Chapter: 4 Awakening in Darkness

The glint of steel caught her eye first a blade slicing through the haze. The impact came too fast her body jolted as the sword pierced through her side the cold metal tearing into flesh and bone. She staggered gasping as the pain coursed through her hot and unrelenting.

Her knees buckled again and she fell her hand instinctively clutching at the wound. Blood seeped through her fingers warm and sticky but her eyes weren't on the blade or the injury. They were on the figure before her.

Her breath caught in her throat as recognition dawned her vision swimming with tears. Standing there clutching the hilt of the sword was a face she knew all too well.

Her sister.

The youngest the gentlest the one she had cherished above all else since their parents had fallen. Her sister whose hands now shook as much as hers whose face was a canvas of fear and sorrow.

The world seemed to freeze in that moment the destruction around them fading into a void of silence and disbelief. Her lips parted but no words came. What could she possibly say?

And then just as quickly as the moment came it was gone. Her vision blurred further her strength ebbing away as the pain grew unbearable. The last thing she saw before darkness claimed her was her sister's tear-streaked face her mouth moving in a whisper though no sound reached her ears.

And with that the world slipped away leaving only questions and the unbearable weight of betrayal.

She gasped as her eyes flew open her body jerking as though the last remnants of a dream had violently thrown her into consciousness. Her chest heaved breath stuttering as fragments of memory clawed at her mind. Instinctively her trembling hands pressed against her stomach searching for the wound she knew should be there for the searing pain the blood the fatal proof of betrayal. But her fingers met nothing but unbroken skin smooth and untouched.

A cold stillness surrounded her oppressive in its silence save for the faint clinking of metal. Her head turned sluggishly vision unfocused until her gaze landed on the source of the sound heavy iron chains that shackled her wrists and ankles. Their weight pressed down on her a suffocating reminder that this was no dream. Reality in all its cruel indifference refused to release its grip.

Gone were the burning ruins the smoldering wreckage of her kingdom and the anguished figure of her sister with the sword trembling in her hands the blade slick with blood. In their place was a damp shadowed chamber its jagged stone walls looming over her like the ribs of a beast. The air was heavy thick with the scent of confinement and the flickering torchlight cast cruel shapes that danced mockingly on the walls.

Arista gritted her teeth the cold bite of the cuffs digging into her skin as she struggled to sit up. Her head swam pounding with the effort to reconcile what she remembered with what lay before her. Was it a dream? she thought, a flicker of hope rising unbidden. But the hope died as quickly as it came.

She couldn't forget the look in her sister's eyes haunted apologetic yet unyielding as the blade plunged forward. She couldn't forget the betrayal the pain or the darkness that had swallowed her whole. And yet here she was alive and unscathed.

Her fingers traced the chains absentmindedly as her mind spun. Why am I still here? How am I still here? The memories vivid and raw, tangled with the stark reality of her captivity. The iron shackles were real. The damp chill of the floor was real. The jagged stone that pressed against her back was real. But the wound that should have ended her life? That was gone.

A bitter laugh escaped her lips, cracking in the silence like a fragile thread. "What cruel game is this?" she murmured her voice trembling with exhaustion and disbelief. She tilted her head back against the wall the coolness of the stone seeping into her skull. "Even my death is denied me."

But doubt crept in, persistent and insidious. What if this wasn't real? What if she was still lying there in the ashes of her kingdom, her life seeping away onto the scorched earth? The thought gripped her chest tightening like a vice until the faint sound of footsteps jolted her from her spiraling thoughts.

The sound echoed through the cave each step slow and deliberate growing louder with each passing moment. Her body tensed her pulse pounding in her ears. She turned her head toward the source, eyes narrowing the weight of the chains reminding her of just how vulnerable she was.

Her breath hitched as the footsteps stopped just beyond the flickering light. Whoever or whatever was coming she would face it. Because if the pain of her past was real then so was her fury.

Then they appeared. A man stepped into the faint light his silhouette sharp and foreboding. His face was obscured by shadow his features unreadable but the bowl in his hands gleamed faintly in the torchlight. Without a word he placed it on the ground a few paces from her and began to turn away.

Her body moved before her mind could catch up. She lunged the chains clattering as she strained against them her fingers clawing at empty air. Stop! she rasped her voice hoarse and brittle. Let me go!

The man turned faster than she anticipated his hand striking her across the face with brutal force. Her head snapped to the side, and she crumpled to the ground her body frail and starved from days of torment.

The pain was sharp but it was his silence that stung deeper. He stood over her unmoving as though her defiance were nothing more than an insect's buzzing. Then he cursed in a tongue she recognized but barely understood a language that burned with the memory of battlefields and blood.

Before he could strike her again another voice cut through the tension low and firm. It came from the shadows commanding yet unfamiliar. The first man hesitated his hand frozen mid-air before stepping back. Another figure emerged taller his movements deliberate and heavy with authority.

Her gaze darted between them, her heart pounding in her chest. The taller man spoke in the same harsh language but his tone carried an edge of curiosity rather than anger. She strained to make sense of his words, piecing together fragments of meaning.

They think I'm a burden…no..no.. expensive!

The realization churned in her stomach filling her with a mixture of fear and indignation. She forced herself upright though her limbs trembled under the effort. What do you want from me? she spat her voice sharper than she intended.

The taller man did not answer. Instead he barked an order to the others. Rough hands grabbed her dragging her to her feet. She thrashed against them her chains clinking in protest but their grip was ironclad.

They pulled her down a narrow path the walls closing in on either side. Her breath quickened as the dim torchlight revealed glimpses of other captives women bound and silent their eyes hollow and resigned. She froze at the sight her mind racing.

Slaves. They're turning us into slaves.

Panic seized her chest. She twisted violently her movements fueled by a surge of adrenaline. For a brief moment she broke free her feet unsteady but determined as she stumbled toward the darkness.

But freedom was fleeting. A hand clamped down on her shoulder and another pair of arms restrained her dragging her back. She screamed her voice cracking but her captors did not falter. The same man who had struck her earlier appeared his face twisted with fury. He raised his hand again ready to strike.

This time the blow never came.

Another hand intercepted his firm and unyielding. The man froze his expression shifting from anger to confusion. She followed his gaze her breath catching as she saw the source of the interruption.

The newcomer stepped forward his face partially illuminated by the torchlight. His features were sharp almost regal yet worn with a weariness that spoke of battles fought and lost. But it was his voice deep and deliberate that sent a shiver down her spine. He spoke in her language not perfectly but with enough precision to leave her stunned.

Enough, he said, his tone commanding yet laced with something she couldn't place pity perhaps or something far more dangerous.

Her heart thundered in her chest as she stared at him the weight of his words sinking in. This man wasn't like the others. He was something else entirely.

And for the first time since her capture a flicker of hope and fear ignited within her.