Strange New Eyes

Chapter Fifteen - Dead

Aysel had been inside of binding circle before, of course, but as soon as she was taught to make them she was taught to break them. This time, though, escape was literally out of her reach.

"Aysel?" Dunyasha asked. She was so close to her, but she was an eternity away. "Why haven't you broken the circle?"

"Just give me a moment so I can figure out what to do," Aysel said, fighting in vain against the overwhelming force that kept her entire body inside the bounds of the circle.

Dunyasha turned, teetering, in her circle. Whenever she swayed too far to one side, the boundaries pushed her back away from them. At last, she faced Aysel and saw her plight, but she didn't seem impressed. "Oh, you got stuck too. Just break it, and then come help me."

"I can't."

Her eyebrows knitted together. "What do you mean, you can't? I've seen you break circles before."

"I mean, I can't reach it. I can't bend over. The circle is too small."

"So?" Enrick asked, sauntering over towards them. "Why does it matter--"

"Enrick, get back!" Aysel warned. "There may be more of them."

He stopped, held up his hands in mock surrender, and took a large step backwards. "As I was saying, why does it matter how small the circle is? Wouldn't that make it easier to break?"

"Not this time," she said darkly. "Binding circles push blood away from the drawn boundaries, like oil and water. Look." She extended her fingers, only for them to be somewhat painfully pushed back against her side. "I can barely move."

"Do you need to move to break the circle?" Dunyasha asked.

"No. I just need to touch my hand to the boundary, but I can't reach." She demonstrated, bending forwards and snapping back once her body reached the border. She tried crouching, but as soon as her knees neared the circle, they were forced back upwards. "See?"

Enrick shrugged. "Just use the magic floating blood thing you always do. And hurry, please; I'm getting bored."

Aysel glared at him. "It doesn't work that way. I need to touch it."

Dunyasha's eyebrows furrowed even further. "And you can't. Stars, does that mean we're trapped here?"

"I'm not trapped here," Enrick unhelpfully reminded them.

"Be quiet," Dunyasha groaned. "Ugh, if I could move my arms I'd be rubbing my temples." Within the small space the circle granted her, she was moving as much as she could, twitching her fingers and shifting her weight from foot to foot. Her eyebrows were deeply furrowed, but every once in a while they would soften, turning up into an expression of concern, maybe even fear.

"Don't worry," Aysel said with a cheery smile. "We'll figure a way out of this. We've been in worse before."

Dunyasha didn't answer. Her fingers began to scratch frantically at the fabric of her trousers.

"I've gotten out of lots of sticky situations," Aysel said, trying to calm her friend. "Including the one you put me in. Remember? You had me tied up and I got out of that."

Dunyasha finally gave her a grudging smile. "Yeah, for about a second. Besides, how could I forget? You took me by surprise and nearly blinded me."

She smiled back. "I was desperate..." Her mind began to spin a little bit faster. "Hm. Not so different from right now, actually."

"You're going to bit your lip and spit blood at me?" Dunyasha asked sarcastically.

"No. I'm going to bite my lip and spit blood at my shoe." And she did. She directed the stream of blood through the frigid air down to the leather boot she had stolen from the Letters they had ambushed. It would be unpleasant to be barefoot in the snow, but it would be even more unpleasant to be trapped here forever. Carefully, she used her blood to cut the leather away from her foot until her sole was exposed to the cold. She grit her teeth and slashed along the bottom.