Prisoner

---Katherine---

I slowly regained consciousness, with my head pounding and my body hurting all over. I was pretty sure my wound had ripped open again, because my stomach felt like it was on fire. Opening my eyes slowly, I waited as my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting.

Stone walls, rough to the touch, were on three sides. Steel bars with a heavy lock made up the last wall, blocking my escape. The ground was slightly damp dirt, with straw scattered on it that served as insulation against the naturally cool floor. The only light came from a torch somewhere down the corridor beyond the steel bars. I was in a prison cell.

I tried moving my arms and legs. They ached, but at least I wasn't tied up. Slowly, I propped myself up to a sitting position and tried to ignore the pain in my stomach. What had happened? Where am I?

I thought back to the last thing that happened. The Desederium Forest. Blue orbs. Fleeing. Evils. Yes, yes that's it. We were fighting against the Evils that ambushed us. Ashley and I fell off our horse when an Evil jumped out and knocked us over. Ashley's wand flew out of her hand, I remembered. I tried to fight, but I was too weak and my wound hurt me too much whenever I tried to move. Ashley had to defend us both, but she alone was not enough against the Evils that were slowly advancing.

A voice. I heard a voice. A cold, raspy voice slithered into my mind, taking root in the corners of my mind and chilling my core. It said three simple words before wrecking havoc on my body: 'Hello again, Katherine.' I remembered a terrible pain rippling through my body, worse than any wound I've ever had before. It was just like that day in the inn at Hamberg, except much, much worse. It felt like a thousand daggers were stabbing through my body at once, and invisible hands were squeezing all of my internal organs with the intention of bursting them. And then, when I resisted by trying to push the voice out of my mind, the pain intensified tenfold. I'm pretty sure I let out an inhumane scream, and then everything went black.

Then what happened? Did Evils capture me and bring me to wherever I am now? Do my friends know that I am still alive, not eaten or torn apart by Evils? I hope everyone escaped the Deserderium Forest safely. Just thinking about everything made my head throb again. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the cool stone wall. Sooner or later, I will be able to meet with my captor. Then I can figure out a way to escape.

In my mind, I went over all that I knew about this place. It was most likely that I am at Devil's Peak, a tall mountain almost impossible to scale. Its elevation was between ten and fifteen thousand feet, but its sides are steep and uneven, causing many climbers to have fallen to their deaths. Around Devil's Peak was a small cluster of hills, all around five thousand feet high. I remembered from Rachel's maps that there were valleys tucked away between mountains, and cliffs that jutted out from the sides. Some mountains were full of vegetation and bursting with greenery; others were less supportive of plant life and more for rocks and dirt.

Footsteps echoing down the corridor drew my attention. I turned to the bars as two soldiers dressed in all black appeared. One of them unlocked my cell and beckoned towards me.

"Lord Victor wants to see you."

I stayed put, wondering if I could make a run for it. The soldier seemed to read my thoughts. "Don't bother running. Lord Victor has a whole troop posted up and down this hall with the sole purpose of guarding you. And besides, he has your precious swords."

I slowly got to my feet and followed them out. My back felt strangely light without my swords strapped on, and I felt uneasy without my weapons. We walked down one hall and then another, passing by many soldiers that stood silently at attention. After a series of turns, we ended up in a huge throne room.

I don't know how Lord Victor managed to carve a throne room in the heart of a mountain, but he did. The walls were the rocky walls of the mountain, which arched up to form a dome over our heads. Torches lined the walkway that stretched up several steps and onto a raised piece of ground, where a figure was sitting on an elaborate throne, shrouded by darkness. In the shadows, I saw soldiers standing side by side with their weapons in their hands. There weren't any Evils here, only the people who had turned over to the dark side.

The two soldiers leading me stopped about halfway to the stairs and bowed low to the figure sitting on the throne. "Here is the prisoner as you requested, my lord," one spoke. The person on the throne nodded. Although my heart beated quickly with anxiety, I stood firm and refused to show any sign of weakness.

"Why don't you bow to the soon-to-be Lord of Crystallea." Lord Victor's smooth voice carried throughout the throne room. "I might just spare your life."

"I have no intention of bowing to evil," I spat. I was glad my voice did not waver. "I would rather die than join you."

Lord Victor let out a chuckle. "I'm giving you a chance to evade further punishment."

"Bring it on. All you do is hide in the darkness and have your minions do your dirty work. Why don't you come and face us head on for once, you coward?" I said defiantly. Lord Victor glanced at the two soldiers standing by me.

"Make her kneel," he said simply. They spun around and grabbed me by my arms roughly.

"Hey! Let me go!" I struggled, but their grips were like iron clasps. One delivered a hard punch to my stomach and hit me squarely on my stab wound. The punch sent waves of pain through my body, and I had to bite down on my lip to keep from crying out. The other kicked the back of my knees and swiftly pushed me down to my knees. They stood silently on either side of me, each with one hand pushing down on my shoulder and another hand twisting one of my arms back so that I had to remain kneeling. I tried to shake off their grips to avail.

"See, if you had just bowed then you wouldn't have to suffer this humiliation," Lord Victor said, fake pity in his voice. "You're only going to make things worse for yourself."

"I do not bow to people like you," I said through gritted teeth, my abdominal wound still hurting like hell. "I do not bow to murderers."

Lord Victor laughed a cold, humorless laugh that greatly unnerved me. He rose from his throne and slowly made his way down the stairs towards me. Like his soldiers, Lord Victor was dressed in all black. A black robe with wide sleeves outlined his figure. A belt with a single brass clasp hung around his waist. A long black cape stretched behind him like the train of a queen. Another long black coat was worn around the robe, and on his shoulders were two obsidian brooches that connected the cape to the rest of his clothes. His face was still hidden in the shadows, but I could make out pale skin and crimson lips.

"So brave. So just. I've been looking at you for a long time, Katherine," Lord Victor said as he took even, measured steps towards me.

"What do you want from me?" I did not want to play any games with him.

"Allegiance would be nice, but something tells me that you wouldn't comply," Lord Victor said thoughtfully. "But right now, I just want to show you something."

"What? Your ugly face that you're too scared to show?" I retorted without thinking as Lord Victor stopped in front of me. For three tense seconds I thought that I had gone too far, and that some horrible punishment was going to befall me for sure. But then Lord Victor chuckled and pushed the hood back. I was stunned into silence.