The air reeked of rust, wet stone, and something scorched. Her heart slammed against her ribs as awareness arrived in jagged pieces.
The second shock struck before thought could settle.
White agony cracked through her limbs. This time she cried out. The sound bounced off the walls and returned to her small and helpless. Her body convulsed; chains fixed at her wrists rattled violently against iron rings.
Chains.
The realization landed like ice in her stomach. Her wrists were bound above and behind her, holding her half-upright against a stone pillar. Just tight enough to make every shift painful. Her ankles were shackled too—not enough to immobilize her completely, only enough to remind her that escape had been considered and prevented.
Her breath came ragged.
She forced her eyes open.
At first she saw almost nothing. Only darkness broken by a thin blue-white flicker somewhere beyond. Then shapes emerged.
An underground chamber.
Arched ceilings.
Iron fixtures.
