Downfall

Chapter 1

Ase never thought she could end up being dragged by her hair by a monster in a dark corridor under a mountain. But, truth to be told, she would have neither imagined being thrown into another world by simply swimming in a lake at night.

The last 24 hours had been a nightmare.

Her head was pounding and the low hissing of the creature in front of her was the only thing she could hear, deep in the tunnel it was pushing her through.

"Let me go! You're hurting me!" She cried out again, for the tenth time.

It gave another pull on her long tangled hair.

"Shut up, thing! You are my prize of the day." Its voice low, guttural.

It was a weird creature, a monster really, with dark blueish skin, full black eyes and a skeletal body, kind of hunched on itself, its two wings on the back probably just for show, too small to hold his weight in the air.

She had understood it was not her world pretty quickly, after seeing the red sky, the two moons and a whole bunch of monstrosities, one of which had claimed her as his prize and started to drag her in those dark tunnels, his sharp nails almost digging into her skull.

"The King is going to be very pleased by you." It hissed.

The King?

King of what? Of who?

Where the fuck am I?!

But she didn't ask, the ringing in her ears too strong to let her think straight.

It had taken but a moment to end up there, but days wouldn't have been enough to make sense of what had happened.

Why her? Why there? What was happening?

Magic did not exist, not in her world, it was just a story for kids, a made up thing, something you wish to believe in your imagination to escape the reality of the everyday life. Magic was not real, or at least, that's what she had always believed.

But now, she was not sure anymore.

The panic that had seized her in the first minutes since she had emerged from the water had already been replaced by the fear of dying by the hands of her kidnapper, followed by the anxiety of wanting the pain to stop, to be free.

You know that sensation when you are feeling so much, that you start to feel nothing, as if overwhelmed? It was her case.

Ase had the impression of passing by a lot of chambers, halls, a crowd of people, a sea of shadows. It was a castle, a fortress, under a mountain, dug deep into the stone, hallways of dark marble and purple light, reddish outlines of unnamed shapes, weird noises and screams making their way through her consciousness. She was not sure, as she saw but did not look, heard but did not listen, safe in her made up bubble, in that mind zone of not perceiving.

She gave up fighting a long time ago.

There was a time when she had so much strength, when her muscles worked well and her head was in the right place. But that was two years ago, before the accident that broke her knee, destroying her gymnast career at the age of 25. Since then, she had given up.

University had never been on the list of things she wanted to do, but setting foot in a gym and jumping again was a big mistake, so she had avoided it.

Once regained her ability to walk and run, that's when she had given up.

She got back the control of her senses as they halted.

The only thing she felt was the thud of her knees on the cold stone and the pulling sensation on her hair finally stopping.