Melody of Mana

Being locked up was an all to common occurrence in my life. It never got any more fun either, but this was a new low. I was cold, alone, and feeling rather more abused than I would have liked. It also looked like there was little chance of rescue for me unless I was the one doing my rescuing.

Hours ticked by with no interaction. I eventually stood, and went to the window, the drugs finally properly wearing off.

At least I had a good view, sure it was through bars, but it was a good one. The small city outside was covered in snow, almost idyllic in its form There were lights, and a few people moving here and there within the walls. I was currently at a higher altitude, almost certainly within some kind of castle or fortress that looked down upon the settlement.

I was coming up with a plan, but there were still parts here and there that I needed to work on. I really needed a safe place to teleport to, but finding that was the hardest bit. I didn't know what was where anywhere in this town, and I was leery of doing anything that might make the situation worse. I'd get one escape attempt, and if I screwed it up, I'd likely just be killed.

It was surprising that they were keeping me alive right now anyway, as even if I wasn't me it would be a damn hard thing to keep going for too long. Most mages would run or fight if they thought they'd be killed, only ever surrendering if it was safe, and I had a strong feeling that they'd get around to putting my head on a pike sooner or later if I stayed.

I spent several days looking over the town, trying to identify the entrances and exits, the buildings of import and what they were. It was hard at this distance, but I was fairly sure that I'd found some kind of storehouse, one with a broken out shutter, and even luckier, the direction the traffic was going. There were no gates in the wall from my viewpoint, but that was of little import.

Standing here and watching had become my habit, and there was little to interrupt me. Sometimes the guards would come to check that I was here, or deliver rather poor food, but more often than not I was left to my own devices.

Which made it strange when I heard a jingling and the noise of a key being put into a lock. At first I didn't turn around, figuring it was the guards either to bring me something or do something unpleasant, neither of which I was terribly interested in.

"Hello Alana, it's been some time hasn't it?" A slightly familiar male voice said.

I turned to see the face of a man I'd not seen in some years, not since the fall of my Lithere.

"Professor Rooke?" I asked confused.

He gave me a smile. "Indeed, I'm glad to see you remember your old teacher."

"Come to what? Interrogate me?"

"In a sense, yes. I am hoping that I can convince you to not need such things though." At my raised eyebrow he continued. "Your situation is... severe, as I'm sure you well know, but His Majesty isn't an unkind man, nor one without reason. He remembers you from that little 'adventure' you had as children, and would really rather not see you harmed. May I sit?"

He'd indicated a small stool, something the guards had delivered with the food this morning, and at my nod took a place. I settled down opposite him, looking at the man who'd aged considerably since I'd been in school. His robes now were thick, and not quite as... well made? Not as fancy at any rate.

"I didn't know that you two knew each other," I stated.

"Until the capitol fell I'd only met him a few times at formal functions, but even then I knew he was a decent young man, and he hasn't disappointed me at all."

"So what? You just expect me to give you... what do you want anyway?" I asked.

"We know that you were involved in some project in Linden, though not the exact nature. We want the information on that, as well as the sky-metal. If you cooperate I've been told that you'll find your... accommodations will improve drastically, and you'll be given a second royal pardon. Living as you did didn't indicate any disloyalty, but rather a need for you to survive in the new era." I sat still as he made his pitch, unsure if I should believe it or not.

"You know that my father and brother are both heavily involved in the empire's army do you not?" I asked.

"I do, and it is unfortunate, and there may be something that can be done for them if they surrender. I think you should start thinking of yourself though Alana." The threat was clear.

"If I accept?"

"You'd be held here for the duration of our war, but as I said in a much more pleasant place. When it was all said and done, you'd be allowed to return to the country proper, free and clear."

"And should I refuse?" I asked, interested in what they had planned.

"That is more complicated. It would depend on how long you refused."

That sent a chill down my spine and I struggled to think. I needed to get out of here now.

"You won't help me will you?" I asked.

"If you don't cooperate, I'm afraid I cannot, and will not." We sat in silence for several minutes after that, me thinking, and him watching my reactions before he finally continued. "Take a few hours to think on things Alana. If you decide to help me, and yourself, let the guards know."

He left me, and while I'd like to say that I wasn't afraid the truth was that I was terrified. I didn't want to die, or be stuck here for years. I also didn't want my family to suffer, and I certainly didn't want to give up anything that might harm them.

It wasn't too long after he left that the sun started to set, and I began to hear it, the screaming. It was nearby, and I knew that it was no mistake that I was hearing it either, the wards on this place were such that sound would only go where they wanted it to. The pained cries of another prisoner being used to scare me, to make me afraid, to give up what they wanted without a fight. Something I would certainly have done if they came in now.

I hated myself for doing it but I began to act, poorly.

"This is a great way to make people like you you know, absolutely great. I mean, I'm feeling much more loyal, certainly. Really, there's no need..." One of the guard looked in at me with furrowed brows, but seeing that I was still and standing by the window, where I always was she turned away, letting me rant.

The more I did it, the more I poorly acted, the more my mana began to respond. It was weak, slow, and something I'd only practiced a few times, but it existed, and I only needed a little bit, only a couple of spells.

The iron of the chain around my wrist wasn't very pure. I knew they wanted the secret to making aluminum, sky-metal as they called it, and it gave me a perverse pleasure to use that same technique to escape now. The impurities, and the oxidation of one of the little links moved to two little lines on one of the links, weakening it until it nearly crumbled away. I needed it to hold just a moment while I got the portal up, just in case my wardens looked in while I was setting up my escape.

The harder part came now. I couldn't sing or dance, and those were easier then the stupid ranting I was doing now, but I persisted, looking out the window into the storehouse. Past the broken shutter and into the darkness.

It worked though, slowly, and with difficulty, probably due to the much higher distance than I was used to, the portal began to form. First it was a slight shimmering and shaking in the air, then it slowly began to grow, inch by inch. Just a bit bigger and I'd be able to slip through. I even bent down to get ready to jump.

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID!!!" One of the guards began to yell, her eyes appearing in the door. Our gazes briefly met as she saw what I was doing, her eyes widening visibly. "KEYS!!!"

I'd never stopped my casting, and now I switched to song, time was something I'd be out of in seconds. While I did so I yanked, the little chain making a 'chink' sound as the corrosion and weakness did its job and popped away.

One of the guards was significantly stronger then the others, and she must have gotten tired of their fumbling. With a kick the door to my cell buckled and broke. The infuriated soldier stood there, sword in her hand and ready for only an instant before blurring forward.

It was now or never. I dove through the gateway, hoping that it was enough to take me through to the other side. The silver blade seemed to slow as it came forward and I fell back. It seemed she'd not anticipated me passing through the seemingly solid wall, and would miss my neck.

Sadly I'd brought my left arm up, a desperate reaction to shield myself from the blade.

Time sped back up and everything happened in an instant. The world shifted dizzyingly as I passed through the tunnel in space. Before I realized what had happened I felt a sharp yanking from my arm and I found myself through, landing hard on... some kind of hay or something.

With a thought I killed the portal spell. Nobody had followed me through yet, but they were sure to in moments. I needed to move and fast.

It took a second, probably due to the adrenaline, before the pain hit. It came around the same time I noticed all the sticky fluid. My arm, the one I'd raised in defense flared in agony and I screamed into the bale I'd fallen onto.

Soon as I looked down I saw it. A few inches below my left elbow there was a clean line, and everything below that was gone. That was also a lot of blood, really a lot of blood that was coming out of the wound.

I didn't even think, I just started singing. Auld Lang Syne wasn't really a thematic song for this, at least I hoped it wouldn't be, but it was absolutely the first thing that popped into my head and I didn't have the time to question it.

The words flowed and flowed, staunching the wound bit by bit. I got cold, it must have been so much colder out here then in that cell, and I was exhausted, I just wanted to sleep. I needed to finish this though, get this done, else I would die here.

My vision blurred in the slight light of the moon, but I could still feel the wound seal. I smiled, and promptly passed out.