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Chapter 30: Free at lost

First thing Cael did when he could hear the voices and the footsteps of his pursuers moving away, was get the Sending Amulet out of his left boot. The second was taking off the boot of his other leg, too.

This was harder. His ankle swelled, and he wasn\'t sure this was a sprain, a dislocation, or even a break. It hurt terribly, in no small part because of how much Cael walked on it.

*System, how much would it cost to heal my current injuries?*

*It would cost 34 BP, Cael. You currently have 18 BP left.*

Cael cringed. Where would he take blood from now? *What about my ankle? Can you heal only it?*

*Yes, Cael. Healing the dislocation of your ankle would cost you 17 BP. Should I proceed?*

*Please, do!*

*Understood. You now have 1 BP left.*

After a brief moment of pins-and-needles sensation, followed by a sickening feeling of his muscles and the joint moving on their own, Cael felt miraculously better. In his leg, at least. His hands and knees were still full of scrapes, and his face and stomach—full of bruises. And now that Cael\'s blood began to cool down, the pain of them rose from a whisper to a chorus.

Cael closed his eyes, taking several long, quiet minutes to just rest.

The forest wasn\'t truly silent—never. Leaves rustled on the wind, night insects chirped, night animals skulked through the underbrush. Smells of moss and old leaves filled Cael\'s nose.

But it was hard to forget that outside of this tiny haven of peace, two armies were ready to attack each other. With one of them already in march, and hidden under an illusion.

Finally, Cael reached for the Sending Amulet and put together a message.

*Father. I have escaped Ginevra\'s encampment. You can fight her without second thoughts.* After a moment\'s pause, Cael added. *Please, be well.*

He didn\'t respond. Was he sleeping, possibly, or too busy to answer? Cael didn\'t know. But he knew he couldn\'t rest yet. He pulled on the metal collar on his neck. He had to get rid of this thing.

Cael got out of his hiding hole and blindly looked around. Maybe he could smash the collar with a rock… A pair of rocks. Or just scratch the glyphs on it—but that was more dangerous. The shock collar might become a useless trinket, or it might explode in Cael\'s face.

Smashing the lock—which, Cael could feel with his fingers, was free of glyphs—seemed like the safer option. If only Cael could see any rocks nearby…

"*Ligh—* Augh!"

Cael clutched his neck, gritting his teeth from the pulse of pain that shot through his body. It was worse than dislocating an ankle. This felt like his entire nerve was lit on fire at once.

He fell to his knees, panting as the pain slowly receded. This was damn stupid—to forget that he wore a shock collar and try to use a spell.

But since Cael was already on his knees, he could use that position to search for some rocks to get rid of the accursed torture device.

This position—crawling all over the forest floor, feeling out for rocks but mostly finding tree roots—was undignified as they got. It must\'ve been an hour later when Cael found what he needed—a fist sized rock to be a hammer and a big boulder that could serve as an anvil of sorts.

He kneeled near the boulder and pulled on his collar, getting it as far from his neck as he could. Cael pressed the collar\'s lock to the boulder and carefully measured the trajectory of the strike of his "hammer".

When he was sure he won\'t hit himself in the nose, or worse, forehead, Cael struck as hard as he could.

The iron of the collar responded with a sad ding. When Cael felt the lock with his fingers, his fingers found a small dent where the strike hit.

Cael clenched his fist harder on the rock and hit again. And again, and again, until his hand grew too tired. Then he took a break and continued until finally, the abused metal in the point of hits grew so thin, Cael could just pull it apart.

The glyphs on the collar sputtered with a glow of mana for a moment, then went off. With a profound sense of relief, Cael threw the thing as far into the bushes as he could see.

And he could see farther than his nose now. While he hammered at the thing, the sky lightened with the first hints of dawn.

Cael took a full breath of air, smiling despite his aching face. Soon! Soon he would join his father and destroy Ginevra, together.

Well, maybe not destroy. It would be much better to take her prisoner instead. Only fair. She would be a wealth of information about Enzo\'s plans. A hostage, too.

But then, a thought gave Cael pause. He looked around again, scanning the trees and the glimpses of the sky behind them.

*Wait… Where Father\'s forces are? In fact… where am I?*