Legacy of the Remembered

31. Trapped

When Yras came to, it was with a searing headache. At first, all he could think about was the dizziness surrounding him, making his vision fuzzy and body feel heavy. Once he began to recover his senses, however, he realized just how much he was shivering.

It was freezing.

If he had been of a clearer mind, he would have realized how odd that sounded. Fumari did not get cold. At night, the rural areas could certainly become dreary for those who travelled between cities, but the population did not live in those areas for areas for a reason. The fact that he was not only cold, but freezing should have ticked him off more than it did.

Instead, it made him jolt up with confusion, squirming when he realized his hands and legs were tied. His hands were bound behind him, of no use to him as he tried to upright himself. Looking around, the room was dark, with a hint of sunlight peering through a sliver of an opening in the thick limestone wall. Because of the dark, it took him more than a moment to realize he was not alone.

The person did not speak from where they sat cross-legged in the corner of the room. Yras could not even tell if they were awake or not, the shadow of the room covering them more than any other side of the space. It was only after his eyesight adjusted to the darkness that he even comprehended what the dark lump in the corner was.

"Who are you?"

The figure stirred, head shifting and back straightening. "Interesting."

The voice was feminine, but that was all he gleaned from it. "Answer me."

A short silence stretched between them, and he doubted he would get his wish, but then she spoke. "Lia. A pleasure to meet you."

The hint of humor in her voice sent additional shivers through him. "Why am I here? Did you do this?" There was still the chance she too was a prisoner, but her odd cheer made him reconsider that.

"Yes. You're here until it's over." Cryptic. Just what Yras needed.

"Why is it so cold?" His teeth were starting to chatter, though he managed to form words well enough.

"Oh, I did that. Would be a shame to have you burn your way out of here."

He mentally slapped himself for having not even tried, but once she said it, he realized the truth of the matter. He was too cold to summon fire. Though this was his first experience with it, he knew that fire mages could not use their magic well in colder parts of the world. However, given his living arrangements, he had never worried for such a future where he would be affected like this.

Only a few people had the ability to bring that climate here. "You're an ice mage."

Lia giggled. "Glad to see you catch on. I don't get to play with fire mages often, but the ones I have tend to be duller than you'd think."

He ignored that. Instead, he looked around the room again. It did not look icy, but the lack of lighting made it look like nothing in the first place. Beneath him the concrete did nothing to warm him, but it did not feel like ice either. So what was she doing?

Better yet, how long would he be kept here? His natural affinity for fire made his body run warmer than others, and he imagined that kept him from feeling the true temperature Lia held this room at. However, that could diminish if he did not get out of here soon enough. How long would it take? He could not remember, having chosen at the time to instead to wonder why anyone would have wanted to be exposed to the cold for so long to begin with.

He squirmed where he lay, shifting to see if there was anything he missed during his other examination of the room. Probably, given how dark it is, he thought. For a brief moment, he tried burning the rope off of his wrists, but it failed. He felt his hands warm up, but nothing caught fire and he only managed to waste what heat he did still have.