The Final Storm (Part 3)

In which all Helvetii breaks loose.

Arianna used her legs to thrust herself backwards, trying to hide herself in the shadows. The small make-shift cell they had made for her was too small and she could only hope that the wooden bars enclosing her from the outside world kept them out. She knew she was only good for bait, and so far she wasn’t working. Shivering, she wrapped her threadbare cloak tighter around her thin shoulders. Something shifted outside her cell, the white fur shining like moonlight in the darkness. She curled up into an even tighter ball.

At first when she had been captured, not many had even lent her a second glance. But it had been over a week and no Ralem and they were starting to doubt he would come for her at all. And now as they looked at her with those hungry, evil eyes she knew her time was running out.

            Oh, how she hated them. She hated everything about the filthy creatures. Now she eyed the tempting glint of gold, muffled by the harsh grey tones of the dirt floor and stone wall. It was her ring and her bow, something she had been trying to get for the last two days. When they had thrown her into the room, the string holding it around her neck broke and sent it spinning into the crevice connecting the floor to the wall. She had dared not say so much as a squeak about it as the foul creatures had manacled her to the wall. When they weren’t looking she had spent her time trying to grab the elusive ring and had bloody wrists to show it. But it was just an inch away from her scrabbling feet, and it just drove her insane. She swore the second she got ahold of it, she would plant her arrows into the cat she hated the most; Chief Namas.

            But for now, all she could do was wait. In the beginning, she was certain that Ralem would beat the stuffing out of the cats in a day or so. But now… she was not so sure. Had Drake even been able to reach them? Where were they? Or even worse- had Ralem refused to help her? She shook that thought out of her mind with a shake of her head. He wouldn’t do that. She cringed as the manacles touched her burning skin. “Täytyy olla uskoa,” she reminded herself firmly, “They will come.”

            “Yes they will,” a smooth voice replied.

            Arianna jumped a little. She hadn’t even heard the scarred blonde cat come in. But she wouldn’t give it the satisfaction of a fearful cry and just glared at the ground. “What do you want?” she said crossly, amazed at how tough her voice sounded.

            The cat crouched on her haunches like a sitting house cat. She cocked her head. “You know what I want, Princess. But you won’t deliver. It seems like the Rider didn’t care for you as much as we first believed.”

            Arianna said nothing. She kept her eyes fixed to the spot right above the gold ring. In her head, she imagined sticking an arrow into the cat Chief’s remaining eye. The thought cheered her up just a little. Then she stiffened as she felt the rough fur tickle her cheek. “My clan would like nothing more than to rip you apart, limb from limb. You would make a tasty appetizer before our main meal… but I believe you can do more for us, hmm?”

            “What are you talking about?” Arianna could hardly hide the fearful shiver in her voice. She felt a pin-prick of pressure on her jawline of the cat’s huge paw wrapped around her jaw, forcing her to look at her. The Princess avoided the stare of those horrible black eyes and concentrated on its cute nose, which was a little wet and very pink.

            “I’m talking about this,” the cat shoved its other paw in her face and unfolded it to find something that made her heart almost stop beating.

            An emerald figurine of a dragon.                          

            Jaydon’s gretchshivisk.