• Ari struggled against the thick metal chains. But the more she struggled, the more her wrists ached, and the intense stabbing pain around her wrists grew. Unwilling to give up, she pushed against the walls of the cell with her feet in an attempt to break the chains. Her effort, though, was futile. They wouldn’t budge…
    All of her armor had been stripped from her body, and she was left with tattered cloth. She felt vulnerable… defenseless.
    “An alloy of about 2% beryllium and 97% nickel, with a touch of titanium,” a voice said. Ari looked ahead into the doorway. “The strongest metal magically enhanced. Not even you can break it.”
    “You guys really thought ahead this time,” Ari said casually. Aerrick walked toward her, stopping a few yards away to keep himself safe.
    “I have begged Jhorda to look for a different person, but her word is final. It is a shame to waste a body such as yours...”
    “Well... It's nice to know how we stand...” she growled, crossing her legs defensively. She clenched her fists, and the throbbing pain in her wrists grew worse.
    Aerrick tilted his head to the side and smiled, scanning her in admiration. His long, royal blue hair fell into his eyes. “You’re adorable when you’re angry.” Ari’s deadly glare bore searing holes into his white elven eyes. Aerrick pointed to her wrists. “Look... You’re going to kill yourself if you insist on trying to escape. So I suggest try and stay put.”
    Ari looked down at her arms. From her wrist down, lines of red blood dripped to stone floor. Ari unclenched her fists, turning her palm up to watch the blood drip.
    “Why am I here?” she asked, keeping her voice as calm and steady as she could manage. She looked up at him.
    “We need one little thing from you,” he said, pulling out an empty crystal vial. Ari waited for him to go on, her eyes fixed on the glass vial. “We need to extract a single tear drop of a Blooded Human.”
    A few moments of silence passed as the words floated around her head. When the information finally sunk in, Ari looked him straight in the eye and laughed. “You want me to CRY?! Oh WOW. Are you like, freaking retarded or something? That's like the most retarded explanation you've given me yet. ”
    “This is no joke. And no... I am not... retarded...”
    "Well I'm not sure if you realize how cheesy this little 'evil plan' of yours is. What's even cheesier is the way you said it. I mean, come on! Even you can come up with something better than that."
    Aerrick's face turned red.
    “And why do you need a ‘single teardrop of a Blooded Human’?” Her voice was mock.
    “That information is classified.”
    “Well, I thought you knew me by now, buddy. I don’t cry.”
    “We will get your tears, we have our fair share of instruments of torture in this facility.”
    “I wouldn’t count on it if I were you.”
    Aerrick narrowed his eyes. "Enough of this," he said, and snapped his fingers. Two shadowy figures slipped into the room, and unchained her, then they pulled her out of the room. They exchanged glances, Aerrick smiling triumphantly. Ari left the room with a sadistic grin.