The next day, Illius awoke to rough hands hauling him out of his cell. He tried to stand, but his legs wouldn’t respond, and he resigned himself to getting dragged. The two guards who’d grabbed him took him back to the lab and threw him onto the table. Ruth looked at him with concern, but the doctor merely moved to inject him with another chemical.

“Please,” Illius begged. “Please don’t do this. You don’t know what it’s like. It hurts so much—it’s like my body is on fire. Please—there has to be another way. Don’t do this. Please don’t do this.”

The doctor looked down his nose, preparing the needle. “Don’t make me laugh. Therians aren’t humans. You can’t feel pain like we do.”

“That’s not true!” Illius reached up to push the needle away. “I feel pain!”

“Guards,” the doctor said calmly.

Before they could move, Illius dragged his tired body halfway off the table. He fell with a thud, landing hard on his hand and shoulder.

“Doctor,” Ruth interjected. “I don’t think he’s ready for another draining.”

Draining? What were they doing to him?

“Nonsense. Need I remind you, Ruth, that I am the doctor here. These creatures are notoriously deceptive, and need I mention that even though he looks human, he most certainly is not? Can there be any doubt after yesterday?” The doctor flicked the needle and watched as the guards forced a struggling Illius back onto the table. He ignored the therian’s pleas and plunged the needle into his arm. “Oh, and next time, gag him.”

The guards hauled him to the special room and threw him in as before.

“No, no, no, no, no, no…” Illius prayed to himself, begging. The magic welled up in his body, and for a brief instant, he thought of using it to escape. Then, the terror took over as it bubbled from his hands like white lightning. He couldn’t control this, couldn’t even control his body anymore. Fire ran up through his neck to his head, and then everything went black.

~

He woke up back in his cell. Eric wasn’t there, but someone had slipped a blanket through the bars. Grateful, he grabbed it and wrapped it around his shivering frame. His wrists hurt from where the chains ground against his skin.

“I’m sorry, Mama,” he whispered gently, staring up at the stars. “I tried. I’m glad you’re not here to see this.”

Tears slipped down his cheeks as he turned his hand over and saw black streaks coursing through his flesh out to his fingertips. His body ached and burned, and he couldn’t stop shivering. How long would he live like this? His mind took him back to his conversation with Eric. Eric with his bright, blue eyes that somehow saw him as human. The dragon fields of Skyiad. How he longed to escape there. Would he ever get that chance? He doubted it. No one would come to his rescue, and the sooner he died, the sooner the pain would stop.

~

Illius lost track of time. He spent most of his days asleep or unconscious. When he awoke, sometimes it was dark, sometimes it was light; he had no way of knowing how long it had been. When they dragged him to the lab, he awoke, and when his body couldn’t handle any more pain, he passed out. He didn’t try to resist anymore—he just let them take what they wanted and be done with it. Illius hadn’t seen Eric again, but the man must have visited him, considering all the gifts he left. Every time Illius woke up to an apple or some bit of food or clothing, he knew Eric had come. At some point, his legs had stopped responding and his feet twisted inward, forcing him to drag himself around his cell with his arms. After being exposed to the elements for ages, his hair had become a muddy mat, and his nails had grown long and filthy.

One day, he woke up to a clap of thunder. His body shook. And as the rain started to fall, he noticed his nose was running and his chest burned. Probably had a cold. It wasn’t that surprising. “Therians can’t feel pain,” the doctor had said. Then why was he lying here on the ground, every movement threatening to make him black out? The rain pelted his body, but he didn’t care. Slowly, he sank back into the darkness of sleep, the rain fading far away.

The door to his cell rattled open, and he startled awake. Without thinking, he jerked his body and tried to scramble away. His arms rushed to push his body up, as far from the cell door as his chains would allow.

“Hey,” a soft voice said. “It’s me, Eric. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Illius said nothing, but he tried to force his eyes to focus in the direction of the voice. Blue eyes. He could see them, barely, as he tried to wipe pus from the edges of his vision.

“What… What?” His voice felt hoarse, and he wondered what he must sound like.

“I’m here to get you out.” Eric gingerly reached out and touched Illius’ hand. “I’m going to take your chains off now, okay?”

Illius had so many questions. How had Eric gotten in? How did he have keys? What would happen if the guards caught them? But he just didn’t have the strength to ask anything.

“There we go,” Eric said softly, and Illius felt the chains drop from his hands. “Can you stand?”

Illius shook his head. He didn’t want Eric caught on his behalf. “Leave… me.”

“Not happening.”

Illius felt Eric scoop him up and carry him from the cell. Warmth. Eric was warm, and Illius was freezing. He coughed, and his body spasmed.

“Hang in there,” Eric told him. “We’ll have you out of here in no time.”

Illius vaguely heard explosions around him, but they sounded far away, and he didn’t think he cared. He found himself waking up as Eric set him down somewhere cold.

“Sorry,” Eric said. “I just need a second to catch my breath.”

“Over there!” a voice called, too close.

“Shit.” Eric hoisted Illius up again, and they moved away from the voice.

“Hey, you! Stop!” Illius heard several pairs of boots moving in succession.

“Dammit.” Eric turned a corner and started to sprint. The other men started gaining on them, shouting for them to stop.

“I’m gonna have to put you down here.” Eric gently lowered him to the ground, then turned to meet their pursuers.

Illius grabbed Eric’s sleeve. “Go. Please.”

“Well, well, well, what have we here?” A figure dropped from the roof above, and the guards flinched. “A bunch of big, strong men bullying a therian? My, how times haven’t changed.”

“We just want the therian,” the leader of the guards said. “If you try to stop us, we’ll have to take you all in.”

“Oh, please, don’t insult my intelligence with that lie.” It wasn’t hard for Illius to see the height difference between the figure and the guards. The hooded figure looked like a dwarf compared to the burly men.

The leader of the guards grabbed for the figure, but they ducked as though expecting it. They popped back up, smashing their skull against the man’s nose and landing a blow on the back of his head.

Illius’ stomach squeezed bile up his throat. So much noise and fear, and all he wanted to do was puke. He focused for a moment on swallowing it back down, then looked up to see the figure weave in and out of the assailants, moving with practiced ease. It was like a dance—they leapt and men fell at their feet. He kept blinking to try to stay awake and saw them blur between movements, slamming people with their elbows and fists. After a few moments, he realized the guards had all fallen in a heap on the ground, scattered like marbles. Then, the figure straightened up and turned toward him.

“I’m glad I found you two when I did,” the figure said to Eric as they brushed by him and knelt next to Illius. “What in the hell did they do to you?”

As the rain pelted his skin, Illius tried to scramble away from the figure. He’d just watched them take out who knows how many men. His breath came out in a cough, his hands shaking. The figure wiped their hands on their cloak, leaving bloody streaks. Still stained red, their fingers reached to unclasp their cloak and remove their hood. Red, curly hair fell down the woman’s shoulders. Her hair was clearly drenched from the rain, and a bit of blood had spritzed onto her cheeks, but her eyes held undeniable warmth and kindness. Illius felt Eric pick him up again, and the woman tucked her cloak around his body. Illius wanted to thank her, but he couldn’t form the words.

“You’re safe now,” Illius heard the woman say as he drifted off again. “Let’s go.”