Flux

quite vividly of the sensation of being tangled in the rope webbing while he was in Stasis, the feeling of being caught and unable to move or even to breathe. He struggled harder, fighting and tugging at the chains, but that only hurt his muscles and made the edges of the manacles dig into his skin. He ran out of energy soon and lay there on his side, trying not to hyperventilate.
    All right, he told himself. If Akilina had meant to kill him he’d be dead already. And if he was alive, then surely so was Ennek, who was so much more valuable than he was. As long as Ennek was alive, there was hope—the gods knew that Ennek had extricated him from impossible situations before.
    Wouldn’t it be nice if Miner could do the saving this time?
    But he didn’t know how. He could barely move and, even if he found some miraculous way to escape the chains and the wooden box that confined him, his muscles would probably not obey his commands for some time. And he’d still be up against a wizard who could steal his breath with barely any effort at all.
    He’d have to bide his time, he decided. If she’d seen fit to go to all this effort with him, then eventually she’d release him from the box, and then he’d see what he could do.

    ***

    He’d gone from aching to burning agony as his body protested its unnatural position. At the same time, he was nearly mad with thirst, and he’d begun to slip in and out of small hallucinations of water, lovely cold water. His mind must have been going as well, because he croaked out a laugh at the irony that a man who had, until recently, been terrified of water, a man who had spent three hundred years drowning, now hoped for almost nothing but water, and seemed in imminent danger of dying of dehydration.
    And then the top of his box opened and he cried out as light fell upon his eyes.
    “Miner!”
    Miner tried to form a response, but only managed a small creak. And before he could feel any relief at hearing Ennek’s voice, Akilina spoke. “Silence, or I will leave him there until he dies. Which won’t be long at all, by the looks of him.”
    Miner peeled his eyelids slightly open. Akilina was looking down at him, her nose wrinkled in disgust. He could hardly blame her—he stank. She mumbled something and waved her hands, and, to Miner’s considerable surprise, he lifted out of the box as smoothly and easily as if he were a floating cloud. He could feel a slight pressure under his body, but that was all. Once he was clear of the box he was moved slightly over and then dumped not very gently onto the ground. The hard contact hurt and he moaned in pain.
    “Don’t!” Ennek said. Ennek was kneeling only a few feet away. His hands were also bound behind him and he looked little better than Miner felt. He had dark circles under his eyes and his face was covered in dark stubble.
    “I said silence!” Akilina said. “I will not repeat myself again. Now is the time for you to listen.”
    Ennek gave Miner an anguished look but kept his mouth pressed shut in a thin line. Meanwhile, as Akilina moved around outside of Miner’s field of vision, he tried to get some idea of where they were. He quickly recognized the location: they were on Akilina’s roof. Another box, similar to the one in which he had been confined, was opened several feet away. Miner wondered whether Ennek had been locked up inside it.
    When Akilina came into view a moment later, Miner almost sobbed in relief. She was carrying a pottery pitcher and a tall cup. She poured some water into the cup and held it to Ennek’s lips. He drank greedily, spilling some of it down his chin and onto his shirt. When she pulled the cup away he opened his mouth as if he meant to say something, but then thought better of it, instead casting an anxious look in Miner’s direction.
    Akilina walked the few steps towards Miner. She uttered another short spell, one that lifted him off his side and onto his knees, where he remained, swaying so much that he feared he might fall over again. But before he could, Akilina was there with the cup of water, pressing it against his cracked lips. He drank as much as he could before she took it away again.
    She set the pitcher and cup down on the rooftop and smiled smugly. Both Ennek and Miner continued to eye the water—they were both still thirsty. Turning towards Ennek, she said, “I understand that you are very fond of this slave. That is foolish. Emotional attachments weaken one, as I am sure you