Chapter 24: Imprisonment

Sofia crashed to the ground, the impact worsening her headache, as she tries to regain her thoughts.

Her mind in a blur. The earliest memory she can recall was having witnessed Brundol silver hand. Followed by a mage casting something on them.

The rest afterwards were a haze of dull pain, slipping in and out of consciousness with brief glimpse of men and women booing and tossing rotten produce.

She then suddenly felt a strong force pulling at her arms, dragging her somewhere, before being lifted from the ground and chained somewhere where she falls unconscious.

An undetermined amount of time passed when she was suddenly woken by a splash of cold water.

It was then where her memories of recent events came back, the battle, the siege, the demons, Bryan.

"It's all a bad dream. It's all a bad dream," she mentally chants to herself before opening her eyes.

She nearly screams at the sight. In front of her is Bryan, silver hand shown and holding a dagger, alongside two Orcs in black plate armor melded to their flesh, wielding daneaxes with the head twice as large than the average. Where only their exposed black and white veins and lack of skin, having sloughed off from their fire magic going overdrive, shows their true identity. Orc daemons, Urak, and the daemonic army shock troopers, known as juggernauts. Then quickly looks to where she is.

She's in an oubliette, the exit high up with only a retractable ladder to escape.

Bryan then examines her, where she realized that she now wears a thin, short sack dress, and nothing else. Starting from her face.

"Nice, bright eyes of a rare colour. Wavy bright red hair, a rare colour. Pointed ears that give a mystic look. Nary a scar or blemish, save for a few dirt and normal imperfections. Just need a simple clean and makeup and the buyers will go for at least five gold."

She tries her best to resist and kick him. And, to her dismay, her wrist are shackled, the manacles having padding to reduce skin tearing or bruise, and chained to the wall while her feet are suspended and bound by shackles to the wall.

He then examines her body and scowls upon seeing her burn scar.

"Damn. This scar would ward off potential buyers. Fortunately, it's damage is first degree, without any signs of a popped blister, nothing short of my magic can remove it."

He then noticed a tattoo of a butterfly, on the back of her left shoulder over the scar, when he smiles before quickly looking to her legs.

He starts from the foot, trying to find the second tattoo, and worked upwards, smiling a bit at her long and toned legs and wide hips, before finding the second one on the front of her right upper thigh, which is in the picture of a rose.

He then cast a spell, letting him see past the first layer of ink and see the original tattoo.

As expected, to his glee, the one on her shoulder showed the sigil of an old, extinct, royal house, as a way to signify that she belong to that house and who the buyers should pay back to, while the other on her thigh shows the rank and price of her.

He chuckles.

"It seems we got an escaped slave."

He then stops and walks to the exit.

Then she quickly remembers the rest and yells to him.

"WHERE ARE THEY! Where's Soloman and the three soldiers you took!"

Brundol then turns towards her and smirks.

"Their alive I assure you. And I'm going to torture them till they tell me where they took the Obrilon to."

Her eyes then widen and quickly thrashes in her shackle, in a futile attempt to break them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll damage yourself and be sold for less."

He then unlocked her manacles on her foot and the chains suspending her. Goes the ladder and climbs up, but not before looking at her one more time.

"But I sincerely hope to they confess before I torture you. Since you'll sells better in pristine condition."

He, and his two guards, then climbs up the ladder which is then winched back up before the gate closed, where she briefly hears Bryan ordering his men to keep her well, and later on change her shoulder tattoo to his sigil.

She then drops her stoic façade and cried, having nearly wet herself upon seeing a juggernaut, only heard in tales by Byzalem soldiers, and Bryan, a lord of the broken, alive and up close.

She then takes calm breathing and concentrates, now calm downed, and collects her thoughts.

"I will find a way out and rescue Soloman!"