Gold Dust

Chapter 9

The stench of the holding cell was almost enough to make Gwen stop breathing. She had tried to breath through her mouth, but the taste coated her tongue and she couldn't tell if it was worse. When she had been thrown in here, maybe a few days ago, she wasn't sure, the swaying and rancid smell made her lose whatever she had eaten that morning.

It had been a few hours until she felt the ship swaying in the wind and the waves cresting. It was then that Gwen knew that everybody was dead. All of the villagers. Everything was burned to the ground. If they just came for the wand, then they would have left when she was taken. But no, they had to finish the job, stealing what they could have and destroyed everything else. They might've taken the sheep, the only other food source on the island besides roots and fish.

Gwen watched as a man walked past her cage, and the pirate spat at her in the cage. The glob of spit didn't hit her, but near her foot. She was, unfortunately, now as filthy as the pirates. The jug of water they had given her every day had been too precious to drink rather than wash her face. That, and the crusts of bread they threw in to eat were hard and took some time and water to make it even chewable.

When the pirate had gone, Gwen lifted her hand from here she had rested on top of her skirt. Underneath, Gull poked his nose from under her dress. The pup had doing well, in these circumstances. Gwen had told Gull very firmly that he had to hide from the men, otherwise they might see him as some extra meat for that's night stew. And if that were to happen, then who would Gwen have with her?

Gwen let her head hit the side of the cage, resting it. There wasn't anything for her to do at the moment. She was trapped, and will be until the pirates come to their next port. However, that could take up to weeks. And even if she were to escape, her wand would still be in the power of the pirates. It would be unwise for her to find it and leave at the same time, no doubt the Captain would keep it on his person.

Gull whimpered by her, resting his head on her leg. Gwen sighed, and patted his head. Reaching into her hair, she pulled a bead from its knot. "I can't do this often." Gwen whispered, her throat sore and gravely. She pushed the magic up from her chest and into her hand, making her limb momentarily yellow tinged. The bead changed, into a strip of meat. There wasn't much, but she get Gull sniff it a few times before he lapped it up. He licked her hand clean, making sure there weren't any other crumbs left.

The hard part was that Gwen didn't have enough energy to fully transform anything. Small objects, yes. But if she were try anything without her wand, then the spell might go sideways. The magic that the Warlock on this ship pressed down on her, pressing and suffocating her magic. It was hard to grow stronger when it took almost two full days to have enough energy to transform her bead into a small bit of food.

However, it could be worse. So much worse. The best part, that Gwen could figure out, was that they didn't even suspect her of being the Gold Witch. No, they just thought that the wand held all of the power, when actually it was just a conduit. Wands were made when a witch was created, and they can't ever go without their wand for a long time. Nobody knew what would happen, they all just knew it was bad. If the pirates even suspected of Gwen being a Witch, there was no doubt that Gwen would be either killed, or forced to use her powers for them. (Which she would never do, so she'd die anyways. That, or the Warlock would do something.)

Gwen gently petted Gull, until she heard footsteps. She pulled her skirt up and over Gull, covering him. And if she had to stand up, she could easily leave her coat behind, so that Gull could be underneath it. Gwen closed her eyes, going back to her easy laid back formation.

"You. Girl." Gwen lazily opened her eyes, then shut them when she saw the Captain and a man with greasy black hair. They were both done up in fancy clothing, probably stolen from somewhere. "You will pay attention to me!" Captain hit the cage's door with his fist, resulting in a clang noise that startled Gwen.

"What do you want, pig?" Gwen asked, giving him her best glare. "I'm busy."

"How do ye operate the wand." The Captain demanded. It was then that Gwen noticed that her wand was in the second man's grip. It's gold had faded back into lead, deactivated. "Tell me! How do you use the wand!"

"You don't." Gwen said cryptically. "It uses you. It's cursed, you know. Whoever uses it last is the owner until some unlucky fella get's it next. You're doing me a favor of taking it. Although, I might want to get off of your ship until whoever is the owner goes away." Gwen lied easily.

"Tell me. I saw the gold in your hand. Me handy men said they saw you throwin' a man around with it's power. It doesn't make just gold, it can do anything!" The Captain said, greed and want edged his voice. "I don't care if it's cursed. Tell me how to use it, or I will kill you!"

"That's the curse." Gwen boredly said, letting her head rest against the wall again. "It doesn't work unless it finds you worthy. Or it will drive you into a mad lust for gold and power. There isn't anything you can do."

"Oh really? Then tell me, what do ye know about witches then?" Captain asked. A dangerous question to answer.

"A little, yet none. Witches don't exist."

"Funny little thing happened a few days ago. Came across a nice farmer, and his daughter sailing back home. Ye know what she said? That ya know a lot about witches. Where else do ye think we knew where to find ya." The Captain said, and Gwen closed her eyes and prayed silently that Albin had a quick death, and so did his daughter. She had liked the little Swedish girl.

"All I know is that Witches are very ugly, mean, and stay far away from people as much as they can. They wear black hats, and have cats with them all the time as they curse and experiment with poor fools who come walking their way. Anything else you might have heard, I lied about. She was just a child who wanted a bedtime story, and we know that we exaggerate-"

The Captain slammed his fist into the cage door, causing it to clang loudly again. "Do not lie to me, wench!" He roared, his fingers turning white from gripping the prisoner bars. "I know ya know more than yer letting on. I'll kill ya! I'll kill ya like those pathetic farmers!"

"If I may, sir." The second man interrupted coolly, and the Captain paused. "If you let me, I would allow my magic to teach her a few lessons about lying."

The Captain paused, his breathing slowed as his brain processed the idea. "Aye. I will be back on the morrow. If ye don't talk then, then me first mate will increase the pain until ya break. This is yer last chance."

"Go hang yourself, Pirate." Gwen said tiredly, and then moved her head to look away. Done with the conversation. She was tired, and hungry. Most of all, she missed the wind curing her hair into tangles. The air down here was stale and rancid.

"Do it." She heard the Captain say, and then she felt magic twisting up. Closing her eyes, Gwen knew what was to come. This hasn't been the first time she had met a Warlock. They all just felt so wrong. Their magic was wrong. Everything from the name to the actual hairs on his chin made Gwen disgusted.

Finally, she felt the tendrils of twisted magic touch her, and felt as her body froze up. Her muscles clenched, and already she felt knots and cramps from the stiffness. She was left with her chest barely moving, and her eyes blinking. But other than that, she was a perfectly still doll. Her own muscles wouldn't allow her to move, or else be in extreme pain. The longer this went, the more uncomfortable she would be.

Gwen closed her eyes, and tried her hardest to mentally escape from the helplessness and wrongness that was inflicted on her.