Chapter 35 - 33- Finding Neria

Darian stared at the empty cage in front of him, his lips pressed together, eyes narrowed as his mind raced through every scenario. His gaze drifted back toward the guards who had told him to leave them with them. They stood a few steps away, nervously scratching the backs of their heads, neither of them looking particularly eager to meet his eyes.

"We’ll compensate you..." one of them started, and the sound of his voice only grated on Darian’s nerves.

Compensate him?

Darian almost scoffed at the words. Even if he were a real merchant, he wasn’t sure they would be able to compensate him for losing a Calypso and an Alsharra elf.

His eyes drifted toward the cage lock. There were marks around the metal, fresh scratches running along the side where it had been forced open.

So his hunch was right.

Someone had taken them.

Maybe a thief. Maybe another merchant who had gotten too greedy and curious about Neria. Either way, it didn’t matter. He needed to find them quickly before decided to keep them for themselves, or worse, sold them

Darian backed away from the cage and walked toward the guards, his expression hardening as he passed them.

"I need a horse," he said, already heading toward the exit. After a moment, he added, "And a blade."

The guards exchanged another confused look before following after him. Darian wasn’t ready to explain to these people that he could find Neria through the collar around her neck. He hated that thing, but recently it had been proving itself useful in ways he didn’t particularly enjoy admitting.

One of the guards hurried to his side.

"We’ll give you our fastest horse."

The man’s words came out hurriedly, his thick accent making some of them difficult to understand, but Darian caught enough.

"Good."

They led him through another section of the caves, past the noise of the market and toward a narrow passage that eventually opened into the woods. The air changed almost immediately. The smell of smoke and alcohol faded behind them, replaced by the damp scent of earth and cold night air.

Several horses were tied to wooden poles just outside the caves, their breath visible in the chilly air as they shifted impatiently against their reins.

Darian’s eyes moved over them, already searching for the one that would get him to Neria fastest.

"I will take the black one." He nodded toward the steady-looking stallion with black fur. The horse gave a low neigh as if in agreement, its ears flicking toward Darian.

Its saddle was already on, which saved him the trouble, and Darian wanted this one specifically because of the way the guards had suddenly looked uneasy when he pointed at it.

"That one?" one of the guards asked, his expression changing immediately. "I just bought him. My favorite rarity."

Darian cared less.

He walked toward the stallion and started untying the ropes from the wooden post, the leather creaking beneath his fingers.

"You lost my Calypso and elf," he reminded them before reaching for the dagger hanging from the merchant’s belt.

The guard’s expression fell, but he didn’t argue.

Without another word, Darian climbed onto the horse. The stallion gave an irritated neigh and shifted beneath him, its hooves scraping against the dirt.

Darian tightened his grip on the reins and gave them a firm tug.

The horse settled almost immediately.

He kicked its side, and within seconds the beast was moving toward the forest, its hooves pounding against the earth as the lights of the market slowly disappeared behind him.

Darian kept his eyes ahead, but his mind was somewhere else.

Neria’s collar.

He needed to remember how to activate it.

He pulled the reins, forcing the horse to slow before eventually stopping beneath the cover of the trees. The sudden quiet made the sounds of the forest around him much clearer, the rustling leaves and distant calls of nocturnal creatures filling the darkness.

Darian reached inside his cloak and searched the inner pocket where he kept the Master’s Bracelet, the one connected to Neria’s collar.

His fingers finally found it. He pulled it out and shook it slightly, remembering the instructions Hartley had given when he last used it.

Nothing happened.

His brows furrowed. "Come on..." he muttered, turning the bracelet over in his hand.

He shook it again, this time a little harder.

A faint pulse of light moved across its surface.

Darian’s eyes narrowed. "Bingo"

____

Neria sat on the ground, small stones and twigs digging into her skin, but she could barely feel their sting anymore. Her eyes remained fixed on the blood covering her hands. The trembling had stopped, and the adrenaline that had been rushing through her earlier had faded into a strange numbness that made everything around her feel distant.

She hadn’t meant to kill him.

Well... not completely.

She had only wanted to get away from him. She wanted him to stop, to leave her alone, to stop whatever he had planned to do with her. She hadn’t thought about what would happen after that. She had simply acted.

And now he was dead.

Neria swallowed, her eyes slowly moving toward the body that laid in front of her. She couldn’t see his face properly without her spectacles, but she didn’t need to. He wasn’t moving and that was all that mattered.

She should run.

She knew the other man would eventually start looking for his friend, and if he found him dead with Neria still there, it wouldn’t take much for him to figure out what had happened. The thought made her finally look around the forest, trying to make out a path through the darkness.

But where was she supposed to go?

She didn’t know where the market was anymore. She didn’t know where Darian had gone. And Ryver was probably still unconscious inside.

Her fingers tightened around the chain at her wrists. "Ryver..." she whispered.

The guilt came suddenly, sharp enough to break through the numbness.

She wanted to leave without him,.but she couldn’t.

Neria pushed herself to her feet, wincing when the stones beneath her bare feet pressed into the cuts on her skin. She steadied herself against a tree, breathing slowly as she looked toward the direction she thought the wagon had been.

She couldn’t leave him.

Ryver was still on there, and there was no reason to believe they wouldn’t do something to him too.

She started to walk with her hand stretched out in front of her as she took a step forward. She briefly stumbled over the body but caught herself just in time, her foot catching against something before she quickly moved away from it.

How was she even going to get to Ryver? She could barely see her own hand in front of her, and yet for some reason she kept going.

There was so little light in the forest, which made everything harder. Neria wasn’t even sure she was going in the right direction anymore. The trees all looked the same to her, their shapes nothing more than dark blurs against the night.

Neria turned again. This time she wasn’t walking. She stood there for a second, listening carefully.

At first, there was nothing but the sounds of the night. Leaves rustling softly above her, insects humming somewhere in the darkness, and the occasional movement of something small through the bushes.

Then she heard it.

The distant neigh of horses somewhere to her left.

Neria’s head turned in that direction.

So she had been going the wrong way.

She started walking toward the sound, slowly but steadily. Her bare feet were beginning to ache, and every few steps she felt a small stone prick her, but she didn’t stop. At least now she had something to follow.

She hadn’t made it very far when a twig snapped behind her.

Neria stopped.

Her entire body went still.

Had the merchant returned?

She slowly turned around, her heart beginning to beat harder as she tried to make something out in the darkness. There was nothing she could see clearly, only the faint shapes of trees.

She started backing up, one careful step at a time.

Then a hand suddenly grabbed her.

Neria yelped, but another hand quickly covered her mouth.

"Shh. Neria, it’s me."

Her eyes widened.

Ryver?

He was awake now?

Her chained hands immediately moved upward, finding his face as she felt along his features, needing to make sure it was really him. Her fingers brushed over his cheek, then his hair before finding the familiar shape of his ears.

Yes.

It was him.

She recognized those ears anywhere.

"What were you doing going near the danger?" he whispered harshly, grabbing her hand and pulling her along with him.

"I was looking for you," she answered quietly.

"And how is a blind Calypso going to save me?"

Neria frowned.

Yeah.

She probably should have left him. Obviously, he was quite capable of handling himself.

"You were sleeping a lot," she pointed out.

"Yes. The drug wore off... and I used my magic."

Ryver’s voice sounded a little strained when he said it, but he didn’t slow down. He kept pulling her through the forest, making sure she followed every step as they moved toward the distant sound of the horses.

After a few moments, he suddenly stopped.

Neria almost walked into his back.

She felt his hand reach for the chains around her wrists. His fingers moved over the metal for a few seconds, searching for something.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Hold still."

There was a faint metallic sound, followed by a strange sensation that ran through her wrists.

Then the chains dropped.

Neria stared down at the faint blur of metal lying on the forest floor.

She blinked. "My chains..."

"Gone," Ryver said, sounding slightly pleased with himself.

Neria rubbed her wrists, still feeling the weight of the metal even though it was no longer there.

That relief didn’t last long when they heard screams behind them and the sounds of bells ringing.

Ryver grabbed her hand, "Shit they realized we’re missing "