to... whatever this is. He’s right, though, it would make me vulnerable, but I can’t think of a better time to do it when we don’t know how long we’ve got.
“I know what to expect this time.” With more confidence than I feel, I hold my hand out again for his wrist. I need him to understand what I’m feeling. “If I get caught helping them escape, I want you to go, to leave. Don’t wait for me, just go. You can’t do that if you still have this on.” He raises his gaze from his work table to mine again with an unreadable expression. I know what he’s going to say, that he will refuse to leave without me, we made a pact. However, I need to know that if my plan doesn’t work, he won’t go down with me because I had to help people. This wasn’t his plan, he’s stuck here longer because of it, yet he agreed.
He stares at me for a long time until, finally, he offers his arm to me again. Taking a deep breath, I use my right hand to brace myself against the workbench, and then wrap my left hand around the cuff.
Pain flares through my body and the draining sensation immediately brings me to my knees. Vaeril curses and kneels next to me so I don’t have to stretch, but I couldn’t let go even if I wanted to—my hand is glued to the stone. I can almost hear whispers in my ear, like the magic is talking to me. I don’t understand it, but it’s testing me. It doesn’t want to be broken. This spell is old, and I had forgotten how much the previous cuff had taken out of me, but what I said was true, I knew what to expect. The feeling that the spell is angry rolls over me, and if I could frown, I would. How can magic have feelings?
This is taking longer than the first one, and I realise I need to fight this time. Pushing all the adamant demand I can muster into the cuff, I begin to feel lightheaded, and something trickles from my nose down onto my lip.
“Stop, you’re giving too much,” Vaeril growls, but his voice sounds muffled. In fact, all sound is muffled, even the roaring of the forge is quieter than usual. “Clarissa, stop!” The shout catches my attention, and I lift my head to look at the elf. The movement is harder than it should be. My whole body is heavy, and I just want to curl up in the corner and go to sleep.
Yes, sleep sounds good right now. My thoughts are foggy as I smile up at the elf who is now shaking my shoulder with his free hand. Wait, when did he move his arm?
“Stop, now! I can feel your spirit fading!” he orders, and I’m sure it’s the lack of energy that’s making me delirious, but I could have sworn he sounds scared. I snort. I doubt that very much.
With one last tremendous push, I feel the spell finally unravel and break. The pain and draining of my energy instantly stops, but I feel exhausted. As soon as I release his arm, I fall back and curl up into a fetal position.
“Clarissa!” He hovers above me and I want to sit up, to tell him to leave me alone, that I need some quiet while I rejig my thoughts.
“I’m fine, I just need to rest for a moment,” I mutter, not even bothering to lift my head from the floor.
I can hear his breathing and feel his presence. He’s close enough that if I reach out, I would be able to touch him, but thankfully, after a moment, he stands and I hear his footsteps as he walks away. The sound of metal banging against metal echoes around the underground room and relief fills me. I don’t want him to know how much energy that took from me, and my whole body begins to ache. Taking deep breaths, I try to calm my thoughts and let my body recover. I can feel his eyes on me, and there’s a small tug in my chest every couple of minutes from the connection between us.
Eventually, I feel like I have enough energy to sit up, so I take a deep breath before pushing into an upright position.
“Did it work?”
“Yes.” I needn’t have asked, I can practically feel his power from here. He is strong if he’s