A Siren's Crown (Book Two in the APK Trilogy)

(3) The Dungeon

She lifted up her hand and wiggled her fingers at me, smiling slightly before she turned and pressed her hand against the door.

The impenetrable gem began to glow around her skin and her arm muscles grew tense as she leaned into the stone. I watched in silent fascination as, inch by inch, her whole hand, up to just above her wrist, sunk into the diamond door. She held it there for a moment, her eyes closed in concentration before withdrawing just as slowly.

"If anyone but my Mother, Zalas or I tried to do that, they would be stuck there until a guard came along and notified us of the situation." She said, answering my question before I could ask it.

With a gentle gushing sound, the door slid to the side and Aranel beckoned me through; I had barely taken one step on the other side before the misleading door closed with a hiss behind me.

I shivered as I took another slow step forward. The air was different here, more ... heavy. It pressed down on me from all sides and I forced myself to breathe, pushing the thick air down my throat, forcing it to travel around my lungs.

"This way." Aranel said curtly. "Hurry."

I followed after her, my eyes glancing all around and taking in the cells that lined the walls. They were thin width wise, probably only about ten feet, but long in length, I couldn't see the back of them and the white stone walls faded into the gloom about halfway down.

"Are any of these occupied?" I asked, trying to conceal the sick feeling that was growing in my stomach. My skin crawled as though my words had suddenly gained the attention of thousands of invisible eyes.

"Some of them. These are high security cells, the beings in here have been stripped of their magic by the Dragons. That is why the cells appear so dark to you. Take our magic and we are no longer whole, it is the worst punishment of our kind. Most who earn the confinement of these cells never come out, why would you want to when you have become the lowest of all creation?"

I shivered and walked a little faster but when I felt a tingling sensation on my spine, I couldn't help but turn my head to the cell to the right of me and stop dead in my tracks.

A haunting pair of white eyes floated out of the darkness at the back of the cell. The pupils in the middle held no light, they were as black as the iris was white and contorted into slits, like a cats. As I watched, the pupil slowly grew larger and larger until it took over the entire eye, causing the vision to fade into the black once again.

I resisted the urge to throw up, but I was unable to look away from the space where the eyes were, I was sure they were still there, still watching me.

"Nathaniel!"

I jerked my head around to see Aranel staring at me. Her solidity was like a gift and I breathed in deeply, taking in how white and whole she was, pushing the visions of blackness out of my mind as I did.

"Come," She said, but her voice was soft and understanding. "It is best to keep moving. The prisoners down her have long lost their sanity and will do anything to try to take a piece of yours for their own."

Her words were like something from a horror story but I banished those thoughts from my mind and tried to concentrate on what she said. I swallowed and nodded, and this time when we walked forward, I made sure to keep my eyes straight ahead to the vision in white in front of me.

It was only another three minutes before we heard the soft whispering of voices, but to me it felt like hours. The cells twisted and turned like the most intricate maze and I doubted that if, anyone did break out of their cell, they would be able to find their way to the diamond door that would end their fruitless attempt at escape.