Song of Shadows

Chapter Thirty-Three

Author's Note: Apologies for the long delay between updates. I was plagued by another bout of writer's block, and it was entirely my own fault. The last version of this chapter didn't have a lot of the things I wanted in it to continue the story how I wanted, so I ended up writing myself into a corner. I am going to delete the old version. Now that I have this figured out, I will start writing the next chapter. Thank you for your patience and for sticking with me so far! 

Azriel 

I can see her kneeling in front of me, a look of rage and sorrow darkening her eyes. The fiery, sweet girl I have come to love has transformed into a creature of burning anger and pain. Her hand reaches up to cup my face as her sharp gaze moves over my battered, aching body. I try to muster a smile for her, but my body doesn't respond.

The last spark of kindness in her face dies as she looks down at my wings. She moves her hand towards the ash splinters buried there. Before she can remove them, she gets to her feet and stalks away. I try to call after her, but no words escape my lips.

"She was here! I felt her. We're leaving. Now!"

Lucien's voice grates close to my ear, pulling me back to the world. Two of his cronies support my body as the chains are taken down, but Lucien doesn't remove them from my body. I slump against them, and they stagger under my weight. I've had worse injuries. I've been in worse situations. I can win this fight without my magic.

He bends to unlock my feet. As Lucien goes to stand, I lash out. I elbow one of the males holding me in the throat. He chokes, letting go of me to grasp at his throat. Lucien leaps forward, but I whip the chain still fastened to my arm into his face. Blood spurts from his nose. He barks out a curse.

The other male holding me tries to grab my other arm, but I drive my knee into his stomach. I hear the air rush out of his chest. The other males rush towards their companions, but none of them approach me. I begin moving towards one of the caves before Lucien shouts, "Get him!"

Two of the males charge towards me. I catch one with the tail end of a chain, and he slumps to the ground. The second male grabs one of the chains dragging from my legs. I stumble, but manage to keep my footing. I lunge towards him, knocking him off balance. He keeps his grip on the chain, dragging me to the floor with him. I kick towards him, catching his head. He lets out a groan of pain.

I scramble back to my feet as the other three uninjured males begin stalking towards me. Backing away, I head down the tunnel leading to the underground river. Before I reach it, a set of hands grab me from behind and throw me to the ground. A heavy weight settles on my body. "You're not getting away from me, shadowsinger."

I throw my head back, catching Lucien's nose. He yells, but it isn't enough to throw him off. The other three males run towards us and drag me to my feet. "By the Cauldron, bind him and make damned sure he can't move." He snarls and makes his way down the tunnel.

One of the males bends to take the chains. I bring my knee up to connect with his face. He snarls and clutches at his nose. "You damned bastard!" The other two males tighten their grip on me, but I bring my foot down hard onto one of theirs. He loosens his grip enough for me to pull my elbow free. I grab the chain and swing it wildly at the third male. He ducks under it and twists my arm behind my back.

Ignoring the pain, I try to bring my foot up to kick him, but he wraps his leg around mine. He grapples me to the ground, pushing my head down with his free arm. Stars swim in my vision as it collides into the stone. I hear footsteps echoing through my pounding head. "What the hell is going on? What is taking so long?"