What the hell was that? Portal? Vortex? Wormhole? I was sure there was a Scientific name for whatever it was that we had passed through, but to me it just felt like a tunnel of shadows. It had felt creepy and wrong the whole way through and it had seemed never-ending. Finally we did exit though as the cool, damp air hit me. It stank. Death and decay lingered in the walls of what looked to be a huge cavern, and I wondered if this would be my final resting place. Goddess I hoped not. I had given up fighting the force that had taken hold of me and dragged me through the shadow tunnel. At first I had tried to break its grasp on me, especially when I had heard Declan's voice. What was he doing there? I soon tired and thought it better to keep my strength for when I had a chance of getting me and Wynne out of here. She still hadn't gained consciousness and I was more than a little worried about her.
We went through an opening and into a corridor of stone, the walls glistening with moisture. We were definitely underground. It reminded me of an old school trip we had been on to the Peak District and toured the caves there. That had been a place of wonder and magic for me as a child; this place - not so much.
The space started to open up the higher we seemed to travel and I hoped that when we reached our destination it was a little more civilised. My hopes were dashed however as we rounded a huge stalagmite and I saw a line of iron bars on one side of the cave. Of course a guy like Ansuradon would have dungeons. Great. My heart sank a little more with each solid bar we passed. So far they were empty, but I could feel something up ahead. What is that? I couldn't place the vibrational energy. It was certainly nothing I had come across before. The space inside the cage up ahead was not empty. I could hear deep, raspy breathing and as we got closer I finally saw the inhabitant. I gasped. "That's a dragon!" It was huge. In fact it looked a little cramped in its cell. The bones didn't quite look as if they were growing right and I wondered how long it had been here. "You might want to think about bigger accommodations." I all but growled at Ansuradon. This was just cruel.
He looked towards the dragon. "I had forgotten he was here." He mused and continued down the path. The poor creature really must have been here a while if he'd been forgotten about. Surely he was being fed regularly? He looked thin and bony, but he was alive. How long could dragons go without food? One of his eyes followed us as we passed, but he didn't move. A tear slid down my cheek as I continued to float through the air, unable to go to him, to check on him, to see if I could heal him and set him free. Was I even capable of healing such a large creature? I knew I would have to try if I got the chance. I tried not to let the hopelessness of my situation take me.
A few cells down, the back of one of the walls had crumbled. It looked like it had been smashed. There was no creature in this room and I hoped whatever had been in there had somehow made its escape. The farther we went, the more cells we passed; some were empty and some had prisoners of all kinds. I was shocked to see a unicorn standing in the corner of one of the cells, but I noticed it was eating scraps of hay. Somebody somewhere was at least feeding this amazing creature. Maybe there was someone looking after them after all. I saw no one but I hoped that to be true.
The floors sloped upwards more and more now and we finally seemed to be getting somewhere. Between the natural walls of this underground dungeon there seemed to be more man made bricks working their way into crevices as if someone had spent time creating more individual spaces and corridors. The air seemed to be changing too and although it still felt damp, it was as if we were getting closer to the surface. We approached a door, an actual door rather than a hole in the wall. Lab Coat banged on it three times. What a boring knock. The door opened and a guard stepped aside allowing us to pass. He closed the door behind us and resumed his position at the door. Another obstacle to our escape.
It got harder to keep a track of where we were going, and therefore it would be harder to remember our way back out. I tried to memorise the twist and turns as best I could, but a lot of these corridors looked the same. Another guard stood at another door; this door looked sturdier, as if keeping someone out, or someone in. He opened the door as we approached just as the other guard had and the door closed behind us.
The flooring had changed here to a cobble stone and the walls were definitely more stonemason than cave. Cells lined both sides of us now and these inhabitants were the two-legged kind. There were all kinds of races here, everything but Human it seemed anyway. A vampire with dull eyes eyed me as I floated past and I was sure his eyes narrowed in on my neck. That was creepy. I wondered how long Vampires could go without blood and how long it had been since he had had any. From the way he had looked at my neck I was guessing it had been a while.
A water elemental in merman form was lying on the floor in the opposite cell and the scales on his tail looked overly dry and flaky. His eyes looked dull and lifeless and I ached for whatever he had gone through to make him look the way he did. Ansuradon was a monster. These prisoners were proof of that.
The next cell's inhabitant had me cringing away. It was a Werewolf and he was fully wolfed out. I wasn't sure how that was even possible since it wasn't a full moon. He was missing some of his teeth and his jaw looked misaligned. I had never seen a Werewolf in wolf form, but I was pretty sure they didn't look that deformed normally.
Opposite him an Earth Elemental sat perfectly still on their sleeping platform, their legs crossed, and their eyes closed. They were the most calm and normal looking inhabitant I'd seen so far and I wondered if they were new here.
The Fire Elemental in the next cell threw himself at the bars screaming profanities as we passed. He reminded me of a warrior like Conan or Hercules from the TV shows back in the Earth Realm. Ansuradon flicked his wrist and the guy flew back against the wall with a sickening thud. A few steps away and the screaming continued towards our backs. My guess was he wouldn't be kept down for long. I smiled, liking his stubborn optimism.
A tiger was pacing back and forth in the next cell which was clearly too small for it. I wondered why he wasn't with the other magical creatures we had passed earlier, then I realised he was likely a Shifter.
Another Werewolf in the next cell seemed to be stuck between wolf and man. He looked to be in constant pain and I ached to help him, to heal him. I tried squirming against the hold on me but I was still stuck. I growled frustrated, and the Werewolf looked at me, pity in his eyes. Why would he pity me? A voice inside my head told me it was because he knew what I had coming and my heart sank a little more.
Opposite the Werewolf the cell didn't have bars but was a wall of glass. Sitting on the sleeping platform and watching us pass by was a girl with long straight dark hair and yellow eyes. Her forked tongue flicked out to smell the air and I realised she was a Shifter; looking at those slitted yellow eyes my guess was a snake Shifter. That explained the glass instead of bars which she could just slither through.
In the cell next to her was an Air Elemental. She had petals all around her as if she was in a nest of flowers. It was beautiful. She was the winged kind, but one of her wings looked tattered and torn. The sadness in her childlike eyes bothered me and I dreaded to think what she had been through in this hellhole.
We stopped and my head turned back to look at Ansuradon. What now? Lab Coat was opening the cell door opposite the fairy; it was empty. My body started to head in that direction and I immediately began fighting the hold on me. "Your new accommodations" smiled Lab Coat, "Enjoy your stay." The door slammed shut behind me and the bars vibrated with energy slightly.
I finally felt the hold on me disappear and I stepped to the bars. "Where are you taking her?" I growled at Ansuradon.
"I have not finished with her yet." He stated simply as if I was stupid. "Nor with you Little Witch, so don't get too comfortable." He smiled and continued down to the door at the end of the corridor. Lab Coat knocked three times in that boring fashion of his and it opened for them. When it closed I screamed in frustration and shook the bars. I felt a slight shock, not enough to hurt badly, but enough that I didn't want to touch those bars again. I was glad to be able to move freely again even if it were only in this small space and I found myself pacing just like the tiger had been. I need a plan.
I sat down on the sleeping platform and put my head in my hands. Think Rose, think. I puffed out a breath of air and ran my hands through my hair. It snagged on the knots and I wondered briefly just how bad I looked. It had been days since I was at The Foundation and I had no idea how long I would be stuck in this cell. I looked around every inch of the small space, but could see nothing but the solid walls and the energised bars. There were no windows. I didn't even know if we were above or still below the ground. I could reach out to get a better idea of the surroundings but wasn't sure that Ansuradon wouldn't feel my magic, and that could blow my cover and put Wynne in danger. I sighed. I had to try something because sitting here and doing nothing wasn't going to help either of us. I reached out with my senses slowly, ready to pull back at the slightest feel of Ansuradon's dark energy. My senses hit a wall. Literally. I couldn't feel anything past the walls or bars of my cell. I studied the energy in the bars once more, following that same energy into the walls; it surrounded me. My magic wasn't getting through the barrier. It reminded me of the wall I'd hit around the warehouse and my guess was that it was the same magic. "Darn it!"
I lay back on the sleeping platform and gave in to the sorrow that had been making its way inside me. I would allow myself to wallow, but only for a moment. I closed my eyes and let the tears slide down my cheeks.
I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes the lights had dimmed and I could hear some of the other occupants snoring. What time was it anyway? How could I even keep track of time here? There was no way of gauging night and day apart from the routine the guards gave us by dimming the lights. But was that night time for Witches and Elementals, or night time for the Vamps? Who's schedule were we on? I hated not knowing and wished I'd had a watch; they were pretty much obsolete in the Earth Realm thanks to always having the time readily available on our mobile phones, unless you had a smart watch of course. But that kind of technology wasn't in this realm. Come to think of it, how did I even know what realm I was in? Travelling through that shadow tunnel could have transported me anywhere; how would I even know where I was, even if I could get a message to someone? Nobody was coming for us because nobody knew where we were. That realisation hit me hard.
I felt inside for my magic. It usually comforted me, but now I was searching for something I could use to help me get out of here and I couldn't think of a single darn thing since this barrier would inhibit anything I tried. It felt hopeless. So nobody was coming for us, and I couldn't even get out of this room. What do I do, Goddess?
Minutes passed and I lay back down. I began to think maybe she couldn't hear me, or maybe there just wasn't anything I could do and She knew that. Then it happened. I felt a large pop inside me and suddenly light came pouring out of me in all directions. White hot pain ran through my veins and I gritted my teeth. I knew this pain, I had felt it before. But this was so much more. I couldn't scream, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see anything, hear anything, feel anything. There was nothing but the white fire. I felt my head sway slightly and then nothing. I passed out.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE If you find any spelling or grammatical errors, I would much appreciate you commenting on them. I would love my book to be as polished as possible, and I'm sure there will be one or two mistakes along the way. I appreciate your feedback.
Thank you for your kindness.
QUESTIONS FOR THE COMMENTS: WHAT'S YOUR BEST ESCAPE PLAN?