Ch. 16: Still Alive

- Ezran -

I was still in shock as the guards carried me away to the dungeon. 'I'm still alive??' It was just too overwhelming and unbelievable. I thought for sure that once I insulted the King he would kill me on the spot. I even spat on him! I did everything possible to deserve a quick death, yet he kept me alive . . . and now he thinks I'm a spy?

I couldn't put my finger on it, but something seemed off. However, who was I to question fate? If the heavens were granting me mercy, then I would gladly accept it.

As the guards were tightly holding my arms behind my back, forcing me to walk forward, I began thinking of a way to escape. Still carrying most of my weapons, it wouldn't be that hard to fight my way out . . . But where would I go? I couldn't leave Richie alone in this city, and even if I could try to take him with me, he wasn't very stealthy. We would be caught for sure - then we'd both be dead. No, escape was probably not a wise decision at the moment. Perhaps when I had a few moments to think inside a cell, I could come up with a better plan . . . until an unnerving thought came to mind.

'What if they torture me for information since they think I'm a spy?' In that instant a decision was made - escape sounded a lot better than torture.

We arrived at the dungeon entrance as the warden came forward. Standing at least two heads taller than myself, the burly man looked me up-and-down, "You gonna enter quietly little lady or will we need to persuade you otherwise?"

After a brief moment of silence, the warden gave a small smile of approval as he nodded at the guards causing them to release their hold a little. Just as another man came walking up with some chains, I jerked my hands out of the remaining hold while stomping on the foot of the guard to my left. As he was distracted, I pulled out a throwing knife while spinning around to stab the guard on my right. Before I had a chance to impale him, from the corner of my eye I saw the warden bring down a heavy club. I didn't get a chance to move out of the way before I heard a sickening thud. I felt a sharp pain in my head right before I met with darkness . . .

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'I was back in my homeland. The war was over - our men were dead - our society was in ruins. I managed to drag Corbin back to the brothel, which was incredibly difficult for my small frame. Face soaked in tears and mud, I cried out for help. Two of my sisters and Mother Carvel came running out of the building.

"Corbin! My dear baby! Is he dead?!" Mother Carvel cried out as she reached for Corbin's broken body.

"No Mother, he's still alive. Please - please stop the bleeding." I whimpered.

All three of them carried Corbin inside to one of the back rooms. I tried to follow, but was held back by Sister Livy. "Sis, they're tending to the wounded. Don't get in their way," she ordered.

I looked around the foyer at my remaining sisters and mothers, "Is this all that's left?"

Livy looked down at me, frustrated tears falling from her eyes which frightened me since she was always one of the stronger ones. "Yes. We are all that's left. If only the men wouldn't have martyred themselves, they might still be alive."

"Livy! Don't speak that way!" Mother Adona came over and shot Livy a disapproving look, "You know why they did it. It was better this way than allowing our entire race to die. If we had fought alongside them, there would be no more Eurosia."

"Well there won't be one anymore will there? We have no men to carry on the bloodline now!" Livy spat out in anger.

"Perhaps. But we do have Corbin . . if he survives."

"And me!" a small voice came from behind. I turned around and saw eight-year-old Richie draped in a blanket.

"Rich!" I ran and wrapped my arms around him tightly, "They didn't take you! How did you manage to escape?"

Richie looked up at me with those bright blue eyes of his and a huge smile began to form, "It was awesome Ez! You know how Mother Karen has those wigs? Well, I grabbed a longer one and disguised myself as a little girl." He opened his blanket and twirled around in a bright blue dress, "What do you think? Ain't I the cutest little girl you've ever seen??"

I chuckled, "The cutest." I watched as Richie twirled around and around, momentarily forgetting the destruction of our race . . .'

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My eyes slowly opened. A pounding racked my head and my vision was blurry. I looked around and noticed I was in a circular stone room with only a candle on small table for light. Moving my head proved painful, but I was trying to locate a door. Seeing none around me, I tilted my head upwards to notice a tall ceiling with a hatch at the top. The movement caused me to wince in pain, so I dropped my head down and momentarily closed my eyes. Bright lights blinked behind my eyelids from the intense ache. I finally opened my eyes to glance down, assessing my current condition.

My hands were shackled causing my arms to be raised slightly with my elbows bent. All my previous clothes and weapons had been removed, replaced by a long ruff tunic. I stretched out my legs and bare feet to try to get the soreness out of my body. I apparently had been sitting here a while since I was so stiff. As my body moved, I felt a sting from my shoulder. Glancing down I noticed the tunic was raised a little showing that my wound had been bandaged up.

'Why would they bandage me if they were going to torture me later?' Maybe they didn't intend to torture me . . . or maybe they wanted me to be fit and healthy beforehand. I shook my head to clear my pointless thoughts. No matter what they were going to do, I just had to wait and see. It wasn't like I could go anywhere.