The One Who Was Chained

26

Nothing made sense anymore. I knew this memory was from the same person as last time. But who was Nyx? And Sybin? I knew nothing of these names. But I knew that chains were involved. A different lifetime too... could that mean Queenie? No. She would never-

"She's Joan." I whispered out loud, remembering what Queenie had told me. "Of course. I am a pawn in Alan's game. And so is Finn. And now Queenie... she doesn't remember what she did. Her memories were taken."

"So you finally figured it out." Alan said, seeming to appear from the shadows. "But what else would I expect from you?"

"You!" I screeched. "Everything is your fault! You're the reason why I'm in this mess. Why?! Queenie did nothing wrong to you. And to take her memories, to let her be a pawn in your stupid game. Why?"

"I don't particularly want to die." Alan responded quickly.

"So all of this is because you don't want to die? We all die at the end, Alan. You might not understand that, but I do. You can postpone it, but it always comes for you. It is the one certainty in life."

"I have played a game with death my whole life. Everything I had was taken from me. And I intend to live long enough to have my revenge." He grabbed my wrist with an iron grip. "You listen to me, Mairen. You are going to be an obedient pawn, or it's your friends lives. I have to retrieve something. And you're coming with." Darkness encircled me. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to be over. Light hit my closed eyelids. Light. I dared to peek them open. We were standing near the edge of a cliff. Wind circled around my feet, making the grass sway violently, the smell of salt tainted the air. Behind me was a black tower. We were near the edge of our lands. But how?

"How? I thought no one could escape those cells without the key?"

"Dark magic doesn't play by the rules." Alan let go of my wrist. I tried to run free, but a strand of shadow tethered me to him. Upon closer inspection, I realised it was a chain made of darkness. It seemed that my cage had followed me. I dared to peek over the edge of the cliff. The ocean rippled. I saw scales below the surface, blending in almost perfectly to the dark blue abyss, a whip-like body that moved as fast as lightning. And just for a second, an eye appeared, glaring straight up at me. It was exactly like the memory. Not amber. Bright orange. Sybin.