The Songbird

Chapter 6: Punishment

Later that night, well past the time for light to be extinguished and sound to become a stranger, one little shack concealed a flickering candle within its walls.

Darkness crept thick in the corners, but light from the little flame bathed Mina in a soft glow, her black hair reflecting the color of fire, cloaking her shoulders as she turned the woven band over and over again in her hands.

She wanted to understand. Life in Enid was clockwork down to the ticking: search for Lorenzo's jewels every morning, then sing until the sun sets. Bring dues when the knights come to collect. Use what remains to pay off debt and purchase food.

Wake, rise, survive; that's all that mattered.

Or at least, that's all that mattered to Mina. But this was strange. A man goes out of his way to dig a hole through wreckage, wreckage that she suspected he might've played a part in, and then places this trinket in the midst. Then, he insults a knight and gets carted off in shadows. Perhaps he had nothing to lose and did it for his own enjoyment, but Mina suspected it went deeper than that.

"But for what?" She whispered into the empty air, more so to herself, wishing she could compel the woven band to reveal its secrets. Mina knew such an act was impossible, but after watching that knight command shadows as if they were ropes, she wasn't completely sure what was beyond the realm of possibility anymore.

The band gave no answer, just reflected back at her the sight and feel of crisscrossing threads connected through a hoop, of a single bead that caught the orange light from a dying flame.

Resigned to the lack of answers, Mina set the band down with a sigh. Turning over, she beheld the little candle for one last moment, saw how it ebbed and flowed in a desperate dance, resigned to burn and keep burning until it could burn no longer.

Funny how she could see herself there, too.

With nothing left, Mina blew out the flame. Her resounding whoosh of air lingered in the space for a moment, the only sound left for the night before all was quiet.

Enid had been disrupted, but it would not stay that way forever. Or at least, Mina knew she couldn't afford for it to stay that way much longer. Lorenzo would be demanding his debts and jewels again soon. And her tin cup never stayed full long enough for a break like this.

She'd have to go back out tomorrow.

She just hoped the knights stayed away when she did. After seeing one's eyes turn yellow and another one bend darkness, she wasn't sure she was ready to see the others sprout a second head or turn their fingers into knives.

Or whatever cursed magic they could do.

Curling inward, Mina closed her eyes and waited for the abyss to stake its claim.

* * * * * * *

Worlds away, four souls inhabited a space within the castle's dungeon. Buried deep within the earth, no one could hear the screams dripping from the stone walls or smell the blood that coated the ground.

"It would be wise to cease resisting," drawled King Abbott, almost bored with the events that had transpired.

The man Dante plucked from The Joiner's Square lay sprawled in a heap, clothes ripped to shreds and skin covered in every sort of abrasion. Dante stood on one side of him, shadows coating his fingertips, coiled in wait to set the man into hysterics again. Izan stood on the other side, his magic coming in the form of transparent shards pointed at the man's throat.

"You've given up your name, the reason for the explosion, as well as the name of the organization you serve. Why stop now, Talmage?" Abbott asked, stepping closer. "Where do you all hide?"