Change in Darkness
Chapter one
Darkness ate away everything. Who I once was. Who I could have been. It's all I've been able to see for a long time now. The few times that I've seen any source of light is when the 'Monks' came to serve the prisoners their daily meals. And it almost always consisted of stale or slightly soggy bread and some sort of soup with shreds of meat and grain in it. Then again, they had to keep us healthy if they wanted us to survive the beatings and days of beings locked up underground. Or we'd be graced with the fire's light when Marius came down those stone stairs to watch our torture. Normally the guards would inflict even more pain on us on those occasions to impress their Lord. My current cage was a small space carved out from the earth with thick iron bars closing off any escape. There were four other cages like this from what I could remember. All on the other sides of my own. And across from those were a small pool of water and then a line of deep vertical holes where they'd throw in smaller prisoners and a few hanging chains on either wall. The only others down here were an elderly woman who I'd seen them take down here a while after I was caged in and a young man with a very handsome face. Or, it was last time I saw it.
A flicker of light entered the pitch darkness that had swallowed us into its pits. The warm glow from the torch became a stinging light. I looked away, keeping my eyes from fully looking into the flame in a monk's hand. I recognized this one. His brown robs smelt faintly of flowers and his smile could melt the hearts of any woman. But, that was if you were on his side of the cage. Once my eyes adjusted to the new light I turned my head back and glared at the man. His name was Jeffery, raised as a soldier most of his life, then converted when he turned twenty. Or at least that's what the local prisoners have told me.
"Still alive down there Wolf?" It seems that my old nickname has come back for me. But you know what? This time, I don't give a care. I go with it.
A growl starts at the back of my throat and echoes through the cells. Jeffery laughed and I could practically feel the others flinch. "Who're you taking this time, hmm?" I asked, my voice slightly hoarse from the silent screams I kept to myself.
"Actually, I'll be taking you and then adding a new member to your crew." I couldn't see his face but I knew there was a smirk there. I felt the need to ripe his pink flesh from his face.
"Oh? Looks like the cells are starting to fill up."
"It might interest you to know that these ones are the same as you Wolf. Pagan and evil." My cell door unlocked and the door fell to the floor. I winced at the loud clang but forced myself to become stiff as multiply hands ducked into my small cave and pulled me out. My legs and back dragged across the ground until then heaved my up and onto my feet.
As part of our daily schedule, I simply closed my eyes until we got into a small room just off the prison cells. I felt cool metal clamp down around my wrists before I started struggling. My arms flailed against the iron chains, my head snapped back and forth, teeth cutting air and my legs caught the guard's knees. My teeth actually dug into flesh tonight. I heard a yelp as the skin was retched from my grasp. I spat blood onto the dirt floor and grinned up at the guard who was now nursing a bleeding arm. A hand smacked me across the face, whipping the grin from my lips.
"Keep your fangs to yourself." Jeffery hissed, smacking the back of my head a bit lighter. I shook the clouds from my head before struggling again. The only thing that stopped me was the cracking sound of the whip and the delayed pain afterwards.
A hiss escaped through my teeth as the whip came down again and again. But that was all they would ever get from me. A sharp gasp or a growl. Nothing more and no less. When they finished I was rolled back into my cell and the lock went back on the door. I heaved a sigh and rolled onto my stomach, letting the strain leave my back.
I laid there for a long time, drawing my fingers back and forth over the dirt ground. I drew patterns there, and landscapes. Like the hill back in Castellum that Tristan and I used to meet at. Ah Tristan. I definitely miss him out of all my friends back at Castellum. My next drawing was that of the forests back home. With the mountains towering over the canopy and a rushing river going through the undergrowth. As I begun to fall asleep the bright lights of the torches flared up again in the room. I turned my head to look at the approaching figures, a form being dragged behind the guards.
"These will be your new roommates." Sneered the guard as he dragged the form past me. And then I saw her clearly. A Woad woman with long dark hair, deep brown eyes and bruised pale skin. She was already pre-beaten. And in the arms of another guard was a small boy, maybe nine at least.
"You really are the foulest of humans." I grinded out, giving the most heated and frightening glare I could muster.
"You'd think the wolf would be happy to have some playmates." One joked, nudging the other as he set down the child into the deep hole cages across from my own cage. I growled once more before they left.
Once the flame lights dimmed and disappear I sat up, wincing at the feeling of stone scrapping against my raw back. I curled my fingers around the bars holding me under the earth and whispered into the darkness.
Alright! I promised that i'd start working on this over the holidays and guess what? First day and I've already done one chapter!
All the characters so far are my onw. So don't take! They are mine! Especially Ailith. She's my baby :3
Hope you guys will review for me! Love ya!