The Purple Jade Palace: The Hummingbird's Plan

Prisoner

Drip... Drip... Drip...

Teal was perched high in the branches of a tree that overlooked the cliffs and allowed him to look out to sea. It was one of the tallest trees in the forest.

He knew this forest, the scent of it and the sound of it as the branches swayed. Not many people took the time to acknowledge that forests had a certain sound as well. Many merely focused on the sights and the smells.

This was the sound of the forest near his adoptive parents' home in Hulena. It was the high-pitched call of the Frear birds, the scratch of the lizards who climbed up the trunks with their sharp claws, and the hiss of a snake as it curled its way around a branch. There was also the sound of the waves crashing onto the cliff face, so daringly far below Teal.

Drip... Drip...Drip...

Teal frowned at the unusual sound. He tilted his head up at the sky to find it clear and blue. When he looked out in the direction of the ocean, there was a hint of purple along the horizon of the darkness that would soon be upon him. The waves broke onto the rocks of the cliff, but it was a gentle ocean and the water spray did not reach that high.

Drip...Drip...Drip...

All of a sudden, the palace in Dalenia appeared out across the ocean opposite to where he was sitting in the tree. He was no longer in Hulena. On one side of him was Jale, who was sitting with one leg up and his arm resting on his knee while he leaned back peacefully on the trunk of the tree. On the other side was Lana, lying precariously on the branch with one of her arms tucked lazily behind her head. Except, he wasn't in the tree anymore but in Jale's luxurious quarters with his two lovers by his side.

Drip...Drip...Drip...

He could still hear it.

The sound of water, dripping and hitting something hard.

Teal gazed around Jale's quarters and across the large balcony, confused and annoyed at this persistent echo in his head that protruded into the sanctuary of his subconscious. For he knew this wasn't real, the scenery before him.

Drip...Drip...Drip...

Had it always been there? In this dream? It wasn't a sound that belonged in Jale's quarters.

The sound of the dripping water became louder and louder until he was unable to focus on anything else. Teal stirred, the dream ebbing away and, in an instant, he became aware of the hard cold stone floor beneath him. His body shivered, and he tried to move only to find that his arms and legs were restricted, bound in some way. His head was pounding, and his muscles were protesting from the position of his limbs. His mouth was parched dry, and his lips were cracked and covered in dry blood when he ran his tongue over them.

Teal reached for the dream, for the comfort and safety it had given him only to find that the tentacles of sleep had moved too far away. He rolled onto his back and heard the clanging of metal chains and cuffs that he could now feel around his arms and ankles. Weakly, Teal opened his eyes, guessing from their puffiness and tenderness that he had been beaten at some point, although he had no recollection of it occurring. It was night and the room he was in was dark but still, he tried to take in his immediate surroundings.

From the circular curve of the stone wall that created the perimeter of most of his small room, he determined that he was in a tower. Not the top, but high enough for him to see the trees through the tiny square hole window that allowed for air and light to enter. He was alone in his cell but the cries and moans of those also incarcerated within the walls now reached his ears.

Pain and suffering.

He shivered again from the cold, fearful of what may happen to him and whether he was to endure similar wrong-doings of those wailing souls he could hear.