@Penstorm
I need honest feedback anything and everything is greatly appreciated.
CHAPTER 1:
“Just let me kill him! He will not tell us anything so he is useless,” the guard yelled, giving the prisoner another hit to the face. The sound of a fist connecting to flesh echoed in the large room. “Just useless.”
The man hanging from the ceiling spit out more blood. He knew that soon he would pass out and his body will begin to regenerate from all the beatings but until then he had to keep silent. These were traitors to their kind and he was not going to help them in any way.
He was cuffed at the wrists from long chains that extended from the ceiling, another large manacle was wrapped around his torso and connected to the wall in opposite directions to keep him immobile. His legs and feet were encased in large metal containers to keep him from kicking the guards. He did that once when they first brought him into the cell and broke one of the guards legs. They were not going to take anymore chances. He was a fighter and they knew he was going to resist every step of the way.
“We can’t kill him,” said a gruff voice to his left, “not yet.”
“Then why don’t we bring in some of his women. Wonder if he would talk if we took out our frustration on them.” The first guard that spoke before made a circle around the prisoner. “What will the leader of the Three Kings do then, huh?”
When the only response was a small chuckle the two guards both went in to deliver blows.
~~~~ 6 Months Later ~~~
The smell of dampness permeated the air around the cell. Women huddled together for warmth in small groups, a lucky few stood next to the small lit torches hanging on the walls hoping to steal the heat.
“Fallyn, you can't leave. What if you're found out. What will happen to us?” Reesa nervously twisted her hands together. “I can hear them talking. Whispers. Something is not going right and they are all on edge.”
“We were taken from our homes and brought here months ago. I want to know why. Everyone stay quiet and I will be back soon.” Fallyn carefully picked the lock of her cell where she and several others were kept. She had been working on the lock for weeks now and it opened easily enough for her without a sound.
“There used to be a lot of guards going down the corridor but now for some reason they hardly go there. The last guard we saw who went down there was two weeks ago and he took food with him. What if a prisoner is down there? It must be someone important for all the guards to have been going to their cell. Maybe I can get some information or something that can give us a clue as to why we are here. Everyone just stay quiet and I will be back as soon as I can.”
Fallyn looked at each woman. They were all scared but having spent several months with them she knew that they were stronger than they even thought possible. After being taken from their village by strange beasts that were larger than anything the women had ever seen, the women were locked in cells. They found out that several women were taken from the same village but they went through a 'selection' process where men wearing black masks put women in different cells.
After a few months, it was discovered that some women had special abilities. Some knew that they could do things before while others found out their gifts only after being taken. Before being taken, Fallyn's friend Reesa, could pick up on a person's emotion, sometimes even discerning words; but here she could actually 'listen' to what people were thinking. It was by accident that she discovered what she could do when she answered questions from her fellow cellmates who were only thinking their questions. Through practice and concentration she was able to 'overhear' the guards thoughts no matter if they were out of sight or not.
Many of the women began trying to discover if they have any hidden talents. Fallyn thought it was a good idea since it gave them all something to do and something to concentrate on rather then their dire circumstances.
“Fallyn, be careful. There are some guards near the entrance but they do not seem like they are going to come down.” Reesa carefully closed the cell door, making sure that it did not lock all the way so that Fallyn could slip back in easily.
“Alright. I will be back soon.”
Fallyn crept down the dark corridor that would lead to the end of the room. She had been this far before exploring and knew the layout. She quietly lifted a hand to the other women who were held in similar cells. Some smiled and some shook their heads - she was 'looking to get caught' or so she had been told. As she made her way to the back of the room she carefully looked around the corner that led to the stairs. She never ventured this far but tonight she was finally going to find out what was so important down there. No matter what.
It was much cooler the farther down she went, uncomfortably so and it was dark. She couldn't even see what was in front of her which caused her to go even slower then she would have liked. She did want to find out what was down there but she didn't want to get caught either. She had seen what these men – these monsters – could do when she and the other women first arrived. She did not want to suffer like those other people had. She never knew a person could be that cruel, much less have a group of people cheer on the brutality.
Fallyn quietly crept down the darken hallway. The faintest light coming from a torch at the very end of the corridor helped guide her way. She moved carefully in case there were any guards, however, it seemed that the place was deserted.
The room was freezing, but the smell of the earth was a refreshing change from the dank smell of the womens' cells. It reminded her of the forest where she spent most of her life. Running through the trees after a rain, digging her toes into the cool brown soil of her home; remembering when life was simpler. The memories faded when Fallyn could smell something else the closer she got to the end of the long corridor…blood.
It was getting stronger the closer she came to the end of the long hallway and she could make out the shape of a crude wooden door. Besides the entrance into the corridor it was the only other room that one could access.
Taking a deep breathe, Fallyn moved to stand in front of the door. 'How could they hurt someone so much that the smell of blood would be this overwhelming,' she thought. Pushing the door slowly open she grabbed the flickering torch to illuminate the pitch black room. The horrendous smell was so strong that she had to cover her nose and mouth to keep from gagging.
Letting her eyes adjust, she could not believe what she saw. 'Is that a person?' She thought. 'Is he dead?'
She found him hanging from chains and his legs were in iron containers. A large manacles clamped around his waist and arms but the most painful one had to be the one at his throat. Even in the dim light, Fallyn could see that it had small spikes piercing his throat. A steady stream of blood snaking its way down his filthy body.
She found a place on the wall to hold the torch as she circled the man. The floor was brown from the stain of blood and it looked like someone had been scraping the area around him clean as the piles of filth were not as high as in some other places.
“How long have you been here?” she whispered. “I'm going to get you out of here. Can you hear me? I'm going to help you.” Fallyn continued to speak quietly as she ran her hands over his face.
His long hair was matted with dirt and blood and he had a long beard that seemed like the guards kept cut so they could get to his choker. She could barely see past the dirt and grime but she could tell that he was covered in scars.
'He has so many,' she thought.
“Hey, can you hear me? Open your eyes if you can hear me?”
His chest was moving, so she knew he wasn't dead, but she couldn't carry him out herself. Despite being locked away, he was still huge. She didn't really know what she was going to do even if he was awake but she was not about to leave him here to suffer.
She moved down to work on unlocking the iron container that restrained his legs. She then moved onto his throat.
'Maybe the arm and waist chains will hold him up once the choker is gone,' she thought hopefully.
She carefully positioned herself at his back and moved his matted hair out of the way. After what seemed like forever, she was finally able to disengage the lock that had the choker lodged in his neck. She worked slowly to pull the spiked collar from his neck.
When she was able to get the choker off, she could see that he had to physically hold himself up or the choker would dig into his throat. Since he was unconscious, he had no choice but be held up by the spiked choker digging into his neck.Thankfully, she left the arm and waist chains attached, otherwise he both would have hit the floor.
Fallyn stood back and circled around to the front again, wondering how she was going to safely get him down. Circling him a few times, she decided to remove the right arm chain before moving onto the one that surrounded his waist. Hopefully the chain attached to his left arm would be enough to keep him upright long enough for her to maneuver him into a manageable position.
It was odd. The room felt still and lifeless before but when she removed the choker it felt like energy was stirring. She felt her hair stand on end and there was a sense of urgency in the air. She had been gone too long and she needed to get back quickly before she was discovered.
He was now hanging by one arm and the large manacle around his waist and she quickly moved to support him but when she heard the sound of a growl, the sound was low and deep and extremely intimidating. She jerked up to see his eyes were wide open and glaring at her. His entire eye was pitch black with a white, sky blue pattern exploding from the center, like bolts of lightening.
She was terrified. He looked enraged and he was focused completely on her.
Swallowing once she slowly made a move to release the chain around his waist.
"I'm going to…" she whispered but before she could finish he hit her with his free hand and she flew across the room. He moved so fast that she didn't have time to react. She hit the wall full force, knocking the breathe out of her.
He was going crazy. He pulled violently at the chain on his left arm, straining his whole body. The sound of the chain grinding against itself was so loud in the room, Fallyn was sure that someone would hear.
"You need to calm down! All this noise will bring the guards and we will both be in trouble." She groaned as she got up from the floor. It was difficult to breathe, her lip was bleeding and she was sure that her arm was broken from hitting the wall. "I will get those off, just calm down. You have to stay quiet."
She carefully made her way back to the man. He was breathing heavily and still tugging on the chain but not as strongly.
Moving behind him, she managed to unlock the large manacle that was around his waist. As it crashed to the floor, she saw that it to had spikes in it that were piercing his body and now that his main support was gone, he went limp, hanging from his left arm.
Fallyn walked over and gently touched his chained arm, "It's going to be alright. I will get you out of these chains and find a way for you to leave."
It all happened at once. One moment she was trying to calm him down and the next she felt such a violent rage explode inside her and something … shifts. She feels it in her mind; like a wall fell away and everything was changing.
He let out an ear piercing roar when she felt a surge of power ripple through his arm to hers. The chain exploded off of him, knocking her backwards again. She stood staring wide eyed as he slowly rose from his crouch.
She could see it, the energy she felt before was swiftly gathering around him making him all the more terrifying.
'What is he?'
When he stood up, he did not look like a helpless prisoner. He looked like a warrior wanting blood and his eyes were locked onto hers, the lightening blue patterns shifting slowly as he moved towards her, like a storm.
Fallyn couldn't speak. She was too shocked and it seemed that nothing she could say would calm him any. Without thinking, she fell back onto instinct. Living and surviving in the forest, she learned that if you could show others that you would stand your ground then they left you alone. So with no weapons and reasoning not working, she did the only thing she could.
She gave a warning growl. A deep throaty sound that was weak compared to his but it worked. He stopped moving forward, only a few steps from her, almost within arms reach, cocking his head. He was sizing her up as if he was taking her worth. Not one to be intimidated she stood taller, held her head high and kept her eyes connected to his.
Before she knew what was happening he was on her. His hands gripping her arms tightly, he slammed her into the wall, her head making a sickening cracking sound as it bounced off the hard stone. Fallyn was disorientated and sick to her stomach. This man, this prisoner, was more than she could handle. Thinking that he was helpless was a mistake. 'Maybe they had this man locked up because he was so dangerous,' she thought.
His eyes continued shifting, the blue turning electric as he leaned into her neck. She could feel him breathe in her scent, the course hair of his beard scratching the base of her throat. It felt like a threat.
She shivered and started to raised her arm to push him away when she heard his hoarse voice in her ear.
"Thusa vou'tay."
He stood to his full height, towering over her. She had to crane her head to look him in the eye. She had never seen eyes like his before - like the clear of the night sky before a storm.
She licked her lips, "wha…"
A deafening growl erupted from his clenched teeth. He was leaning down to her throat again this time is mouth was opening. 'Dear god, he is going to rip my throat out,' she screamed in her head.
"Fallyn? Fallyn! Are you alright? I can feel your distress, what's happening?" Reesa's voice echoed in her head. It was all too much. The pain of her arm, Reesa's voice and this man - this savage-
"No!" Fallyn threw her arm out and hit him in the chest with as much force as she could. She could feel it in her mind, coming from deep inside her being; that change that she felt before was happening to her. A power that she didn't know she possessed exploded down her arm and into him.
His lips had just barely brushed the juncture of her neck and shoulder, then with a force she couldn't explain he was sent hurtling through the air and crashing through the ceiling of the dark cell creating an opening to the outside.
There were no words to describe the pain that she felt in her arm as the energy flowed through it but at the same time it was amazing; the power that was there inside her. A blinding light filled the room and all of it coming from her out-stretched arm. She had to shield her eyes but squinting upwards she could see him.
Hanging in mid-air, he had large wings extending from his body. He reminded her of the revered paintings in the basilica's of Fel'Lor'rek but instead of a being of the light, he looked to be dark spirit from Seoli'nn. A monster.
"Fallyn! What's happening? I hear the guards coming, you have to come back now." Reesa's voice was frantic as it rippled through her head. It was making her nauseous. "Fallyn? Fallyn come.."
"I'm coming," she whispered to herself.
"Are you alright? Do I need to help you?"
"No, I'm just dizzy. I'm leaving now."
"Did you see something? Was there a person down there? What was that…"
Fallyn gripped the wall, afraid she was going to fall if she didn't have the support. "Please Reesa, no more questions. I just can't right now. I will tell you when I make it back to the cell."
She looked up one last time to see the monster circle several times around the large opening. When the shouts from above grew louder, he flew away. His large wings taking him higher and higher until she could no longer see him.
"Reesa? I'm hurt really bad." Fallyn stumbled out into the long dark corridor. "Reesa, can you hear me? I…"
"Don't worry, I asked Meryha to start preparing for you and the other women are making a place for when you get back." Reesa's voice was soothing now, not bouncing around inside her skull like before. Maybe the distance interfered with her gifts.
"Fallyn, you need to hurry, the guards are angry and there is something else here. Something that I can't figure out what it is, but whatever it is, it wants blood. If you get caught and don't know what will happen."
"I'm coming up the stairs now and I can see the tough lights. I'm almost there."
Fallyn was getting more nauseous by the second. Her vision was so blurry that she had to rely on her memory to find her way back. The air was getting thicker and she could still feel the power flowing inside of her.
Making her way up the stairs, she emerged from the dark hallway into the room of the womens cells. She had made it there before the guards. Many women were standing by the bars, asking questions about the explosion, asking if she were alright. She could hear shouting from outside the cells room and the running of guards stomping above them.
'So much noise,' Fallyn thought. It was the last thing she remembered before darkness took her.
