I was in a tenebrous room when l ultimately opened my eyes, still languid. My arms formed a "T" with my body, my wrists in gyves. My feet were shackled to the floor. I could feel myself swinging ever so slightly, hitting the wall behind me. In some ways, I felt like I was hanging from the ceiling up now, upside down. My hair was all over my face and I was too sore and weak to fight the chains.
I blinked a few times, feeling an eyelash on the brink of going in my left eye. I then moved my head around, loosening my stiff neck and causing the chains to rattle and the eyelash to fall. Finally able to semi-concentrate, I peer into the darkness, trying to make out something, anything. Alas, I could not see a thing. I start to question how to bring light into the room.
Stick to the dark.
His voice was back again now that I was awake. I trusted his advice and stopped plotting to find or start a source of light.
Minutes passed. Bored, I start to move my arms around some trying to loosen them. The chains bang against each other, echoing around the room. Soon, I began to hear a faint growl of a beast as the noise probably awakens him or her. I cease all movement, unsure what was lurking in the darkness with me.
I closed my eyes, blocking out the growl and trying to stay calm. As l reopened my eyes, the lights came on, blinding me temporarily. My eyes quickly shut again as I tried harder to ignore the pounding in my head from the sudden change in lighting.
It took several minutes before I could see again. During that time the growling became louder, chains rattling as the beast tried to move around. I opened my eyes to see an enormous cat-like creature. My mind froze in fear, temporarily forgetting what the creature is called. It jumped towards me just barely falling short at my feet, its chains restricting it from reaching me, but still succeeding in bringing out my fear.
My fear was soon quenched as I realized I was safe. For now. Able to think again, I remembered Giza showing me a drawing of a creature like this one. "It's called a ferra, and none are predictable," I recall. "Some make great large pets, while others are your worst nightmares." I shake my head, knowing this one was leaning more towards nightmares.
The ferra suddenly stopped jumping at me, headed to a corner away from me as a door opened near me. At the same time, my chains that were restraining me released me from its grip, dropping to the ground. I land on my hands and knees, weak, but managing to keep my head from hitting the floor.
As I look up, I watch as a familiar person, wearing an even more familiar white dress, waltz into the room and towards me. The person is a female, her hair much longer than the last time I saw her. Her grimace proved she was disappointed in me. It was my life, not her's to control.
"You're not getting out of this, Adèle," she told me coldly. "I gave you a warning, yet you didn't heed it. Don't expect any mercy either."
Her words cut into me, making me regret my actions for only a moment. Instead of replying, I watch her, waiting for her continue from my knees.
"You're going on trial for murder and allying with the devil. Unless you can prove yourself innocent, you will be chained and set fire. You cannot perform magic in here or until after the trial in two days. The place is enchanted to prevent prisoners from that privilege. Questions?"
Her voice sounded professional, yet rehearsed. I shook my head no, finally able to raise to my feet. "No questions for you, Naomi," I replied, my voice soft, yet icy.
Naomi nodded. "Good. Now, this beast will be accompanying you in this room. Try not to get yourself killed by him in the next 48 hours." With that said, Naomi turned and walked out if the room, the lights dimming as she disappeared behind the door. The ferra did not stir and I was no longer chained to a wall, so I crept closer to the brute to inspect him, to see if he really was a threat or if he was just full of talk without real action.
The ferra's pelt was pure black, with not a single speck of another color on it. His paws were huge and his breathing was light. I reached out and pet behind his ear. He awoke but kept his eyes closed, purring softly and proving he just wanted some attention.
Time ticked by slowly and the ferra and I were soon friends, especially now he understood l was not going to harm him. Food was given to us once a day, barely enough to make it through the day. We slept next to each other, a feat I could not have imagined when he was trying to attack me. After the second meal was brought in, I held the ferra back to resist eating it all.
"We want to preserve our energy for now," I told him softly, my throat hoarse from lack of water recently.
We waited in silence a while longer, until I finally caved and gave the ferra his food before gobbling down my own meal. Disgusting, but a necessary meal.
Somehow I managed to plan it so only a short time later, the door opened to reveal someone coming in again. My sleep over the last two days had mostly restless and as the light brightened again, I was forced to cover my eyes from the sudden change.
"Get up," a male voice demanded, however, I could not see straight still. The man walked over to me, his steps loud, and grabbed my arms, trying to force me to my feet. I refused to move and hung closer to the ferra with my eyes still closed. I heard some shuffling around as the mam continued struggling with me. A loud scream emitted from from the ferra and he started to move violently so l opened my eyes. Blood was everywhere, pouring from a wound on the ferra's chest. I pushed the man off of me and stand up. I push the other men away from my friend and I drop down to him, pulling out the black blade residing in his chest and slipping it into my pocket. I placed my hands on the wound, pressing down hard to try to stop the flow of blood coming out. My hands began to glow softly as I attempted to heal him. Something was restricting me, but I broke its power easily as l pushed through. My hand was glowing brighter as the wound began to heal. The ferra took a deep breath as soon as the wound was healed.
Seeing that he would be fine, I started to stand up, but was quickly grabbed from behind and forced back to my knees. It occurred to me that the ferra too was probably being executed and I prevented it, making me seem traitorous.
"I thought I told someone to strengthen the spells," an angry voice yelled, coming into the room. It was Naomi and I got to look up to see her irate face. I remembered her promise to me and I knew she was serious about her morals. Well, I was serious about mine too. I pulled my arms away from the man restraining me and hit him with them. I turned around to smack him in the face, making him drop to the floor somehow. Everyone else in the room except Naomi ran forward towards me, but I froze them in place. Blowing into my palms, sheets of ice coated everyone and everything except for me and the ferra.
I stand up and help the ferra to his paws, then look around. The room sparkled with the ice, but Naomi was not frozen as I had suspected. Instead, she was pulling out a scroll and began talking, chanting, as she read from it. Sensing the danger before I could, the ferra barreled into her just as I felt the room begin to spin. The spell was interrupted and the power built so far flung out of control, rushing into me and knocking me to my knees. I managed to stay conscious by taking deep breaths several times. My eyes were closed again and I felt a change in air pressure as I fought to control the excess power that I had absorbed.
When I looked up again, then room no longer surrounded me. Naomi was gone. The ferra was watching me. I was still shaking, but I stood up anyway. The walls were red, orange, yellow, with tinges of blue, made up of flames. There was no door, nowhere to go except through the fire. I walked to the ferra, muttering a spell to protect him from heat and fire.
"We are safe," I murmur to the ferra. The ferra nudged me in response, which I took as trust. Slowly, I led him forward, towards the fiery wall. As we went through the wall, I felt a slight tickle, as if the fire wanted to stay with me.
Soon on the other side, I looked around, shocked.
"Where did we end up," I murmured to the ferra. He made no movement, instead focused on something standing in front of us. Bracing myself, I turned to face whatever or whoever was there.
"Welcome back. Let's take a walk now, hm?"
