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“To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.”
~ Mark Twain
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Lloth retrieved Bear from the cell again and again and again. Each time, Lloth drew her runes on him with black paint, chanted in dark fae and made his body contort with pain. Each time, his mind drifted to memories of his family or Chloe. Each time, Lloth finished the session by growling in frustration and cursing his name. Each time, the caomhnóir threw Bear into the cell unceremoniously and shackled him to the cold floor like a misbehaving dog. And each time, after the guards left, Chloe would use what power she could still access with the magical collar on to warm him.
Bear was losing his grip on reality. He slipped in and out of consciousness. How many days and nights had they spent as Lloth’s prisoners? Had it been two days? Or two hundred? He didn’t know.
“Try to use your power,” Chloe whispered.
He flinched away from the sound of her voice. Was she even real? Or had Lloth created an illusion to trick him? To get him to open up, to become unguarded.
“Can’t,” he said. “Must keep it hidden.”
The heat radiating off Chloe intensified. “They won’t be back for a while. You need to embrace your power.”
He shook his head and instantly regretted it. Pain throbbed behind his eyes and his stomach rolled. He swallowed repeatedly, forcing the stomach acid back down his throat, and waited until his vision stopped swimming.
“You’ve drawn too much into yourself. It’s part of what’s making you sick.”
He clenched his hands into fists. The shackles bit into raw skin. He’d thrown out his original plans to conserve energy. He’d tried to fight back. He’d struggled against the guards. He tried to get away. He even tried to get them to kill him—anything to avoid the pain she planned.
“Trust me,” Chloe whispered.
“Are you real?”
The heat of her magic intensified in answer. Of course, she was real. Lloth couldn’t imitate sincere warmth like this.
He shut his eyes and opened the gates his power hid behind. Lloth had taken his ring, but he didn’t need it to protect his magic. Every time Lloth had made a grab for his power, he’d retreated farther into himself—farther than he’d ever pulled his magic back before.
He let his essence trickle out, like a new stream running through drought-ridden soil, the magic soaked into each crack and crevice. The energy vibrating in his cells soothed the chafed feeling from his sessions with Lloth and acted like a balm to the throbbing pain. He let out more and more, until his body became flooded with power, every cell soaked, his skin and soul drenched.
“Beautiful,” Chloe said.
Bear let the magic well inside and tilted his head back. In a sudden burst, he made a call—the call of corvids. He knew no one would answer him. Not here. Not locked in the dungeons and sequestered away within an intricate fortress.
Energy pinged against his.
Bear straightened.
What in the Underworld?
More energy pinged.
Ravens, crows, magpies. So many corvids.
Warmth spread across his chest. The birds couldn’t come to him, but they answered his call with their own magic to comfort him.
My pretties, he told them. Thank you.
Something clicked at the end of the hall.
Bear clammed up and snuffed out his power. His muscles ached and his heart whined at the sudden loss, but he couldn’t risk the guards witnessing his magic or Lloth detecting it.
The clicking drew closer. The dungeon was too dark for him to see well past the bars of the cell, but the clicking was too quiet to come from one of Lloth’s heavy-footed guards.
He straightened into a sitting position and leaned forward.
Tasha hopped into view. An ordinary raven, sleek and black and perfect in every way. Such a silly thing to want to cry over, yet, emotion welled behind his eyes.
“Hey, girl.”
The bird held a piece of bread in its beak.
“Persistent little thing,” Chloe said. “She must’ve snuck past the guard.”
“Hey, Tasha.” Bear smiled at the bird. His voice was scratchy and raw from all the screaming. “You found me. Again. How’d you get in here?”
The bird cocked her head at him, poked her beak through the bars and dropped the bread into the cell. She sent images of him eating.
“Thank you,” Bear said. “You’re such a sweet thing. But you shouldn’t be here.”
She sent him a feeling of warmth. He didn’t understand at first, she usually communicated with images. It took him a moment to realize she was sending him her love. His eyes stung.
“Oh, you charmer.” He sent her back the warm feeling he always got in his chest when he thought about her.
Tasha clicked happily and hopped up and down.
“I think I might be jealous,” Chloe said.
Tasha clicked at her.
“You naughty thing.” His words made her click even more, a black ball of excitement.
The door slammed open at the end of the hall. Heavy footsteps pounded against the stone floor. Joy quickly curdled into dread. Bear’s stomach churned. This couldn’t be happening.
“Get out of here,” Bear hissed and waved his hands frantically at Tasha. She couldn’t be caught, too. “Go!”
The raven croaked and launched into the air—right into the gauntlet covered hand of Lloth’s caomhnóir. The warrior closed his hand around the struggling Tasha while carrying a plate of food in his other hand.
Bear stopped breathing.
He’d beg if he thought it would help. But he couldn’t let the guard know Tasha meant anything to him. She might have a chance if the asshole believed she was just another bird.
His stomach twisted tighter.
Lloth’s caomhnóir studied the raven in his grip. He tossed the food onto the floor and kicked it into Bear’s cell without looking. The metal plate clattered along the concrete, spilling the meager portion of rice all over.
Tasha continued to struggle, flapping her wings and scratching at the warrior’s armour with her talons. Beady eyes flicked to Bear, begging for help.
“Ah.” The caomhnóir leaned toward the bird.
The raven tried to peck at his face.
He responded with a cruel smile, holding the bird far enough away to avoid contact. “A traitor.”
He finally turned to Bear, his smile spreading. “This is what we do to traitors.”
“No!” Bear lurched forward. The shackles clanked and held him in place. “Please, no.” He strained toward Tasha. He thrashed against the restraints. His girl. His shadow. “I’ll do anything. Please. Don’t do this. I’ll do what you want.”
“You’ll do what we want anyway.” The caomhnóir clenched his fist and used his thumb to break Tasha’s neck. Bones snapped, her head bent at an awkward angle.
“Nooooooo!” The tension knotted in his gut released into a wave of nausea. Bear slumped where he sat. He watched helplessly as the guard tossed the lifeless body into the cell. Tasha flopped against the cold stone floor, falling in a pile of scattered rice.
“Tasha,” Bear whispered. Something inside him broke.
The caomhnóir chuckled and walked away, his footsteps growing lighter and more distant with each step.
Bear crumpled forward, his face a few feet away from the Tasha. Her last moments were filled with fear and confusion, wondering why he didn’t help.
He couldn’t save her.
He couldn’t even hold her.
“I’m so sorry,” Chloe whispered, voice cracking.
He heard her words and felt the heat of her magic against his skin, her way of trying to comfort him. But inside, he felt nothing.