Darkness in Disguise

Chapter 1

My feet pound on the forest floor as I run, pushing harder, faster. My breathing coming hard in panting breaths despite my agility. I don't look back at that...that monster chasing me. The darkness swallowing up the forest as it pursues me. The stench of death burns my nose despite the distance between us. Curse my heightened fae sense of smell. Still not enough distance for me to be safe. I vault over a fallen tree, careful not to trip. I push harder. Putting all my energy into running for my life. I can just see the edge of the tree line. Then my foot catches on a rock sending me flying face first into the dirt. That thing behind me laughs as the darkness stalks towards me. I scrambled trying to get up but it lashes out a tendril of black, pinning me down. It walks up to me, breathing in my ear, the smell unbearable...

"Poor Myria," it says, "you should have never left home, now I get to bring you back."

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The thing grabs my arms lifting me up into the air. It turns me round to look at its face, I wish it hadn't. Black leathery skin stretched taunt across a bald head. Its mouth filled with needle like teeth smiling inches from my face. Its hot breath grazes my cheek. I grimace, cursing my heightened sense of smell. But its eyes. They are the worst thing about the monster, demon, whatever it was. They are black bottomless pits that show absolutely no emotion, nothing at all. My eyes widen and fear coats my scent. The thing breaths it in chuckling as its clawed hands grip my waist hard enough to hurt, but not break the skin. No, that would be done when we returned. Its bony wings flap, pushing us off the ground and into the sky. I see how close I had been to the border. How close to escape. The thing seems to hover there a moment to let me suffer, then we swoop away.

Dread and fear settle like a dead weight in my gut as we near the castle. A monstrous dark building perched high above the ground on a mountain that went on into the stormy sky. Fire glows in each of the turrets of the guarded wall, casting red and orange shadows. Windows in the side of the mountain are lit and I can see black silhouettes milling past on whatever duties they were assigned. I hope there is not going to be an audience.

I was wrong. We land hard on the cold stone floor at the entrance of the throne room. All of the important rooms had been made attached to an open courtyard that is accessible from the sky.  I stumble and my hunter does not reach to stop my fall. I land painfully on my palms and knees. The monster just grabs ahold of my wrist and drags me into the throne room. The door opens on some phantom wind as I behold the waiting eyes of all the nobles. Their faces are all a picture of disgust and anger, some even smile in glee as they await my punishment. Great. Publicly humiliate me. The monster hauls me into the room and chucks me into the center of the room toward the throne. I stumble again and fall loudly in a heap on the marble floor. Snickers echo around the room.

"Myria, how nice of you to join us" King Laeron says with a slight smile. More snickers across the room. I dare to lift my gaze to the throne. He sits there, looking down at me, black eyes filled with cold fury. Even his dark skin paled with that fury. Not many would notice. But I do, and it scares me. He leans forward, the smile gone from his face.

"Now, how do we make you pay for running away?" He says.

"Whip her," someone sneers in the crowd. Their voice filled with malice.

They all join in demanding different forms of punishment. Laeron listens, or pretends to, for a few seconds.

"Silence," he booms, the room follows his command, "I think we'll let the vexan decide." So that was what that thing was, a vexan. It steps into the circle, those horrible teeth showing as they smile down at me.

"I suggest ten lashes of the whip then three days in the core your majesty." It says, voice like nails dragging over stone. I shudder, not the core. The core was deep under the mountain. I had been there only once before. And nearly died.

"Hmmm," Laeron contemplates, "alright, bring the whip and the holding block." My head slumps down as the sound of the metal topped whip drags across the floor. I was again dragged by the vexan and tied by the hands to a wooden block. My shirt has been taken off leaving only my undergarment. People snicker again and I droop against the block. The sound of the torturer's boots near. I brace myself. The whip comes down and a searing pain explodes across my back. He struck again but I refuse to scream, biting down on my lip, even as blood begins to trickle down my back. On the fifth strike. I scream.