His hand was burning. Flames were licking the stump, the steady warmth slowly becoming an inferno that sent waves of pulsating agony up to his brain.
Cyan scrambled, fighting off the blaze with one hand before he realized Darius had caged his palm in his gentle hands, holding a match near the charred skin of his stump. Cyan watched in horror as the flames licked at the bloody area, sealing it but making a blackened sooty mess.
He realized he was back in the cell. The air seemed heavier and more contaminated than before, or maybe he was just imagining it. He fisted his trousers as Darius brought the match closer, holding in his groans of pain. He didn't want to sound like a baby in front of the man who had just entrusted him with valuable information.
'I'm sorry, Cyan.' Darius spoke as he moved away. Cyan didn't look at the stump, but rather at Darius's sorrowful expression. The man looked regretful and humiliated, like it was his fault Cyan was going through it all.
'No...don't be...I mean, it's okay.' Cyan said hurriedly.
Darius shook his head. 'Listen. Cyan, I really care about the pain you're in, but I fear I won't be around here much longer. As soon as our captor finds out the location of the stone, it's over for all of us, especially me.'
'No, we can break out of here...Uncle.' Cyan said.
Darius smiled remorsefully, but it reached his eyes and he looked pleased. 'Cyan, I still have to tell you something. It's the creatures' real power.'
'So being invisible isn't the catch here?'
'That's an advantage, not the power. The monsters can control blood.'
'I...b...beg your pardon?'
A sharp sting of pain shot up his head and Cyan gritted his teeth. If it hadn't been for Darius's solemn expression, Cyan would have laughed it off. It seemed like today would be the day of receiving information that took too long to process.
Darius nodded, looking away and Cyan's stomach flipped. So it was true. The monsters were not only unseen, but they had the power to control blood. Cyan was gripped by a fear so strong, that his very blood froze in his veins. As much as he wanted to refuse, he knew soon or late he had to take his responsibility into his hands.
He was so lost in his musings that he failed to notice his captor standing behind the bars and only when they clanged shut did he realize his presence.
The man's eyes were glittering, like he had found the key to a lost treasure, which they might just have.
'You really did hide it well.' He said to Cyan, and Cyan knew the mouth covered with the cloth would be stretched in an ugly grin. 'But not well enough.'
So the man had found where the ring was. Cyan's stomach churned, realization hitting him like a hammer on the head. Because of where he had chosen to hide the ring, many other people were now in terrible danger.
'My man was looking for the right time to tell me.' The captor said as he brandished his knife gracefully, cutting through the air like a chef on a cooking show.
Looking at him, Cyan felt a wave of anger, the pain in his arm had shot up when the kidnapper had appeared and all of a sudden Cyan realized he wanted nothing more than to stop this man right here.
'Who is it? Who's betraying me?' Cyan said.
He knew the man was grinning by the way his eyes were narrowed pleasingly. He stepped close to Darius and kneeled before him, his hands on his knees and his eyes raking over Darius's wizened face.
'Now, where's the gateway?'
Darius stared at the man regretfully, his eyes laced with the kind of sorrow one feels at the death of a loved one. 'Don't do it.'
The man pressed his boot on Cyan's stump and squashed it hard. A blood-curdling scream ripped his throat, his eyes watering as the pain became too much to bear. There was a swish and then the silver knife was at his throat, slitting into the skin, millimeters away from his jugular.
'Now.' The captor said smoothly like they were discussing business over the dinner table. 'Where is the gateway?' He asked Darius while holding Cyan close to him.
'Please.' Cyan whispered. 'Don't do it.'
'And why the fuck not?'
'I will give you as much money as you demand. Just let Mr. Renatus go.'
'Shut up, you fool.' The man barked, shaking him and Cyan squeezed his eyes shut as the knife slashed his skin and blood started rolling into his collar.
'Spit out the location, you codger.' He snarled at Darius, who shut his eyes in dejection. 'Or this knife slashes through this pretty boy.'
'No...' Darius whispered. 'Kill me off instead,'
'Oh no.' The man said sweetly. 'There's still the ritual to perform.' His words sent a melancholy shiver down Cyan's spine. He didn't know what the ritual was, but seeing Darius's wretched face, he knew it would be terrible. 'And I need you alive for that.'
The man had moved away from him slightly, and a dart of his eyes showed Cyan that he could move away a little from the blade. Praying with all his heart, Cyan turned around and aimed a forceful punch right on the man's nose.
It was like hitting a rock. The man fell onto his back as Cyan clutched his fist, howling despite himself. It was impossible to contain the scream that ripped his throat as his fingers stung from the blow like he had been the one to get hit.
'Sir...' Cyan gasped. 'Run.'
Darius didn't need another telling, he had gotten up and scrambled towards the bar, pulling them open with a grate as his scared eyes motioned for Cyan to follow him. Cyan hit his head on the low ceiling as he followed, eyes glued to the halo of light at the mouth of his unforgiving prison.
One feet. Half feet. He had almost made it when the man's fist wrapped around his ankle and he fell to the floor, splitting his lip. His head hit the bottom of the stairs with a frightening thud. With his head spinning like a top, he saw the punch coming in a daze of colors as the man flipped him over and rained blows onto his face.
Blood sprouted from his nose and lips, gushing like a fountain and trickling into his mouth, its taste like the rusty copper pipes in the room above. It was like Cyan had unleashed a storm of rage inside the kidnapper and in his anger, the man was not holding back at all.
Hoping against hope, Cyan wished for Darius to have escaped.
Like fate was joking with him, he saw Darius's hunched silhouette against the blurry shadows in front of his eyes. The old man had come back into the room and raised a long stick of sorts to swing against the kidnapper's temple.
The man grunted and then his weight was gone from Cyan's beaten body, only to be replaced by his hands around his neck. The kidnapper dragged him up with him and turned to face Darius who was standing with defeat written across his face like a shadow.
'Tell me...where the gateway is.' His captor tightened his grip and Cyan choked, a strangled sound emitting from his throat. 'If you don't...you can say goodbye to your little friend here. You have five seconds.'
'Don't tell him.' Cyan managed to gasp before the man tightened his grip and Cyan's eyes very nearly fell from their sockets.
Darius's eyes were downcast, but as he raised them to his bruised and bloody face, Cyan knew the old man had decided what to do.
'Three...two...one.' The man's voice came from far away and Cyan's vision swam as he realized he could no longer breathe.
Before he passed out, he saw a feeble tear of surrender roll down Darius's cheeks and bury itself in his grimy cotton shirt.