The ocean roared.
Waves catapulted themselves at the ship who dared to venture into its icy territory. Shards of rain and hail fell from the inky sky above, pounding the surface of the intruder relentlessly.
The sea sent its artillery out to destroy, and the water crashed itself against all sides of the boat viciously as a result. The waves rose high in the most violent part of the storm, before falling and spilling itself all across the deck of the wooden maiden in an attempt to drown it.
Below deck, cold water splattered through the cracks, dripping on those seeking shelter from the storm. The ship shifted, rocking back and forth violently as it not only took the abuse from the storm - but fought back.
Glowing eyes akin to embers cracked open.
Kyros awoke from his unconscious state in alarm. The air was cold around him, and light struggled to peek out from the cracks and holes in his wooden cell framed by thick, silver bars.
He was on the floor, no bed was provided or basic necessities.
His arms drew forward in an attempt to push himself up, but he found that cuffs encircled each of his wrists, and were connected to a short chain on the wall. Looking down, he noticed his ankles were in a similar position.
His eyes rolled. That's a little dramatic, he thought.
It appeared that he was in a prison, and looking around, he noticed that there was another person in a cell across from him.
They weren't moving.
Sighing, he sat up to the best of his abilities and leaned his back against the wall. He was cold, and he furrowed his eyebrows when he looked down at his crotch and realized he was naked. He must've shifted back shortly after he passed out.
Great. Can this get any worse?
Footsteps thudded towards him, and he sat up a bit to see who would be coming to visit him. When the person made an appearance, he found it was Reuben's face that showed itself.
"Worse. It can always get worse." Kyros groaned.
Reuben's face twisted in confusion as he stepped towards the bars of his cell.
"Going crazy already? It's only been two days." He asked.
Kyros scoffed. "I believe you need to redefine the meaning and apply it to yourself."
"Excuse me?"
Kyros turned to look up at Reuben, who peered down at him with a look of irritation plastered on his face. "What possibly made you think that capturing a king would be a good idea? Not only have you committed a serious crime, but you also betrayed your queen. You've become your own executioner, unless I get to you first, of course."
Reuben turned his back on Kyros and crossed his arms behind his back. "Foolish words you speak when you do not know the plans I have for you."
"Oh, then care to enlighten me, so that you won't have to listen to my incessant lectures for too long."
"Shut your mouth." Reuben spat, turning around to face him, "Can't you see how stressful this all is for me?"
"How stressful it is for you?" Kyros laughed aloud, gesturing to his own chains.
Reuben only furrowed his eyebrows in anger, but before he could speak, he was cut off by Kyros.
"I don't think you're in any position to complain. Unless you'd like to trade places with me?" Kyros wiggled his eyebrows sarcastically and held up his arms, gesturing to the chains around his wrists, "Here, these can help keep you company when you find yourself dying alone after you're eventually captured by Asheria."
"Enough!" Reuben roared.
The sound of the rain and waves pounding the roof above them became louder, and water started to drip into Kyros' cell.
"You may be able to get away talking to me that way," Reuben laughed, "But you won't last a day if you run your mouth to the person you are being taken to."
Kyros raised an eyebrow. "Who are you taking me to?"
Reuben bent down so that he was eye-level with Kyros and smirked. "It will be quite the story when the king becomes a pet."
And with those words, Reuben stood up and walked away, leaving Kyros alone in silence.
Kyros scoffed in disbelief, "Wild animals do not make good pets."
* * *
Kyros admitted to himself that messing with Reuben was a special kind of entertaining. But many hours later, he found himself hungry, in pain, and seasick.
He rattled the chains against the wall in an attempt to be as obnoxious as possible.
But he was ignored.
His wolf was angry, very angry. Kyros could feel it. For not only being taken away from his mate, but for being betrayed. He was also enraged because he was being taken to an unknown land so that he could be some kind of....pet?
Yawning, he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep, but the rocking of the ship combined with his increasingly sick, empty stomach was making it difficult. And, to top it off, the wounds from the arrows he was shot with were in the process of healing, so they felt itchy and painful.
He was also freezing.
His mind conjured up scenarios of Asheria finding out that he was missing to distract himself. He wondered if she had noticed yet, or if she was still unconscious. Anger flooded him when he reflected back on what Reuben had done to her.
Revenge is mine.
Darkness soon swallowed up all the light, which meant that it was past seven o'clock at night, since it was nearing winter and the days were starting to become short. He tried to pinpoint little details that could help him, but after a while, time melted into one and he could no longer distinguish much.
Pulling his knees to his chest in an attempt to keep himself warm, he battled the cold water dripping onto him intermittently. He knew that by morning, he would be soaked. He started to shiver and gnashed his teeth together and his jaw eventually started to ache.
He closed his eyes again. Sleep never found him, but at least he could let his eyes rest.
* * *
He could estimate that it had been eight hours on the ship when the storm finally ceased. But he was drenched and pulled his knees to his chest to conceal as much warmth as possible. Fear hadn't settled into him yet, and perhaps it never would. If anything, he was livid and aggravated, and those strong emotions suffocated any other emotions that dared to creep into his mind.
Besides, he wasn't afraid of Reuben. He felt stronger than he had ever felt in his life, physically and mentally.
In the darkness of the cell, he also promised himself that he would never stop fighting. Not until he was free again, not until he was back in his kingdom. Not until he had reigned hell upon those responsible for their wrong-doings. Not until he was by Asheria's side once more.
The wolf inside of him was no longer suppressed. In the past, Kyros had deliberately forced his wolf into a weakened state, nearly killing it, which in turn, weakened Kyros. The wolf relied on strength from their human just as much as the human relies on strength from their wolf.
Two separate entities, but they worked together as one. One without the other meant that their souls were not whole. If humans decided to weaken or kill their wolf, they would become weak as well, both physically and mentally. The mind did not work as it should when its wolf soul was weak or dead.
But now that Kyros had accepted his wolf and emerged from his past as a changed man, he was ready to fight.
I think the time to fight has come. He thought when the ship had stopped moving and he could hear the strangled calls of seabirds flying above deck.
The ship had docked.
His stomach ached and he tried to breathe deeply in order to keep himself from throwing up, but he could only hold off vomiting for so long. Sea-sickness and an empty stomach did not pair well together.
He threw his head back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. Footsteps thundered loudly above him, and the chatter of the ship crew was obnoxious in his ears.
Light spilled into the room suddenly when the door opened with a squeaky cry.
Squinting his eyes and shrinking away from the sudden burst of light, he winced. His eyes were sensitive after being in almost complete darkness for three days.
Several people marched in past his cell, unlocking the other prisoners and dragging them past Kyros, who watched with eyes full of anger. Being angry, sick, and starving, he found himself in a very foul mood.
Finally, it was his turn to be taken out of his cell, and he crossed his arms over his chest defiantly and looked up at Reuben and the four other men behind him.
Kyros narrowed his eyes at him.
Unlocking the cell, Reuben stepped forward.
The wolf in Kyros growled so viciously that his eyes flashed, causing Reuben to subconsciously take a step back.
The five burly men outside of the cell were frozen in their place. They had heard rumors about Kyros and even they were cautious.
"What are you waiting for? Get him up!" Reuben exasperated.
They nodded and at once entered to grasp Kyros, who stood up lazily and even acted unbothered. His stomach felt tight and sunken in, and the feeling of being starved only made the situation worse for the men because Kyros was ready to lash out at any moment.
A wolf scorned was something to be feared, especially if taken from their bonded mate.
The men unhooked the chains from the wall and lead Kyros out. The loud jingle of chains followed Kyros with each step.
Reuben walked in front of Kyros proudly and yanked roughly on the chains that wrapped around his cuffed hands and ankles. They walked up the stairs, entering the outside world. The scent of seaweed and the ocean overwhelmed his senses, and his stomach cramped.
People surrounded them, watching as new prisoners lined up outside and led ashore. Reuben was smug. He seemed to be boastful that he was leading a feared beast by some chains and people shrunk back from Kyros in fear.
Kyros rolled his eyes. Reuben acting like he was some kind of tough man was pissing Kyros off, and he decided that he couldn't hold in his vomit anymore.
Finally, he let his body retch. He leaned forward and projectile vomited sour bile and liquid all over the back of Reuben's shirt and legs.
A sticky warmth flooded Reuben's skin as the liquid soaked through the material of his clothes. He froze in his spot.
And then he spun around, cheeks tinted in humiliation.
"You might want to get that cleaned up," Kyros said, mustering up the smuggest smirk he could.
"Take him to the next ship! Get him out of my sight this instance!" Reuben shrieked, stomping his foot as the swarm of men grabbed Kyros. He growled, if the chains weren't silver, he would shift and rip off the heads of everyone involved in his capture.
So he decided to do the next best thing.
He attacked.
At once, he ripped himself out of the grip of the men who guarded him. Kyros was taller and stronger than the others, but he was outnumbered.
But he didn't care, his wolf was enraged at Reuben and he needed to let his anger out somehow.
He grabbed Reuben from behind and threw him harshly onto the ground. He pinned Reuben down, before delivering blow after blow upon his face. Blood oozed out of Reuben's nose and splattered upon Kyros' fists and face as he smeared his hands in his blood.
Shouts and screams sounded around him, and rough hands yanked and clawed at Kyros' skin in an attempt to pry him off.
But he was too enraged and hurt. Hurt by the betrayal. He had trusted Reuben.
Reuben's nose shattered, and he started to choke on his own blood that was pouring down his sinuses from his broken nose.
Kyros was bent on killing him but was suddenly stopped when he was hit over the head with a rock.
He fell forward from the impact, dazed and in pain. He rolled beside Reuben, who was breathing heavily and coughing. The guards helped Reuben up, and Kyros could see that his face was already starting to swell.
Blood was everywhere.
All too soon, it was over, and Kyros was back on his feet being led back to another ship. He had a headache and felt dizzy from the rock he took to his head, but he knew that he would do it all over again if he could.
He had figured out that they had docked for supplies, and the ship he had initially been on was mainly for transporting goods. His eyes flickered to the ship he was approaching and he noticed that it was bigger.
And there were a lot more prisoners entering this ship.
Carved onto the bow were large letters that read:
The Kingdom of the Nether.
Kyros' eyes widened. He was going to be taken to the evil king.