Mortal

Chapter 27

I awaken to the sound of someone opening my cell door. A guard puts a plate of food on the floor. It's a small loaf of bread with a glass of water. When I go to pick it up, I find that the bread is stale, and the water is cloudy.
Skylight walks over, takes one look at the food, and looks disgusted.

"I don't even think that's edible."

I open my bag and take out two fish that I caught from the creek. I give one to Skylight, and eat the other one myself. I drink water from my canteen. It's now half empty.
While we eat, I think about Phareth and Tsareth. I miss them. I wish they didn't have to listen to me getting tortured yesterday.

Thermapondreix walks into the room. He unlocks the door. He grabs my arm, and ties my hands behind my back.

"You're coming with me."

He drags me out of my cell. He forces me to walk, despite my injured leg. By now, I'm almost used to the pain. We go through a door and up a staircase that spirals around the edge of a circular wall. Once we reach the top, we are in a huge circular room. The center of the room has a pit in the floor. Thermapondreix pushes me toward it. I feel intense heat as I look down into it. The bottom is very far down, but I see something deep red and glowing. Lava. I look up. I see a metal cage suspended from the ceiling by a chain.

"This is called the pit. I put people in that cage and watch them scream as I lower them into the lava, simply for my own amusement. Once I'm done with you, that's where I'm putting you."

I feel a chill down my spine. How many people has he killed this way? How horrible must it be to die this way?

"You are disgusting," I say.

He laughs maniacally. He's definitely insane. What happened to him? Nobody just goes insane. Something must have happened to him.
I hear someone run up the steps. It's the boy from yesterday.

"Lord Thermapondreix, there was an aircraft spotted coming in from space. It was a fighter jet."

An aircraft? Maybe someone is coming to save me after all. I feel a glimmer of hope.

"Shoot it down," says Thermapondreix.

"We lost track of it," says the boy.

Thermapondreix grabs the boy by the neck and holds him over the pit.

"You are a petty little irresponsible leech!" yells Thermapondreix.

My vision tells me that he is going to drop him. I create an ice spike and use it to cut off the rope on my hands.

Thermapondreix releases his grip on the boy. I use my speed power to swiftly grab his hand before he plummets into the lava. I pull him back onto the platform.
My vision also tells me that Thermapondreix is going to try to grab me. I shoot a blast of ice at him with my other hand.

"Get her back to her cell! Restrain her!"

The scientist does nothing. He looks at me. He doesn't know how to react. I can guess what he's thinking; Thermapondreix just tried to kill him, and I just saved his life. He doesn't want to obey Thermapondreix anymore.

"No," says the boy.

His voice is shaky, and terrified.

Thermapondreix gives him a very angry look. He tries to grab the boy again, but I blast Thermapondreix with more ice.

Thermapondreix is knocked backwards a few feet. Eyeing the exit, I grab the boy's hand, and run to it with my speed. Adrenaline is coursing through me. I barely feel my leg.

"What are you doing?!" Asks the boy.

I pull him inside the room where Skylight is locked inside the cell.