PROLOGUE
Slivers of light streamed in through a crack in the rock wall. My eyes squinted to adjust to the change in light in the small room. The light illuminated the room so much to allow me to hint at its size, which over the years I had forgotten. Darkness usually covered me in a cold blanket. Whatever little sun was with me now filled my heart with such joy, as I hadn't experienced in over one thousand years.
The light was soon gone; time seeming to slip away so fast in this room, and my heart fell again.
It echoed across my cramped cell, where it would probably sit for another one thousand years.
That is what I thought, until my ears caught the clink of metal upon stone, not three feet from me.
"You know what to do with these, little one. Run."
The cries of the guards down the corridor made me start to crawl towards where the voice came from. It had been a raspy voice, a certain lilt to it that made me wonder whether I had heard it before. Whatever had been the case, I banished it from my mind as my bandaged hand grasped through the wrought iron bars and felt a cold metal under my fingers.
Freedom.
Shakily I grabbed hold of the bars to my cell and tried to pull myself up. I had no recollection of how many years I had been huddled into the corner of my cell, my legs bent from little use. It took a few attempts until my muscle memory kicked in and my legs supported my fragile body up; this allowed me to put my arm through the gap in the bars and try to feel my way to the lock of my cell. Feeling the indentation in the metal, I wrestled the key into my other hand and tried to fit it into the lock. I could still hear the screams and tearing of metal from further away, and so hurried to try and escape, knowing that reinforcements would soon arrive.
The clink of metal and the feeling of the key fitting into the lock brought a smile onto my face.
Twisting the key into the lock, I heard the unmistakeable groan of the locks moving in the door, soon swinging open. Tentatively I stuck a foot out. Nothing. No whips, no sizzling heat. Nothing; I was free to go. Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes as I slowly exited from the hellhole I had been stuck in.
"Run, little one. Be free."
And so I ran. I ran down the corridor, jumping over the piles of ashes that had been my captors. The door had been conveniently left open; I could now smell fresh grass and clean air. Light soon filled my vision and I had to stop just to take in the change. I could see rolling hillsides and far off in the distance, I could just make out the brick rooftops of Volterra.
Walking through the rock archway, I closed my eyes and opened them again, making sure I was not dreaming.
I was free.