Heroes Among Us

Chapter 31: Kathleen

Hades no longer wants to take innocent lives.

He has no master.

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Kat groaned, her temples pounded. She blinked, the sunlight making her hiss in pain. Her wrists ached, something rough and coarse binding them together tightly. Something felt wrong. She looked down at herself and realized that she was naked, only dressed in her underwear and sports bra. She noticed her clothes in a pile next to her.

Someone babbled away in a language she'd never heard before and she looked up to see a face a few inches away from hers. She yelped and tried to scramble back, only for the person to grab her face to pull her forwards.

He wore tan robe-like garb, a swath of bright red cloth wrapped around his head and shading his neck from the beating desert sun. His face was covered in paint of various colors, reminding Kat of some of native tribes she'd learned about that lived in Galantia. His hands gripped her cheek tightly, his touch hot against her sweaty skin.

"Let go," she growled forcefully and the man furrowed his brows. He spoke again, his words gruff and choppy. The man then let go of her and stood up from his crouch, waving over a few other people. Kat took this opportunity to look around. Maddix and Everett lay next to her, the former still knocked out and the latter wincing as he tried to shift his sitting position. Both were also in their underwear.

Well. This was fun. Kat was ready to go home. Not to the palace, but to the temple. Her home away from home.

Bandages covered Everett's otherwise bare chest and a pit filled Kat's stomach, her memories coming back to her. The giant scorpion. Their powers. Their powers weren't working. And then these people ran down from the dunes, spears and bows held aloft in triumph. They killed the scorpion.

Kat and Maddix had been bandaging and dressing Everett's wound when they noticed the people surrounding Alex. Kat remembered trying to save him as they hauled him off to who knew where. But she had been too late. Someone had whacked her over the head after that, making her pass out cold.

Now, she was trying to stand up when Everett caught her eye and shook his head. She felt a little uncomfortable with being mostly naked in front of Everett and Maddix, but she knew for a fact that she had more important things to deal with. She could trust Everett to realize the gravity of the situation. Once she was steady on her feet, she pretended not to notice his jaw tightening a bit as more men came over to where she stood defiantly, her arms stiffly fastened behind her back. One pointed at Kat and she recognized him as the first one who'd attacked her.

"What do you want with us?" she demanded, trying to use her princess tone on them, but it was hard to maintain that level of dignity and arrogance when she was naked and facing warrior people that had slain a giant scorpion. They all exchanged glances before one stepped forward and said a few foreign words, pointing to her, Maddix, and Everett. He then pointed to a tent and Kat noticed to her horror that Alex sat slumped on a throne-like chair of skulls.

He was unconscious, all bandaged up with dark paints on his face. He was so, so pale and her stomach twisted as she watched a woman paint his arms and legs, swirling patterns covering his bare chest. He was very sick. His nose was still dripping blood, but not as badly as it had when they had been fighting the scorpions. Worry gnawed at her insides.

He couldn't die. Especially not here. Alex did not deserve that fate.

The man snapped his fingers in her face and she focused on them again, the man shouting now, riling up the men behind him. He spat out on last word and the group of warriors flanked her. They grabbed her by the arms and pulled her out of the tent.