The Amari War

Chapter 12

 Eventually the forest thinned out and was replaced by the outskirts of a city. Small, dirty wooden houses lined the equally filthy streets. The smell of rotting trash and human waste filled the air, and I tried to breathe through my mouth as much as possible.

As we continued through the city, the houses got closer and closer together. There were larger buildings now, and soon we were on a narrow, crowded street hemmed in by three-story houses. The people on the streets laughed and jeered at us, and some even threw fruit or eggs or rotten fish. How come they can afford to waste food by throwing it at us? It doesn't even cause damage- it's just annoying. Why not eat the food before it rots?

I didn't know how people could even live here. It was no wonder that diseases were so common. The gutters were filled with human waste. As we passed, someone threw a bucket of piss out the window, and I cringed away from the splash. Some hit me anyway.

As it turned out, they didn't have food to waste. On a less crowded street, the walls were lined with starving people. Some begged for food from passersby, others just lay against the wall. Some were dead. I know they're our enemies, but I kind of wish I could help them. Then I remembered that as a prisoner, I wasn't any better off myself.

The streets we were traversing grew more and more crowded, and the people were much better off. Instead of dirty rags, some had clothes that were almost new and in much better condition. Their faces looked less worn, and some were trading or talking happily. They didn't bother with us.

Eventually, I caught sight of the building where we were being taken. It was a massive castle made of dark stone. It was rather similar to the Coven castle, except much larger. The walls were lined with arrow slits and there were huge buckets atop the battlements to drop boiling water on attackers. Blake could still get in. So could I, actually. But Samantha and I can't hope to take on the whole city.

The guards around our convoy remained there until we had reached the drawbridge. Then they dropped back to join the guard at the castle gates. Our carts trundled across the bridge, and the wood creaked under the weight of the horses. If the bridge broke, we'd probably drown, because I couldn't escape the cage without my fire. I watched with bated breath until we were across the bridge. It didn't break.

In the castle courtyard, one of the remaining guards unlocked my cage and began handcuffing me. I really wanted to burn him and run for it, but there were far too many soldiers around. I would have to wait for an opening. And if one didn't present itself, I would make one.

I was led across the courtyard alongside Samantha. I avoided looking at her, trying to act as though I had never seen her before. At the side of the courtyard was a low wooden door with a barred window. The guards opened it, and we were led into a low, dirty corridor that sloped and wound downward.

Eventually the corridor opened and flattened out, and we were walking between rows and rows of jail cells. Most were empty, but a few held people. Many of the people were lying slumped against the walls, having lost all hope of escape. A few glanced up as we passed, watching us with increasing desolation in their eyes. Others had guards in their cells and were being tortured. Their screams echoed over the sounds of rats skittering across the dirty stone floors.

The guard at the front opened the door of the next open cell and threw me in. He removed my handcuffs and slammed the door behind me. It locked with a loud click, and I scrambled up, looking out between the bars. They put Samantha into the cell directly across from mine.

Then the guards left. We were alone with our thoughts, and the tortured screams, and the skittering of rats on the cold stone floor.

For hours, I'd been sitting in my cell. There was no day or night; the conditions in the dungeon were the same. Is this what Ada's facing right now? Is she even worse off?