Days had passed since I found out my sister was alive. I was so happy to hear that news, but it was tainted by the knowledge that Gaul had corrupted her and turned her into a monster. The nightmare that Cynder had made me endure was terrible but when I saw her eyes, I saw my sister in there. Somewhere my sister was still inside that monster and I was going to save her.
I was forced back into my cell at night and in the morning they would come and get me. I had decided I wouldn't attack the apes outright, but I didn't want them to think I had gone soft, so any chance I got I would torment the ones leading me. A glare here, a growl there and the occasional bout of terror when one of them tried to intimidate me with threats.
I was allowed to leave my cell but I was closely watched and any sign of aggression was met with me struggling to breath. I had walked past a mirror once and saw why. Gaul had given me a necklace shaped like a snake that wrapped around my body, and whenever I started to fight or disobey, it would tighten and threaten to strangle me to death.
I learned quickly that using my abilities around Cynder or Gaul would result in me suffocating, so I only ever used them when I was around the lower ranked apes. So long as I didn't kill them I was spared from any backlash, but the commanders were different. They were almost as big as Gaul and they were under Cynder in the command structure, attacking them was just as bad as attacking Cynder or Gaul.
I was forced to patrol the castle grounds with Cynder, but it wasn't intruders we were looking for. The castle was surrounded by crystals that seemed to draw the lightning to them. It was these Crystals that we were looking at. Some glowed with energy from the lighting strikes while others looked dull and colorless.
I used the chance to stretch my wings and legs as much as I could. Being cramped in the cell had made me stiff, even if I stretched every day, there simply wasn't enough room for me to fully stretch out and.
"If you're hoping to fly away, I'd suggest you not try it. If the lightning doesn't bring you down then I'll chase you down and you can experience your wings being destroyed again. "She warned as she never took her eyes off of the gems.
"I have no intention of leaving you here alone." I said as I groaned, feeling several joints pop and crack as I went through my full range of motions. She laughed, a genuine laugh filled with mirth.
"Little fool." she scoffed before suddenly striking out and destroying one of the crystals that absorbed the lightning strike. "You are my prisoner."
"I'm also your brother, and despite what's happened to you I still love you. " I replied before folding my wings and looking at the destroyed crystal.
"Oh we'll see big brother"
I watched as she scattered the shattered crystal before finding a piece she liked. Picking it up she would gently place the crystal on a sled that she was having me pull. We scoured the castle grounds until Cynder had found several of those crystals that seemed suited for her needs. My sled was heavy and when I finally managed to drag the thing back to the castle entrance, my reward was glares and another nightmare.
What was strange was that Cynder seemed to have mastered her ability to strike fear into others, because this time it wasn't my wings that I saw being broken. I was forced to watch as my tail was crushed. After that I was secured in my cell again again, and left with the repeating nightmare, until they faded an hour later.
That was another thing, how had she mastered her abilities so quickly? I had been using mine for almost as long as I had been locked in here, and yet somehow she was able to outclass me. Maybe it had something to do with the dark magic that turned her body into an adult, but whatever it was I knew I wasn't strong enough to beat her. So I needed to watch her and plan.
That night the storm outside my cell had risen to such a commotion that instead of every few seconds, lightning strikes came one after the other for hours. Not only was the lighting striking constantly, but it was concentrated on a single point that was outside my cell's view. No other lightning strikes could be seen, as if it was all being directed to a single point.
I was pretty sure that the castle's highest tower was the center of the lighting strikes. It made sense seeing as it was closest to the clouds, not only that the thunder rumbled through the building reaching even my cell.
The next day I was pulled from my cell and dragged before Cynder. She was wearing..saddle bags? From the looks of it they were stuffed with something, but before I could ask about it, three commander apes walked in.
"General!" one of them said as he crossed his chest with an arm. Preparations have been made for your travel and we are ready to ride with you. Our Dreadwings are rested and the prisoners have already been secured and settled."
"Good, we will leave shortly. Tell me about the locals, are they still fighting us?
"The Atlawa are still resisting, one in particular seems to have rallied his people. The Manweersmalls still serve us but there are talks of one mole escaping, it is doubtful that he has left the island, and only a matter of time before we find him and punish him."
There was a moment of silence and I thought Cynder was going to kill the ape, the tension was rising quickly but just as I thought she was about to strike she snorted and brushed past them.
"See that he is found, one mole isn't a threat, but if he convinces his people to stop working it could set our plans back." She asserted before turning to glare at me over her shoulder. "Move you fool, you are coming with me to Dante's freezer."
Confused, I quickly rushed to follow behind her. Stepping out of the castle onto a large landing platform I watched as the three Commanders rushed past us to climb onto the backs of large bat like creatures. They screeched and growled as they twitched and flexed their wings. I also saw three large metal containers, shaped like barrels.
"We'll be flying, so keep close to me, or risk falling to your death." Cynder spoke and spread her wings to take flight.
"That will be hard." I started to say before I felt my throat closing again. Falling to the ground I tried desperately to suck in air.
Turning around Cynder snarled in my face as she stood overtop of me ready to strike. " I am in no mood for your rebellion, you will take to wing and follow me or you will suffer."
"I've never learned to fly." I choked out as the necklace loosened enough for me to breathe, but it was barely enough to keep my head from spinning. I thought I was going to pass out again, but then she scoffed and my breath returned in full.
"Fine, you have an hour to figure it out, Commander if he tries to escape, punish him." She said and with that she turned to leave.
00000
It had taken me almost the entire hour to get the hang of flying. The problem was actually getting airborne. Gliding and flapping my wings, even hovering all of these things I managed to pick up pretty easy, but the moment I had managed to keep myself airborne, Cynder had returned and we departed.
The trip was long and Cynder flew with purpose as the landscape whipped by. As I flew I started to take note of where we were. We were flying over the mainland, the lack of a visible ocean made me pretty sure of that. The landscape was pretty sparse. There were trees and grass, and at one point we flew past a mountain range.
It wasn't until I started flying over water that I began to feel tired. My wings were sore and I thought they were going to fall off. And yet our journey persisted for at least an hour. The Farther we flew the colder I started to feel. The air grew chilly, and soon the deep blue ocean turned white, frozen ice floats led all the way up to a frozen landmass.
We flew deep inland, the frozen air stinging my face and eyes, and I could feel my wings going numb. I felt myself starting to slow down. Thankfully we didn't have much further to fly. I could see ahead of us was an old frozen fort. Cynder, in the lead of our towards the center of the fort.
The place was in ruins. Defensive walls with holes in them, watch towers frozen and collapsing, and worst of all I saw a bunch of ape popsicles scattered across the entire fort. There were a fair number of apes still alive and moving about, doing repairs and setting up battlements.
"What are they doing?" I wondered aloud. One of the commanders who was flying close to watch me, laughed and spoke up.
"General Cynder says that we can't let anything get in our way of the ritual."
"Ritual? What Ritual?"
"Enough! Commander, you should keep your mouth shut!" Cynder snarled from up ahead, silencing everyone.
FInally landing I stretched my wings to work out the knots that had formed, and gently folded them. Sighing in relief I followed as Cynder silently made her way around the camp. From her saddlebags I watched as she pulled out one of the crystals, now with a metal cage around it with a ring of steel at the top. she had gathered earlier. Turning to one of her commanders she held it out to him before stepping back.
"Take him!" she said pointing to me. "And the Crystal, walk around the fort, and bathe your frozen brothers in arms in the crystal's magic. Return to me at the cave and bring the crystal, we will need it once it is drained."
"Yes, General!" he replied and took the Crystal before forcing it onto me. Using my mouth I was forced to grab the ring at the top. The weight from it strained my neck a bit.
Reaching into her saddlebags again she pulled out two more Crystals and handed them to the other two commanders." you head to Tallplains, and you to Munitions forge the other prisons need to be seen to immediately lest we lose our chance. Leave your reinforcements and go."she said before turning back to the first commander.
"If he is dead when I return, this entire camp will suffer." She warned before walking off.
"Come on you worthless cur!" the commander said as he shoved me in a random direction.
I hesitated for a moment as I watched Cynder leave. Why did she threaten him? Was a part of her coming through? Did she really care for me as much as I did for her? I wasn't sure but it plagued my mind as we walked.
For almost an hour we walked and I was forced to revive the dead and frozen. I could see their eyes begin to move through the ice. By the time we were done my paws were frozen and sore, my wings felt heavy, and I was exhausted. I was sitting by a fire when I saw the commander walking off with the Crystal that had hurt my jaw from carrying it for so long.
I watched as he made his way towards the cave Cynder had ordered him to. I had been told to stay, and while I wasn't one for following their orders. I was too tired and sore to want to investigate what they were doing. Unfolding my wings I extended them towards the fire, warming them as much as I could.
As they warmed I could feel the blood rushing back to them and I winced and grunted as they began to itch and ache. I had spent all day flying and the rest of the day waking the dead. Across the fire I saw one ape staring and watching me. He wasn't a commander, but he wasn't a lowly grunt either. He watched me closely, but said nothing. Just then my stomach growled and I frowned.
Standing up I looked around before I spotted what I was looking for. Across the field I saw several apes gathered around a large fire pit, a pot hanging over the fire and smoking with steam. Making my way over I watched as several apes spotted me and moved out of my way.
Before they had been screeching and laughing as they socialized and joked with each other but as I moved closer they quieted down and stared at me. Approaching the steaming pot I took a deep breath. It smelled edible and much better than the 'food' they had given me in my cell.
Looking around I saw a stack of wooden bowls waiting to be filled. Turning to the guard assigned to watch me I growled and fixed him with my gaze.
"Grab me a bowl." I ordered my tone leaving little room for argument. The guard jumped and started to move before there were screeches of outrage. From the other side of the pot I could see an Ape approaching with a ladle raised as a weapon.
"Hold on, this is our food. There's not enough for a wretch like you!" he shouted.
Turning my glare on the new ape I saw he wore a kind of chef hat. He must have been the cook. Locking eyes with him I walked around the side of the pot, approaching the cook, I lowered my head and began to stalk towards him.
"Are you going to stop me? Do you think you can stop me? Because I'm hungry and if I don't get to eat, I'm going to become very, very unfriendly. " I warned my eyes flashing red. I smirked as the ape took a step back, his eyes filling with fear, but not from my ability. He knew who I was and what I could do.
I looked around the circle of apes, all of whom looked afraid of my next move. Spotting my guard I snapped at him. "Fill the bowl, Now!" I shouted the last word, using just a touch of my ability to get him moving. Returning my gaze to the others I growled slowly and started to stalk away.
"I may be on a short leash, but get too close and I won't need any more room to rip your throats out." I snapped before making my way back towards my own fire pit, my guard following behind. Once I was seated at my own fire, I held a paw out for my bowl. My guard obliged before retreating to his side.
I wouldn't show weakness around them, I would act like I was in control, and so long as I was careful I could get most of these bastards to leave me alone. It was only the Commanders, Cynder and Gaul I had to worry about.
00000
Night had fallen some time ago, and while we were still here, well I was, Cynder had left not long after I had finished eating. She had heard about how I had scared the apes into submission, and said I'd stay in the cold wasteland as punishment.
Lying by the fireside, I recalled the day's events in my head as I realized she had always intended for me to stay here. Something she had said earlier had stuck with me.
"If he's dead when I return, this entire camp will suffer." I recalled. There was something more about that statement. It was the tone she used. It was deathly serious and I felt like she meant every word of it, but why was she so adamant I lived?
Groaning, I stood up and stretched my limbs before I started to walk off. My guard had fallen asleep at his post, which meant i was free to walk around, at least without having someone constantly trailing behind me. There were of course other apes who were patrolling. Some of them turned to look my way, but a glare made them move on quickly. Finding a quiet secluded place I sighed and tended to my needs. Trying to sleep in this cold with a full bladder was uncomfortable.
Finishing up quickly I turned and started to head back to the campfire, just as I was leaving I heard something behind me. It sounded like cracking ice. Remembering the frozen soldiers I had awakened earlier today, I turned around and dropped into a defensive stance, but what I saw caused me to stare in disbelief.
Like a plant growing in the span of a few moments I watched as a gem cluster glowing a soft pink hue sprouted out of the ground, cracking the ice around it and growing until it was almost as tall as I was. I was transfixed. I couldn't draw my eyes away from the gem.
Something deep in my soul was calling to me, begging me to strike the gem. Before I knew what was happening. My paws lashed out in three quick blows , before the outer shell of the cluster shattered into tiny little pieces. From inside I watched an assortment of gems tumble out and fell onto the ground.
Of the gems there were 4 different colors. red , green, blue and purple. Reaching out I went to touch one of them, a red gem, and before I knew what happened the gem absorbed into my paw. Immediately I felt the fatigue and exhaustion in my wings and paws fade. It wasn't gone but I could feel the pain in my wings melting away.
Then I heard approaching steps from behind me. Quickly turning I felt my tail wrap around the gems on the ground only for them all to disappear. I saw a group of apes approaching me. Spotting me they stopped and glared.
"What are you doing? Trying to run away huh?" The one leading them asked as the others readied their weapons.
"Actually, I was just relieving myself." I said as I stepped past them. "I knew your kind was twisted, but I never knew you were perverts." I scoffed and headed back to my fire to lay down. I had a lot on my mind.