And the elves danced, and the Sun and The Moon, and the stars and the winds and the seas and the trees and the grass. And Arya danced and sang with them, and Arya sang and stayed with them until she tired, and Arya fainted and fell to the grass softly, left there by Autumn's last winds, as Winter had come. And Arya was dressed in the fire and the Moon, and her hair was combed by Autumn, Summer and Winter, her legs and arms ornamented off Spring flowers and Summer joy, and her beauty was far beyond, like her ancestors of old.
The night filled of her people's songs, in harmony with the flutes and the harps, and the Moon, and the Sun and the stars, and the wind, and the seas and the trees and the grass as Winter had come to Coille; imbuing it in happiness and dances; dances many mortals wished to see, dances those who had seen them would never forget, dances who would never leave those who had perished.
And Arya smiled as her heart was full, with the joy of The Coming and The Arrival, her heart full of joy and happiness and warmth as she had danced with the Moon, and the Sun, and the stars and the winds, and the cold and the fire and the seas, and the trees and the grass. Welcoming Winter to her home.
She had danced with it all in a magical, mystical, other-worldly, dreamlike dance, lighten by the stars and the stars and the winds and the cold and the fire and many other things she would never forget or didn't know the names of.
And her mother's words she remembered, as she looked up seeking her star, seeking what her people had lost as her mother's words spoke through her; like a song of the elven maidens of old, like a song she would never forget: "In a Murmur our magic is held, in a Whisper mortals rely, as they hunger for more, but weak as an elves magic is, in the stars lie that which was meant to be ours. In the stars, Names are held a magic elder than the rest, and if you look closely, seek it, it will aid you in dire situations where escaping was unthought of."
And Arya did as her mother had told her, and raised her arm trying to listen to the stars' voices; their whispers, trying to reach hers and take it, but her arm was stopped by a hair of grass, she tried to use her other one; stopped the same way as the first. This was odd, no such a thing ever happened to her.
She looked at the starry sky up above, but it was there no more, just cold, dark stone walls of which water fell onto her like tears. She looked at her arms, both tied by black chains, eating her skin where flies worms' had nested. She looked at the grass, it was there no more, just the hard stone altar she was chained to.
Her beautiful dress knotted by the fire and the Moon gone; just rags and thick blood dressed her, her head thick and greasy tied together by her falling blood once combed and braided in the most beautiful way. Her body but wounds, flesh and bone, her eyes once full of joy and life now like the dead; Staring into nothingness and everything ness. Her hands, arms, legs and feet broken and twisted once ornamented by Spring flowers and Summer joy, her beauty but a ghost of what it once was.
As the maiden had been tortured in unthinkable ways, taken off any dignity or pride she once had, played with like a doll, humiliated; treated worse than an animal, left starving for days, sometimes weeks; feeding her only when she was about to die raw meat(Or rotten meat) and dirty water.
And the only company she ever had was the rhythmic fall of water and the cold dungeon walls; whose fall the maiden heard for hours and hours, days, sometimes weeks. And the maiden would have lost her mind and herself to the waterfall, the uncomfortable and cold darkness and walls that surrounded her if her mind hadn't protected her. The shell that remained.
And then Arya heard it, the creaky dark iron door of her cell slowly open, upon hearing it Arya tried to resist, to get away, she didn't want to see it, she had had enough, but her body like the rest of her was too weak to react or see what or who had come. But she knew what it was, a red fire and him.
Months ago, upon seeing it her eyes would have widened with fear and horror, and she would have shaken her chains, and scream and yelled, and cried and twisted, and cried and twisted and cursed in all the languages she knew, as her body twisted in pain and agony and the dungeon filled with the cruel laughter of her torturer and her screams. But now Arya was but a corpse, a living one awaiting death.
"Our playtime has come to an end, you resisted and fought but broke like the rotten scum you are… like any mortal. Told me what I desired to know, and now it is time I dispose of you. But before we get to that, I want to see you agonising, die in that agony, drowned in your own screams as I tear your skin piece by piece."
Arya felt the monster's cold hands against her skin, and just when it was about to tear it off:
"My lord" said a voice, steps coming closer.
"What is it?" The monster said, displeased by the interruption, turning his hands off her as he approached the first voice.
"A Knight" The voice said simply, "he… requests to speak to you."
"Leave," the monster said coldly.
"But my lord," The second voice said hurriedly, "It is one of them."
"Is he with him?" The monster asked.
"No my lord."
"Let him in and leave us."
The soldier did as the monster ordered, and shortly after a light began to lighten her miserable prison, one so pure, so beautiful and white Arya felt her strength come back, her senses sharpen and even something resembling happiness and joy came back.
Arya moved her head weakly, trying to see where the light came from, it came from a knight, a knight dressed in pure white and Sun; the monster that had tortured her was kneeling respectfully, even fearfully, to him. Her strength failed her, and she remained like before, staring at the ceiling.
"My lord."
"Rise," The Knight ordered with a thunderous voice to the monster, as he approached her, "My master has heard of your findings and is pleased with your… results, but not your ways."
"I only live to serve his wishes," the monster said tentatively, almost defiantly, the Knight ignored this as he left Arya, "But why have you come, sire? If I may ask."
"My lord wants you to stop your seeking of the egg."
"Why?" The monster said, "I have already sent a party to retrieve it."
"It is too late," The Knight explained calmly, "By the time the men you have sent reach it, it will have already hatched and things will move in the way we want or not. It will be too late. My master wants you to get hold of the knowledge this maiden possesses."
"What knowledge?" The monster snapped, "This scum has already said all she knew, she is but a dead body."
The monster retreated upon seeing the warning in the Knight's thunderous eyes, "My apologies, my apologies, I beg your pardon my lord," The monster begged over and over as the Knight retreated his gaze and spoke:
"The maiden hasn't told you everything, there are still many secrets she holds away from you who think her fully broken, inferior to you for her weakness against your power and the sins of her people"
The knight said approaching Arya, leaning near her like a god(So it seemed to her), touching her caringly in the checks, bringing in her the flame of life as tears fell from the maiden's eyes who wanted this moment, this warmth the strange knight brought with him to stay with her forever, it felt like… like home.
"You must move on, shade, or your past will end your future," The knight continued, taking his hand away from Arya, who tried, begged him to stay with her, not with that monster, but no scream came out. Just the clacking of her chains, as the knight approached the shade, "And find the secrets my master wants, held deep within the maiden's mind. The Red."
"The Red?" The shade said surprised, "What would this rotten scum know about it?"
"Enough, for it is to be more troublesome than it already is," The knight said, "And you must find it before things twist more than they are. Good luck shade." And with that the knight left and with him all the light, joy and life Arya had had with her as well. Retaining but a flame, a spark as she saw the blurry smile on her captors' face and screamed as her skin began to be torn away from her as darkness ate her.