SILVER'S POV
I stared at the chains wrapped around every part of my body.
Cold.
Heavy.
Unbreakable.
Escape wasn't going to be easy.
No...
It wasn't even difficult.
It was impossible.
I frowned.
Wait... why did I say "almost impossible"?
There was nothing "almost" about this situation.
Impossible was the only word that fit.
So why was I trying to soften reality?
Maybe I was desperately searching for hope.
Then again, calling something almost impossible wasn't exactly optimistic either.
A quiet laugh escaped my lips.
Look at me.
A woman sentenced to death, chained like an animal, moments away from becoming a feast for cannibals...
And instead of saying my final prayers or making peace with my fate, I was debating the difference between impossible and almost impossible.
How ridiculous.
Perhaps I had chosen to spend my final moments laughing.
Or perhaps...
I simply wasn't ready to die.
Not here.
Not now.
I knew death was inevitable.
Every soul on earth would meet it one day.
But not like this.
Not in a place soaked in blood.
Not inside the home of flesh-eating monsters.
I refused.
I was still an undergraduate.
I still had dreams.
I wanted to graduate.
Find a good job.
Fall in love with a man who would treasure me above everything else... someone who would protect me, respect me, and never let me face the world alone.
I wanted two children.
A daughter.
Then a son.
I wanted to grow old beside the man I loved, surrounded by laughter instead of screams.
When my time finally came, I wanted to be buried by my children...
Not devoured by cannibals.
The thought alone hardened my resolve.
No.
I wasn't going to let these monsters destroy the future I'd imagined.
I wasn't going to sit here and wait for them to tear my dreams apart.
And I certainly wasn't going to let them commit the most horrifying, disgusting act imaginable.
Feasting on my body.
Only then did I truly understand something people often said.
No one is coming to save you.
Sometimes, the only person who can save you... is yourself.
A slow breath escaped my lips.
Then I would save myself.
No matter what it took.
Yes, escaping seemed impossible.
But impossible had a strange way of surrendering to those who refused to give up.
Determination alone wouldn't free me.
I needed a plan.
And I needed one... now.
A plan slowly formed in my mind.
These chains weren't ordinary.
Breaking them wasn't enough.
Even if I somehow escaped the metal itself, I first had to neutralize the power flowing through them.
Maybe...
I should wait until someone came to release me.
I almost laughed at my own foolishness.
Zoah wasn't coming.
By now, he had probably escaped with Natasha. They were most likely back home already, telling my family that I was dead.
They wouldn't tell them the truth.
They couldn't.
Who would believe I had been captured by a tribe of cannibals?
No...
They would say I died in an accident.
A reckless drunk driver.
A tragic coincidence.
My family would mourn me.
They would cry until their tears ran dry.
Uncle Charles...
His heart would shatter.
He would blame himself for allowing me to come on this journey, wishing he had done everything within his power to stop me.
And there was still something that haunted me.
Now that I knew Zoah's true identity...
Why did he keep calling Uncle Charles Lord Lugard?
What secret connected the two of them?
I had no answers.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Zoah wasn't coming.
The sooner I accepted that, the better.
Maybe...
I should wait for one of the cannibals instead.
I immediately dismissed the thought.
They would only free me when it was time to slaughter me.
And even if I managed to escape the chains then...
I couldn't defeat even one of them.
Waiting meant death.
Another idea surfaced.
The Water God.
Perhaps I could promise to steal Herb B from Zoah in exchange for my freedom.
The thought died as quickly as it came.
I had already made it clear that I wanted to be left alone until my death.
He wasn't coming back.
And even if he did...
I could never betray Zoah.
Never.
Stealing from him was something I simply couldn't do.
That left only one option.
Myself.
Either I escaped...
Or I died trying.
Trying was better than surrender.
If I fought and failed, I would still die.
If I did nothing...
I would die anyway.
So what did I have to lose?
I inhaled slowly.
The chains' power had to disappear first.
But I was only human.
I possessed no magic.
No divine strength.
No supernatural abilities.
How could I possibly neutralize an enchanted chain?
My thoughts froze.
Wait...
Maybe I didn't need a powerful person.
Maybe...
All I needed was a powerful object.
My eyes widened.
The ring.
The mysterious ring Zoah had given me while he was still in his dragon form.
Back when I unknowingly treated his wounds with Herb A and helped him find the herb on his very first day on Earth.
It had been his way of thanking me.
Maybe...
Just maybe...
The ring possessed enough power to suppress the chains.
Luck hadn't abandoned me completely.
Although every limb was restrained, my hands weren't chained together.
Four separate chains bound my wrists and ankles.
The ring was still inside my pocket.
Thank goodness.
For some reason, I had instinctively brought it on this mission.
Slowly...
Painfully...
I stretched my right hand toward my waist.
Every tiny movement sent pain shooting through my body.
Seconds felt like hours.
Finally...
My fingers brushed against the ring.
A relieved smile spread across my face as I wrapped my hand around it.
One problem solved.
Now...
How exactly was I supposed to use it?
And what if it didn't work?
Taking a deep breath, I pressed the ring against the chain around my left wrist.
I closed my eyes.
I imagined the ring crushing every trace of magic inside the chain.
My heartbeat quickened.
"Please..." I whispered.
"Please let this work."
Again.
And again.
"This has to work..."
"This has to work..."
The words became a desperate prayer.
Suddenly,
"AHH!"
A terrified scream escaped my lips.
I immediately bit down on my tongue, forcing myself into silence before the cannibals heard me.
My breathing became ragged.
It worked.
It actually worked.
Although I couldn't see it...
I could feel it.
Violent waves of power surged through the chain as the ring collided with its magic.
The enchanted chain resisted.
The ring answered.
Their powers clashed like invisible storms.
Moments later...
The resistance vanished.
The chain's magic had been completely neutralized.
Excitement rushed through me.
Without wasting another second, I repeated the process on my right wrist.
Again...
The ring won.
"Yes..." I whispered, unable to hide my excitement.
I almost shouted in celebration before remembering where I was.
Who would have imagined that this little ring possessed such terrifying power?
If I had sold it to pay my tuition...
If greed had won...
I would already be dead.
Instead, I had trusted my instincts.
Perhaps some burdens were blessings disguised as inconveniences.
Sometimes...
The things we value the least become the very things that save our lives.
Carefully, I bent forward despite the pain and pressed the ring against the chain around my right ankle.
Another surge of power.
Another victory.
Only one chain remained.
Just one.
Once the final enchantment disappeared, I could finally begin figuring out how to unlock the chains themselves.
Freedom...
It was finally within reach.
A smile spread across my face.
For the first time since my capture...
Hope returned.
Humming softly to myself, I bent toward my left ankle.
I pressed the ring against the chain.
Closed my eyes.
Then.
Clink.
My heart stopped.
No...
Not footsteps.
Something worse.
I opened my eyes just in time to watch the ring bounce across the stone floor.
My fingers had loosened.
In my excitement...
I had accidentally let go.
"No..."
The whisper barely left my lips.
The ring continued rolling farther away.
Straight toward the patch of carnivorous plants.
"No... no... no..."
Before I could do anything,
One of the monstrous plants snapped forward.
Crunch.
The ring disappeared inside its jaws.
Silence.
Tears blurred my vision.
Slowly...
They slid down my cheeks.
Every ounce of hope I had fought so hard to build crumbled before my eyes.
All my effort...
All my determination...
Had been for nothing.
My hope was gone.
And for the first time since my capture...
Death no longer felt like a possibility.
It felt inevitable.