Theurgy: The Journey's Dawn (Book One)

Chapter 16 The Quest

Massia woke with a start, taking in a strangled breath as she immediately tried to stand up. This attempt was met with a wood slamming across the top of her head, and she stiffly sat back down in the position she had been stuck in for several weeks now. She does not know this. Not even a night has transpired for her, and she felt like she was missing something the moment her brain ached into function. She looked around to meet nothing but confined darkness. All wooden and cramped. She tried to stretch her legs out and met another wall before her knees were even half bent. The room to either side was less than a hand. She traces a hand along the seams and immediately knew what she was inside of.

A chest, she thought. Why am I in a chest?

Along one of the longer sides of the chest was a small hole that allowed all the air she needed to flow inside. She managed to maneuver herself, tucking her legs under her just to catch a glimpse of what was outside. She could see more darkness, except this time, painted with some space trees, a field, and a mountain far off into the distance. She could barely make them out, but they were there. At first, she thought this was some sort of prank pulled off by Edlund and Lyse. A little morbid for a joke, but not out of the realm of childishness from her perspective. She felt as if she was in a coffin. But the mountains looked far too distant than what she was used to seeing from her home. This couldn't be in Liontari. She'd never even been twenty miles from the village before.

She tried to remember why he was suddenly within a wooden chest in the middle of a field, expelling the notion that this was some joke. She tried to grasp her memory but immediately felt a dull pain in her head. She went up to touch it, not far off from where she bumped her head and felt bandages in her hair covering may be a gash or welt that had formed. She seethed as she touched it and once again to the darkness around her.

"This isn't funny," she said in a small voice, almost hoping that Edlund or Lyse would suddenly unlock the chest laughing. But none did. Worry was then replaced by anger as she began to kick at the wooden frame, banging and hollering. Somewhat she knew that what she did was dangerously stupid. Who knows what horrors lay with the fields this time of night? But her frustration was causing action, not her reasoning. This continued all but a minute when the chest suddenly shifted. There was a distinct click as the trunk was suddenly opened, and all her movement ceased.

Outside, three men and two women stood over her, one carrying a lantern that lit the box's interior and made it hard at first to collect their features. All wore some shawl or face-covering that hid most if not all of their faces. Only the eyes were visible, but they might as well be empty sockets for as much emotion shown. They all stared down at her, a hint of annoyance in their posture, but nothing spoke of their wish for her to cease her outburst, then the swords and spears currently pointed at her. Each held at least one weapon in hand and was more than ready to slice her into bits if she even blinked in the wing way. She recognized none of them, and they didn't look like bandits. From what she could tell from the clothes, they did not need stealing or ransom.

"She is awake," one said in a hollow tone.

"She poses no real threat at the moment," one of the women sheathed the curved blade she held but did not take her eyes off of Massia.

Massia clenched her teeth before speaking, coming out as a forced growl. "Who are you? Where are my mother and father? What do you want with me?"

"You will be silent, girl," a growl, far more animalistic and feral, resonated from behind the chest. A barrel-chested man with an irritated scowl looked down upon her, arms crossed. His right eye was bandaged, but one alone carried all the rage that the others didn't show. It was only pointed at her for a moment, then returned to the five, likely continuing a discussion had before her interruption. "It's enough that we failed initially to capture that boy, but we must also babysit this child. I don't care if she is our new leader, I was promised far more than this."