Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 36: Corruption

"You can't keep me chained forever!" I screeched. I woke up in chains in the red-light-cavern once again, but, this time, a circle of red runes surrounded the rock I was chained to. I suspected it had something to do with weakening me, as my magic felt dull and unresponsive now.

"On the contrary," my shadowed tormentor sneered, stalking circles around my new prison. "I can keep you here for as long as I like. You and your... friend."

"How long?" Wisp whined, chained down in a similar fashion beside me. "How long have we been lied to?"

"Your 'brave leader' has been on the right side for many seasons," he answered smugly. "He's very helpful in discovering weaknesses in our traps and cages. This circle of runes was a valuable discovery. It will be much easier to forge our new weapon now."

"I will never be your weapon," I snarled vehemently, trying to ignore the dizziness from my sickness. I hated this dragon with a fiery passion. My escape had been a carefully crafted lie from my tormentor, a trick to learn how to effectively reinforce my prison. He liked to brag about his 'success,' so I knew now that Greywing and his companions were unwitting pawns—Wisp knew better now, though—and the Four-Wing was a two-faced bastard the led the 'resistance.'

"I shall give you time to realize the futility of resisting and serve punishment if you continue to do so," he declared breezily, already turning and leaving. "When I return, I will crush your defiance and turn you into a weapon against your despicable 'god.' Sweet nightmares!" He cackled, his dark form moving into the tunnel and out of sight.

I collapsed to the ground with a low moan and dropped the tough act. Whatever he did this time, it made me feel tired and weak. My confidence that I could resist being controlled had disappeared completely. When he next came in here to torment me, something in me knew that he would succeed, and I was powerless to stop him. This is why Dad wanted my magic kept secret. Monsters like my tormentor wanted my power for themselves at any cost.

I wanted to fight. I wanted so badly to bite, claw, and scream until I broke free. But it wasn't possible. These chains and runes were numbing my power, leaving me helpless against any further torment. Without my Lunar-Magic, I couldn't forcibly stop the torment. Now, he will eventually break my will and have what he wants. At least Wisp, with her affinity for 'Forbidden magic'—according to her—, wasn't affected by the red light.

I coughed hard, my lungs rattling as my sickness reared its ugly head. It has only gotten worse, but my tormentor didn't seem inclined to do anything about it. Perhaps I'll get lucky, and my sickness will kill me before he breaks me. That was a depressing thought, but what other choice did I have? I could either hope the sickness kills me or inevitably be tortured until I broke and became nothing more than a weapon against my family.

At this rate, I'm rooting for the sickness. 

My time here has given me plenty of chances to think between rounds of torture and frequent nightmares involving Myrkr's death. I thought about my life... only to realize that there wasn't much to think about. The first few season-cycles of my life were spent fearing the Queen and her forces, then, after that, I was brutally attacked. Since then, I had lived in fear and rarely left my father's side. Until Myrkr came around, my life had been under Dad's wing, for the most part. I wished I could say that meeting Myrkr had made my life a good life, but that wasn't entirely true. 

That wasn't to say that it was his fault. Actually, the blame was all mine. Myrkr obviously put in a ton of effort to make me as happy as I can be, and I was, but now that I thought back on my short life, all I had were regrets. What was my biggest regret?