The pounding was agonising, it kicked his skull and felt like thousands of blunt needles had been forced into his head. Each throb seemed to bring on new challenges and at one point Orion started to smell colours. The world spun as he struggled to heave himself up off the ground, but he quickly gave up as arms collapsed weakly underneath him.
Blinking through tears and gritted teeth Orion was able to see that he had been confined to a dimly lit room. Leaves and small creepers raced up the walls in varying shades of green and brown, and small white flowers bloomed evenly up their stems. Each one emitted a strangely sour smell that coated the back of his mouth with a bitter tasting layer of mucus.
Just where was he?
Orion grunted as he tried to push past the aching in his body. He rolled his head to the left and inspected his arms. It made no sense, even though he felt like he'd been rammed into a wall there were no bruises on his skin. Stranger still, his captors hadn't bothered to tie him up. As the ringing in his head became more intrusive, he groaned and wondered what he had done to deserve this.
Murky thoughts swam lazily through this mind, some flickered while others just slipped away. Then the forest man's shouting pushed its way to the front. "I just want what was stolen from me, give it back." Orion carefully turned to words over in his head before sighing. Even from a young age, he was smart enough to know that thievery was a very dangerous game to play. Even more so when you didn't know who your victims were. In a world of broken loyalties, it was nearly impossible to distinguish between friends and those who would prefer to see you dead on a wall.
And no one was stupid enough to steal from the elves.
Except him apparently. Orion rolled onto his back and admired the battered ceiling, if he squinted hard enough he could just make out the clumps of glistening cobwebs along with a flash of tiny feet. Small pinpricks of orange light shone through the scattered holes and cast an unusual glow around the room.
Orion cast his mind back towards the previous week and his trip into the small town that bordered the Mulgar river. Given how far they were from the main citadel it made no sense for merchants to sell anything truly valuable, let alone bring it along with them. And while rare fruit might occasionally stir excitement within the people, those days were scarce and nothing worth waiting for. As far as he could remember all he had purchased was grain and cloth, there was never a moment where he'd wander off to take something.
Unless he'd made another mistake.
His eyes roamed the windowless room, the shimmering green wall and delicate flowers seemed out of place in such a small empty space. He ran his fingers over the prickly leaves and took note of the little tingles they sent running through his hands, living zapping plants were an oddity but at least he had company.
Unfortunately his spirits sank as he finally turned his head to the wall beside him. There was no door or even a sign of an opening in the mass of green, and with that he found the strength to spring up onto his feet. He took two steps before his leg exploded with pain, it arched up his back and forced him back onto the soft dirt ground.
He tasted blood and winced as it mixed with the oddly sweet soil. The walls seemed to shift closer together as the sound of his breathing filled the room. They were just too close, and the silence in the room was deafening. Fear began to well up inside him and while Orion tried to push it away, this time it refused to back down. His encounter with the Dilid man swiftly consumed his thoughts and his mind turned once again towards the advice that his aunts had once given him. A quick glance at his bare surroundings failed to reveal a time and place. Orion paused and tried to remember how long his aunts were away for. Assuming that he hadn't passed out for too long, he might still be able to make it back home before they returned.
He paused and almost laughed. Perhaps his panic was beginning to affect his mind, there was no way he could return home in time. He had no idea where he was and the Dilid were not likely to let him go. Especially if they assume he's stolen something.
Orion tried to think through his headache but the constant throbbing served as a very painful distraction. The room offered no answer to his confusion but the sour smell from the flowers now seemed to send a slight tingle running through the back of his head. Giving up he rolled onto his side and allowed the throbbing to drag him off to sleep.
It seemed like only a moment later before someone was kicking him awake. Each blow seemed to rattle his ribcage and sent more pounding racing through his head.
"Is he alive?" Someone whispered before kicking him again, there was a brief moment of silence and a grunt as he was heaved upright. "Laurel..." another voice rose from the haze, this one was softer but carried an edge that stilled his thoughts "Stop kicking him and give me that medicine, you know the Queen wants to talk to him." His eyelids felt heavy as he struggled to regain some form of control over his body.
"Alive doesn't mean uninjured" Someone giggled as a bitter substance was forced into his mouth, it burned and choked as it gathered at the back of his mouth. Surprisingly he felt his strength returning and his mind no longer drifted from thought to thought. Orion spluttered and his eyes flew open. Two young women stared back at him, the smaller of the two grinned when he glared at her.
"See? I told you he'd be fine." She tossed a small blue bottle onto the ground and crouched down to face him. Orion eyed the blade in her hands and his finger twitched as he scanned the newly lit room for some form of defence. Finding none he settled for slowly inching towards the doorway. If the women noticed it they certainly didn't say anything "He's a lot younger than I expected, are we sure we have the right one?"
The other woman scowled and tucked her short brown hair behind her ears, her grey eyes seemed to be searching for something and she tugged at the wallflowers absent-mindedly. They were dressed simply, their brown tunics were embroidered with small swirling symbols in green thread, it shimmed and seemed to move in the dim light of the lanterns.
"You're in trouble." Laurel grinned and poked him with a dirty fingernail. Orion almost gagged as he caught sight of something twitching in her hair. She must have noticed it as she reached up and pulled a large fuzzy caterpillar from out behind her neck. Its mouth squished as it chewed on several stray stands of blond hair.
"Am I?" His voice came out hushed and cracked. He eyed the large yellow creature in her hands as it wiggled its feet in the air.
"I have to apologise for Romril's behaviour, we had assumed that you would fight back." The other woman's voice was much softer than he expected and Orion had to strain in order to hear what she was saying. He glanced at his legs and was surprised to see them wrapped in grey cloth, sticky yellow salve oozed out from the edges.
"I think there has been a mistake, the other elf - Romril said that I'd stolen something." Orion instantly regretted saying that as Laurel's face darkened and glanced at the other women who only pulled some flowers from the wall. The lanterns flickered as the air cooled.
"My sister and I are not in a position to reveal anything. We are only healers." Her soft voice seemed to fill the room as she gave Laurel a pointed look before turning to pick up a small basket filled with bottles and herbs. Even the caterpillar seemed to settle down in Laurel's hands.
Laurel remained silent for a moment. She narrowed her eyes before smiling once again. "I'm sure you'll be alright." She gave Orion a small pat on the head before standing and returning to her sister's side. Gently she guided the caterpillar towards the back of her neck and it nestled comfortably in her hair.
The door leading out into the hallway was smooth with only a small circular gap revealing what lay beyond the threshold. The lantern rattled as Laurel unhooked it from the wall, the wall of plants rustled as they moved over the small hook hiding it from the world. The older woman murmured and a small brass handle appeared on the door, she pulled, and a rush of warm air drifted into the room as the two healers departed, Laurel gave him one last grin before slamming the door behind her.
Darkness rushed in to fill the space left by their departure and Orion was left to contemplate his next move. Gingerly, he stood up, testing his weight on his legs. To his amazement the only sign of his encounter was a small throbbing in his left foot. Even still, he wasn't going to take any chances.
Slowly he limped over to the door and placed his hand over the spot where the brass ring had been. No matter how hard he tried he could not remember the words the healers had used in order to leave. He muttered a few words according to his memory but his only reward was a tingling in his spine and a burning just beneath the surface of his skin.
The door seemed to hum beneath his finger and Orion could just make out the sound of voices just beyond the door. The thin sliver of light that peeked out from underneath failed to bolster his confidence and the rush of cool air was a brief source of relief.
Orion huffed and returned to his spot in the corner, the plants rustled and parted to make space for his back. Their bitter smell no longer bothered him, Orion welcomed it as the foul smell would keep sleep at bay and allow him to formulate a plan. His mind drifted back to his aunts and a cold jolt of regret shot through him as he realised that he'd forgotten to ask the healers what day it was.
The elf's fury would be swift and painful if they judged him as guilty. But the knowledge that he would cause his aunts pain didn't slip by him very easily. Guilt trickled in and settled at the base of his neck, he'd disobeyed his aunts for a selfish reason. And to think he was so close to convincing them to let him venture into the world without their supervision. If they found him now his life would be filled with menial farm tasks and endless lectures handling a fight.
Fear was a powerful tool, Orion had learned that very quickly. Endless warnings about faceless beasts with haunted eyes and ragged bones ensured that he'd never strayed outside their home once the sun went down. His aunts had raised him to be some sort of champion of the people, yet he'd gone behind their back to secure an uncertain goal.
His fingers brushed the dusty ground, and he enjoyed the feeling of dirt rolling underneath his short fingernails. Running his hands over the rough ground soothed his worries and helped clear his mind, it was a bad habit that he'd picked up over the years. Niamh had always been particularly scathing about it, if he was to lead the people towards a brighter future than he would have to act like someone who could.
But Aelish's kindness had offered a different path that diverged from the endless lesson and painful training. She showed him a world of dancing words and spinning sparks. Magic had always been a talent of hers and through her encouragement Orion had learned not to fear the mysterious energy that ran through their world.
He had embraced it for a while, words spilled off his tongue and tumbled into the air like feathers on a spring breeze, and each spell jumped and fizzled in the air as his frustrations mounted with each failed attempt. But Orion had never been able to escape Niamh's careful gaze and pointed words.
The walls of his small prison rustled as the leaves slowly rearranged themselves, the flowers chittered as the tender green creepers wrapped their ends around his body slowly enveloping in a pungent blanket. Orion almost gagged when he felt the stems pulse against his bare skin, they were surprisingly warm as well.
Alarm shot through his body as the leaves began to cover his face, he tried to pull away from the wall but found that he was unable to move more than a few feet beyond the edge of the wall. Desperately he tugged at the vines and dismay filled his body when they didn't break away. Leaves and stems crept along his face, smothering his ears and eyes. The leaves ticked has they slithered into his ear compelled blocking off any sound.
As they started reaching his mouth Orion was reminded of the time Niamh had sat on his shoulders and held his head down when he went swimming in the lake just beyond their home. His flailing arms and desperate bucking failed to dislodge her, instead she had tightened her grip on his head and insisted that he stay down. One bright flash and Aelish's angry shouting was the only thing that dislodged her.
Dinner had been very silent that night.
The leaves settled just over his mouth leaving room for him to breath, there in his stinking leafy cocoon Orion was limited to thinking and counting the seconds until a new person entered the room. The dark room seemed to drag each minute into eternity and Orion counted each beat of his heart, each thump helped to ground him.
Suddenly the oppressive silence was broken by the grumbling of his stomach. The sound rattled around the room and sent the flowers into another frenzy of laughter and chittering. The sound of their high-pitched laughter grated against his ears and sent a shiver running through his bones. Orion scowled and hissed under his breath. When he got out, he would be sure to uproot some of them.
Then everything settled.
Orion turned his mind away from the hollow feeling gnawing at his stomach and focused on controlling his breathing. His hands itched where the leaves made contact with the skin and his frustrations mounted when he felt them tighten their grip with every movement. Anger simmered within his mind as he ran through the situation once again.
Romril had snatched him from his home without a thought and now here he was, the great champion of the people trapped in an earthy prison without any knowledge of where he was. Orion hated it. The world was full of injustice but this one had no base in reason. To be accused of a false crime, what could he do?
He clenched his teeth and pulled once again only to stop when something sharp jabbed into his fingers. It seemed that the plants had grown thorns, the flowers hissed angrily and rustled in protest. It took a moment for them to settle down, but by then Orion had given up. He lay back in his itchy green cocoon and waited the day to pass.
And within his still silent cell, Orion wondered just where his aunts were.