Chapter 9: Interrogation

Naomi’s eyes fluttered open, taking in the dank cell she found herself in. Disorientation greeted her as she tried to make sense of her new surroundings. Cold grey bricks lined the walls, the faint smell of dampness filling her senses. Sparse furnishings revealed themselves, a bed made of straw in the corner and a wooden bucket in the other. Along the back of the cell to her left was a small, barred window, light fighting to peer through into the darkness.

As she tried to lift her hands to rub her eyes, chains clinked, echoing off the cell walls. Her wrists were bound by metal cuffs linked to a short chain that ended in a final metal ring embedded into the stone wall.

A wave of panic began to come over her as she looked down at herself, sighing in relief as she saw she was still in her own clothes, still in one piece and unmolested. The small comfort easing her sense of vulnerability with everything that has happened. But what had happened, and how did she end up here?

I remember being angry and then…

The fragmented pieces of memory slowly assembled in her mind, bringing the events of her capture by the trolls into the center of her mind. Then the memory of what she had done to the troll elder came into full view, the blood and gore of his demise by her hand sending a shockwave through her. The scene played again and again in her head, too clear for it to have been a dream and yet seemed impossible to have been true.

She felt a warm sensation in her stomach rising, turned her head, and vomited on the cell floor. Coughing as she retched. She looked up from the pool of bile she made and saw someone sitting on a wooden bench outside her cell bars.

The stranger was leaning forward, hands interlaced as they stared unblinking at her. Reptilian eyes and green scales were the first thing Naomi noticed about the stranger. Their large physique and hard expression gave a dominating presence. The green glow from their eyes unnerved her as she stared back, not sure what to make of the humanoid lizard.

She opened her mouth again to speak but hesitated as the creature’s eyes widened and posture shifted, almost as if it was bracing for something.

“H-hello.” Naomi whispered.

The creature resumed its original hunched position, remaining silent.

Naomi blinked at the lack of response.

Maybe it doesn’t understand me. Didn’t the trolls speak English though?

“Can you understand me?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

The creature snorted and closed its eyes.

“Yes.” The creature growled, its masculine voice gravely and deep.

“Ok. Great. Progress.” She responded, looking away to think of what to ask.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the creature raised a clawed, green hand before she could get her first words out.

“I am not the one you will need to explain yourself to. If I were, you’d be dead already, demon-spawn.” The final words spat from his scaled lips.

Demon-spawn?

Naomi shifted herself to sit facing towards the cell bars. “I think there has been a misunderstanding. I’m not a demon-whatever. I’m human, my name is Naomi.”

“We already assessed your species’ name. That is not our concern with you.” The lizard man stood and walked closer to the cell bars, unblinking as he moved.

He grabbed two of the bars as he faced Naomi and spoke. “We know what you did to the trolls. We have a witness that saw you for what you truly are, what you can do with demonic magic. You can try to coat your words with honey, use your small stature as a ruse, but we know what you are. I don’t know what game you and your kind are playing at, but we stamped demons out a century ago and we have only grown stronger and more prepared for your return. Save your excuses and sit quietly while we wait. If you choose to hang yourself with those chains, I won’t try to stop you, but otherwise sit there and be silent.” He let go of the bars, turned away, and sat back on the bench.

She did as he said, turning away from the bars, and sat silently as they waited.

After an unknown period of time, the silence was broken by the sounds of squeaky hinges and a metal door opening. The lizard looked to his left and stood, the sounds of footsteps descending stairs becoming louder.

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The lizard curled his right fist and placed it over his chest and bowed as the new strangers came into view from the cell.

A tall, armored woman and a shorter pudgy man in robes nodded to the lizard man, then turned their attention towards Naomi.

Both had similar long-pointed ears on either side of their heads, but aside from that they shared few similarities. The short man’s robes were a simple white color with no decorations aside from a single kite-shield shaped crest with four stars in the middle of it.

“So,” the man began, age and weariness clear in his voice. “This is the gate species in question? Not much to look at in the grand scheme of things. Are you sure this is the right one, captain?” The man asked, looking towards his shoulder to the taller woman.

“I am, your holiness.” She confirmed.

“Hmm...” He grumbled in response.

“Baas, open the gate.” He said towards the lizard.

Baas was silent a moment, then with a sigh he rose from the wooden bench and reached under his green cloak. A ring of keys emerged in his hands as he walked towards the cell door and unlocked it.

The man went through the opening and walked to the opposite end of the cell towards the thin straw bed in the corner. He slowly brought himself down to the floor, sitting on the straw and groaning as he moved.

He looked towards Naomi. “Apologies for the accommodations, dear. We normally reserve these cells for criminals and prisoners of excursions into the troll woods, but we needed to be cautious given the circumstances.” His eyes were filled with kindness and warmth.

Naomi remained silent as he spoke, eyes darting back and forth between the older man and the lizard that apparently was named ‘Baas’.

The old man followed her gaze and let out a dry chuckle. “My dear, if Baas was going to kill you, he would have done it in the forest where they found you in. He may look terrifying, but he is a disciplined warrior who knows not to attack prisoners.” He smiled at her.

“I…I don’t even know what’s going on. Who are you? Where am I?” Naomi asked.

The old man sighed and closed his eyes as he spoke. “There are always acclimation issues whenever the gate opens. Different species come pouring into our world bewildered and terrified at their new surroundings, so I understand why you have questions.” His eyes opened. “While I want to answer your questions and give you the peace of mind that you are safe from harm, I have a few questions that need to be answered first. Once I am satisfied, I will answer yours in turn.”

Naomi brought her outstretched legs towards herself, sitting in a crisscross position and nodded.

The old man nodded in return and began.

“Where are you from?” He asked.

“I’m from a place called ‘Oceanside’. Its in a larger country known as the ‘United States’. If you’re asking my world’s name, it’s ‘Earth’.

The old man stared into her eyes, unblinking as she responded.

“How did you come through the gate?”

She winced at the memory of the trolls dragging her through the streets, passing the piles of dead bodies.

“It…wasn’t exactly by choice. Those trolls found me near my home. I thought they were going to kill me, or even eat me alive like they were doing to some of the people in my town. I guess they had other plans though…” She crossed her arms and shuddered at the thought.

The old man nodded. His eyes hardened before asking the next question.

“You were witnessed, by one of our officers, killing a troll by some…unnatural means.” He turned to face the tall women outside of the cell, gesturing for her to speak.

The woman stepped into the cell and turned to face Naomi. “I saw you use magic on one of the trolls in the village-center. The flames were purple. How did you use this spell and where did you learn how to cast it in the first place? If what you say is true, then you had been in our world for less than a day and already could kill something that could have snapped you in half if it wanted.” Her words were monotone and emotionless, almost robotic.

Naomi thought back to what she was talking about. Her mind had been focused entirely on what she had done to the troll elder and fixated on how she had been able to even kill someone so remorselessly, and even enjoyed it.

She remained silent for a few heartbeats, until she heard the tall women step closer towards her, hands reaching for a weapon strapped to her back.

Naomi raised her cuffed hands defensively while answering. “I don’t know, okay? I was taken to this place against my will by monsters along with several others. I spoke to something in the green orb that the troll elder had and suddenly I could use these powers. I was scared and angry. I wanted revenge on those bastards for what they had done to me, to my people. I barely remember anything from after, just being so angry that I wanted the entire village to burn. That’s all, I swear!”

The tall woman’s eyes widened at her mentioning the green orb. She turned to face the older man sitting in the cell corner.

He leaned forward towards Naomi. “What green orb? Who did you speak with?” He stared at her with new intensity in his eyes, all kindness gone from them.

“I...” Naomi paused, considering how much she should tell them. The memory of the green inferno was fresh in her mind, but she didn’t know how her new captors would react. She was witnessed by this woman using the power Cindara gave her, and lying would probably make things worse at this point.

“Some green fire with yellow eyes was in the orb. It…spoke to me in darkness. When the fighting started and the troll elder lost his arm with the staff in it, I saw the orb at its top. It…she… brought me someplace dark and spoke to me about how I’m ‘interesting’ to her. Something about being touched by the light.” Naomi explained.

“She offered me powers to work with her. I made a deal with her to escape from the trolls by using some of her powers. I honestly don’t know how, but I was so angry that I just sort of…willed it to happen.” Naomi looked towards the armored woman.

“I didn’t learn anything about spells, or how to kill people. I made a deal and somehow, I was able to do those things to the trolls.”

The armored woman stared back at Naomi, eyes squinting while absorbing her answer.

The old man took her attention as he spoke again. “You said you made a deal with this being of fire, but did it give you its name?”

Naomi looked at the cell floor. Unsure of whether telling them would be a violation of her contract.

“Answer him.” Baas growled from his bench outside the cell.

Naomi closed her eyes and steeled herself before answering.

“Her name was Cindara.”