Syryn knew he shouldn't have trusted soone else to save him. The clam had its mouth shut tighter than the doors of a prison cell.
He tried pushing his fingers through the gap of the mouth but it wouldn't budge. He wasn't ready to get caught at his first runaway attempt but the sinking feeling inside him told the mage that he wasn't going to succeed today.
Nevertheless, he once again attempted to pry open the shell.
"Useless!" He cursed. "Why won't you answer or help , stupid pearl?!"
The mage was prepared to go down fighting if they tried to take him back to Silisia. He was already taking the bla for the unconscious guard and the prince so Syryn had nothing to lose. He hadn't fought rs before but if they were as strong as Enkansh then he was in trouble. But it didn't matter because Syryn was going to go down fighting.
Clams do not have the intelligence to understand your commands; A disembodied voice told Syryn. It sounded cold and monotone.
"Is that you then, sage?" Syryn asked. "Finally decided to talk eh?"
Prolonged communication with causes ntal fatigue. It is still too early for us to be sharing a mind.
Syryn wasn't surprised. There was always a price for everything.
"Can you get out of this situation first? We can talk about marine intelligence once I've escaped the water!"
I canreadyourthoughts. There is no need to soak them out loud.
[You should have said that first, then.]
Goback to Silisia. Youhaveunfinishedbusiness.
[I won't go back. I refuse to beco king of the rs.]
You will find a powerful ally in the r kingdom. Return, Syryn. She is waiting for you.
[She who?]
Havefaith in for I do not wish for us to die here in the ocean. You have much to accomplish before passing on, Syryn.
Syryn peeped around the corner and saw the r guards closing in towards his hiding spot.
[Those snakes... Were you the one that called them?]
They ca by their own volition when they slled danger on you. Your hand was covered in the pheromones emitted by female infinity worms.
The explanation was cathartic to Syryn. He had been wondering how the series of events were connected to each other.
[But wouldn't I have escaped by swimming away from the ocean floor?]
No. The worms would have risked leaving the sand to chase you.
That was why the snakes had burnt his skin with their toxic saliva, Syryn concluded. And they let him go early because the most imdiate and critical danger had been evaded. Syryn guessed that the snakes couldn't possibly know when the worms were leaving the area, and they couldn't stay wrapped around Syryn the entire ti waiting for the infinity worms to leave.
You are right about that.
[Okay, so if I go back to Silisia, you'll help avoid becoming the king, won't you? It's the only condition I ask for returning.]
Most would kill to beco the ruler of the biggest r kingdom. Why do you reject what's yours?
[One, I am not a r. Two, kings are just prisoners of their power and their palaces. It is a miserable existence living that way.]
Power does not get to choose the burden that gets yoked upon them. You take what cos with it.
[Why the hell are you insistent on becoming king?]
Syryn had been found. The hostile r guard pointed a long spear at him.
The sage is the rightful king of Silisia. Accept it and appoint a proxy if you do not wish to stay at Silisia.
The r guard made a whistle-like sound from his throat and it brought the others to his spot.
[I can do that? That's a brilliant idea.]
The r guards surrounded Syryn. From all around him, spears were pointed at the mage. He raised his arms in a gesture of surrender.
[Sage, what happened to my mories anyway?]
"Human, why did you attack your guard and the prince?"
[Sage? Where did you go?]
A pointed end of one of the spears jabbed him on his bicep.
"Because I wanted to run away dumbass. Why else would I do it?" Syryn rolled his eyes at the guard. "They're both alive by the way. I didn't kill anyone."
Syryn felt sorry that Drevin's hard work had been wasted because neither of them had anticipated spies to be watching Syryn. Soone had seen them leaving and had obviously alerted the guards. Was there another explanation for the rs showing up so suddenly? He didn't think so.
Now he had two more worries to gnaw on. Soone had tried to kill him using infinity worms. And that soone was probably the sa person spying on him. As for how the pheromone had co to be on his hand, Syryn suspected the bag that Shali had given to him. He alone had touched the fish inside it.
"Ungrateful human! You obviously don't understand how kind his majesty has been to you. Is this how you show your gratitude?! By attacking his subjects and trying to escape?"
"Listen, which part of being a victim of r kidnapping did you miss? If I should be grateful to the king for keeping hostage in his kingdom then Drevin too should be grateful that I attacked him."
"Shut up!" The guard growled out. "You're coming back with us quietly."
Of course, he was. Syryn allowed the guards to bind his hands. He was then hauled away like a fish caught for dinner.
As they swam towards Silisia, Syryn was thinking about the bag that Shali had given him. The little princess was innocent, or at least he hoped she was. He had to ask the rmaid about the bag without alerting her of his suspicions. If this was so sort of revenge she was taking for her older brother's death, Syryn was going to applaud her acting skills.
___
The mage was once again dumped back inside the fort-like prison he had been stuck inside for the first few days of his stay at Silisia. This ti, his arms and feet were bound by the r guards.
"Disgusting human," one of the guards spat, knocking him to the floor.
"Don't hurt the saviour of Silisia," another one mocked. "Aren't you afraid of his wrath?"
The mage had a dull look on his face. His limbs were weak and he was very sleepy, tired, but it didn't make sense to him. Oh, he thought, the sage had warned him of ntal fatigue.
"Look at his stupid face."
The guards couldn't get a rise out of Syryn. The mage didnt care for their insults and childish jabs.
"Co on, let's go report to the king that we caught a runaway saviour."
The r guards laughed as they left Syryn behind, drowsy at the foot of the glowing stone that pierced the ceiling of his prison.
____
Syryn caught a few hours of sleep and was awakened by two rs. One of them was Vaiu, the guard that had replaced Arhak.
"Syryn," Vaiu shook the mage awake. "Syryn, wake up." He was gentle with the mage. Vaiu had seen with his own eyes what the mage had endured during the dolphin ride. He thought it was no wonder that the mage had tried to escape the ocean. It had been horrifying to watch Syryn get attacked. He couldn't imagine how much worse it had to have been for the human who had experienced it.
"The king?" Syryn blearily replied. Sleep was a fog in his mind. Sleep pulled his eyelids down like magnets to iron. "Let's go."
The mage stood up and followed the guard who led him out of the prison, still chained.
____
Syryn was forced to kneel before the throne by a hand that pushed him down to his knees.
Rebellion fonting in his heart, he stared up at the r king who sat on his throne like a figure of judgent.
"I believed you when you told you'd hold up the end of your bargain," the king said to him in a cold tone. "But you are a better liar than I am at seeing through your lies. Syryn, what else have you lied about?"
The mage smirked up at the King. It was tireso to act obedient when he all he wanted to do was be himself.
"Your majesty, I lied about not resenting you. Your n kidnapped from the surface world, held prisoner, and you couldn't even protect from your disgruntled subject's scheming. Should I be grateful and thank you?"
The King's mouth turned down in disappointnt. "I thought you understood why we had to bring you here."
Syryn scoffed. "To be the saviour of Silisia, yes. What a burdenso task it is. You could have politely invited before resorting to kidnapping. A request made sweeter with the bribe of money and won would have done wonders for our working relationship."
"You were never a prisoner, Syryn."
The mage rolled his eyes.
"I will show you then what it is like to be a real prisoner of the rs."
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