leading to her prison. She eyed him through the bars, wondering what he would do to her next. He was tailed by a young man dressed too shabbily to be anyone of importance. As the pair moved in closer to the cell, clearing the shadows, Selena realised she had been too hasty to judge.

She spotted the small black horns poking up from beneath silver hair, and the violet glow in his eyes.

“A halfight,” she whispered.

“Who gave you permission to speak, scum?” the guard barked.

Selena had only heard stories about the halfights. They were rare. The resulting offspring of a mortal and an Ight – or shard of the light.

He looked down at her, eyes running over her body as though measuring her up. After a ‘hmm’ and a shrug, he stepped back.

“I guess I’ll take her, 40 gold coins you said?”

‘Take me? He is going to buy me?’ Selena wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or afraid. These guards were going to slip up eventually, they always did, and the worst they could do was kill her, by the laws of war.

But this guy? What could he do to her?

“She’s a feisty one, I’d be careful,” the guard warned, and rightly so. Selena wasn’t going to make his life easy.

“I have a binding spell prepared,” the halfight said. “Come on over here.”

“I’m chained up, asshole,” Selena retorted. She shifted about on her sleeping butt cheeks, trying to ease the sensation of pins and needles.

“Rude,” the boy smirked. “Well, let me in there.”

The guard hesitated but eventually gave in and unlocked the door of her cell. As he approached Selena’s mind got to work, looking at the situation from all angles to figure out the best chance of escape.

She would let this creep bind her, lead her away from this hellish place, and when it was safe to do so, remove the binding spell. With her increased resistance to magic binds, it wouldn’t prove too difficult to cast a cancel magic spell.

The air seemed to change as he approached, becoming heavy and dark. Selena twisted away in defiance but was ultimately overpowered by the boy. His stature, tall and wiry, did not reflect his true physical strength.

The feeling of relief as he removed the shackle from her neck was short lives, as the iron link was replaced with his hand.

“Your life is mine. Everything you are. Everything you might become. It all belongs to me now,” he stated.

His grip tightened for a moment, and they both knew he could end her life there and then if he chose. He had paid for the privilege of owning her, after all.

“Repeat after me. ‘I live only to serve your needs’.”

“I… live only to serve your needs,” Selena choked out the words.

The boy released his grip and grinned. “That’s it. You can come with me now. By the way, my name is Ziel.”

Selena stared blankly at Ziel as he pulled the pins from the shackles on her hands and feet. Something felt wrong. As she looked down at the marks on her wrists and ankles, the purplish marks on her blue-tinted skin, she felt a sense of detachment. As though the body was no longer her own.

Binding spells had been placed on her in the past, usually ending in the death of the caster. Selena was an assassin by trade after all. They had never given her this out of body experience.

“Follow me,” Ziel spoke softly, but the words crashed in her ears, forcing her onto her feet and to his side. She kept pace with him as he left the dungeon, past the guards and the heavy wooden gate. She even lost the urge to get revenge on the guard, as much as she still wanted to smash his face in for treating her like a piece of trash.

‘Can I really do nothing but follow his orders?’ Selena wondered.

She surveyed the area for threats, as she always did, and found two figures were watching from the bushes. They didn’t appear to be hiding exactly.

Ziel startled her by letting out a sharp whistle. Birds left their perches and took to the skies and the bushes began to rustle as the couple stumbled into the open grassland.

“Wow, she’s a pretty one,” the girl said. She was a Raithien – the enemy of Selena’s people, but appeared to harbour no animosity.

“Indeed,” her companion replied, looking over Selena without much interest. This was typical for an elf. Their lack of emotions was the reason they made good partners in War. It was strange to see an elf and a Raithien together. In fact, it was strange to see an elf about in these parts at all.

“What a strange little group we are!” the girl stated as if reading Selena’s thoughts.

“This is Aim and the elf is Valaar. And now… have a full team,” Ziel said with a smile.

“Team?” Selena asked. She wasn’t entirely sure if she was permitted to ask questions, but he hadn’t ordered her not to.

“We are going to undertake the Ight of War challenge,” Ziel announced.

Selena had heard of it. Everyone had heard of it. Few were stupid enough to believe they could complete the challenge, let alone live through it. The survival rate was notoriously low. To even get accepted on the challenge was a challenge in itself. The entry requirements were higher than most of the Ight missions, calling for an experienced healer, a spell caster capable of dealing damage and providing support and two warriors capable of both high damage and resilience.

‘I guess I’m the damage,’ Selena thought, looking about the group. The halfight had to be the other damage, if everything she’d heard about them was true, leaving the elf and the girl as the casters.

“Come on, let’s go sign up,” Ziel said with a cheery smile.

“Whoop,” Aim cried, running to Ziel’s side.

The elf looked her up and down before turning and following.

‘Don’t go, don’t walk,’ Selena mentally commanded her feet, but they refused to obey. She stared down at her marching feet, marvelling at the power of the binding spell.

‘This is going to be a real pain in the a*s,’ she realised