Enchantment of the Bow

Chapter Forty

Hana's POV

When I finally drag myself back into consciousness, I find that I see nothing. I blink a few times to be certain my eyes are truly open. They are. Have they blinded me? I push the panic that rises up in me away, my mind calming with my heartbeat and becoming more strategic. I have to figure out where I am, and then find a means of escape. I can fret over injuries later.

I remember the hooded men who attacked my company in the land just outside of the castle walls. I remember wounding one who grabbed me, but my memory becomes foggy and unclear as I try further. Were we drugged? I cannot grasp the concept of how we had gotten ambushed, let alone how three elite Guardsmen had been overtaken, bound and brought here. My memory offers no assistance, and I am left grabbing at opaque phantoms of the mind. I cannot think. I focus on my surroundings instead, squinting into the unwavering darkness. It is more than just black, it seems to be the absolute absence of light. I cannot see anything, and my eyes do not adjust to aid me.

The first thing that I become aware of is the rough rope that bites into my skin and the sharp, surging pain in my torso every time that I take a breath. My back is pressed against something hard and jagged, but I cannot tell if I am sitting up or laying down. I do not feel the familiar weight of my sword on my person, but I do not panic. I do not require a weapon to fight.

The second thing to hit me is the stench. This place reeks of every unsavory thing I've ever known in my lifetime, mingled with something else that is cold and damp. The air is stale and polluted in my lungs.

The third thing that I become aware of, is the sound of another's breath that is mingling with the mine, loud in whatever space we are being held in. Someone else is here with me, but it sounds as though they are still unconscious.

I try my voice, and it comes out cracked and ragged with disuse and dehydration. I lick my dry lips, tasting old, coppery blood on broken flesh. "Cas? Michael?" It comes out a strained whisper, sounding raspy and too loud in the silence. My fingers hurt, and when I attempt to move, the stinging soreness in my ribs becomes so strong, that I suck in a breath to fight it off. My head feels as though I've been kicked by a horse, but my mind begins to focus a bit better. I am about to try calling to the darkness again, when someone shifts and I hear the breathing pause to listen.

"Captain?" I recognize Micheal's voice, though it is as parched and disguised as my own. "Where are we?" He sounds slightly incoherent, speech slow and groggy. This is followed by a groan, most likely as he attempts to move. I perceive him to be a few feet to my right.

"I do not know. I cannot seem to recall much of anything." I answer, stifling my pained grunt as I shift, trying to ignore the agonizing twinge that explodes everywhere down my body, as if it is all one big bruise. "Keep speaking," I order, voice thick with discomfort.

"Captain..." I hear Micheal start, then cough laboriously, as if fevered. "My body feels horrible, as if I've been run over by a thousand carriages. Is Castiel here, as well?"

I follow his voice and slowly drag myself towards it, gritting my teeth as pain threatens to take me out of consciousness. I wonder if that is what knocked me out the last time, as well. I cannot seem to remember. I attempt to ignore the sharp rocks that dig pointy claws into my exposed arm, tearing flesh. Compared to the rest of my body, this is not as bad.

I feel Michael before I meet him, intuition alerting me to the object I am about to come into contact with. It feels like he is propped up against the wall, and I pull myself to sit next to him with a grunt. I take a moment to even my labored breathing before answering. "I am not sure, you are the only one that responded. Can you see anything?"

I find myself almost relieved at his answer. "No, sir. It is completely dark."

Perhaps we have not truly been blinded, and are just in a passage that is too dense for light. "Neither can I. Are you injured? "
He takes a moment to answer. "I feel ill, and my shoulders hurt terribly. My head is pounding as well, but I cannot tell of any other pains. How are you, Hana? You sound to be in anguish."