Princess Snatchling

Part One: Encounter

Cooped up in a cell all day sure has its perks. One of those perks is getting a free meal at least every other day, maybe even with some extra buggy protein crawling out of it. 

I sighed and picked at my teeth with a gritty nail, wondering why I wasn't dead yet from some off-named disease. The damp air prickled my skin and wafted up my nose, filling it with a rotting algae smell. Sitting against a wall caused little showers of dirt and insects to rain on my shoulders, so I adopted the center of the shoe box instead. My elbows sank into the crevices of the cobblestone floor, slick with sweat. Lazily I traced a path with my eyes over the various etchings in the low gray ceiling, scratching of last words before the many nameless were never heard from again.  I tried to push the thought of my mark being up there away and dozed into an uncomfortable state, the air shifting and pressing in around my body with invisible weights of the dead. I could feel them here, whispering and sobbing. Unbidden, salty streaks blazed a trail through my untamed facial hair. I didn't remember falling unconscious, but I woke up to the sound of screams. 

Fearing it was Death stomping his way through the halls, I cowered in the darkest corner of my enclosure like a trapped animal. I'd been in many dungeons before, but the bandit group who ran this zoo was known as the "Sadist's Pentagram." They liked to kill prisoners for the slightest err in step, and I was no spring chicken to being a thorn in their side. 

Oh Gods, let them think there's no one in here, I prayed. The shrieking grew in intensity, its owner growing ever near. Alongside the agonized sounds of what sounded like a young girl, the dungeon master cackled madly. I began to shiver involuntarily, my ears ringing with ethereal torment. The heavy footfalls of the jailer pounded in my temples, and I pressed futilely against the algae-coated stone, my stomach-twisting urge to hurl amplified by the damned spirits before me. 

I'm dead, I'm dead. 

Then I saw his grinning wolf teeth, which were as ugly as the side of his face I raked with a sword in our first encounter. His gargantuan hand was wrapped easily around the forearm of a girl in a tattered gown, the once masterful craft-work now sullied by blood and caked-in dirt. The large man almost giggled before wrenching her arm up, eliciting another howl of agony. 

"I've go'ta present fo' ya, li'il rat." 

He held the young girl up like a prize, and I glanced at her crimson stained face, the red still dripping down onto the remains of her torn up outfit. Beneath the grime was a full heart-shaped face, her mouth curved into a pained snarl as she kicked weakly against the force gripping her. Hair as fiery as the rising sun shone in frazzled pieces around the girl's cheeks and neck. Dark circles around her ghost-like eyes created a ghoulish look, like half of her was already dead. 

"'Ave fun you two," The guttural, coughing  laugh echoed in my cell as the door shuddered where the jailer pushed it open.  Using her arm as a pendulum, he swung the girl forward with cruel force and let go, her body of rag-doll consistency as it landed on the unforgiving ground inside my cage. I stared fearfully at the towering shadow in the doorway, frozen solid as his owlish black eyes curved dangerously. My eyes wandered down to his side, where a familiar three-pronged whip snuggled comfortably against his muscled thigh. 

Black leather. Spiked. Forty whips for each act of disobedience.  

My legs shook underneath my curled frame, and my back heaved and burned from unforgettable scars. Like a submissive dog, I leaned and touched the grimy floor with my forehead, unwilling to hold that demon's gaze for any longer. I closed my eyes, but my breath continued to hitch and exhale in stuttered gasps. My ears perked nervously as I heard another barking laugh. 

"Dirty dog, I'd crush ya 'ead, but the boss wants the girl ...trained," he growled, teeth sharp and  glinted crudely. "could fetch a good price in the black market, 'e says. I wanted 'ta, but..." He opened his mouth wide and shared a belly-laugh with no one as I gritted my teeth in disgust against the stone. With that final remark, the bars screeched closed, and the man swaggered away, still enjoying his joke. 

I tipped my head up carefully, and darted my eyes around to make sure the jailer was out of sight. With the coast clear, I rushed over to the spread out lump on the floor. The girl was motionless, and I pushed two fingers past her tangled rat's nest to her neck to check for a pulse. A few seconds passed, and then a weak flutter responded to my probe. Unsure of what to do, I turned her over, and examined her face again. I could see her mouth pursed open as small shuddering breaths forced their way out of her throat. Blood smeared an outline of her lips, and I ripped a piece of my shirt to wipe her face with. Freckles spread quickly  where the crimson faded, although black marks swept across her face from my dirty clothing. I elevated the girl's head onto my knees, and tried to stop the renewed gush from her nose as her breath grew deeper and more relaxed. 

She can't be more than fourteen. That maniac is sick for considering to even have her "trained." 

I brooded under my breath as my fingers brushed and sorted out the girl's thick sunburst hair. She shifted when I tore out little chunks from unmanageable tangling, but was otherwise unresponsive. I hoped that she didn't mind sharing my shoe box when she woke up. Her outlandish clothes screamed luxury, and I pondered where she came from. 

Probably some royal blood's spawn. This gown looks handmade with spider silk.  

I palmed the fabric lightly, drifting back to a time before. I saw my father hard at work, pulling thick bands of spider webbing off the trees and bushes that the giant spiders would mark over. I couldn't keep my eyes open, and was soon slumped over the sleeping figure on my lap. 

END - TO BE CONTINUED 

(How do you guys like it so far? I feel good about this one! I love getting back into writing!) Thanks for reading!