I braced myself for pain as I wobbled to my feet when it was my turn. A sharp ache stabbed at my knees, but no way was I going to fall now. I needed to see what was going on and why. The cell was more visible due to the inbound light and emptying of children. I saw it was of dank brick walls. Concrete. My conclusion was the pantheon structure where I had been waiting before I had been incarcerated. We had likely been held within its underground. Before I could determine more of my surroundings, brutal hands yanked me forward and out of the cell.

“Hey!” I yelped when a heavy set of iron cuffs were snapped over my wrists to weigh them down.

“Did the mouse squeak?!” A scruffy faced brute sniggered at me.

He was dressed in an all black uniform with yellow studs to hold the cloth together around his fat body. Barely. This was what passed as a soldier? Pitiful. His cruel mannerisms made the girls’ next to me whimper. I stepped forward to block his line of sight to them, and shook my head. I felt a painful cuff to my ear.

He kicked my backside, so I moved into a line behind a small girl who was having a hard time standing upright. Every time she drooped toward the ground, a black uniformed soldier snapped at her with threats of a strike to her back. I stood up against her back and held her arms to keep her upright.

“I’ve got yah. I’ll help yah standing,” I whispered into her little ears.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

She was so small and weak; trembling like a mouse. By her tiny height and her reactions, probably no more than five summers old. Summers? I gasped at a sudden realization. I didn’t know where I was, so why would I know about time and seasons. Maybe my memory loss was beginning to return. For now, all I could do was go with the flow and try not to die.

“Dank... you,” the little girl bravely said to bring my thoughts to the present dilemma.

“Don’t thank me yet. Let’s see if we can live through what’s next.”

We stopped speaking when our lines were formed. The all-black uniformed soldiers began leading us down a dank underground tunnel. The path eventuated into an open courtyard where a metal box-cart stood in the center. We were herded into the cart that was smaller than the cell.

“Oi! This one needs a mask,” one of the soldiers called out to another nearest the entrance.

I yelped at the tight grip on my shoulders. They were yanked back to limit movement. An opaque sackcloth went over my head. What the hell?! I choked back my shallow breaths; struggling to get a grip of my shaking nerves. A sick, burning feeling pained my heart and threatened to slit my chest open.

Arvocas Meladorma.

Words shrilled painfully against my eardrums. I screamed at the stabbing feeling at the back of my head. A blackness seeped into my heart and slowly claimed my thoughts as slick oil would against a pool of pure water. My body thrashed about against the knots chocking up my throat and blood rushing to my brain. In the mix, I felt whacks to my backside and bruises along my limbs.

Arvocas Meladorma Siluence!

Words stabbed at my ears. The last sounds of life I noted was a rhythmic clip - clopping. I collapsed into an unconsciousness.