Iris POV

"Torrents. People who have the ability to create and shape water to their own will. They are from the stretch of Legends and are unheard of in this age. They used to live in such glory and were praised upon, but now they are extinct." — Jon Flax

I glared at the silver chains in her hand, then glanced down at my wrists, frowning. What exactly were they planning?

"I'm going to have to put enchant chains on you, okay?" the guard said, her voice muffled by the mask covering the lower part of her face.

She reached over the rusty wooden table, grabbing my hand to clamp the cold chains around my wrists. They sent a chill through me, and a prickling sensation buzzed under my skin. I felt nausea rising and the world beginning to blur slightly around me. To stop it from getting worse, I focus on the cobblestone and how each tile was shaped differently to its own unique design that was carved.

"Hold this cup," she commanded, her blue eyes boring into mine.

She set a cup of water into my hand, but the way the chains restricted my wrists made holding it nearly impossible. The cup slipped from my grasp, and the sound of it hitting the table echoed through the room, cutting through the tense silence.

It didn't help that my body was worn thin from the cold interval's poor harvest. My skin stretched tight over protruding bones, and no clothing I owned could hide them from poking through my skin. Not that I owned much to begin with.

The guard's expression tightened as she picked up the cup, filled it again, and placed it back into my hand. "Just hold the cup for a moment."

I met her eyes, and before I could stop myself, I asked, "I thought this was supposed to be a job. Why am I here instead?"I hated how desperate my voice sounded, but hunger had brought me back to Serfecvk. I needed the zen to buy food and clothes. I needed to survive, but now I was trapped in this nightmare.

Her scowl deepened, but she didn't answer. Her patience was clearly thinning as she slowly set the cup down beside me. She crossed her arms over her heavily padded armor and took a step closer to me.

"If you want to keep your life," she said through clenched teeth, "I suggest you listen." Her gaze hardened, drilling into me with a kind of deadly focus. With a grip that left no room for argument, she placed the cup back in my hand.

"This time, don't drop it." She uncrossed her arms and her sword was out in an instant, grazing my throat as she added, "And keep your mouth shut." I felt the cold metal against my skin—a silent promise of what would happen if I resisted again. Taking a deep breath, I held the cup steady.

The guards around me watched closely. There were six of them, each pair of eyes locked on the water in my hand, tension radiating from their postures. Two of them looked like twins, their choppy copper hair and green eyes a mirror of each other, though one wore her hair long, reaching her back. The other three were faceless, hidden behind thick navy blue masks and armor that revealed nothing of their identities.

They began whispering in Serfecvk, probably assuming someone from a village like mine couldn't understand them. Unluckily for them, I did. One of the larger guards, behind the mask muttered, "Should we try threatening him or just rough him up a bit? This is taking too long."

Anger flared in my chest, hot and unyielding as the pace of my breathing picked up. They'd already chained me down. Did they want to break me entirely?

The chains on my wrists started to glow faintly, a strange warmth building under my skin. The water began swirling, forming a whirlpool. At first, I thought I was imagining it—a trick of the light or my exhaustion. Then the prickling sensation beneath my skin grew stronger, pulsing in time with the swirling water.

The faint ripple in the cup shifted to become an uncontrollable gust of wind.

The edge of the cup thumped against my palm as the water churned faster and faster until the glass shattered in my hand, scattering shards across the floor. Pain seared through me as a sliver of glass sliced just below my eye, while another buried itself deep into my right arm. The powerful force of the wind prevented me from seeing the guards around me and blinded my sight from the damage in the room.

Instinctively, I reached for the shard in my cheek, feeling warm blood trickle down my face. My hand hovered over the glass in my arm, but I left it, fearing I'd bleed out if I pulled it free.

The windows cracked, and the door burst open as the air pressure in the room plummeted.

I couldn't stop the escalating chaos. The wooden table slammed into my chest, forcing the glass deeper into my arm and blood began to soak through my sleeve. My hand hovered over the glass piercing there, but I left it, fearing I'd bleed out if I pulled it free. I didn't have a chance to ponder on it too long. Objects spun in a relentless current, chairs splintering and papers catching in the wind storm, each item trapped in the violent current.

Shouts erupted from the guards, and a powerful gust knocked some of them back. I fought to regain control of whatever this was, but the chains on my wrists sapped my energy, making it impossible to rein in the storm. I felt my hair rise and wrap around my body. My feet lifted off the floor, and for a moment, I thought I might be able to escape. Then, with a swift motion, a guard unlocked the chains. Instantly, my power drained away, leaving me empty, weightless.

"So, you're a drifter," the guard sneered, then shook his head, a glint of admiration in his green eyes. "One of the most powerful I've seen, at that." The woman from before gave a satisfied nod. "We should inform the king. He's promising—of a kind we haven't seen in years. He could be of great use."

His words sent a chill down my spine. Whatever I had just done, whatever they thought I could do, it was the very thing that would bind me to them. Escape wasn't an option. At least not for now.