The Chronicles of Onyx: Book 1

Chapter Three

The cell they were thrown into was compacted, though slightly larger than Onyx's previous cell. However despite the slight difference in space, its stone walls felt as though they were inclosing it on Onyx. The only sound disturbing the stiffness was that of the labored breathing coming from the mixed-breed, Rok. Whom seemed quite comfortable with his eyes closed and his head resting on the stone wall. His bare chest slowly rising and falling.

"Would you stop staring at me?" Rok suddenly asked braking his silence, his voice filled with tiredness.

"How do you know I'm looking at you if your eyes are closed?" Onyx retorted.

"Because you watch your surroundings closely," he responded, not moving a muscle except his lips. "That much I have learned about you, regarding our short time spent together"

With a slight roll of her fiery eyes, Onyx too, leaned her head against the wall, welcoming the sudden coldness against her aching neck. She then closed her eyes and, for a second time, focused all her energy towards Rok. Hoping to feel the connection she felt earlier in the arena. Like a sporadic rainstorm, she had briefly heard his thoughts, felt his emotion. Even despite the power of the cuffs imprisoned on her, she could hear him.

However she only accompanied by the harsh sound of silence that eloping her like the shrouding, internal darkness, which cursed her. Or so it felt.

Rok, in a swift movement, sat up and studied her intently under his kind, brown gaze.

"Who are you? And I want an answer, not another question," he asked sternly, irritation evident in his voice, accompanied with curiosity.

"I can't tell you," she paused. Her once bright and lively eyes dimmed. "I don't even know the answer." Onyx looked away from Rok, her gaze fixed on one of the enclosing walls. It wasn't that she didn't know who she was, but rather what she was. All she knew was that she possessed a power. A power she didn't understand, power stronger than herself.

She turned to look into Rok's understanding eyes. He gazed back at her with a calm and reassuring presence. In his company, she felt uncertain yet, oddly, safe.

-ooooo-

Rok looked across the dark cell at the small figure sitting across from him. He could see the pain and longing in her eyes, a look he often wore during his youth—innocent and vulnerable. That look took him back to a place of unwanted, dark memories he tried long and hard to forget.

-ooooo-

The cold, stone pathway sent shivers up his spine, through his small, bare feet. His feet were calloused from miles of walking barefoot through the city each day. He was unwanted there, but a glimmer of hope lingered inside him, like a leaf hovering in the wind. He wandered endlessly for hours, searching for the smallest scrap of food to feed his shriveled stomach. It was a fight he feared he'd lose.

Rok sat on the side of the busy streets of Quinklin, a small town just outside the kingdom of Thimriur. The realm of the Orcs, in which a Queen ruled. Through eavesdropping on townsfolk, he learned that the Queen was not Orcish, but more like a winged elf. Rok remembered the hope it had given him to travel so far to find a land where Orcs were free, not enslaved like his mother. A place where he could relish with his own kin.

"Boy!" His ears perked up toward the direction the call came from. "Hello?" he replied weakly, as he prepared to use that last of his energy to bolt if necessary.

"Don't be alarmed," said a cloaked female figure who appeared before him. Her voice was enchanting, though held a bitter bite.

"Who... who are you?" Rok stammered as asked, wary as he eyed her, ready to use the last of his strength to flee.

"Don't be afraid," her voice became as smooth as honey, with the sweet aroma of lavender lingered about her. She crouched beside him, smiling sweetly as she lifted her hood. Hair as pure white as a blizzard snow spilled out. Her eyes glowed violet, and her ears were pointed like an elf's. "You know who I am," she finished calmly.

Puzzlement spread across the young Half-breed's face as he searched his mind for answers. "No, I don't," he replied.

"Maybe this will help," she said, throwing off her cloak to reveal a pair of black, dragon-like wings. The gleaming look in her eyes told him all too well that he was in the presence of the Orc Queen, Queen Demeter.

-ooooo-

Rok opened his eyes, back in the present world. He glanced back at Onyx, who was now staring through the iron bars of the cell door.

"I need to ask her name! I can't just call her 'Her'." He thought harshly, scolding himself for not asking her name earlier in conversion.

"What is your name?" he blurted, however only getting silence in response, as she leaned against the cell door.

"Onyx," she finally replied, "My name is Onyx." She turned to look at him, the fear in her unique eyes conveyed more than words ever could. "She is coming", she whispered.