I’m trapped. Like an animal. But unlike an animal, I am fully aware of just how trapped I am.
There isn’t much furniture in this small room, but I soon sit on the edge of my simple bed.
I stare around. I see nothing but cold, drab stone walls.
My room at home has a large window that looks out into the forests rimmed with sky. It’s breathtaking, and always serves to calm my nerves.
These walls, however, do nothing but agitate me further. The neat, uniformly-carved bricks remind me of the neat, well-trained soldiers. But more than that, of Captain Yang. With his clean-shaven face, carefully-arranged uniform, and falsely calm tone, he’s exactly like every brick in my wall.
Unnatural.
Feeling the anger and panic rise all the way up my throat, I sniff wildly and strike out at the wall behind me. Though I ball my left fist up and hit it with all my might, no power erupts over my skin. I can feel it within me, but for some reason, I can’t command my Arak band to spew forth its power.
I jump to my feet, my chest constricting with fear.
Bringing a leg up, I stamp it hard into the floor for balance. Then I punch out with my left hand, concentrating all my mind into my device.
I scream at it to send power rippling out into the room.
It does not. In fact, it barely makes a hissing noise, let alone an explosion.
“What’s going on here?” I ask the empty room. “What’s happening?” I ask even louder.
For several minutes I keep trying to call up my ability. No matter what I try, I can’t conjure it. Something is blocking me.
Feeling more trapped than before, I race over to the door and tug on it. Though I try to force it, the sturdy metal will not budge.
I’m locked inside.
.…
I really am trapped.
I don’t even have my magic to rely on.
As that realization dawns, I gasp, my breath catching hard in my throat.
Shaking my head, tears welling in my eyes, I press my back into the door and slowly slide down it. The ragged seams in the metal tear at my tunic, but I don’t care. I slide down until I strike the floor. Then I lean there, pulling my legs up until I tuck my head between my knees.
I used to tell myself I’m not the kind to cry. Yet right now, there’s no stopping the tears. They rush down my cheeks like snowmelt from the mountains.
Castor is gone, I’m trapped, and somehow this room has captured my ability to cast magic.
Things could not be worse.
.…
No, they could be worse. People could find out I’m the Savior.
That’s the one secret I still have. The one thing I have left.
Though it’s hard, I stop the tears. I swallow and push them back.
I don’t dry them, though; I let them moisten my cheeks for as long as they will. For I am not ashamed of them. I don’t have time for shame.
Instead, I sit there and slowly control my breathing.
I will get out of here. I don’t care how long it takes, and I don’t care what I have to do. But I will break free.
I am the Savior. I have a sacred task to perform, and no one will hold me back from that. Which includes the whole of the Kingdom, and especially Captain Yang.
With that determination building within, I lift myself up and lie down on my bed.