A Child of Darkness

Chapter 2

"Is she okay?" The second man asks.

"I don't know, it doesn't seem like she's hurt. Leila?" I feel a touch on my arm from the man beside me and stiffen. "We aren't going to hurt you, are you alright?"

I squint up at him, still keeping my arms locked around my knees. It's too bright, even in this small moving contraption. I don't speak. The man stares at me for a beat before looking back to the front, where another man is sitting and turning a wheel. There's a large window in front of us and I finally look out of it, gasping. There are so many peopleeverywhere! Everything is so colorful, I can see the trees and the sky, clouds and other moving metal boxes like ours. My eyes start to water as I take everything in, and I feel my heartbeat quicken in my chest. I've never been outside before. I've never left my room cell other than to use the bathing chamber in the dark corridors. I want to ask these men where they're taking me, why they're taking me, but I can't bring myself to open my mouth.

"Doesn't she talk?" The man up front questions.

"I don't know, Friadus didn't say much about her," the man beside me answers, looking at me again.

"Seventeen years is a long time to be in a dungeon, alone," the man up front says. "Are we sure she's even worth all of this?"

"If she is what Friadus says she is, this is more than worth it."

What had Friadus said about me? Had he told these men to come take me? Why? The metal box we were in suddenly jerked to the right and I fell into the man beside me. He steadied me and again, I flinched at the contact, pulling away quickly.

"You could drive a little smoother, Leo, I don't think she's ever been in a transport before," he said to the man up front.

"Do you want them following us? I'm trying to get us back as quickly as possible before they start checking every transport for the missing prisoner."

Nothing was making sense. I made a mental note that the metal box we were in seemed to be called a transport. I wished I had my journal with me, to write this new word down and record everything I was seeing. Looking out the window again, I saw that we were now surrounded by trees; there were no other people or transports around anymore. I placed my hands down on the seat and marveled at the soft fabric. I had never felt anything so nice. The man up front, Leo, jerked the transport to a sudden stop and I had to grab at the seat in front of me to keep from smashing into it.

"It's on foot from here," Leo said, opening his door and exiting the transport.

The man beside me did the same, and I continued to sit and watch. I didn't know what they expected of me, what they wanted me to do. The door beside me opened suddenly and I stared up at the man who had been riding beside me.

"Come on, Leila, we have to walk the rest of the way. It's too wooded to drive the transport through," he said, holding out his hand for me.

I didn't want to touch him again, so I ignored it, awkwardly getting out of the transport and placing my bare feet on soft grass for the first time in my life. The air smelled sweet and a breeze ruffled my hair around my face. I wiggled my toes in the grass, marveling at the way it tickled my feet. I looked up and saw both men staring at me with a strange expression on their faces.

"Let's go, we need to hurry," Leo said, and started walking through the trees.

I followed, confused but thoroughly enjoying the smells and sights of the outside world, and the other man fell into step behind me. We walked until my legs felt like they were going to give out. Leo suddenly stopped and dropped down to his knees, brushing away leaves and branches from a spot in the ground. I watched as he uncovered a circular metal plate in the ground, spinning a wheel on top of it and grunting as he lifted it open. He began climbing down the now open hole in the earth as I watched, fascinated.

"There's a ladder on the side, Leila, you have to climb down it," the man behind me instructed.

I turned around and stared at him, and he sighed.

"I promise, we aren't going to hurt you. This is the safest place for you right now, it's well hidden and no one will find you. Please, we'll explain everything to you soon, but we have to get inside first."

What other choice did I have but to do as he said? I crouched down and peered into the dark hole, hating the thought of leaving the outside for more concrete walls and darkness. I saw some wooden planks along the wall of the tunnel and began clumsily climbing down into the dark. I heard the man above me start to follow, but I was too scared to look up, focusing on slowly climbing down so I wouldn't fall to my death. Eventually my feet found solid ground, cold and hard underneath me. I shivered and followed Leo down a dark corridor, reminding me of the one I had just left. In front of me, Leo waved his arm and suddenly the darkness was illuminated with torches alight on the walls. I scrambled back from Leo, amazed at what I had just seen him do.

"It's alright, Leila, he's just making some light for us to see," the man behind me said.

We made our way to a metal door at the end of the corridor and Leo placed his hand on it. There was a whirring noise and a loud beep, and suddenly the door was opening. I jumped back with a gasp, and the man behind me placed his hands on my arms to steady me.

"Let's take her directly to the medical wing and avoid the crowd," the man said to Leo, who nodded in response.

We made a left and I followed Leo down yet another long corridor, lit by torches along the walls. He opened another seemingly random metal door and walked through, me following behind. I stopped in the doorway and stared, taking in the large bright room with beds scattered throughout and curtains hanging to separate each one.

"Leo!" A female voice yelled, and I jumped at the sound. "You made it!"

I whipped my head around toward the voice and saw a woman bounding toward Leo, her long yellow hair billowing behind her. She grabbed him around the waist and he grabbed her back, embracing for a moment.

"Everything went according to plan, Mira," Leo murmured. "We have her."

"I wouldn't say everything," the man muttered behind me, stepping forward and giving Mira a quick embrace as well. "We lost Friadus."

Mira's lips turned down into a frown and she pulled away from the men, looking at me for the first time. I shrank back, watching her carefully.

"Leila," the man said softly, stepping toward me. "This is Mira, and she's one of our healers. She's going to help you."

Help me? With what? I'd never heard the term healer before.