Aspasia

Chapter 12

 >Sadira<       

                 I was so bored. The guards were supposed to give me a book or something. They forgot again. They kept me locked in this large cave. I was sitting on a ledge. It was very large. It was about twenty feet long. My fins swayed in the water. A chain locked around the part where my mermaid tail branched into fins. The chain would stretch out about thirty feet. That gave me diving room. I could always turn into my human form. Then the chain would shrink or grow to my current shape. The least they could do was give me something to do. I had been here for three years. Stuck in this horrid place. Alone with the rats, water, and guilt. I couldn't help but feel guilty.

                      I was the first to be captured by Balios and his army. They caught me by surprise. I worked for a weaver. I was heading home from work, and they jumped me. I ran as fast as I could. I made it to a river, and turned into a mermaid so I could swim faster. They had anticipated my every move. A huge net was waiting down the river.  I've stuck to being a mermaid for three years. I'm not changing. It was my fault so I would stay the way I was captured. The way I led my friends to capture. Now we would all be stripped of our powers, and cast aside. I crossed my arms across my chest and rocked back and forth to keep from crying the tears that threatened to break loose.  Like every other day. I dived down to the bottom. Hearing the creek of the large prison door, I swam to the surface. The door was open, but no one came in. By the land anyway. I dived again. This had never happened before. I heard the splash of water. I swam to the top. On the ledge I had been sitting I saw a person. Swimming closer I saw a girl my age. She had blonde hair. She smiled at me, “Sadira?”

                  “Who are you? Why are you here?” I asked in awe.

                   “Call me Quinn. I'm here to help. I have to get you out of here. Give me a minute,” She smiled. I watched as she looked at the wall. She put the hunting knife she had been holding into her mouth.  She jumped against the wall. She caught a hold of the rock.  I watched in awe as she scaled the forty foot wall with precision.  I was impressed. Quinn made it to the top. I watched as she grabbed a steal bar at the top. Holding onto it with her legs meaning she was hanging upside down, she grabbed the knife. I watched as she cut something then tied the something to her belt. Then I heard her screech. I watched in horror as she fell from the bar. Quickly, I put a force field around her. When she hit the water I released the force field.  Quinn swam back to the ledge. I pulled her out of the water.         

                  “What-” I started to ask. I was interrupted when Quinn was thrown to the wall. I watched in horror once more. She pulled out double swords. She spun around. She seemed to fight with an invisible demon. She slashed at an invisible creature. Quinn seemed to take some hard hits. At some point she seemed to be on top of the creature. Quinn brought the swords down. It stopped mid-point from the target. 

                  “Show yourself,” Quinn hissed.

                  “What's going on?” I asked. I was mesmerized by a bright, black light. Quinn was thrown back. She landed on her back with a thud a foot away from me. Quinn slid the swords into their places in some sort of a harness. Where she had been standing was a man. He was shadowy. His face was indistinguishable.  Everything about him was dark as night. He was the shadow of a man. “What is that?” I asked. Quinn just stared at him.

                   “That's a shadoa,” Quinn stuttered.

                       “A what?”