The Atheil Chronicles: A Call to Fire

Chapter 36

Ariana watched the door fall shut with a thud, her body going limp in defeat as Morgrean continued to drag her backwards across the stony corridor. Her arm felt like it was going to rip off from the pressure and she couldn't help but cry out from the pain of it.
Morgrean stopped, dropping her to the hard floor abruptly. She crashed into it, her elbow hitting first and sending a jolt of lightning running up her arm to her shoulder. He turned to her, his violet eyes lit up with anticipatory pleasure.
"Get up, Princess." He said, his rough voice sounding happy and content. "Or, if you want, I could always just drag you the rest of the way. There's five stairways going down to the dungeons. We could have some fun with that."
Ariana glared up at him, her heart racing in her chest. She was still so overwhelmed by everything that she had just heard that she didn't know how to process her emotions. "Fine." She said, as Morgrean began to reach for her arm again. She tried to stand up but stumbled sideways and he grabbed her, pulling her roughly to her feet.
"Move." He said, shoving her forward.
Ariana felt the adrenaline of her talk with Malor wearing off now and she was acutely aware of how weak she still was from the last time she was with Morgrean. She shuddered to think about going back to that horror. She looked around, wondering if she could try to make a run for it, but Morgrean seemed to have that same thought and he reached forward, gripping her bicep tight in his hand.
He leaned his face in close to her ear and it took everything in her not to move away. "There's no one here to save you this time. Don't think about trying anything. I think you know what will happen if you do."
She swallowed, her throat drying almost immediately at the thought. She let out a shaky breath, facing forward as they made their first descent down a dark stairway. When they came out on the next floor, she could see dozens of windows lining the next corridor. Torches hung between each set of windows, lit with blazing fires that shone bright over the grimy stones that made up the walls and floors. Clearly this place had not been in use for a long time.
"So tell me," Morgrean said conversationally, "did your Prince ever show up for you after our time together or did he forget about you like I said he would?"
Ariana didn't answer, her eyes following the torches as she passed them, counting them in her mind to block out his words. Twelve, she thought, the light of the torch passing by her. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen.
Morgrean jerked on her arm and she crashed into him, the breath being knocked out of her as he grabbed her with his other arm, turning her to face him. "I thought we had a good thing going." He snarled, shaking her. "I thought I had finally gotten through to you. You. Are. Mine." When he saw the way her face paled, he leaned in to her. He was so close that she could see his pupils constrict as they focused on her. "You will never escape me."
Her breath hitched in her throat at the same time a loud horn sounded from somewhere outside. It was silent for a moment before it rang out again, louder than before and like the low calling of a foghorn, the sound vibrating through the panes of glass within the window. Morgrean gripped her upper arms tighter, pulling her with him to the nearest window where he peered out onto the palace grounds below. Ariana gazed through them, too, her eyes scanning the surrounding grounds and buildings that had been burned to ash, and then she saw it. There was a half wall beyond the furthest ruins that must have been the walls that formed the border of Peridien before it was knocked down and burned to the ground, and, beyond even that, she could see an army approaching. Though it was quite far, she could just barely make out a figure on the back of a Veluke, his short ash colored hair and blackened tunic giving him away. Tyrynion rode upon her Veluke, his sword drawn out before him as he stared fiercely toward the castle. Then, she let out a small exhale of surprise when she saw what was behind him. A creature like nothing she had ever seen before was pawing at the ground before it. It was almost like a giant antelope, its head narrow and elongated with saber-like fanged teeth coming out the sides of its fuzzy tan muzzle. It had a long, muscular neck which met with an equally beefy body, and thin legs that ended in pointed hooves. Upon its head was a large rack of wickedly sharp barbed antlers that spread above it like great branches of a tree. It had an intricate green and gold saddle strapped around its back, and riding in it was-.
"Ryonen." She said under her breath, saying the name like it was a prayer that could save her. He had come for her! He had finally come for her.
Morgrean whipped his head in the direction that she was looking in, his mouth pulling up into a snarl as he recognized Ryonen there. He looked infuriated, his nostrils flaring as he gripped her arms even tighter, the points of his talons starting to cut into the flesh of her upper arms. Just before she was going to cry out in pain, his grip suddenly loosened and a grin began to spread across his face. Any elation she had felt in seeing Ryonen and Tyrynion come for her vanished at that moment. Something was wrong.
"Look." He said, pointing down below them. Even as she followed the direction of his talon, she could see a horde of Goblins and Rebel Elves pouring from the ruins of Peridien like ants from a hill. They seemed to come from everywhere; some riding on the backs of reptilian creatures, some on foot, and all of them carrying deadly weapons that seemed to flash in the evening sun as they ran to meet her rescuers. She watched in growing horror as they advanced on the Eastern Kingdoms army, their battle cries seeming to rocket across the grounds almost as loudly as the horns had. Before they could reach the walls to the city, Morgrean jerked her away from the window, pushing her toward another set of stairs at the end of the corridor.
She stumbled forward, his hand only gripping her one arm now, and she suddenly felt hope renewing in her chest as she heard the sounds of battle ringing throughout the grounds. They had come for her, she thought, her mind racing. They were going to rescue her and take her away from all of this. With these silent words, the fire within her rose up, the feeling of defeat that she had experienced earlier being squashed by her instinct to survive, to fight. She twisted away from Morgrean, jerking out of his grip momentarily and putting on a burst of speed to try to get some distance between them. She wanted to find her way outside so that she could get to them. All she had to do was make them see her and she was home free.
Morgrean tackled her, knocking her hard into the wall as she kicked him, meeting his stomach with her foot. He grunted in pain and then he tried picking her up but she clawed at him fiercely. She could feel flesh tearing beneath her nails but she didn't stop; she knew that she had to give this her all if she wanted to get away.
In one swipe, he used her momentum to duck under her swinging arm and throw her up onto his shoulder. She cried out, kicking so hard that he almost dropped her. "Stop it." He growled, the sound coming out so low in his fury that she almost couldn't understand him. He brought his arm under and around her so that he could clamp his forearm down over the back of her knees, pinning them there and stilling her kicking legs. She yelled in frustration, using her elbows to make blows to his back, but he barely noticed, starting to run down the next set of stairs to the floor below. He did this 3 more times before they finally reached the underground floor where the dungeons were housed.
She could feel an urgency in the way that he rushed now, perhaps trying to get her to a secured location before full out fighting was under way. Or maybe it was so that he could keep her hidden in the event that they sent people in after her; she didn't know. Either way, he was jogging lightly down the darkened corridor, the walls lit with only the light of the torches there. As they were passing by a room in the middle of the corridor, Ariana turned her head, hearing a soft voice call her name. It was so faint that she almost missed it.
Her eyes rolled toward it, seeing a figure propped up against the wall, their hands held above their head by ropes connected to a metal hoop there. Ariana gasped as she saw the almost unrecognizable Rael, bloodied and beaten, sitting there barely conscious. Her eye was oozing with fresh blood around severe swelling that had forced it completely shut. Her broken leg was thrown out in front of her, her head sagging to the side as she met Ariana's eyes as they passed by the room.
"Rael!" Ariana called out, but Morgrean pulled on her legs so that her head snapped with the force of the motion. She felt her teeth clash together in a move that sent jarring pain through her head and down her neck, silencing her.
After a few more moments, they were passing through a threshold and into a room with even more torches lining the walls above her. Her eyes roamed the room before they settled on a table next to the door and, laying flat on the rough hewn surface there, her sword. She barely had time to register this information before Morgrean dropped her unceremoniously on the ground near the cell door. She hit her head against the bars and tried to stand as he slammed the door to the room shut behind him.
By the time that she had managed to pull herself into a standing position using the cell bars, he whipped around, fury in his eyes. He stalked across the room until he was right in her face, forcing her to back into the corner between the cell bars and the wall. "It doesn't matter. Your Prince may have come but he'll never get past our forces." He smiled maliciously at her, reaching out to stroke her cheek with the backside of a glittering talon. "You're going to be stuck with me forever. I can't wait until I get you back to my fortress and we can finally pick up where we left off. It seems that, before, I didn't do enough to tame you. Maybe I was being too gentle." He said the word like it was a curse. "You still had some fire left in you and it rekindled when you were away from me. That's alright; I'll make sure I squash it completely this time. The Dark King told me that he needs you bent to his will, that I can do whatever I want, just not to kill you. I'm sure he won't mind if I torture you into madness until you're just a shell of yourself. You'll be able to serve your purpose for him either way."
Ariana swallowed, taking in a deep breath as she stared into the viciously cruel eyes of Morgrean. All she could think of, at that moment, was that if she didn't get out of there within the next few minutes, then that was it; her life would be over and done. She knew that she needed to escape from there somehow, though she wasn't sure how she would manage it. She was so terrified that her blood seemed to be pumping through her like a raging river, the sound of it filling her ears and drowning everything else out. She was so ramped up that her mind seemed to take her panic and turn it to calm and it was as if time stopped around her. As she looked into his predatory eyes, she seemed to hear every thump of her heart and, in that long second between the heartbeats, she made a decision; she would rather die than go back with him. She would rather die fighting than become a shell of what she once was, like she was slowly becoming when she was trapped with him before. The hope that had rekindled in her was literally fueling this fire inside of her, this fight, this rising power of will, and it was replacing the fear with determination and cold fury.
Ariana glanced up at the wall to her right, seeing the torch that hung there, its flickering flames just about a foot above her head. She edged slightly closer to the door, trying to position herself near it. Her eyes moved back to Morgrean's face. "You don't scare me." She said, her voice trembling with anger.
Morgrean's eyes flashed and then he was grabbing her by the front of her dress, slamming her up against the stone wall and holding her there, right below the torch. She threw her arms up above her head, her tied wrists resting on the top of her head. He moved closer so that his face was only inches from hers. "Then you've forgotten what I taught you." He glanced toward the shut door and Ariana took the opportunity to inch her hands slowly up the wall until she could feel a cool tickling against her fingertips. When he turned back, his violet eyes were deadly. "I think I have time before the battle is over to give you a refresher." He ducked his head down, his hands reaching for the hem of her dress.
She felt her breath hitch in her throat but she didn't move, closing her eyes even as she felt his talons touch her bare skin, sending out one desperate thought. Come to me, she called out, feeling the coolness flicker excitedly against the skin of her fingers. She pushed away the fear, not resisting it this time, and put every ounce of strength that she had left in her mind to call the fire to her. At the same time that she felt his hand moving further up her leg, she felt the ropes around her wrist finally break free and she kept her hands there, taking in a deep calming breath.
"Stop." She screamed, not knowing what else to do at that moment. He was so close to where he wanted to reach and she knew that, if she didn't get his attention, it would be too late.
He froze, his hands coming away from her as he brought himself up to his full height, and moved so that his face was once again right in front of hers. "Why should I?" He asked, seemingly amused by the audacity of her telling him what to do.
She swallowed, her fingers flexing above her head. Wait, she warned, feeling the coolness flickering excitedly around her fingers. She looked him directly in his eyes, her jaw set. "I," she said, making sure to speak clearly and firmly with every word, "am NO ONES property, let alone a disgusting, inhuman piece of garbage like you." She watched his eyes grow dark at her words and, as he was about to respond, she brought her fingers down to grip at his face, her palms blazing with fire like the flaring of twin suns.
Morgrean let out a painful scream as she dug her fingers into the skin of his face, urging the fire to go to him as she held them firmly there. The fire rose up all around her fingers, the red flames obeying her command instantaneously like an obedient pet. It seemed to glide down her fingertips until it was ablaze all across his face, burning its way down to his clothes and starting to flare up wildly along the path it was creating. She held on for dear life as he thrashed and struggled beneath her hands, his arms flailing desperately as he tried to get her off of him.
She felt the stinging pain of his talons as they ripped through the flesh of her wrists and forearms but still she did not let go as she urged the fire in her fingertips to burn hotter. The smell of burning flesh was thick in the room as she saw his skin melting beneath the flames. Morgrean was still screaming but now he began to sag sideways until he was falling down the wall. As he fell, Ariana brought her hands away from him, some fire staying in her right hand and moving up her arm as its counterpart raged across Morgrean's body. He was so focused on putting out the flames on himself that he hadn't seemed to notice that she had let him go and she stepped back, holding her breath as she waited for him to react.
When he didn't, she turned toward the door, throwing it open and looking to the left at her sword laying on the table there She grabbed it by the roughly cut hanging leather straps and quickly tied it at her waist before hurrying out of the room, looking down at the fire that was working its way up her arm, covering her from her fingertips to her shoulder like some sort of medieval armor. 
As she got out into the corridor, she used the wall to prop herself up, making her way back the way she had come from earlier. The weakness that she had been feeling before came back and she realized vaguely that Rael had said that she would need more time to recover. That had been a day ago and now she had even more injuries to add to the list. As she stumbled down the corridor in search of the room Rael was being held in, she wondered how long she could go on like this. Would she even be able to make it far enough to have them rescue her? She shook her head, trying to dispel these negative thoughts from her mind; she had to hold on to hope. She brought her hand forward, about to grip the stone wall, when she suddenly realized that the coolness in her arm was growing more intense. She looked down at her wrists, the pain in them ebbing away slowly with each passing second. Right before she reached Raels room, she stopped, her eyes still fixed on her wrist. As she watched, the marks from Morgrean's talons were turning from the angry red of torn flesh, to the deep pink of newly knitted skin, to the pale white of faded scars. She turned her hand over in awe, realizing that, somehow, the fire had healed her.
Just then, she heard the sound of whimpering coming from inside of the room and she burst in, her eyes finding Rael on the floor, bloodied and severely injured. Her right eye was so swollen that it had been forced shut, the skin around it angry and red with her blood. She had cuts open across both cheeks where she had obviously been hit, dark bruises forming on her golden bronze skin there. Her arms hung loosely above her head, supported by thick ropes that tied her wrists together and then looped through a metal hoop embedded into the wall above her. As soon as she kneeled down in front of her, Rael's good eye flew open, swimming with confusion as she stared up into Ariana's face. Then, her gaze shifted to Ariana's arm and she gasped, crying out in fear.
Ariana held out her hands, trying to calm her "No, it's okay! I'm alright, I promise. Look." She took her free hand and ran her fingers along her flaming arm, letting them rise to meet her fingertips, then she stood up and let the flames latch on to the rope binding her to the metal hoop. They bit furiously at the material, the flames growing larger as they ate away at it, finally burning away enough so that it suddenly apart. Rael's arms fell heavily into her lap as she looked up, surprised. She immediately threw the burnt ropes off of her, moving her wrists gingerly as she did so. Ariana looked down at her own hands and, as the flames curled around her fingers lovingly, she had a sudden thought. "Rael," she said slowly, "I have an idea but I don't want you to freak out...do you trust me?"
Rael's deep olive eye pierced Ariana's hazel ones. After a long pause, she nodded, closing her eye and leaning her head back against the stone wall. Ariana took a deep breath, her heart racing as she lowered her hand. Please work, she begged, her hand coming to rest on Rael's cheek. She stared at it determinedly, willing the fire to obey her.
     "Heal." She whispered, putting every wish that she had in her for Rael to be alright, every hurt that she felt over the wrongs that had been done to the both of them, and every regret that she had for dragging her into this situation; she put all of those wishes into this simple command. Then, she prayed that her theory would work as she watched the fire crawl from her hand and onto Rael, the red orange of the flames almost seeming to caress the curves of her face as they moved over her skin there.
       As she watched with bated breath, Ariana could see the skin actively healing wherever the fire touched, the bruises fading into nothingness while the cuts knit themselves back together before blending into her skin as if they were never there. The swelling that had been so substantial just a minute before had reduced until the puffiness was just a distant dream, the only evidence of her injuries that remained being the blood that was still stained onto her skin.
Rael's eyes flew open just as Ariana reached out to let the fire come back to her. Her green eyes followed the flames' progress as they made their way up Ariana's fingers, melting in with the flames already raging there and leaving Rael's face completely healed and fire-free. She looked up at Ariana with a mixture of shock and wonder, seeming too stunned to speak.   
     When she finally managed, her voice was low and filled with awe. "How-"
They both froze as a noise could be heard in the distance. Ariana felt the hair on the the back of her neck stand up straight as she heard it again. No, she thought, looking down at Rael with some horror. Her face, too, was full of fear.
"Ariana!" Morgrean called, his voice echoing off of the stone walls of the corridor. Even from a distance, she could hear the unbridled rage in it. "Come back of your own free will or I'll skin your friend alive right in front of you." He screamed.
Ariana's heart seemed to stop as she looked behind her. Then, she turned to Rael. "There's no time to try to heal your leg." Ariana said, reaching down for her arm. "Come on."
Rael slid her arm around Ariana's left shoulder, leaning heavily on it as she pulled her slowly to her feet. She could feel Rael wince with pain as she stood but they didn't have time to waste. Ariana wrapped her arm around her waist and began half supporting, half pulling Rael through the threshold and down the corridor. Ariana was leading them in the opposite direction, hoping that it would lead them to some sort of exit that they could escape from. The floor seemed to slope slightly upward as if they were ascending to the floor above and it became harder to hurry while having to pull Rael and simultaneously support her weight. As they continued at their slowed pace, she could hear the calls of Morgrean getting louder.
"COME BACK HERE NOW!" He bellowed, his fury cutting though her like a knife as she flinched at it. Almost as if in response, the flames on her right arm leapt into the air, hissing in the empty silence between Morgrean's yelling.
As they neared the end of the corridor, Ariana could see a shift from the dark, dull atmosphere of the lower level into a radiating light from somewhere beyond. Ariana gritted her teeth as she dragged them the last few feet up the corridor, finally coming out into a large area that appeared to be some sort of entrance hall. Her eyes roamed the room, immediately finding the source of the light as she felt elation rising up inside of her at the sight of it.
A huge doorway lay before them, probably as high as 10 or 15 feet and twice as wide. It was open, the doors having long ago been set on fire and tore off the hinges, the half-burned heaps laying just outside of the doorway. Ariana put on a burst of speed, letting Rael lean more heavily on her as she pulled them to freedom. In the next moment, they were breaking out into the cool evening air, the sun shining brilliantly upon their blood and grime covered faces like it was feeding their souls.
In the brief moment that it took for them to feel relief flood through them, they heard Morgrean calling again, this time closer than ever. "I'm coming for you, Princess, don't go far!"
Taking in a labored breath, Ariana braced herself as she half carried, half dragged Rael down the steps to the courtyard below. Ariana's eyes were fixed on the exit ahead of them and, beyond that, Ryonen and Tyrynion, who she could see fighting not even 400 feet away from them outside the courtyard walls. We're going to make it, she thought wildly, just as 2 dozen Goblins began to spill into the courtyard before them, weapons raised and coming straight at them.
She stopped dead in her tracks, Rael almost yanking her to the ground as she slumped forward from the sudden stop. Ariana tightened her grip on her waist, looking out before them at the encroaching Goblins. In the next second, she had whirled around to go back the way they came when she saw a badly burned Morgrean emerging from the doorway, his eyes full of rage and searching for her. Her heart seemed to stop as she realized that they were trapped, their two exits completely cut off.
She let out a shuddering breath, her heart beating so loud in her ears that she could hardly think. Then she heard Rael let out a faint whimper of fear and that seemed to pull her out of her own mind and back to the present. She began to lead them into the corner of the courtyard where the border wall met the outer wall of the castle. She set Rael down exactly in the corner of the stones, swallowing as she turned to face the oncoming Goblins. She could see the flaring of the sun as it bounced off of the weapons of the fighting armies just outside the walls, the flashing lights like beacons of safety just past certain death. Then, as if out of a dream, Morgrean began to walk toward her, his violet eyes full of hatred and burning vengeance, their gaze turned on her and her alone.