The Light of Elysium

20 - Lord Nero

           
(Elissa's PoV)

Before blackness can consume me, something stirs within and a jolt travels up my arm. Suddenly, I am falling. I land in a heap on the flagstones and lay panting and prone at the captain's feet.

He sucks at the blood welling from four small crescents on the back of his hand, where my nails must have broken the skin. The ice of his eyes turns to steel and promise a world of pain.

Grabbing the trailing rope from my bound wrists, he pulls me roughly to my feet and marches into the castle. His pace makes no concession, but I dare not grumble as I am led like an animal along corridors and up stairways.

Finally, we stop at an arched doorway and he pulls out an iron key. The heavy oak door creaks ominously as it opens to reveal a dimly lit, stone spiral staircase leading upwards.

Higher and higher we climb, until our progress is barred by another door with strange symbols carved into the dark wood. This time he uses an ornate key with a blood red stone set in the handle to open the door.

Yanking the rope, he pulls me inside and I have to bite my tongue at the indignity of it. Mentally I curse him, but my stupidity knows it's bound and I'm not so foolish as to further provoke his cruelty.

The circular stone room is sparsely furnished with the exception of a massive gilded cage; inside it is the largest golden eagle that I have ever seen. It glares at the captain and hisses, whilst flexing lethal looking yellow talons.

My attention is torn away from it, literally, when the captain once more yanks on the rope, reeling me in so that I am standing right before him.

"Where is the Light?" he demands.

"The light?"

His eyes narrow dangerously. "The Light of Elysium. Where is it?"

I gulp and stutter, "I-I do not know. I don't have it."

There is a timid knock at the door. At the captain's command to enter, a man dressed in a grey, sack-like tunic, nervously shuffles in, head bowed, not daring to look upon the captain's face. Wordlessly he places my rucksack by the captain's booted feet and scurries out again.

Letting go of the rope, the captain starts rifling through my bag. It is galling to watch him pull out my belongings one by one only to toss them onto the floor like they are rubbish. Occasionally he finds something of interest, such as my iPhone and the dagger Dwin gave me, which he places on a table beside the cage.

When he finds the letter, I cannot remain mute. Hands out in supplication, I beg, "Please. That is the only thing that I have from my mother."

He does not even look my way, but with a smirk, places the letter on the table. Finally, he turns the bag upside down, shaking the remaining contents out. Angrily he kicks at the pile, further scattering what is left of my worldly possessions across the floor.

Scooping up the small pile from the table, he leaves without a word and locks the door behind him.

Staring numbly at the door, I slide down the wall and hug my knees to my chest. It is all too much; being separated from Zane and Darish, worrying about Roth, being kidnapped and now the captain's brutality.

I sob. I'm all alone in this hellhole. A metallic tapping sound brings my attention to the eagle in the cage. I guess that I'm not completely alone.

Wiping my eyes, I take a deep breath and approach the cage. "What is a magnificent creature like you doing here?"

The eagle cocks its head. While the cage is taller than me, it's still cramped for such a large bird. The injustice of it grates, so I run my fingers over the bars trying to find a door, however, there is no sign of a way out.