Never do an enemy a small injury. Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.
- Niccolo Machiavelli
The carriage shook as it navigated its way through the streets. The guards swayed with the motion long inured to the bumps that the lacking suspension directly transmitted to the occupants.
Then they had reached their goal and were hauled outside. Blinking at the brightness of several large glow globes they stood in an enclosed yard in the back of a fortresslike construction sporting four stories and several squat towers at the corners. Small slit-like windows gave an unwelcoming air to the grey stone edifice. A cold wind blew snowflakes over the cobbled ground.
“Get inside before you freeze your asses off.” A guard stood in an open doorway darkly outlined by light shining from within.
“Separate them and then we will commence the interrogation. Has it been found yet?” A busy-looking man in civilian clothes but with the badge of the guard on his left breast asked as they entered a rectangular room with a stone counter on one side and a long bench on the other. He had grey receding hair but seemed to be still in his late thirties.
Alea grabbed Alyssa’s arm again and pressed her face against her taller friend's side.
One of the guards, a large man with massive muscles, that had brought them cleared his throat and said, “Are you sure? Those two are still children, at least let them stay with each other.”
“Yes, we have clear orders for this case. Separate them.” The man gave an artificial-looking smile. “Orders are orders, I’m sure you understand?”
After that Valeria, Alyssa and Alea were forcefully separated and brought inside single windowless cells with heavy doors blocking any sounds from outside.
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Alea hugged Cecily and hyperventilated before she got control of herself. ‘I have been through so much since that time. I will not give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry.’ She sniffled and thought of her friends and regained some of her calm.
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Alyssa paced back and forth, Cyrus screeched and stabbed at the door causing smoke to rise from the reinforced wood as the drops of corrosive poison on his stinger came into contact.
“Shh. Be calm.” She crouched and gathered the agitated wyvern into her arms before she gently hugged him and began to hum a lullaby.
Asandria floated beside her. ‘Don’t talk to me or answer when I say something. I am pretty sure they monitor us in some way.’
Alyssa began to nod and then turned it into rubbing her face against Cyrus's side eliciting a purring sound from him.
Time passed and she began to feel drowsy.
Alyssa guessed the time to be around midnight now as the door was suddenly opened and three male guards, one of them in the robes of a mage-guard waited outside.
“Come with us.” The robed magician waved with a thick runed rod in his hand.
Alyssa carefully stepped near and was then led down a corridor. “Where are we going, what is happening?”
“You will see soon enough.” The mage curtly answered. He was a younger man with pale blond hair and nearly invisible eyebrows making his face look bare and youthful.
They passed some doors and side corridors and Alyssa lost her sense of direction before they finally halted in front of an iron-bound door inscribed with runes which the mage opened.
“Get in.” He gestured for her to precede him, inside was a largely empty room with a desk, some chairs, and a big throne-like seat with shackles affixed to the arms and legs. Old sweat stains or something worse colored the dark wood. The room reeked of old fear. A glow lamp hung from the ceiling bathing everything in a pale glow.
The mage shoved her as she halted for a second and pushed her further in. She took a few extra steps to gain a bit of distance and turned looking at the men warily. “What is the meaning of this. I have done nothing wrong.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“That is for us to find out. And if there truly is nothing then you have nothing to fear.” The mage gave an insincere grin. “You sit here.” He pointed at the ‘throne’.
“No. I won’t. I want to talk to Alea von Graufurt or Maximilian von Graufurt, if that is not possible contact...Magister Illimen.” She finally said.
“My, my. That are some illustrious names. You are a wanted fugitive and we have here a letter beseeching us to aid in your apprehension.” The mage gestured with a rolled piece of parchment. “So we can only do our duty and help our brothers in Rivenlorn. So either you sit down – now- or we have to force you.”
Alyssa weighed her chances and slowly moved over to the wooden contraption and hesitated before sitting down on the hard wooden seat. She was much too small and looked like a child sitting in a chair meant for an adult.
“Put your arms in the cuffs.” The mage ordered.
“Why? Are you that scared of me? As I said, I did nothing wrong, I went along with what you wanted, why do you want to shackle me?”
“That is standard procedure. You will comply or it will be another criminal act done by you in the presence of the guard.”
Alyssa sweated and looked from one guard to the other. The smallest among them, still with nearly 1,7 meters not small looked a bit uncomfortable but they still remained silent.
The mage gestured at the taller guard. “Ulf, help her.”
The taller of the two, a burly black-haired guard grabbed her arms and snapped the cuffs shut before turning a bolt affixing them. Drops of sweat ran down the small girl's neck and it took all her willpower not to turn Cyrus lose on them.
The mage grinned. “And now to the main reason, we brought you here.” He searched through the pouch at his side and removed a package that he put on the table before opening the cloth covering unveiling a small container holding a reddish powder. “Only the best for you.” He snickered.
“What in the nine hells are you doing?” Alyssa looked alarmed.
“Oh, I see you are so tense so I wanted to help you relax.” He opened the container and put some of the powder inside a small glass cylinder before turning to her.
“That is something like Bluestone, isn’t it? You want me to be drugged so you can pin that on Mrs. Jangres and me at the same time.” Alyssa grew calm as she came to a decision.
“Clever of you. She said you might realize it, but what can you do? Deny it?” He laughed. “You should as well enjoy it. This Blooddust is really pure, you will not find it on the streets, only the organizations have access. Don’t struggle or it might hurt. Or do, I might like that.” He grinned.
Asandria spoke up, ‘You cannot allow them to feed that to you. With your damaged vitality you might not survive. I will help you.’
Alyssa looked at them imploringly, “Don’t do that. You are guards, sworn to protect the people. Not hurt them, not be criminals yourself.”
The smaller guard looked ashamed but tightened the grip on his truncheon and turned his face away. The others merely grinned. “Want to beg a bit? If you would like to I could spare some time.” The mage chuckled.
She thought of a room, the young noble laughing at her, the helplessness and rage.
“Then...I am sorry.” Her right eye shed a single tear crawling down her white cheek.
The gate opened.
More power than she had ever felt flowed through her body, filling the hollow in her chest. She was drunk on unlight, she was full of emptiness and the paradox felt delicious. Her left eye swallowed all light. There was no longer fear just a distant kind of pain and...
The lighting grew dim, a distant rumbling could be heard, dust rained from the ceiling as a sudden pressure built cracks snaked from her position along the ground. Like great unseen wings beating the air became heavy and everything lost its color, became shades of grey, sounds grew muted, the shackle around her left arm rusted and the wood decayed. She stripped the metal from her right with a simple gesture. Mouths opened in the shape of an O.
Whispers sounded in the air as the outlines of faces pressed against and deformed the walls, the stone began to bleed black liquid.
Alyssa stood up, rusty scrap fell to the ground, Cyrus spread his wings and screeched.
She raised her hand speaking words not meant for a human throat and the black disc of the broken seal formed as the void grew near. Blood ran from the corner of Alyssa’s mouth. The mage raised his rod and bolts of bluish force impacted around her shredding stone and splintering the wood of the chair causing bloody cuts to appear on her skin. The black oval swallowed all without a ripple.
A hulking humanoid rose from within the void, raised its bulk and stepped forward while regarding the interesting small girl with a single glaring eye.
Asandria sang with her in otherworldly harmony the sound bled through into reality.
Tentacles of lightless void shot from the mirror as she inserted her left hand grasping the three guardsmen. More and more tendrils shot forth.
Frost coated the floor and the table.
Lamprey mouths opened and bit into succulent, warm flesh. Blood ran in rivers and was lapped at with countless tongues from the faces that swarmed every surface. It was over in minutes, it took years- time had no meaning.
The girl shuddered and pulled back as if from a deep morass and with great effort the void slowed to a trickle.
The light left their eyes and broken bodies fell to the floor bereft of life. One of them, the smaller guard, stared sightlessly tears streaming from his wide-open eyes while saliva bubbled from his mouth- he alone was still alive.
Alyssa sat down again and folded her hands on her lap, white hair covering her face while voices murmured and whispered. Blood dripped from her wounds and a thick ruby-colored drop hung from her chin as she sat without movement.
A distant alarm sounded. Stone dust ceased to fall as the pressure receded.