Ascension: Alsari 12 (The Myriad book 1)

My eyes had barely adjusted to the darkness of the prison cell when two attendants clamped manacles onto my arms. The effect was immediate. An icy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. For as long as I could remember, stone and metal had been like an extension of my being. I had been one with it. I glanced around my cell, it was entirely made of granite blocks, but I was cut off from it. These chains….somehow, they were inhibiting my magic.

“You can leave,” a cold voice informed the attendants. They proceeded to do so, locking me behind metal bars. For the first time that I could remember, the iron wouldn’t bend to my will. The effect of losing my magic was like losing connection to my legs. I was shaken and unsteady.

“Where….Where am I?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from trembling. I was not going to fall apart. “Who are you?”

A woman stepped into view. She held herself in a way that commanded authority, with the familiar white hourglass symbol on her shoulder. “My name is Regent Kyra Solar,” she said. “And you’re in the Deadlock, the most secure prison on this world. You’re here because you attempted to escape from the extraction team. Our geomancer dropped you through the floor and into the cell we’d prepared in anticipation of your ill-fated escape attempt.”

“This is where you keep them,” I realized.

Solar frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t follow.”

“The Eternian Academy isn’t just a school,” I murmured. “That’s what Eira said. She also said you have files on everyone. You train mages. This isn’t an academy, it’s a base of operations. You’ve collected the most powerful people on this world, and the ones who don’t stay in line….they end up here.”

“That’s a lot of assumptions,” Kyra said.

“Am I wrong?”

“More or less.” The Regent stepped closer to me. I expected her to stop at the bars, but she didn’t. She continued forward, passing through the solid metal as though it wasn’t there. My thoughts raced, trying to find an explanation for how she’d stepped through the bars. They were solid, I’d seen the attendants touch them. I’d heard of phasing magic, but that was woefully underdeveloped. Even if Kyra had phased through the bars, she also would have fallen through the floor, straight to the center of the world.

“You’ve known the Academy existed for less than twelve hours, most of which you spent unconscious, and you’re already judging our ways?”

“You’re a telepath,” I realized.

“I’m not here at all,” Solar agreed. “I’m actually forty-two stories above you having a conversation with another new recruit.”

“Why are you here?” I said, rallying what little defiance I had left. The loss of my magic had taken a toll on me, and but I had to keep up a strong front. “If you’re just going to demonstrate your power, you might as well leave.”

“Gladly.” Kyra began to fade out of existence, fraying around the edges, colors blurring together. “Just….try to keep an open mind.” With that, she was gone.

Time passed differently in cages. The only way of pinpointing it was the distance between meals, and I suspected the guards chose the times at random to destroy my sense of time. I couldn’t have been here more than an hour, so that hadn’t taken effect yet, but I knew from past experiences that it was only a matter of time.

I was taken by surprise when a soldier approached my cell with a key.

“What are you doing?” I asked, voice hoarse from lack of use.

The soldier raised an eyebrow. “What does it look like I’m doin’?” He proceeded to insert the key into the lock on my door, which swung open without a sound. “Well? Are ya comin’?”

Perplexed and suspicious, I stepped out of my cell. I felt unsteady walking without magic. It wasn’t necessary, but I subconsciously used lithomancy to support me when I walked, and so I never tripped or stepped on sharp rocks. I could still walk without magic, but it was like my legs were liquid without it. “Why is Kyra letting me out?” I asked.

“Do you want to go back?” The guard laughed and I glared at him. He stopped laughing. “It’s not my place to interpret Regent Solar’s wishes.”

“But she didn’t order you to take these off?” I raised my still-manacled wrists. It was a desperate hope, yet still worth a shot.

“Nope.”

So Kyra was letting me out of the cell, but not out of the compound. She still wanted me as a prisoner, but she was granting me access to more space. Solar was confident that she could contain me. I had learned long ago that confidence was a weakness. Still, the solid granite walls made confidence seem more like observation.

The guard lead me past rows of cells, most of them empty. Some were covered with curtains and other cloth, shielding them from view. As attempts to hide prisoners went, this one was futile.

The guard lead me into an empty room, one that wasn’t a cell. Still, the resemblance was disturbingly familiar. It was devoid of any furnishings or decorations, only more of the ubiquitous stone walls. The only thing that was missing were the bars. “What’s this?” I asked. “A torture chamber? Execution room?” I didn’t expect either of the options to be correct, but my confidence was growing, and I could overpower the guard, even without my magic.

“Nothing so melodramatic,” a voice behind me drawled.

I grimaced when I recognized the voice, swiveling around to face the speaker. “What do you want, Solar?”

Kyra gave me a bland smile. “You’re not asking the important questions, Alsari,” she said.

“And what might those be?” I had known her for a short time, but I was beginning to hate Kyra Solar. Her casual condescension grated on me.

“What are the consequences for you?” she replied.

“What are you talking-”

“In a few minutes, there’s someone you’re going to meet,” the regent stated. “He’s talking to me right now, but we’ll be done shortly. His name is Thørn Feltrix.”