~Kerrigan
Kerrigan struggled at a cloth clamped around her mouth. She desperately tried to recall her training and slammed an elbow back, but the fumes made her motion sluggish. Whoever held her had an iron grip. She gasped for breath, which was a mistake. The fumes on the rag choked her, nearly making her vomit with its sickly sweet smell. The night around her closed in as she felt her body go limp. Small prick in the side of her neck before unconsciousness claimed her.
Kerrigan's eye's opened as Abraxas roared in her mind. 'GET UP, KERRIGAN! FIGHT!'
She found herself being dropped into a trunk, her head smacking the hard metal of the trunk floor. She glared up at the man, but was still to groggy to form words, her head swimming from the impact. The man looked down at her with a wicked grin, "Damn that chloroform really doesn't hold you down long does it? Well, not to worry, your happy drugs will be kicking in shortly."
Kerrigan tried to flail as he began tapping her hands and feet, but a new sensation was rushing through her veins. Paralysis was setting in, slowly numbing her neck, and moving down her arms. She kicked with what strength she had, but it felt feeble compared to this attackers strength. "Don't worry, we will have a bit of fun before the end. You will get to go to the next life satisfied," he said with a leer, before slamming the trunk on her. Darkness enveloped her world.
Green blazed across her vision as a pulse of power shot through her veins.
'ALOK!' came the mental command. 'Qahnaar!' the deep guttural voice rattled through her very soul. She slowly opened her eyes as she began to feel her mind return. Her limbs still did not function.
"Abraxas?" she tried to say, but found her mouth gagged and tapped.
'Priya, you are awake. You must resist, you must fight!'
'Where am I?' she asked across their mental link.
'Some blasphemous jackel has decided to attack the Dovari Deinmaar. He will die for his actions.'
'I quite agree but that doesn't fix this situation. I cannot feel my arms.' She tried to flip over, but found she had no control over her legs either.
'Abraxas,' she thought feebly, struggling to form complete thoughts.
'The poison is deep, Priya. I am doing what I can to counter the effects, but he clearly had no care for your life when he dosed you. You were never meant to regain ability.'
The car swerved up a steep incline, slamming Kerrigan into the side of the trunk as it bounced along what felt like a gravel road, heading up the side of mountain. 'I must be outside Velyki if we are driving at that much of an incline. When the car finally skid to a stop Kerrigan thought she might vomit. Her whole body felt like it had been shaken for hours, and kept shaking even though the car had stopped. The trunk popped open and Kerrigan could see a sea of stars above, and tall evergreen trees all around her.
"Up you get." Said a gruff voice and a man grabbed her bound hands and yanked her roughly from the trunk, tossing her over his shoulder. She grunted as the wind was pushed from her lungs by the impact. "Hu? Awake are we? Well, I suppose that could add to the fun, so long as you can't squirm to much."
He carried her into a small cabin and tossed her down on a bed in the corner. She tried to squirm to the far edge but still didn't have control of her limbs. 'Abraxas!!!'
The man worked in the cabin for a bit, lighting a few candles, and set a fire in the hearth. The room quickly warmed as the flame ate hungrily at the dry wood. From what Kerrigan could see, the cabin was a one room affair with the bed, a small kitchen and the hearth. The walls were mostly bare wood with a few deer antlers mounted.
"Better. Doesn't do to strip you down just to get myself cold now does it?" came the gruff voice near the fire as he began taking off his heavy coat. Now, what say we find out just what you have under all those layers, eh?"
Abraxas gently spoke into her mind, 'Priya, my power is limited. But I will help you. I can purge the toxin from you, but you may have to fight him on your own. It will take great energy to do this so fast. Are you ready?'
'Any tools?' she asked, still sluggish.
'Your dagger is in its usual spot, across your lower back.'
Kerrigan wanted to kick herself for forgetting the blade she always kept on her person. It was a thin blade, only a touch wider than her thumb, and about six inches long, but it was made from a steel that rivaled any master blade.
"So, I see you are awake, but you don't seem to be squirmin. Must mean one of two things. First is my drug is working really well. Or two, you have some morbid fetish for this sorta thing. I think I'd be ok in either case."
Kerrigan watched with growing horror as the man reached down and ripped the tape off her mouth. While she wanted to scream, the muscled in her jaw wouldn't cooperate, and only a muffled wheeze came out. "Don't worry, you can scream all you like, if you can that is. No one around for kilometers to hear you." He drew a small knife and slit the tape holding her legs. With one hand he lifted her bound arms over her head. "See the beauty of the mulhan flower is its ability to provide long lasting stillness. A high enough dose, and you would be still forever. Apparently, I didn't give you enough to still your heart, but you wouldn't be any fun to me then."
'Priya, be ready to act.'
"The flower can be mixed with the root of the Hahvas plant which you may have heard as 'Mind rot'. I must say the combination makes for a wonderful concoction that leaves the victim pliable and dull witted. Even if you were to overcome the effects of one, the other would prevent you from doing any real harm." He flicked the dagger over in his hand before leaning in close to peer into Kerrigan's terrified eyes. "It seems you may have overcome some of the mind rot, but it just means you can enjoy our time together."
With his face inches away, Kerrigan could smell his horrid breath. She would not go out like this. 'Abraxas?'
'Prepare yourself.'
Kerrigan felt that surge of power once more flood her veins. She opened her eyes and the man jumped back as her blazing green eyes peered for him. "What in the hells are you?" he demanded.
Kerrigan struggled to gain control of her body. She only had seconds before the man come back to his wits and attacked. She managed to reach her bound hands behind her and felt for the hilt of her dagger. She pulled it free and flipped it into an upward guard as she sat up.
"How?" the man shook himself, "No matter. You end today. I guess it will just have to be a bit rougher now that you are going to resist." He lunged at her and she rolled onto the floor to avoid him.
Abraxas sent another blast of power down her spine, causing her to arch as every muscle fired, pain radiating out to her finger tips. But the paralysis seemed to burn away with the pain. She stood, eyes aglow, and faced her attacker. "You" she began, finally able to utter words, but they came slowly, "Chose. Poorly. When. You. Attacked. The. Deimaar."
"Deimaar? You are just some secretary. You are not suppose to have anything to do with the temple. Well, you still need to die." The man moved with what felt to Kerrigan as blistering speed, slashing at her arms and throat. It was all she could do to block his attack. She circled the small cabin, trying to open up distance. As she passed the hearth, she spun grabbing a small soot shovel and tossing hot ash at her attacker. Most missed but some of the fine dust blinded him.
"Bitch! Get back here!" He charged her, and she ran for the door, grabbing the handle as he wrapped his thick arms around her waist, hauling her back into the middle of the room. She tried to use her knife on him, but her hands were still bound, and she couldn't twist enough to score. She looked down and raked the blade across his knuckles, nearly slicing herself if her coat had not been so thick.
He dropped her with a scream but kicked hard at the back of her knees, causing her to crash to the floor, dropping her blade. 'Abraxas!'
'I have little left to offer child. Be quick.'
She felt a fresh pulse race down her spine. It was a fraction of the strength he had sent her before, but it was enough to energize her.
"Demon bitch, you will pay for this!" her attacker screamed, holding up bloody fingers where bone showed through the skin. He then attacked her with an intensity that scared her into motion. She had to be on top of her game and she had to win. She darted to the side, desperately trying to snap the tape binding her hands. It stretched but didn't break. On impulse she reversed her direction and kicked low, sliding under her attacker and hooking his leg with her bound arms. He tripped and his foot caught in the tape, jerking her back. The motion allowed her to use the momentum to come to her feet facing him and yank hard on her bound hands against his foot. The tape snapped just as he flipped himself over and lunged from the ground at her midsection. The knife sliced her jacket and cut her stomach but didn't reach deep. She realized he had fully extended his body but started his lunge from too far away for an effective slice. She dropped all her weight and brough her elbows down on his forearm, cracking it across her knee.
He let out a howl of pain and stumbled back, his arm hanging at a bad angle. Kerrigan panted, taking the reprieve to retrieve her own knife. She walked over to the man, "Who hired you?"
The man just laughed, "You have training girl, I will give you that. But you forgot a few things along the way. That ivory tower did you no favors."
"Tell me who, and I will end you quickly."
He sneered, "Should have started with that, lass." He lunged with his good arm and sliced deep into her right calf. She dropped to one knee and barely blocked his next slash as he tried to swipe his blade up at her. Kerrigan felt the faintest hint of power flow through her from Abraxas. She threw all her weight behind her lunge and drove her dagger into the man's heart. He grinned as the blade slid in, and he raised his blade for one final blow. Kerrigan tried to block it, catching most of the power on her upraised forearm but the blade still dug painfully into her left shoulder. The pressure of the attack slowly eased until the man's arm fell away limply, his blade still embedded in her shoulder.
"Gods damn it, I hate knife fights!" she spat, slumping back on the floor. She hurt all over. As her heart finally began to beat a steady rhythm, she could feel the pulse throb through her shoulder and her calf muscle. She winced as she pulled herself back up into a sitting position. She tore the sheet from the bed and sliced it into bandage strips with her good arm, praying it was clean. She then carefully pulled the blade free of her arm, letting it fall to the floor. She quickly wrapped the wound and pulled the makeshift bandage as tight as she could. She repeated the process with her leg. She tore another long strip and wrapped it around her middle, added some padding over the cut she had received there.
'Priya. I am glad you are alive. But I am spent. I will not be able to aid you in such a way for some time. Hide yourself well.' Came Abraxas's tired voice in her mind.