Chapter 74 - How Dangerous My Husband Can Be

— Kaden —

I was covered in blood from head to toe.

‘What’s the result?’ I mindliked the head of all my teams.

We had decided to do synchronised attacks on all five location.

‘Not here,’ said Dimitri.

‘Negative here too,’ said Oskar.

‘Nope,’ said Jayson.

‘I think there’s something here,’ said Jaxx.

‘Any trace of her?’ I asked. There had been none on my location.

‘No, but I think she might have transitioned from here. Let my team finish their investigation, and I’ll tell you as soon as possible.

‘Okay, but do as quick as possible, we might not have much time, and if she transitioned through multiple outposts it augments the risk of not finding her, or finding her too late,’ I said. ‘Any other find anything about any other outpost, I want this information, sooner or later I want them all gone.

I got various words of approval.

‘You can question as much as you want within a relatively short time. But leave no survivor, and make sure to burn it. Get the heads in the trees of whatever other macabre sight inspire you. We will instil fear in any allies they may have. They’ll have none left soon enough. Gotcha?

Again they all approved.

That wasn’t it. The only thing comforting in this was that we still had a trail, but it was not enough. We needed more. And now. Before it was too late.

— Tamarak —

Once we were left alone again, the white-haired girl reposition herself, sitting, flipped her ring, dug her finger between the collar and her skin and pulled with all her might.

I was a nice attempt.

“You would do better at finding a way to end yourself before they return. If they do what they said—. Rawheads are nasty things, you don’t want those near you, death is probably better.

“Is that death than you want?” she asked me.

I rolled on my back, trying to alleviate the pain on my guts. It will probably take me a week the regenerate than much skin.

“If only I could,” I said.

She extended her right hand sharply in one smooth motion. A sword maybe two feet long swung out of nowhere and extended in her hand. In a spit second, she was armed. The blade was glistening and well cared for.

I looked at the crystals on her wrists. Were they where the blade has been stored. I saw no other option. Then I looked at the other crystal on her other wrist. Two swords.

This may change things. Something in me stirred, something dangerous.

She extended her arm in my direction, the tip of the blade near my neck.

“Do you want it now?” she asked.

I knew all prisoners looked at us, at least, those that could.

Our voices were low, there must be no one near or they would have come to beat us to silence.

“Go for death if you wish it, I could indulge you, but I’m leaving.

“It’s a lot harder than you may think,” I told her.

“All the hounds of Hell are coming. I will leave before then.

I looked at her curiously.

“Little vitteraï,” said the naga. “You have the sight?

“I do,” she replied.

“You can’t have it with this collar,” the naga said.

“I don’t need the sight to know that my husband is coming.

The naga scoffed and laid her back against the wall. “You won’t be this hopeful once they get to you.

“I’m not hopeful, simply knowledgable of how dangerous my husband can be.

I looked at her.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about all this. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Nothing can crush you like crushed hopes. So I just turned my head to look at the ceiling.

“Do as you please,” I told her.

She put her sword on the ground. The barest sliver of light was reflected on the metal and appeared on the darkened ceiling. I looked at it. It was probably the most entertaining thing that has happened in ages.

The girl next to me put her fingers back in place and tried to pull at her collar once again, to no avail.

“It blocks your gifts,” I told her. “I doubt you have much strength to spill out with this on. Not many does.

“Do you?” she asked.

“A little,” I admitted.

“How does it work.

“It shuts you up. Anything that is part of you can’t reach its preternatural potential. Which is why the sword came out of its crystal prison, it’s not part of you, but everything else doesn’t work.

She nodded, then frowned, looking at her ring.

She’ll forget about the husband in time, I thought.

She shifted her weight to be on her knees, bracing herself better. She inserted the fingers of both hands on either side of her collar and took a long inspiration. Then she pulled again.

I could hear her strain. The naga moved to the edge of her cell looking intently at the vitteraï. I turned my head to look too. There was a strange glint in that ring of hers.

Magic?

Does it have stored magic? Can she access it?

She continued to pull grunting in the effort, her eyes shut tight.

I saw the glint again, a little brighter now.

She was lacking muscles. Looking at her frame, most of her physical strength was probably preternatural. She had none right now.

I got up, my stomach screaming in pain.

I crawled to her and put my hands on either side with hers.

She stopped straining herself and looked at me curiously.

I nodded at her, she nodded back.

We took position.

She raised a finger stopping me, took the swords and cut her palm, then took the blood with her finger and smeared it on the opal, then put the sword back down.

We resumed our position.

“One,” I muttered. “Two, three.

We applied all the strength we could. The stone shone this time, the white light reddened by the blood. I was about to slack off when I felt something budge. I redouble my efforts. The muscles on my core was a mass of pain, but I ignored it. I ignored the hunger, the pain, the exhaustion, the despair, everything. There was just this piece of junk that I wanted to destroy.

I felt my eyes heighten, probably switching to their slit-like state, the vein under the skin of my arms popping out. Nothing, not even thorncollars could completely contain my powers. It only had never been enough to take one off. But that little woman with her magic ring could have what I’d been missing all this time.

We both growled in effort, trying to cut the noise as much as possible, but it was completely impossible to shut it out entirely

I heard a click. For a second I thought they were coming back, it was too late. Until I realised it was the lock on her collar. I clicked a few more times until in broke.

Her effort stopped entirely.

I pulled the collar away as she fell into unconsciousness.

I pulled it far away for the slithering vines to slip out of her veins and neck entirely.

Little specks of blood were left on the openings.

The vined returned to their thorny self within a few seconds, shrinking.

I sat back against the wall, spent, looking at the lithe form on the dirty ground.

The naga looked at me with wide eyes.

I don’t think anything had managed to do this before. She had been here for longer than I. She had been into other facilities before too, but the look on her face told me she was thinking the same thing as me.

Then my mind started to calculate options.

I crawled back to the girl and laid my hand just above the sword, but stopped.

“What is it?” asked the naga.

“I think it’s protected,” I said feeling at the sword’s aura.

“Her blood,” she said. “Smear her blood on the blade so it would recognise you as her.

I nodded.

I took her already injured hand and glided it on the blade.

I then approached my fingers slowly, really slowly, I expected something to happen, but when my finger connected, nothing did. But I could feel a buzzing under my skin. There was a protection. It would probably have hurt me if I hadn’t used her blood.

I picked up the sword and started to scrape at the inner side of the collar.

The naga nodded approvingly.

We both knew there was probably not enough time left for us, we needed to buy time. If they knew she was not collared anymore, we would be on a timer. One that would probably be to our disadvantage. Especially as our only un-collared being was unconscious at the moment.

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