There was silence.
“What do you want?”
“I do not know.”
Belladonna frowned.
“Is that an answer to both questions?”
“Indeed.”
Well, that didn't make any sense.
“Why did you take me?”
He turned to her now and something about that made her halt in her action of trying to get her blood dagger.
“Because you did not die. I touched you and you did not die.”
There was silence for only a moment; that was all Belladonna could spare herself to think. Time, after all, wasn't on her side.
*You need help. My help.”
He said nothing and that only infuriated her. She couldn't see his facial expression, not with him retaining the image of an undead warrior. If he was still in the image of Jyris, at least she would be able to figure out some of his thoughts.
“I can help you,” she said again, more urgently this time. “I can take you to someone who can help you. I know a good wizard and a powerful friend. But if we are to get there in time, then you must cut me loose and follow my lead.”
Why was he still just standing there looking at her?
The White King must know of their absence by now. She hoped that they had conveyed the message to him in a way that would portray that she had been taken against her will - after all, that was what they must have witnessed. That way, the White King’s suspicion of her would lessen, and if things were to go wrong, who could tell? Maybe that would be something she could exploit.
The shadow warrior was probably just getting to Alaris. It should be back soon. It was attached to her, it would be able to find her anywhere. She just had to stay alive till then and she really needed her hands to be free.
By Ignas!
She just had to make sure that she wouldn't nip herself up with this blade!
“You have to trust me. We don't have time!”
He looked over at his shoulder, and she did too, but obviously, she couldn’t see what he was intently looking at. She was sure of what it was, though; it must be the thing that was glowing out of his shoulder earlier. Although this time, it wasn't glowing.
It must be something that had to do with his time here.
“And neither do you. Let me help you. My friends have great experiences with creatures from outside this realm, one of them commands the Death Gem.”
He cut her loose.
“If I do not get the help you have promised, then I shall hide you in my cloak and vanish before everyone’s eyes.”
Vanish? Like invisibility? Well, that had just killed all her hopes of the White King believing that she had been kidnapped!
“When they come for me, they will take you too.” He pulled her up to her feet.
She sent him a glare and immediately started walking off in the opposite direction, relying on her Channeling to lead her to the Rebellion using a different path from the one the White King had used to ambush them.
That path was shorter but it was more dangerous as it was now known.
There were more than a thousand of them and they were only just two with draining magic that required more strength than they could give at the moment.
The longer path was the better choice.
_________
_________
They spent a long time walking.
Belladonna tried to find out as much about him as she could but it took a while and a lot of questions before he finally decided to answer her.
She asked him if he knew anything about the other undead warriors that were summoned despite the fact that he wasn't one of them as he claimed.
“I do not. We are of the same kind, I am only not what was bargained for.”
He answered many more of her questions.
“It is a Sandglass counting down my time here. It glowed when it was half full and they came for me. It must not glow again so soon. The more I use my powers, the quicker my time runs out. If it glows again, then it means my time here is over. They will take me away and I shall be punished. I shall be banished, placed into the forgotten abyss. Alone and suffering for eternity.”
“Because you forced yourself into a summon that was not yours?” She asked out of pure curiosity. He had said something about the summons requiring a price to be paid from the summoning side and he hadn't been part of the goods bargained for.
“Not just that. I challenged the Wielder of the Death Specter and I stole his scythe for my escape.”
Belladonna frowned, forcing her mind away from her aching joints. “Why?”
“I wanted something certainly worth defying the higher beings for. While I made my escape, they said I wouldn't remember the reason for which I have struggled and the words wouldn't make sense to me even if I was being told; that it was futile to fight fate.”
There had to be more.
So Belladonna kept quiet and waited for him to continue while she leaned against trees to support her as they kept on walking. She pushed some of the berries she had picked on her way into her mouth.
“I do not know why I have come here but all that trouble must be worth something special.”
Then for the first time in a while, he asked her a question. It wouldn't be his first question; after all, he had asked her why she was betraying her father, and she had explained some things about the rebellion to him. They were things that most people already knew.
Although a part of her mind believed that he wasn't being controlled by Dogori or even loyal to him or the White King, however, it was best to be careful.
“What is your name?”
It was a question that caught her off guard and she instinctively slipped into her painful pretense.
“Xi–”
“Your real name.”
“Belladonna,” she answered.
“Hmmm, Belladonna. Donna.”
Her heart dropped and she turned sharply to look at him. He was now in Jyris’ image with a gentle smile on his face.
Jyris was the one standing in front of her but that wasn't who she was seeing.
She blinked. “What did you just call me?” she asked almost quietly.
“
Donna. It sounds faster and right. He ended with a shrug. “As for my name, well you can call me anything you want.”