Adakon

Chapter 7

Erebus walked toward us, staring at Nova. "Well, what do we have here. Looks like little Chronos found a girlfriend."

I started blushing. "You stay away from her." I growled.

"Or what. What are you going to do, little prince. Do you remember the last time you saw me. Your parents were sitting in their throne, useless to their kingdom, as are you. You were nothing, are nothing, and will be nothing until the day you die."

I looked down at my feet as Erebus continued, "I was planning on killing you, but, that seems to easy. I think letting you live, knowing you are nothing, will cause you the most pain, giving me the sweetest satisfaction of victory. Kuzen!"

Four Kuzen walked in. "I need you to escort these two children to Shadowedge. I believe that will be a perfect prison for these two."

I had never heard of Shadowedge before. It must have been showing on my face because Erebus started speaking, seemingly reading my mind.

"Shadowedge is a place I discovered during my time in the Mountains of Karoth. I saw that when my Kuzen went in there, they never returned. The only one that did return is one that we roped off. He came back broken, and scared. He died later that night.

"Shadowedge is filled with a mist that creates your greatest phobias. No one that enters ever leaves, well, without assistance that is, but you get my point. Chronos, my dear prince, shall suffer more than I ever did. And I will enjoy every minute of it. But one more thing."

Erebus stepped forward, pulling out a small dagger. He stepped toward me, reaching for my palm. I tried to resist, but Erebus was incredibly strong. He took the weapon and made a quick, clean cut. After that, a bottle appeared out of his robe. Putting the bottle under my hand, he collected some of my blood.

"Take them away," Erebus said, turning back to the throne, "I have no use of these peasants any longer."

"What was that?" I yelled at him, "Why do you need my blood."

"And why should I tell you? I have no desire to tell you, nor does it concern you. Like I said earlier, take them away. I have no use for them now."

The throne room door shrunk as the Kuzen dragged us off, yanking on our necks if we slowed. When we were finally outside, they threw us back in our cage on the truck bed. Hauling us off, we watched my hometown whiz by, the memories of my boyhood here. Citizens watched us, their faces reflecting the oppression they are enduring.

As I watched my people, I vowed to get out of this Shadowedge and free them. It sounds cliche, but it was very true for me. And that is all I could think about for the remainder of the day. We travelled all day, and when night fell, the Kuzen driving switched places and kept moving.

I laid down, closing my eyes, trying not to think about what Shadowedge may bring. With the need of sleep came, so did the voices, making you question every choice you made during the day. I questioned if I really would get out. What would my fear be? What if I die? What of my people?

I tried my best to drown out the sounds of doubt, but they were persistent. I had to create solutions, fix the problems and try and bring peace to my mind. Finally, amidst all the noise and jostling of the cage, I was finally able to fall asleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I woke to the sun shining in on my eyes and the sounds of a cage being unlocked. The Kuzen were outside letting us out. I looked in front of the truck, seeing a large mountain range stretch as far as I could see in either direction. All of it seemed to be covered in shadow. The Mountains of Karoth.