“Tell me what I need to know, and this will all be over,” the voice asked again.

  “I don’t know.” I gasped, my body searing from the pain. “I don’t know anything.”

  I could hear my tormentor pacing up and down, their footsteps echoed around the chamber.

  “There must be a way for me to identify them,” the male voice said. “How many are there?”

  “I don’t know,” I breathed, my body reeling with pain.

  It must’ve been earth magic that hit my chest, the smell of dirt filling my nose as a solid mass of rock crashed into me with a sickening crack. Pain seared up my ribcage.

  “Just tell me, and I’ll spare you.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why did you always have to be this stubborn?”

  The magic chains holding me in place cut into the skin of my wrists. A wave of heat engulfed me, a blazing fire raging around and within me. My screams were so loud I couldn’t believe they were coming from me.

  “Please….” I whispered; my body close to giving up. Pain numbed to a white, throbbing heat.

  “Tell me how to find them,” my tormentor asked again, his tone filled with acidic cruelty.

  “Enough,” a female voice echoed through the room.

  “He has what we’re looking for, he’s done all the research, he knows the teachings, he has to know how to find them,” the voice of my tormentor barked.

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  “How long have you had him here?” the female voice asked.

  “Hours, and he hasn’t said a thing.”

  “Are you sure he knows?”

  “He has to.”

  Another ball of fire magic hit me, the flames coiling around my chest, the smell of burning flesh filling the room.

  “I said enough.”

  Ice magic wrapped around my body, cooling the burns.

  “Why won’t you just tell us, old man?” a male voice asked.

  “My teachings were just fables, stories of ancient truths,” I mumbled, shuddering from the pain, unable to catch my breath.

  “Then tell us about the teachings, tell us about the fables,” my tormentor shouted.

  I tried to open my mouth, but no words came out. Instead, blood trickled out of my mouth. My lungs were unable to draw any air, each rattling breath pulling me closer into oblivion.

  “If he dies, we have nothing!” the second voice shouted, sounding panicked.

  “Then we will heal him,” my tormentor said.

  “We don’t have that kind of magic.”

  My body started convulsing. The sound of their footsteps rushing around and the feel of their hands told me they were trying to save me. They freed me from the magical chains. I mustered up every last bit of energy I had left and reached for my blindfold.

  “You,” I whispered, looking into my tormentor’s blue and brown eyes. “Why?”

  “Why?” His breathing was calm. “Because this is the only way to ensure power remains within the circle. You just have to tell us how to find them.”

  I choked. Blood spilled from my mouth as I lay gasping for air. Images of my wife and son flashed through my mind, memories piling on top of one another. I would never be able to share the truth with them. They would never know or understand why I had to die, why I had to leave them so soon.

  “Just tell me how to identify them, you old fool, and we will leave your family out of this.”

  I gathered every inch of strength I had left, smiling, knowing that when this was over, I would peacefully cross over to Caedes, where my soul would rest.

  “No, old friend, today I will die, and their identities will die with me.”