Ascend Into Darkness

Chapter 2

"What did you do?"

Mora's head snapped towards the sound. Her eyes landed on Talo, who was standing in the doorway. His jaw was clenched as he looked towards the opened cage and back to Mora.

"I tried to—"

"I asked you to clean its cage, not let it loose," Talo snarled.

Artimees hissed. The man from the market. Who is he?

Mora glanced back at the dragon on the table. Artimees was crouched on top of the cage, his teeth bared. The pulsing in the back of her head made her recoil. It was a warning. She could feel it tugging at her, a loud thumping in her head. Staring at Artimees, Mora could feel the tension ripple through his body. His eyes met hers. Who is he?

"A friend. My mentor." Holding a hand up, she watched as Artimees slowly sat up, his eyes softening.

"It bonded with you." Talo snapped.

Mora's head spun back to Talo. "When I went to clean the cage, it attacked me," she explained.

The wizard marched over towards her. "How did you do it?"

"I don't know. It bit me and now I can somehow communicate with it." Mora replied.

"Don't lie to me. It didn't just bite you."

"I don't know!" Mora shouted.

Anger flashed in Talo's eyes. "You foolishly let the dragon escape and ended up bonding with it." He pointed to the cage. "Something I have worked for weeks trying to achieve. How did you do it?'

Mora looked down at her bloodied hand. The emerald sat in the middle of the intricate silver band. It was her mother's favorite color. One of the few things Mora could remember about her.

"Give me the ring." Talo held out his hand.

Lifting her hand up, Mora looked at it before glaring back at her mentor. "No."

"I wasn't asking. I'm breaking the bond." Talo took a step forward.

Stretching out her wings, Mora scowled at her mentor. "I'm not giving this up," Mora declared, holding her hand up.

Talo's hand flew out and grabbed her wrist. The grip tightened as Mora struggled.

Let her go. Artimees growled as he pushed off the cage. Flying over, he landed on Mora's shoulder.

The cage on the table tipped forward. It hit the floor with the heavy thud. The cloth caught the corner of the cage and tumbled after it. Everyone watched as various items shattered on the ground.

Mora yanked her wrist out of Talo's grasp. An insult fell from her lips as she noticed one item. It was a small golden pyramid about the size of a jar. The symbols and curved lines began to glow blue. The levels of the pyramid began to shift, spinning in different directions.

The room began to tilt. Mora felt Artimees wrap his tail around her, clinging to her shoulder. The image of the tower disappeared into a sea of blue. Stumbling, Mora watched as the blue began to change becoming several shades of grey.

When her vision cleared, Mora fell to her knees. The spinning made her stomach clench, and she fought back a wave of nausea. The pyramid at her feet slowed to a stop, the blue glow fading.

"Look!" Mora froze. A market vendor was pointing at her. Mora could see more people gather around, whispering to each other. She folded her wings back. They stared at her, horrified. This wasn't the tower. She recognized the city walls and the ballista towers. This was Carinea.

"Call the guard! Quickly!"

Mora picked up the pyramid and ran. Hands shot out to grab her as she pushed past the crowd of people. The shouts grew louder as footsteps pounded after her. She sprinted faster.

What are you doing? Artimees asked.

"This city shuns creatures of the outside world. We're being hunted down."

Not that! Why are you running?

Mora weaved into an alleyway. Panting, she turned into another street. She could see one of the city's outer walls.

Artimees loosened his grip. Spreading his wings, he pushed off her shoulder. Use your wings!

"Wait. Don't!" Mora yelled, watching the dragon soar into the sky. As he neared the wall, Mora sprinted as fast as she could. He was going to get himself killed.

Artimees pushed harder, his wings flapping against the wind. It was too late when he saw the faint glow of the force-field. He passed the watchtowers before a sharp pain shot throughout his body. Hitting the wall, his body convulsed as violent waves of electricity passed through him. Squirming, Artimees fought against the shocks, trying to stop the pain.

When Mora reached the wall, Artimees was still trying to pull away. The shocks continued, the lightning running through his body. Grimacing at the scene, Mora watched as he finally succeeded, ripping his body away.

"Artimees!" she shouted. His body plummeted to the ground. Spreading her wings, Mora soared into the air. Artimees landed in her arms, his body shaking. Lowering him on the ground, Mora scanned his body. He was still breathing.

The sound of footsteps stopped her in her tracks. Glancing up, Mora could see soldiers advance towards them. She looked down at the other end of the alley. They blocked both ways. Grabbing the pyramid, Mora started to fidget with it. She pressed on the symbols, tried to spin each level, but nothing worked. Come on. The footsteps grew louder. Come on!

The tip of a blade on Mora's neck stopped her desperate attempt at escape. "Don't move." Her eyes fell upon a guard. His full plate armor shifted as he pressed the blade up. Mora dropped the magic item and raised her hands in surrender. The city guard surrounded them. "Take this filth away."

Mora felt the pommel of the sword slammed into her head and her vision blurred. The darkness seeped into her vision as her body hit the ground.

***

"Wake up." The loud clang of metal echoed off the walls. Mora's eyes flew open. The decaying face of a man greeted her. Maggots crawled over the man's forehead as blood dripped down his face. His skull was split open, the jagged pieces of the bone pulling the skin apart. The wound allowed the maggots to crawl inside, feasting on the exposed brain.

Staring at the man in horror, Mora felt a wet liquid on her face. Jolting up, she frantically wiped the dead man's blood off her face. It smeared across her chin as she scrambled away from the body. The mad scramble caused the chains at her wrists to rattle. Mora's eyebrows creased. Chains? She pulled at the iron.

Sighing, Mora tried to flex her wings. She couldn't. Her wings were pinned, a heavy fabric holding them down. Looking down, Mora noticed her new choice of clothing. It was a short sleeve tunic; the item built to fold her wings down, holding them in place. Taking in her surroundings, Mora's eyes fell on the guard in front of the cell. The guard from the alleyway.

"Get up olcküa," the guard ordered, halting his clanging against the cell bars. "We're leaving."

"To go where?" Mora asked.

"To the mines."

* Author's Note: olcküa means tainted one.