"Hold her for me," The mage ordered.
Claws snatched Eli's tangled hair, lifting her and forcing her to face the mage.
He knelt on one knee before Eli, looking at her grimly. "I will speed up the poison in the wound. The process will only take a minute to kill you since I feel merciful today."
He pushed Eli's collar aside, which was stuck to her skin by blood, to check out the bite marks and froze. His jaw dropped slightly, withdrawing his hands from Eli.
Eli closed her eyes. She knew what had caught his eye. His reaction was the same as everyone else's whenever someone spotted the other scar on her neck.
Takana had bitten where her left shoulder would reach her neck, just below her brand marks.
"What? Haven't seen a slave before?" Eli snarled.
Usually, if her scarf wasn't around, her hair would cover that mark. She always did her best to conceal it since she loathed people gawking at her burnt skin.
The mage raised his hand, still gaping at the mark with his mouth open, gently touching it with his fingertip. As if the mark had thrown him back to a different lifetime.
Just above the bite marks was a burnt mark in the shape of two swords crossing each other inside a circle, branded on her skin with molten iron—the Flag of the land of Oxyn.
Eli pulled her neck back. The mage lowered his hand quickly, as he had just realized what he was doing. "You...you're from Towj."
He looked into Eli's eyes; it seemed like it was the first time he had seen her. Takana released Eli's hair and came to stand before her. She, too, gaped at Eli's brand.
"Are you... one of the lost children?" the mage asked, his voice now soft and caring.
Eli looked away. It has been years since someone mentioned the lost children. No one wanted to talk about their fate. Even the mere mention of their name made her heart crushed.
"Takana, bring her water... Tell Gheys to get some hot towels. Here, let me." He took Eli's hands and untangled the chains, avoiding looking at her face. The chains have cut through her wrist's skin, leaving another scar. Even free, she couldn't move her fingers entirely. Each movement was enough to make her wheeze out of ache.
Takana returned with a glass of water, closing it to Eli's lips.
Eli was confused, unable to realize what had altered their mood. She sipped from the water, moaning in pain. She thought she would never drink again, even though she wished the water would have been rum.
Mage pulled out a small bottle from his pocket. "Hold her still."
Two of his creatures grabbed Eli. To Eli's disappointment, who thought that was the rum, he poured the fluid on her bite marks. Eli screamed. The liquid was acidic, burning her skin as it dripped on her skin. "You sadist bastard, I told you everything," Eli growled, her jaws locked, struggling to escape their grasp.
"That's not...sorry...I should've warned you." He was stealing his eyes from Eli.
Did he just apologize?
Was he ashamed?
"That will close the bite marks." he gestured for others to leave Eli.
"I thought they won't close."
"Not unless you have the antidote."
Eli wrapped the towel Gheys offered her around her - suddenly self-conscious about being almost topless in the middle of the room.
The mage sat on the floor before Eli. "What's your name?"
Eli looked at him sideways. "Not killing me anymore?"
The mage sighed sincerely. "I didn't know the lost children were still in Oxyn."
"How could they leave? It's not like we could go back." Eli felt a heavy lump in her throat. "And no one came back for us."
She was not prepared to talk about the lost children. "Lots of them are dead, though. I don't know how many survived." She didn't know why the mage cared, but he seemed deeply remorseful.
"I'm sorry..." His voice was a whisper.
"I'm Eli."
"No, you're not." He was shaking his head, his eyes gleaming.
"Wha..."
"What's your real name?" He broke her off.
Eli blinked. He had caught her off guard again. He requested something she hadn't allowed herself to think about in a decade - Her long-lost life...
"Homa." A tear dropped on her chin, burning the freshly-closed wound on her face.
She dropped her glance, resenting the mage more than ever for pushing her to recall memories she had tried years to forget.
"That's a beautiful name." His face lit up. "You know what it means?"
Eli was taken aback. "Do you?"
"It's a scarce magical bird. Towjians believed seeing it would bring fortune and luck to their lives."
Eli sneered. They could have never been more wrong.
"This Malkan you mentioned..." Eli's heart skipped a beat. "Was he the one who...?" His voice trailed off, gazing at her burnt marks. Eli guessed he couldn't find the right words; for some reason, that made her enraged.
"Was he who raided our land, butchering my people, kidnapping other children and me, and brought us to Oxyn in chains to sell on the highest bidder? Yes."
The mage clenched his fists. Eli thought he wanted to punch her, but he got up - Pacing the room again.
"Do you know him?"
"We've crossed paths." Eli opened her mouth to ask more, but he took a few steps and halted. "Do you think he would show you? The ones who wanted the amulet?"
Eli's shoulder wound was nagging in pain, but the bleeding had stopped, making her realize that her back was in extreme pain, the stone floor was as cold as a graveyard, and she was starving. "Probably..." She was too tired to think of lies, "If I go back with it."
"Well, then..." He looked determined as if he was conversing inside his head. "That is settled."
Eli swallowed. "What is settled?" Suddenly, she worried about her uncertain faith.
The mage looked at Eli, calculating. "You'll make it right."
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
The mage clutched his ruby, yanking it off. He looked at his right palm, red with Eli's blood. He shook his head as if agreeing with himself in a non-verbal conversation. "Yes, this will fix it all." He grabbed the ruby with his bloody hand while taking off his black shirt.
Takana, the male winged creature, who was Gheys, and two smaller wingless beasts in the room were now alert as if they had just realized what he was up to.
Eli did not.
She could now have a better look at the tattoo she saw last night on his right arm. It was a red-inked snake circling around his arm. Its head rested on his wrist, and its tail finished at his shoulder. It was so detailed that Eli was sure it was created based on a real snake.
His eyes were closed, breathing deeply. His face seemed focused.
When Takana half hid behind a chair at Eli's right, she knew she wasn't safe anymore - not that she was in the first place, but she looked for a place to crawl to.
There was none.
She tried her best to get up and failed. Her ankle needed immediate medical attention, and even though the mage had closed her open wound, she had lost so much blood that it would take her a while to gain strength.
The creature's long ears stuck to its head, its fangs out, and its eyes did not leave the mage's hands, now standing topless before Eli with the bloody ruby in his grasp.
He pointed his tattooed fist towards Eli, holding the red uncut jewel, stared at her, and started chanting. The words coming out of his mouth sounded powerful and ancient. His voice was now low and strange, with a unique power. He was no longer like himself. Dark circles appeared around his eyes, dragging them inside the void his words created. It was as if he gave life to every word that came out of his mouth and passed them over to Eli.
The air in the room was heavy, and Eli found it hard to breathe. It felt like the hand wrapped around the ruby was holding her heart tightly.
Eli wanted to speak, fight, and even move or run away, but the mage's chanting ripped her away from all the words and movements. There was only an inner battle to breathe.
Eli felt like the whole world had stopped spinning, mesmerized by the mage's lips as they moved.
Tears pooled in Eli's eyes. She couldn't know why. It felt like she was losing the little control she had over her body.
Her back fell on the ground and curled up.
The mage was killing her.
His eyes were still pinned on Eli, but they looked empty. As if absorbed in the magic of his own words, he didn't seem to notice Eli's struggle to survive.
Then, she saw.
The mage's lips were not the only thing moving; his tattoo had come to life. The snake wrapped around his arm was now slowly twisting. It was as if he was waking up from a long sleep and listening to his master's words. It was just like the tattoo on his arm, not quite real. It was a ghost of a snake.
Eli stared at the viper, gasping for air. An invisible hand pressed her heart and lungs and crushed them under its remote power.
Tears flowed from the corners of Eli's eyes. She opened and closed her mouth for air but could not fill her lungs. It was as if the whole room was out of air. She could hear the mage's chanting from a distance as if someone had held her head underwater. Blood rushed to her head, pressuring her ears. Her heartbeat was so loud she could feel it in her throat.
The mage shouted the final words of the chant and stopped, panting. Drops of sweat gleamed on his face. He took a deep, shaky breath and looked at his tattoo.
"Now rise." He commanded it.
The snake on the mage's hand raised its head and came to life. It crawled down from the mage's fingertips, stuck out its tongue to Eli, and sniffed the air. Little by little, the rest of its body took shape until the upper half of the snake was standing on the mage's hand. Its red scales glistened under the dim light shining in from the window. The amber eyes never left Eli.
It lowered his head and fell to the ground. Slowly and unhurriedly, it crawled to Eli, who struggled for her life.
But the serpent seemed to have an eternity. It circled Eli, sticking out its forked tongue and tasting the air around her.
Blood pooled in Eli's head, and she felt the veins in her temple swollen. She couldn't even scream in pain.
When the snake reached Eli's feet, it looked at her bare feet, floundering aimlessly on the stone floor.
Without warning, the serpent jumped onto Eli's leg and wrapped itself around her right ankle.
Air filled her lungs.
She could finally breathe. And with that, a scream came out.
All of Eli's senses functioned again. She heard the mage's panting, the smell of blood and chain iron filled her nostrils, and the pain twisted in every bit of her limb, reaching her ankle.
All the pain in the world seemed nothing compared to the pain of the viper belted around her leg. Eli's head fell back. She could hear her screams and cries, begging for the pain to end, but the power of the mage's voice was relentless, and the snake's hold was tight.
In the end, when Eli's eyes went black, believing she was taking her last breath, the snake released her and pulled back.
Eli took a deep breath and curled into a fetal position, shaking. She looked down between coughs and tears. The viper had left a deep burn mark on Eli's ankle. The wound was red and inflamed, and her skin was already starting to blister.
The truth struck her hard.
Another brand
The snake turned to its master. It climbed up his wrist and wrapped itself around his arm without glancing at Eli. It seemed that it took a last breath and turned into a red tattoo a moment later.
The mage took a deep breath. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead and neck. He let go of the ruby in his fist, dropping the jewel aimlessly on the room's stone floor and rolling into a corner.
Takana and one or two other creatures ran toward the mage and grabbed him under the arms. The mage closed his eyes and took deep breaths.
When he opened his eyes, his energy was back. He stood straight and towered over Eli.
"Now I can take my share of revenge."
"What did you do to me?" Eli's voice was hoarse.
"Well, I freed you from your former master's grasp." The mage crossed his hands, pleased with himself.
Eli wasn't.
"You're no longer his slave." He smirked. "You're mine."