Chapter 184: Shifting Chains
The Dusk Chambers, or hall of the inquisitors was a place many entered, but few left. The moment we passed through the iron-bound door guarding the entrance, I froze, over come by an intangible wave of sheer hostility. Blinding light crystals lined the walls, flooding the rooms and hallways until no shadows remained. The harsh radiance was no ordinary light, either, but woven of pure Sun Magic itself, openly rejecting every fiber of my being. The stone walls were bleached white and covered in magic runes and enchantments, applying tremendous pressure to any of the infernal bloodline.
"You seem unwell," Terran taunted, guiding me forward with a forceful hand on my back. "Your hesitance testifies of your guilt. Only those allied with the demons need fear the Sun God’s touch."
His reasoning was unnervingly close to what the novice priests had used to justify their actions when they assaulted me in the upper halls of the Divine Throne. I felt like protesting, explaining that Sun Magic simply attacks infernal blood, but knew it would only be giving the inquisitor what he wanted. Instead, I meekly bowed my head and raised my adaptive resistance as much as possible, hoping to block out as much of the influence as possible.
The Dusk Chambers were just as much a maze as the rest of the Divine Throne. Countless doors lined the tangled web of stairs and hallways, disorienting me almost immediately, and an occasional scream colored the air, sending shivers down my tail. After threading through turns and doorways, Terran dragged me to a stop without warning, halting our march before a door as inconspicuous as the hundreds we’d passed before.
One of the guards threw it open, revealing a small room with a low ceiling, lit with the same intensity as the rest of the facility. A magic circle stood on the ground against the center of the far wall, pulsing faintly with a familiar crimson light. My hand found its way to my chest, resting against the slave crest, which had begun emitting an identical light the moment I crossed the threshold. An instinctive fear and revulsion filled my chest, and I tried to back away from the circle, but Terran’s hand stopped me.
"Step inside, slave," he said, his voice threatening.
Swallowing my revulsion, I walked into the magic circle. A chill traced over my skin as I stepped over the outer runes, as though I were passing through an invisible border.
"What are you going to-"
A piercing cold hand grasped my soul, squeezing tightly. Immediately, my mana fled, hiding far out of reach, and even my connection with my soul felt untouchable and distant. The constant pain continued as it always had, encircling me like a thorny vine, but the comforting warmth had vanished, evaporating like dew in the sun.