A Court of Dawn and Midnight

The Cave

Feyre's eyes felt as if they had been sewn shut. She could not open them and panic started to fill her body.

Not only was she blind, but she felt her body being carried on a sharp, edged shoulder. She wasn't sure if she wanted to find out what exactly was carrying her.

She heard heavy footsteps rustling beneath her. She was being taken somewhere, that was about the only thing Feyre knew right now.

She kept her breathing steady and soft, as if she was still asleep, and she waited. But now that she was awake, it was very difficult to act as if she were sleeping. Feyre wanted to move, she wanted to fight this thing that was carrying her.

Where was Rhysand? Was he the one carrying her? No, whatever was holding her reeked of rotting flesh, definitely not Rhysand.

Feyre could not remember what happened, she remembered sitting in the main floor of the palace. She remembered Rhysand pacing before her, telling her that he needed her help, and then his chilling finger on her cheek. Then sleep, nothing more.

It was Rhysand, Feyre realized. He wasn't the one carrying her, but he was behind this.

But why?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rusting stopped, and for a moment Feyre did not know why it had. Then she realized that the thing carrying her had stopped walking. It reached up and lifted Feyre off it's shoulder.

She felt herself being lowered to the ground, and a shock went through her as her bare feet hit cold, stinging stone.

Hands were on her face then, and the rotting smell made Feyre gag. The hands reached around to the back of her head, they untied something, and then Feyre was suddenly able to see.

A blindfold had been on her face, that's why she could not see, and now Feyre wished she was still blind.

One of the creatures stood before her. It looked identical to the creature from the woods, the one that would have killed her if Rhys hadn't been there.

Fear coursed through Feyre's blood as the creature reached for her. She stumbled back and tripped on her own feet. Feyre fell down to the freezing stone floor, twisting her ankle, and gasping in pain.

Feyre raised her eyes to the creature and bit back the tears caused by her throbbing ankle. The creature grinned down at her, and Feyre saw the skin around its lips was cracking and flaking off in chunks of grayish flesh.

Bile rose in Feyre throat and she screamed as the creature reached down and yanked her off the stone floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rhysand was lurking around the entrance of the cave when he heard Feyre's scream.

He knew that Feyre was in the cave, with the creature, and was now awake and very afraid. But Rhysand didn't know why the creature had brought Feyre to a cave.

Was this where the creatures came from? Where they brought the Night Fae to kill them?

Another scream ran through the cave.

Rhysand did not know what was happening to Feyre, but he now knew where the creatures were coming from. He had enough information now, he could get Feyre out of there and kill the creatures.

He entered the cave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rhysand could not find Feyre or the creature, the cave was empty.

How? He saw them enter the cave, they had to be in here.

But they were not.

Panic shot through Rhysand as he frantically ran around the cave, desperate to find Feyre.

He ran his hands along the stone walls, wondering if there was a loose stone that led to a hidden passage. But there was none.

Rhysand shook his head, they had to be here, somewhere. He pounded his fist on the wall in frustration and was taken aback when tiny cracks formed in the stone.

He hit his fist against the rock again, more cracks formed.

Rhysand threw himself into the wall, kicking and punching the stone until it shattered like glass.

Like a doorway, there was now a hole in the wall of the cave. Rhysand could see that beyond the hole, there was a tunnel.

Rhysand stepped through it and drew the sword at his side, out of it's sheath.

He looked back at the hole in stone, only to see the broken parts of rock spring up and reconstruct the broken wall. He was now trapped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rhysand sprinted through the tunnel, but it seemed to go on forever. He ran on, turning when the tunnel curved right or left, and finally, after ages of running, Rhysand skidded to a stop in front of a large wooden door.

Without hesitation, he barreled though the door.

Rhysand found himself in a room, a cell, and there in the corner of the cell, was Feyre.

There was a long gash on the side of her face, and she looked as if she had been knocked out.

"Feyre," Rhysand whispered. He was about to cross the room to her, but a hand caught his arm, the one that held the sword. The hand twisted Rhysand's arm until he yelped in pain and dropped the sword.

And then Rhysand swiveled around to see what had caught his arm.

He was face to face with one of the creatures, but not just one.

A swarm of the creatures blocked Rhysand's path.