Välikirja: The Wyvern's Pact

Chapter Twenty - Crime and Murder

This chapter is dedicated to the author of my latest favorite novel Crime and Punishment. As you can see, the title of my chapter resemble his novel's title. Anyway, I'm back, and uh...keep reading!

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Chapter Twenty - Crime and Murder

          The metal clanged as the door was pushed shut. Now, it wasn't Safia who was locked inside; it was me. My wrists were fastened with a chain, holding me down on the ground. I couldn't stand; I couldn't really move much. All I could do was look around the place and try to make out a picture of it in my head, which was done in vain.

          The room was very dark, even darker than any place I had ever been to. It was pitch black. Nothing could be seen. For all I knew, there could be a monster behind me, a predator who could eat me whole. But, now that I thought about it, I figured there couldn't possibly be a monster in my cell. The magisters needed me alive, for some reason; otherwise, they would've killed me in an instant. Perhaps they supposed Aiden would know if I were dead, and they were right. He would know.

          Rats squeaked from all corners of the cell. Sometimes, I felt them squirming their way through the narrow crevices of the floor, on which I was sitting. Their coarse hair brushed against my dress. On instict, I jerked away from them, which resulted in my wrists' getting extremely hurt by the chains that bound me in place, the skirt of my dress ripped. 

          I screamed in pain and was forced back to position, sitting on my knees which were bleeding as it grazed harshly against the rocky floor. My head turned from side to side as I tried to make a picture of the place with my hearing. Perhaps I could estimate their distances from me judging by the volume of their squeaks.

          Out of nowhere, a soft, little rat dropped on my thigh exposed because of the rips on my dress.

          "Aah!"

          It wasn't just me who screamed. It was the two of us, Chaucer and me. He thrashed inside my small satchel and finally made his way out of it, then he fluttered his wings in the air, flashing a smile at me. Once again, his faint, purple light illuminated the place, giving me that small bit of hope I needed to keep going.

          "Koshka!" he chirped, beaming with delight.

          I was delighted to see him again. Really, I was. But because of the light he emitted, my eyes were able to see what was around me: rats. They were everywhere. They were on the floor, between the crevices, on the walls, on the door. Everywhere! My mind overwhelmed with all the rats in the cell with me, I couldn't utter a word to him anymore. My mouth was left open, unable to move.

          "Close your mouth, Koshka, or you'll catch rats," a familiar voice said to me.

          In fear of my mouth's catching rats, I immediately closed it and felt comfort in hearing another familiar voice.

          "You're here," I told Carina. "I'm glad."

          "Of course, I am," she replied. "I told you, I'm here to guide you as long as I can."

          "Can you help me escape these chains?"

          "Who...Who is Koshka talking to?" he mused, his wings flapping in the air like a plump butterfly.

          My attention shifted to Chaucer, then I realized that he was still here. I had been accustomed that Chaucer was either sleeping or helping the other Amaranthines in the castle. I began to get used to his absence, but now I had to hold onto his presence so I could stay focused and determined to finish my task. My lips formed a smile, showing him that, despite everything around us, it was alright.