Trying - Annair's Story #5

As night fell the landscape grew sinister, an uncomfortable feeling setting in. We were nearing the swamp and its dark nature was unsettling. Even after renewing the charm I was struggling with the visions, but my magenta butterflies easily kept me distracted.

“You should be careful with those,” Maulich warned, nodding to a butterfly that was floating around his head. He waved at it and it fluttered back towards me. “We’re not out of danger and we won’t be anytime soon.”

My brows furrowed. He hadn’t complained before. “How can you tell?” I asked, neglecting the butterfly long enough for it to burst.

“The Court has a hold on this place,” he said cautiously, as if he were afraid to mention them. “Now that it’s dark we’re basically walking flares, and the illusions may draw more attention.”

I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded, relaxing my hands and flexing my fingers. They were sore from the continuous movement. I rubbed at my knuckles and followed close beside Maulich.

The silence between us was as uncomfortable as the swamp.

Stars, I almost regret this. Almost…

My thoughts were cut short. Something had wrapped around my ankle and pulled me off of the ground. I cried out as I found myself dangling upside down from a rope tied to a tree.

A hunters trap!? I twisted, trying to pull myself up to the rope to try and get myself free.

“Maulich!” I called once I’d reached the rope.

“So that’s your name,” a voice like ice cut in. I looked down to see Maulich face down on the ground, another sylvari holding his hands behind his back. She pulled his staff and tossed it aside. The white glow of her face pulled upwards as she smirked, grabbing his hair and pulling his head off of the ground. “What an interesting pair you are. Why are a Dreamer and a Soundless working together?”

Brows furrowed, I hardly had any time to react before the rope was cut and I fell to the ground. My eyes grew wide and I coughed, struggling to get back the air that had been forced from my lungs. A pair of arms wrapped around me and I fell still when I felt something cold touch my throat.

“Be still, little Dreamer. Unless you want to return to your precious Dream sooner than later,” a deep voice muttered in my ear.

The visions bombarded me when he mentioned the Dream. I closed my eyes and bit down on my tongue, wincing as images of tortured souls flashed in my sight.

“Let her go!” Maulich shouted, his voice knocking me back into reality.  

The sylvari behind him chuckled. “Or else what?”

He sneered and glowered at them, but remained still.

“Yeah, I thought so.” She sneered as she pulled a rope from her bag and began tying his wrists together. “So, Soundless. That makes our job easier. You’ve already turned against the Pale Tree, so it won’t take long to break you.”

Maulich closed his eyes and pursed his lips, looking down at the ground to keep from retaliating.

Soundless? Against the Tree? Things usually were confusing, but now I had no clue what was happening. They were Courtiers, that much was clear. But Maulich wasn’t evil, I was sure of it.

The blade remained at my throat while the Courtier pulled my hands behind my back to tie them with his other. I cursed under my breath; I couldn’t cast proper spells with my wrists bound.

A third Courtier stepped from the shadows, a smug smile on his face. He came forward, pink and purple magic dancing around his fingertips. A mesmer. My eyes grew wide and I found myself backing into the Courtier behind me.

“Don’t fight it little Dreamer,” he hissed in my ear. “You’ll be at peace soon enough…”

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

It was dawn by the time I came to. The headache I felt upon waking in the cell was agonizing. With my hands tied it made matters worse. They’d switched the position and my hands were now in front of me, but it didn’t help. I felt no comfort and whatever the mesmer had done to me forced my charm to break. I could feel the overwhelming emotions of all the other Dreamers that were being held captive alongside me.

Except for Maulich. I hadn’t been able to feel him before but his presence was almost nonexistent. He was beside me, sitting against the tangled vines of his cell. The tie had been pulled from his hair, and his dark teal leaves had fallen forward. There was a look of melancholy on his face and his gaze was distant.

I struggled to push myself up and crawled to the edge of my cell, getting as close to his as I could.

“Maulich,” I said in a hushed voice. His eyes opened and he looked over to me, soft blue meeting my pale violet. They grew wide and he sat up straighter.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice quiet.

“As alright as you it seems,” I answered, shifting into a sitting position. “Where are we?”

“In one of their larger settlements, in the middle of the swamp.” He scowled and shook his head. “We shouldn’t have continued walking after sunset. We were walking targets.”

Sighing, I looked down at my bound wrists. I frowned as I brought the rope up to my mouth. A bitter taste overwhelmed my senses and I pulled away quickly, gagging on my own tongue.

“Don’t try that,” he warned. “The ropes are poisoned. If you try to gnaw through further it’ll make you sick.”

I frowned. “You could’ve told me that before I tried.”

His eyes met mine with a cold glare. I reeled back and shied away, not familiar with anyone being angry with me.

The room was silent, the others that were trapped not daring to speak out of fear. With a sigh I returned to the edge of the cell. “Maulich?” I started. His facial features softened and he looked at me once again. “What did that Courtier mean? When he called you Soundless, I mean.”

Maulich pursed his lips and turned away. “Those of us that are Soundless have chosen to cut ourselves off from the connection that links us to the Pale Tree. Sometimes Dreamers think of us as traitors, because we don’t agree with the teachings of the Tablet. Other times they’re afraid because they can’t feel us.”

Afraid? My brows furrowed again. The connection is a burden. Why would anyone want to be connected?

“The Nightmare Court sees us as easy targets. Without the connection they think that all they have to do is turn us against the Tree. All it does is fill the Dream with our tortured memories once they’ve killed us.”

I winced, images flashing as if on cue. “How do you know all that?” I asked, curiosity instilling itself in me. I awkwardly tucked my crimson strands behind my ears and leaned forward.

The melancholy look returned. “The Court attacked the Island my acquaintances call their home, and they took hostages. I had just started living there and our leader managed to go in and save some of them. They told me about their experience.” His hands clenched into fists. “That group of Courtiers was a side show. It’s unsettling to think about what their main base will do to their prisoners.”

“C-can’t we escape?” I suggested, my tone panicked. “There’s bound to be a flaw in their system that we can exploit...”

“Annair, we’re mages,” he stated calmly. “There’s not much we can do without the ability to use our hands.”

“T-then we’ll figure out a way to cut the ropes. There has to be something!” My breathing had quickened, panic setting in and causing my words to spill. “I-I can’t stay here! I escaped from the Dream when I Awakened. I don’t want to suffer in this life as well!”

“Suffer?” He looked at me with furrowed brows, his head tilted to get a better look at me through the twisted thorns.

I nodded and sat back against the vines, bringing my legs to my chest me burying my face in my skirt. I spoke quickly, the words once again falling from my mouth. “Those tortured souls. The pain, the agony, the suffering. I can still feel it, even outside of the Dream. For eternity I was trapped there. My Luminary being tortured and experimented on by the asura all those years ago, the first drops of blood the Court shed, and every horrible thing after. I was forced to bear witness to all of it. I was free, but I’m trapped again.”

What if I hadn’t gotten caught in that trap? We could’ve fought them off if they came. But instead they had the element of surprise on their side.

I bit my lip and shuddered. It was so useless. Pointless to think about what could have been. I couldn’t change time, only manipulate it. And with my hands bound I couldn’t do that much.

A flicker of light coming from Maulich’s cell caught my attention. I lifted my head to see what was happening. My eyes grew wide.

“What are you doing?” I questioned, moving back towards the edge.

He wasn’t paying any attention to anything but his hands. Mutterings of spells collided into each other before he breathed deeply and exhaled sharply. I fell back at the sight of flame. Maulich grimaced and shook his bound hands before repeating himself.

“What are you doing?” I asked, sitting up.

Another flame quickly burst. He swore under his breath before answering my question. “I’m trying to burn through these restraints. Once I do that I’m cutting you free and we’re getting out of here.”