Max never eats.
Sometimes, I think I never eat.
I must, otherwise I’d be dead. Demons can go longer than mortals without sustenance, but we still need it.
I just don’t remember eating.
All I know of is laying on the prison floor and staring at either the nonexistent ceiling or over at Max.
Maybe I just don’t remember seeing Max eat.
Maybe Max eats when the fog consumes me.
I’ll never know.
“Max, come here.”
His ears twitch, his little nose poking up into the air. He doesn’t obey of course. He’s not a dog, he’s a rat.
He acknowledges in his own way though.
“Why are you here? Did you also try to commit genocide?”
Max turns away, tail swiping across the floor as he skitters to the other end of the cage. It’s answer enough, Max not wanting anything to do with those guilty of such awful acts.
“I’m sure you are charged for worse. You carry diseases after all.”
Max doesn’t even offer a twitch in response. I am suitably ignored by the only company I have until someone deems me worthy of being visited.
I don’t see it happening anytime soon.
-
-
-
I hear screaming.
The smell of flesh burning.
Heat prickles my skin.
Every single hair on my body is raised in alarm.
My entire essence was my rapid heartbeat.
The world would dim and sharpen in time with the fluctuating beats.
There’s a boy.
No, not a boy.
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I know that boy.
That mortal.
He’s crying.
The heat of dragon flames evaporate the tears before they ever fall.
He must be one big blister at this point.
The dragon-
The demon-
Burning brimstones surround me, the very ground too hot to touch.
I’m going to die.
That’s how everything ends, with my death.
With our death.
A dragon cries this blood curdling scream. It’s of anguish, grief words could never portray. A family torn apart.
I can see the children dying, burning blood starting the flames.
I can-
That was the first vision.
It wasn’t the last.
He didn’t die.
He was supposed to die.
-
-
-
“They’ve come to a decision regarding Illarian.” Silvestr sounds as if the news he brings is grand.
“Illarian is dead.”
“They will return him his wings if you confess.” Silvestr continues as if I never spoke.
The words are-
“You’re lying!” My body is too weak to support my attempt to throw myself forward. My knees collapse as soon as they are forced to hold my weight.
“No. If you confess you both will go free. Illarian will have his wings back.” He stands so tall, stubborn as if expecting a fight.
“What’s the catch.” There’s always a catch.
“You will be bonded together. Unable to harm a soul, unable to lie. You will be banished to the gates of the underworld to live out your sentence.”
It’s cruel what they suggest.
“My sight?”
“What you have now is what you will have until the end of time.”
“So I will be blind for all of eternity.”
It’s cruel, so cruel. Everything about it is cruel. Harsh, unforgivable. It’s monstrous and inhumane.
“You will see just like I can see.”
Silvestr mocks. He’s surely got a sneer on his face but my sight is simply fog.
I can’t see freedom. Any kind of freedom, even the kind with chains.
Max is sitting on the outskirts.
Waiting.
Listening.
“You lie.”
It’s always a lie. A trap. Confess, bury the chain and free yourself. Illarian was already dead after all.
“That’s your area of expertise. Not mine, Knix.”
Max cocks his head and then scurries to the front of the cage. Silvestr doesn’t even glance at the rat sitting at his feet.
He doesn’t even flinch.
“So, what will it be? They’re only giving you 24 hours to decide.”
“How slow do they think I am.” It’s a pointless question. They think I’m insane. A fool spelled into following another at best and at worst a seer driven into insanity by his own visions.
Max still sits at Silvestr’s feet.
Trusting.
“Of course I will confess.”
For the first time in a long time, Silvestr smiles.