Twisted Fate

Chapter Eight: The Caves

The sound of water dripping and the smell of stale air were all I could make out.
I woke up in a black room of stone, feeling around in the darkness I found I was sealed in a circular room.
I'd been stripped, wearing only a thin tunic and underwear.
I shivered, trying to focus on my magik to warm me but something felt wrong every time I tried.
I touched my chest, trying to push against my bond with Talon, finding no tingling or sensations like I usually would.
Something blocked my magik and our connection.
I mentally counted the seconds until they turned into minutes and then hours.
My stomach ached from hunger and my throat was dry.
I guessed at least two days since I'd been put in here.
Shame the person who took me didn't know much about me.
Ripping my shirt, I found suitable rocks.
After a good half an hour of smacking rocks, my shirt ignited, providing me enough vision of the room
I scoffed seeing the water that fell down the walls and the moss gatherings.
Knowing I'd eaten worst, I broke enough moss and chewed it slowly, sucking on it to remove the water.
I wrapped the slime that gathered onto another piece of ripped shirt, tying it to a thin long rock, I made a makeshift torch and reassessed my surroundings.
If someone put me in here, there had to be a way out.
I knocked against loose rocks, checked every crack and found what felt like a metal hinge behind a large stone.
Hope sparked.
My fingers were numb and destroyed from clawing the rocks.
The tingling in my chest sparked and I wanted to scream.
The stone I clawed at felt warm suddenly.
The tingling became uncontrollable and I slammed my fists against the stone.
"TALON?" I screamed in hope. The stone exploded.
Like it was suddenly sucked into a hole, it shattered and then a rush of air sent it into the abyss of the hole that I stood in front of.
I stepped back, a shadow coming from the wall and taking the form of a raven haired Fae man.
He was beautiful, a long face with a chiseled jaw and cheekbones, thin lips and dark eyes.
Shadows snaked around him and I stepped back again as he entered the cave I was in.
He looked around, seeing my fire and bloodied hands, he sneered reaching for me.
I screamed as he grabbed my wrist, the shadows surrounding us as he channelled us out.
My legs buckled as we reappeared. I slammed into hard marble, the Fae still holding my wrist.
I felt so weak and tired, it was a struggle to raise my head and see we were in a white hall.
A throne of white marble sat on a riser above a glimmering pool of silver we stood before.
I could see my reflection in the water, dirt covered, bloody and purple lined under my eyes from exhaustion.
The man beside me shook with rage. "BELLAMINA!" He screamed, his voice shaking the very room and my ears ached.
A flash of light and the dark haired Fae who had kidnapped me appeared on the throne. She wore an elegant white dress with clasps of golden lion heads on her shoulders and a banding of pearls around her waist.
"Angry, are we?" She teased, looking bored as she examined a diamond ring on her pinkie finger.
The man snarled violently, his hand gripping my wrist and yanked me up, making me whimper from the agony in my shoulder.
He ignored me. "Why was this in my caves?" His eyes flared from the placid hazel to a bright red, my heat pounded at the sight in fear.
Fae Lord.
The woman, Bellamina, placed her palm under her chin, watching him with a small smile.
"I thought you'd enjoy getting your property back." She smiled at him. "She was, after all, promised to you by her father." Her eyes darkened as I met them.
"Liar." I hissed.
She scoffed, rolling her crystal eyes in annoyance. "Cassandra told me about you. She did enough digging in the Human world to know you are the Dark Courts property." She met the man's eye, still smiling.
The Lord looked down at me, squeezing my wrist again as he crouched beside me.
"What's so special about it?" He rose a black brow as he examined my face.
Bellamina laughed, a hard noise that shook my bones. "She is the daughter of Lord Ronan."
The man looked at her, his eyes hard and his teeth bared as he snarled.
"Why should I believe you?" His hand around my wrist tightened and I gasped, feeling my skin be cut by claws that sprung from his fingers.
"Well, she is covered in shit. Clean her, see for yourself." In a second, he gripped the back of my neck with his free hand, shoving my face into the silver water.
I tried to close my mouth in time, but I swallowed a mouthful of the metallic tasting water.
He yanked me back by the hair, making me screamed then silenced me by wiping his cloak harshly across my face.
Gripping my hair again, he made me face him.
"It does bare a striking resemblance to the fucker." He noted, I clenched my jaw and my brows furrowed in anger.
"I am not an it. Nor was my father a Lord!" I spat at him.
He didn't flinch as my spit hit his face.
He wiped his cheek on his shoulder and looked at Bellamina. "It said the name Talon."
Bellamina shrugged, smirking at me. "Cassandra determined she is soul-bound to him. Some minor life-debt." The smile was cruel and something inside of me shook.
I turned to the man, desperate. "I belong to Lord Talon." My voice came out shaking.
He release my wrist and pressed a thumb against my forehead, pushing the back of my head into it.
I was hit with a searing pain and I screamed again as a light blinded me and he released me.
I gripped my forehead, feeling something cold and metal imbedded into my skin.
I hesitantly leaned over the water.
Seeing a golden star and a black jewel now donned the area. The size of his thumb.
He yanked me back, making me look at him.
"Now, you belong to me." A blast of magic hit me, I tried to fight it but another blast rocked me, knocking me unconcious.