Werrin's Voice: Dancing Fire

Imprisoned

Max awoke in an underground cave. He was in a small stone cell, iron bars keeping him in. He was shackled up against the wall, his wrists bound by the metal and his head slumping as he sat on both knees uncomfortably.
He felt weak and tired, and looked at his shackles. They glowed blue. Max tried to summon fire, or do something to the rock, but nothing came. He realized that the shackles were cursed.
He looked through the bars and saw Maria in a cell like his, shackled just the same. She looked up at him, and smiled weakly. Max smiled back, with all he could muster. His body ached.
A pair of armored soldiers walked down the path between cells. One of them looked into Max's cell and saw he was awake.
"So, the Voice is awake, is he?" the man said. He had a very thick accent- Max recognized it as someone from the Eastern Boundary, ruled by the Lord of Earth, whom Max did not know the name of.
"When I get out of these chains," Max said under his breath.
"What was that?" the guard taunted. "Did you say something? I couldn't hear you."
"I said I'm going to make you pay!"
The guard turned to his partner and laughed. "He's got quite the mouth, this one. Maybe a beating will do some good."
The other guard shook his head. "You know the rules, can't touch the prisoners."
"Aw, you killjoy. Never had the nerve to make them pay, did you?"
"I joined this force because I want to see the dragons prevail, not the opposition suffer."
"What's the difference?" the first guard asked, and chuckled. He walked away.
When he was gone, the level-headed guard walked to the bars of Max's cell. "I'm sorry you have to be imprisoned here. I don't have a choice but to help keep you locked up tight."
"Can you help us?"
The guard shook his head. "I can't. I don't have the cell key- that's the Warden."
"How would one get their hands on the key?" Max asked.
"I'll tell you some other time," the guard said quickly as he walked away. Another pair of guards came down the corridor, looking at Max then continuing.
For the next three days, Max and his friends managed to keep sanity by talking when guards weren't around. Maria was across from Max, Rob directly to his right. Alexis was across from Rob, and Sam was to Max's left. The five were fed enough to keep alive, but no more. The shackles kept them weak and tired at all times. However, Sam and Alexis didn't have them, because they weren't magical. This meant they were not as weak and tired as the others.
As their fourth day in captivity was coming to a close, a guard walked in. Max immediately looked up and glared at the soldier.
"Calm down, it's me." Max recognized the voice as the guard that had been kind on the first day. "I think I know how to help you."
"Explain."
"Okay, first, you'll need to get yourself into trouble. Do it enough, you'll get into solitary. When that happens, the Warden and his two private guards will escort you there. Steal the Warden's key, which opens every lock in this prison. I don't care how you do it. After a week, you'll be brought back here. I'll come visit you then."
Max nodded. "Thank you."
The guard nodded and left.
The next day, Max started a screaming match with a guard. When he opened the door to his cell and stomped over to Max, Max kicked him in the knee, breaking it. Then, he walked up the front of his body and kicked him in the head.
Another pair of guards came in and took the injured guard away, locking Max's cell back up. Soon enough, the Warden showed up.
He was a tall man in black robes. He had gray hair and large beard and mustache. He unlocked the cell, and his two guards unchained him, snatching him up and slamming him into the ground.
The warden kneeled down and punched Max in the cheek. "You think you can just beat up on my guards? You thought wrong. It's time for Solitary, Voice."
The guards grabbed his arms and lifted him, dragging him down the hall. Max needed someway to snatch the key.
Suddenly, he stepped on the foot of the guard to his left and tripped the guard. As he fell, he didn't let go of Max's arm, and Max toppled over with him. Thinking quickly, he opened his mouth and clamped his jaw down on a cold, hard metal ring- the key. It was small and fit under his tongue.
The guard helped his friend to his feet as he kicked Max in the ribs. The pain was sharp, but nothing compared to the satisfaction of the rust-ridden metal key under his tongue.
They got Max up, and after the Warden punched his head countless times, they continued. Max struggled hard not to spit out the key as they beat him.
They took him to a small room with a metal cage- not a cell, but a cage- in the center. On all sides, catwalks sat above the room, with armed guards on all of them. Escape here would be next to impossible- no doubt he'd be waiting until he was moved back.
They threw him into the cage, and he had to lean forward a bit to fit. His back started to burn after mere minutes. He'd be like this for a week.
The Warden laughed at him as he sat uncomfortably in the cage. "That'll teach you to cause trouble in my prison."
Max scowled. "You bastards will never win. There are plenty out there who despise the dragons and those who follow them. We will beat you."
"Keep telling yourself that, kid." The Warden and his guards left the room and Max was now alone in his cage, surrounded by guards. This was going to be a very long week.