Prisoner of Darkness

A wide, dark hallway greeted her, and the young magician walked hesitantly and fearfully down it. She walked long enough along this corridor to come to a huge inner courtyard. And when she saw what was going on there, she realized with joy that her friends had nothing to worry about. For what the high walls hid so intimidatingly was nothing more than a black market. When the seller realized that she was obviously very interested in rare objects and dangerous experiments, he simply told her about this illegal but very attractive place. So, forgetting her fear, the kolodian relaxed, and walked peacefully among the stalls, admiring the rarest objects on display, and observing the relentless and dark ways of people, even those who obviously would never have acted in such a barbaric way, haggling to sell and buy the objects of their desires. And as was to be expected in places like this, an auction soon took place in the center of the square. A mustachioed man, dressed eccentrically in an olive green suit with silver trim, stepped onto the platform. He was the man in charge of the event. His ebony hair shone in the dark light that illuminated the courtyard. His eyes were hidden behind small, black, gold-scaled glasses. But Avine didn't need to see them to feel the terrible greed that must have been reflected in them. The long-awaited event began. It began with a magnificent vase whose animated designs depicted dreamy mermaids playing in a shimmering, restless sea and singing unreal songs. The object was unique and enchanting. The final price offered for it was so astronomical that Avine became dizzy. But she understood the price when it was explained that the vase had very strong magical powers, and that it brought its owner a lot of luck defying all destiny. A painting followed. It depicted a solitary tree in the middle of a forest, its purple flowers reflected in a winter light. But when the position of the painting was changed, the tree slowly transformed into a young woman or a multitude of flying creatures. An equally extraordinary and extremely rare work, whose magical properties were to create the setting and the season of your choice in a well-defined place. Then came the creatures, a large raptor with multicolored plumage that spat fire and emitted powerful waves. And others followed, equally beautiful and unique, all of which were greatly admired, then bought, and frantically conquered. It would be interesting to continue to observe this whole sinister and treacherous scene. But the atmosphere was seriously beginning to tire the girl and was making her nauseous. Approaching the last "item", which fully deserved its title of "highlight of the show", a magnificent collection of bright and perfectly cut jewels, whose destructive powers were phenomenal. But Avine, too preoccupied by her weakness, which was growing a little too fast, alerting her immediately to an imminent danger, decided to take leave discreetly, when the man with the moustache got up from his royal chair, a huge seat covered with a velvet fabric with strange patterns. He raised his hand, so that everyone would stand still to see what he was going to do. She naively thought that he was going to show the ultimate lot, probably the best one with an outrageous and masterful number, but it was not the case. Sure, he produced sparkling, deafening fireworks, but it was to close the auction and take out everyone present. The powerful multi-colored jets exploded everywhere, in the space above and in the yard. They were so violent and painful that no one was able to make a single move. No power, no matter how great, thought the young girl, could have stopped such an explosion of power. A firework exploded right in front of Avine, and since she was already bruised by the black spell, her magic was useless to protect her. The girl fell to the ground, tired and defeated by this dark act. She saw dark, shapeless beings emerge from the shadows, dressed in the same green as the person in charge, and seize all the visitors present, enveloping them in a thick, viscous liquid, and dragging them with them into the darkness. Avine tried to get up and drag herself to the walls. But it was too much effort. The shadows soon surrounded her, the high walls gradually rose and closed in on them all, the fireworks never stopped exploding and burning the victims. Then Avine finally fell into unconsciousness.

***

When the girl woke up after being plagued by excruciating, incoherent nightmares, she was in a huge palanquin, being transported to who knows where, and would soon discover that it was infinitely worse than the most insane dreams. Her head ached, but she tried to remember what had happened to her. Then the memories came back to her little by little. The streets full of stalls, the high walls of the cursed market, the auction, the unbearable fireworks, Venèzie and her birthday...

Avine breathed with difficulty, her whole body seemed to be crushed by statues with spikes. She didn't know where she was, nor where these filthy beings were taking her. One could say that the palanquin was sumptuous, engraved of gold and adorned with sublime colored fabrics, the cushions on which she rested, were comfortable and invited to the rest to which she aspired so much to return, but which she had however to fight with all her forces. Rising painfully, Avine tried to look beyond the deceptive veils of her bed. She discovered that they went along a long and immense dark corridor, but lit by rectangular neon lights. Then going up to the last level by an elevator, they went along again a long and gloomy corridor to reach probably the most important room of the whole building. Besides, they had now stopped in front of an impressive double door whose sketches, moving in addition, which were figured would have made blush the most disgusting perverts of the prison of the swampy planet of Triame. The imposing door opened. And when Avine saw what was going on inside, she realized she was lost. Analyzing the damned environment, the young victim noticed that they were not at the top of a building, but of a huge ship. The floor was made of two-colored tiles covered with a carpet of prasin water. The high resplendent ceiling was speckled with infinite points of light, similar to the stellar space that remained visible thanks to the four glass walls that made up this vast chamber of perdition. Each being present in this great room, man or woman, gave himself to the lowest pleasure of the world. Sex, money, alcohol and slavery mingled in this sumptuous Almandine setting. It was simply sordid. And one being stood out vulgarly among all. For this, he had taken his place with fatuity, above his filthy fellows. He was tall, with long, black, bony hair, wearing a dark red fur coat, inevitably streaked with gold threads to fiercely convince others of a non-existent royalty. He was undeniably rich and noble, but everything else was hideous and off-putting, just like him. He looked at the girl with his dark and abject eyes, with a glow of repulsive concupiscence. She had been changed, during her rest, into a light blue silk dress, veiled with long, light, shimmering tulles. Avine's blond hair, which cascaded down her back, was also sprinkled with radiant powders, making it look like a dawn painting as ever. Gaudy bracelets, worthy of the favorite of the sexual lords, adorned her slender arms, and their glitter burned her eyes, almost as much as the countless acts taking place in the chamber of sin. The "king" signaled the guards to bring the young victim to him.