Chapter 13: What was lost
There was a feeling of cold water dripping onto Scarlett's face, rousing her from her slumber.
She felt awful. Her body felt heavy and her joints ached. There was a desire to return to her slumber, but more water continued to drip onto her face, making it impossible for her to go back to sleep. Opening her eyes she looked up to see where the water was coming from, but only saw darkness.
Scarlett slowly picked herself up. Upon doing so, she felt the cold stone floor beneath her and she finally realized that she was not in her bed. She was in a dark chamber with stone rubble all around her. The only light in this chamber was the small amount that came from a single hole above her.
While trying to sit up, she felt restraints pull against her wrist and ankles. It was then that she remembered what had happened.
She wanted it to be one of the many nightmares she had while sleeping in the Wildlands, but between awakening in an unfamiliar environment and the feeling of rope around her limbs, she knew it was not that. It was a memory, a memory of her disciples trying to sacrifice her.
The pain from that betrayal made her tear up a little, but she managed to swallow it back. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she then focused on her restraints.
She worked on them for a few minutes and was able to slip one of her hands out of the bindings. From there, it was easy to untie her other hand and ankles. She then lastly untied the collar around her neck.
Once it was off, she got a better look at the collar that was sealing her magic. From the little light that was in this chamber, she could tell that the Jinsil that was wrapped around her neck were pieces of equipment made of Jinsil that they had brought on the expedition. It was tied together to make a makeshift collar.
She threw the collar on the ground and tried to create a flame in her hand. It was still quite dark in the chamber, and she was trying to make a light source to get a better view of where she was. Scarlet concentrated, but the aether wouldn't flow into her hand like it normally did. Something was wrong. She was struggling to focus even the smallest amount of aether to produce any fire.