The Crystal Mines

26 Nik

The first thing I noticed as I woke, was the sounds of whispering. So quiet, that even my Fae ears had to strain. Everything hurt. Every bone in my body that I was hyperaware of. The lights I could see through my shut eyes. The whispering. All of it, painful. I couldn't remember what had happened. The last thing I could think of was Callion, Faolan, and Sorin, screaming at something before the world went black.

The whispering continued, beautiful and haunting, like a prayer. Praying. That's what it had to be. But who? I tried to sit up, forgetting the chains at my wrists. I screamed at the tug on my wrists as the shackles dug below my skin. The tears didn't come right away, as I fought to breathe through pain I had never felt before. I had delt with pain of this caliber, but not on my wrists, and not digging into my skin, fighting back against me. The skin there was thin and vulnerable, not yet callused like my back.

"Nik?" Came a voice. "Are you awake?"

Callion.

"Were you just praying?" I croaked through dry lips and a swollen tongue.

Silence at first.

"No. I don't pray. The gods can go fuck themselves."

I snorted in annoyance. I tried opening my eyes, regretting it immediately as the lights above burned. Gods, it felt like tiny cuts. Cuts. Gods! Callion had gotten cut over and over. The memories slowly come back to me.

"You got cut. So much..." I whispered.

He was quiet for a little bit. "Yes. But I'm better now."

"They healed you?"

I heard him shift on the table. Who knows how long he had been laying there.

"Yes. Only to do it again and again the last few days. Sorin and Faolan got the worst of it though."

I was glad he didn't hold back, trying to hide their torture from me. He told me of Scylla gutting them and healing them repeatedly, until they passed out. He could see through to their room just slightly. Enough to see the blood hit the floor and see their mouths screaming silently. We didn't speak much for a while after he told me the horrors they had just survived. I swallowed.

My throat was so sore. My gums and tongue weren't much better off. I attempted to clear my throat, working to speak a little louder than a whisper. "What happened? I don't remember."

"You shifted. You showed me you Aether and we dragged your animal form from it to your magic system."

My memory was foggy. I remembered staring into my Aether, and the odd surface, showing no reflection back. Then, the string I pulled up. It was thick and silvery, wrapping around my whole system. I tried to look inward, failing at my weakened stare. I saw only blackness. I searched my memory, fighting to recall.

"Why does everything hurt?" I winced.

Callion was silent, as I knew he would be, letting me remember on my own. Teeth. I had sharp teeth. And scaled claws. And a tail. I took in a sharp breath.

"I shifted into a dragon."

"You did." For the first time, I heard pride drip from his voice. "You're silver. In case you were wondering."

I hissed between my teeth. "I should have killed them all."

Callion chuckled lightly. "You will."