Chapter 90: Fear
"Yeah, I’m awake," Nox said. He rattled the chains on his wrists. "No thanks to these things. A little heavy for my taste."
Fena’s cold expression did not change. "Do not play games with me, human. I am not in the mood." She walked closer, her steps making no sound. She stopped just out of his reach.
"I will ask you one more time," she said, her voice low and dangerous. "How did you know about the Great Root? Who are you working for? Is it Gorok?"
’This again?’ He thought, a bored look on his face. ’She’s really stuck on this Gorok guy.’
He just shrugged his shoulders, the movement making the chains clank. "I already told you. I just felt it. Your big tree is sick. It’s rotting from the inside." He looked her right in the eyes. "The real question is, what are you going to do about it? Or are you just going to let your whole village die?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Insolence," she hissed. "A child like you cannot ’feel’ the lifeblood of the forest. You are lying."
She moved faster than he expected. Her hand shot out and grabbed his jaw, her grip like cold iron. She forced his head up to look at her.
"Tell me the truth, or I will crush your skull and pull the answer from your pathetic soul myself."
He didn’t flinch. He just met her angry gaze with his own cold one. "Go ahead and try, old woman."
Mela took a step forward. "Mother, please!"
Fena ignored her daughter. Her grip on his jaw tightened. But as she did, Nox raised his right hand to grab her wrist, to push her away.