The violent bump rooted Suarus out of the endless cycle of nightmares. Her blurry vision could not comprehend the nothingness it saw. Panic ruled over logic, overtaking her thoughts. Breathing suddenly became hard, the air entering her lungs heavy.

The ground shook and rattled underneath her, and the jolt that followed pulled back the memory of the mysterious knight and the stabbing pain he had inflected where he had struck her. Suarus sank back into reality, her surroundings coming to life, her senses returning, perceiving the faint sunlight penetrating the weaved threads of the burlap covering her head. Through its intricate lines, she was able to identify several figures occupying the cubical space they shared, a carriage of some sort. Their groans and sobs crescendoed into her ears, causing fear to course into her heart. What they knew and she did not horrify her. She tried to move, but the throb the rope had left on her wrists and ankles confirmed her suspicions. Her body's temperature rose, her face damp with preparation.

She was a prisoner.

It took Suarus a few moments to conquer her emotions, regulating her breathing. She closed her eyes, seeing with her mind's eye the flow of elements binding her to the world around her. Every atom within her sparked. Her lips whispered words of the ancient. A request to borrow, the forces surrounding her yielded. Now, a command was all she had to give to break free and stop this wagon. She gave it, but to her shock, nothing happened. She tried again, and again, and again, still, nothing.

How...? Who had such power?

Cold clutched to her powerless limbs, motionless under its binds, the hope she had of escaping obliterated. The feeble moans suddenly broke into cries with the abrupt stop of the carriage. Bodies rustled, crawling the furthest from the door, pressing Suarus against the wall. The door squeaked open, and the sun's light flooded in, blinding.

'Common now, we don't have all day,' gruffly ordered the silhouette eclipsing the light, whip in his hand cracked in the air. 'Do I need to repeat myself!'

Suarus felt the weight against her lifted, figures rising one after the other, disembarking into the light. Unconsciously she did the same, noticing the one motionless next to her.

'Wake up,' she said, her voice breaking.

The shadowy figure did not move nor reply.

'Hey, you in the back,' the man called, 'don't force me to come and pull you out!'

Bitterness rose in Suarus's mouth. She loathed herself for being weak and fearful. She continued walking towards the door, muscles of her legs twitching. She stumbled upon another lifeless body, almost falling.

The man's urging thuds on the wagon's door caused her to flinch, fear guiding her steps as her lips muffled her sobs.