Free Sorceress (Book 2) by Jim Bernheimer

releasing her fireshade. He tried to push the idea that her idol was capable of failure.
    “We were wrong to oppose him!”
    He didn’t believe her and told her as much.
    “Your stubbornness is getting tiresome. Just a fraction of his power allows me to command you.”
    Shaking his head, he knew that wasn’t completely true either. Count Darius couldn’t have done this without the putrid heart of the abomination. The depth of her fanaticism continued to disturb him.
    “If you’re going to continue being like this, I suppose I’m going to be forced into punishing Cyemma...What!”
    As the threat left her lips, Majherri reacted before she could stop him. He’d had enough and bucked hard. Danella had been unprepared for his sudden outburst and lost her grip on the second jolt.
    He’d thrown his rider. It was the ultimate insult as far as his race was concerned. His message delivered.
    I no longer consider you worthy of riding me.
    “How dare you!” Danella screamed. Her twisted power froze him in place. Her whip lashed out and smacked into his side. She screamed louder when the corrupted bond returned a measure of that agony back to her.
    Frozen and in pain, he felt the touch of her whip for the second time. Majherri could only wonder if Danella snapped and killed him, would she die as well?
    The frightening part is that both of us dying might be the only way out of this.
    After the whip cracked against his side for a third time, she stopped and the mask of fury on her face returned to something approaching sanity.
    “You made me do this, Majherri. This is your fault! You made me! Why do you have to be … Don’t worry, I can fix this. I can fix this!”
    Danella pressed her will over him once more, forcing him into a calm state as she approached and removed a jar of salve from the saddle bags. He felt the cool sensation of it being applied on the areas where he’d been struck.
    “See? All better, but we can’t have you being stubborn when we go into battle. You just don’t understand...that’s it. I know the way. Stay near the main tent. I will return for you when I’m done.”
    It might have been instinct or it could have been something in their bond that he sensed, but Majherri knew she was going to the heart of the netherbeast. Danella sought more power to control him. Even this sense of foreboding could not break through the calmness she’d forced upon him. His revolt was driving her deeper into the clutches of evil.
    He called to her and attempted to convince her not to do this. His rider ignored him and though he couldn’t be certain what was coming, the one thing Majherri did know was that no good would come from it.
    Realizing his pleas were not working, Majherri decided to get some water, but found himself compelled to stay near the tent as she had commanded. Stamping his hooves in frustration, he waited for whatever would come next.
     
    Pain. It began with pain. A fiery bolt of agony that started at the cracked tip of his horn and slammed into his brain like an arrow. In comparison, the sting of Danella’s whip was like the bite of an insect. He screamed as the sensation trampled into all corners of his being. His hide alternated between burning itches and a freezing cold from which there was no escape.
    Vision blurred and he became dizzy, unable to stand upright. Seconds dragged on for an eternity as he fell over and thrashed against the ground. His legs flailed as if they had a mind of their own.
    Still, the torture rose to a new level of intensity and Majherri wasn’t sure which would break first, his sanity or his failing grip on life.
    Eventually, even his muscles stopped working and all he was reduced to was a motionless mass of misery making noises no unicorn had ever made before. His existence was being ripped apart. The foulness seeped into his bones and decimated his will to survive.
    At some point, he began to slip into the void of exhaustion. Part of him welcomed it and part of him