Shadow and Wild Magic
Chapter 9

“Stop!” Ezra screamed out of his lungs. The guard was holding him still. “You monsters! Stop!”

He couldn’t do anything but watch the guards torture those poor, defenseless sindurs. They were removing their claws. They were almost done with the female. It was horrible to watch, worse than any torture Ezra had ever endured. Shadow was fighting with all he had, but they’d just hit him another time. He was on the ground now. He was still screaming.

They got a hold of his paw, and they were pulling. Ezra pushed the guard holding him to the side.

“Let me go!” he shouted.

But the guard kept holding on to him. Ezra couldn’t compete against sithrax strength. He had to be smart about it.

He simply let himself fall. Ezra slipped through the lizard’s grip, all thanks to his jacket. He rolled on the sand and ran towards Shadow. The guard was pursuing him.

“Die!” Shadow roared.

What the…

Shadow’s voice was hoarse and...different.

“I want you all to die!”

A chill ran through the air.

Shadow’s claw snapped, and everything went silent. During the next few seconds, Ezra could only hear his breath.

Then, as if the sky itself surrendered, a powerful force fell upon the prison yard. Ezra was instantly pinned to the ground. It was suddenly so hard to breathe. An incessant, loud, whirring sound deafened him. He couldn’t hear anything else. It took Ezra all his strength to move his head so he could see what was happening ahead.

The guards were also pinned to the ground. Shadow’s friends weren’t moving. Only Shadow stood, and the look in his eyes was terrifying. Shadow marched to the guard who’d taken his claw. It was like a rage trance.

Shadow leaned over to grab something from the sand. It was a dagger. Ezra knew there and then what would happen next. With all his might, he crawled towards Shadow.

“Don’t!” he shouted, but it barely came out as a whisper.

The first time he’d seen Shadow, he knew this sindur had never killed before. There was something different in the eyes of those who’d made their first kill. Actually, it was more something missing. If Shadow made the kill now, he would forever change, and he could never go back. Shadow didn’t hear Ezra. And when the black cat got close to the guard on the ground, he said something to him, then he slit his throat.

The noise stopped. Ezra could breathe properly again. Everything was quiet, and everyone was aghast. Ezra rose to his feet. He’d managed to get real close to Shadow, even while crawling. Next to him was the dead lizard guard. Shadow, who’d made the kill, lay unconscious on the ground. The dagger was in the sand, next to the guard’s slit throat.

Ezra turned around when he heard the guards behind him. The Pale Warden was among them. They seized him and dragged him away. It was a good thing they believed he’d done this and killed the guard. They wouldn’t blame Shadow. Whatever Shadow had done, it was perhaps one of the most powerful magic Ezra had ever seen. Whatever Shadow was, Ezra had to admit that he was frightened of it.

Shadow regained consciousness. He struggled to stand back up. He looked around, disoriented and confused. The other sindurs, whose paws were bleeding, stared at him, awestruck.

Shadow glanced at Ezra, whom the guards carried away. Before Ezra could say anything to him, the Pale Warden came into his field of vision. He raised his glaive and knocked the handle against Ezra’s head.

Ezra opened his eyes later, and he had no idea what time it was. He was back in his cell, but it wasn’t his cell. He could swear it was smaller. Ezra rushed to the wall anyway.

“Shadow! Are you there?” he called.

There was no response. Ezra had no idea whether they’d moved him to another cell in the tunnel or an entirely different place. Ezra sat on the floor, his head rested against the wall. He was breathing loudly like he’d run a marathon. He had no idea what to do now. They had a plan, a beautiful plan of escape. Now, they couldn’t go through with it.

Only one question was in his mind.

What would Luky do?

This question had become a mantra over the past year. Ever since he’d met the red sindur boy, he’d asked himself in every tough situation: what would Luky do?

Even after Luky and he had parted ways, this question had brought him home, to Tazman. A place he hadn’t been in decades. After that, once he got bored, this question led him to this dangerous adventure in the land of lizardmen. It was actually more than an adventure. Ezra had been searching for something. He was the Collector. His job was to replace things no one else could replace. That was why the Hauian Princess had hired him in the first place a year ago. This was why he was here now, back on the same mission. He was still looking for the same item.

But now, he was trapped. Caged in the dark dungeon of the Fortress of Stahl.

What would Luky do?

Ezra smiled. He knew exactly what that red cat would do. Luky would go through with the plan.

Ezra rose to his feet again, and he checked the door. Slowly, very slowly, he tried to open it. And it was unlocked. Ezra pulled on the door ever so slightly and peeked through the opening. He was in a tunnel, possibly the same, just a few cells away from the exit. The sithrax guard didn’t notice him. Lizards were pretty much blind and almost deaf. But they smelled with their tongues and felt even the slightest vibrations in the sand. Ezra shut the door swiflty so he wouldn’t get noticed.

So, the guards hadn’t locked the gates yet. It must still be daytime. Ezra would wait. When the guard would leave, Ezra would leave his cell. Maybe he wasn’t a master of stealth like a sindur, but he’d become very good at sneaking. And with his boots that barely made a print in the sand, he could move silently. Ezra would get to the stairs without being detected.