Hero's Journey

Chapter 6

"The prisoner is in his cell, Davel sir."

"Perfect." Davel's bright eyes sparkle maliciously as he turns to Delia. "I'll be dealing with you later, daughter. Now, because you have acted like a prisoner you shall be treated as one. So, in the meantime you will be spending your time in a holding cell like the wretch you are." Davel then looks to two of the men. "Take her to a cell but make sure it is far away from our other prisoner."

The men nod and go to grab at Delia. She dodges their flailing, grasping arms but it's fruitless. One of the man's hands latch on to her arm and the other man does the same.
Both grips are like those of a sea monster wrapping thick vine like arms around a ship's whole width and pulling it into the deep.

"Let me go!" Delia hisses thrashing around wildly.

She can see her father roll his eyes at her and usher for the men to take her away. "You say you're a writer Delia!" Davel calls after her. "So, I thought you would come up with something to say more clever than that!"

The men surrounding her father burst out laughing at the jest, Delia scowls, cursing him with her every breath.

〰〰〰

As the men pull her forward they reach a large wooden door on the ground hidden by by vines, weeds, and other such vegetation.
A door that Delia recognizes as the cellar.

It isn't some chilled place where meats and preserves are kept to last but a place of darkness. Her father had always threatened to send her down here but never did, he usually used the broom closet instead. But the threat of being taken down into this place was enough to install a permanent fear of even the sight of the doors.

Delia suddenly becomes a rigid mass of dead-weight.

No, no this can't be happening!

"Come on writer." One of the men snigger.

Delia turns to the large nosed man. Everything about him seems to be large, from his long scruffy beard to his humongous feet. It's quite a contrast to his partner who is as thin as a rail with puny piggy eyes.

"I-I'm not moving a step." Delia says, attempting to keep her voice strong but failing.

"What scared?" Piggy eyes sneers. "Well get over it, cream-cake."

Delia tries to step back but big nose clamps on harder to her arm while piggy eyes unlatches and opens the cellar door.

The two then force her forward. Big nose holds on to her while pig eyes leads the way with a torch from off the wall.

As the trio descend the temperature drops significantly. Delia shivers as the dampness of the perspiring moldy walls cling to her.

Delia tries to ignore all this, instead trying to concentrate on not slipping on the slick mossy steps.

"How close?" Big nose asks, his breaths coming out in shallow gasps from exertion..

Delia can barely see pig eyes shrug his narrow shoulders.

Big nose huffs in irritation, clearly not liking the lack of an exact answer from his smaller companion.

The clacking of their feet and heavy breathing of big nose fight away the silence.

A cellar? More like a dungeon. Why do we even have this security in this small of a village? Delia tries to ward off the ever-present fear within her with these such thoughts.

"Here." Piggy eyes announces, distracting Delia from her wonderings.

They all step on to level ground and continue on. Delia's stomach twists sickly at the thought of how far down they are.

The group pass Kagon's cell. The hero looks up and waves happily as they pass. Delia expresses her resentment with the coldness in her glaring eyes.

They pass more cells before the two men decide on a cell seven away from Kagon's

"Get in." Piggy eyes orders.

Delia refuses to move and the men toss her in instead. She lands hard on her rump and before she can regain her bearings the cage door clangs shut.

Piggy eyes locks her in and then they leave back into the upper world, stealing away the light and comforting noise with them.

The cold presses upon the writer, reminding her when she was frozen in an ice block not long ago.

Delia scoots into one of the corners of the square cell and lays on the stony ground in a fetal position, shutting her eyes from the terrors of the day and somehow falling into a fitful sleep.