The Warhorse of Balrok

Chapter 15: The Dungeon

Chapter 15
The Dungeon

Talnerr

Talnerr had no idea when he'd blacked out, but apparently he had, because he had no recollection of being brought to this place.

He'd been woken up by something repeatedly poking his head. He scowled and opened his eyes.

He blinked wearily and glanced at his surroundings. He was lying on his side on a cold, stone floor with pieces of old straw scattered across it. His wrists had heavy iron shackles on them, which were secured to the wall behind him by strong chains. Apparently, he was in some kind of cell. There were rusted bars in front of him that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. They also were by his head, in place of a wall.

The poking started again. Talnerr quickly sat up. "Stop it!" He ordered.

Someone giggled on the other side of the bars beside him. He glanced through them and saw two girls that were probably the height of his knees. Large dragonfly wings extended from their backs. Their clothes were green and designed to look like leaves.

"Pixies." He muttered in annoyance. Only they would be laughing in a dungeon.

He surveyed the prison. His was the first of a long line of cells on either side of a narrow corridor. He couldn't see where it ended. There were no windows, except for a few small, rectangular, holes in the walls with bars across them. As far as he could see, each cell had two or more occupants. He was alone in his, for some reason.

His shoulder began to throb with pain. He bit his lip to keep from exclaiming and put his hand on the area that was giving him trouble. His back was pressed against the wall behind him and his knees were drawn up to his chest.

Then, his recent memories flooded back into his mind. Everything that had led to this.

Demons in the forest by Shae's cabin. Zand. Fehnir. Bandits. White arrows. Lunareclipse. Wilohshai. Astrid. Another demon attack. Being dragged off of Fehnir by the demons, which was the cause of the pain in his shoulder, and...Talnerr felt anger cloud his thoughts. Willohshai's dagger sliding across Zand's throat. When Talnerr got out of here, he was going to hunt Willohshai down and kill him.

He was jolted from his thoughts by the pixies whispering in their high-pitched voices.

"He's got blood eyes!" The curly-haired one declared.

"Ooh, a vampire!" The other marvelled. This one wore a pointed hat that looked like a closed flower.

"Not a vampire. He's got no points in there." Curly Hair bared her teeth and pointed at them.

"And how'd you get a good look at his his teeth?" Flower Hat's wings twitched energetically.

"I say he's a faerie who got his wings chopped off." Curly Hair suggested, ignoring Flower Hat. She made a slashing motion with her hand.

Flower Hat stroked her chin. "The monsters were pretty rough with him when they brought him in. Maybe you're right. But he's not handsome enough to be a faerie."

"I think he is." Curly Hair pouted.

Talnerr rolled his "blood eyes" in disgust. Let them talk. He had more important things to worry about. Such as, how and when he was going to escape.

He knew he would. He had to. He was not going to die in here. And he didn't want to know what the demons would do to him.

But, the problem was that he had no fighting experience, no idea how to pick a lock, and no idea where he was.

He was tempted to curl up on the floor and die, but that wouldn't help anyone.

He heard a door creak and slam. Heavy footsteps thumped down a set of stairs that Talnerr couldn't see. A pair of demons entered the scene. They looked exactly like every other demon Talnerr had seen. Spiky black armour (did they ever take it off?), horns poking through their helmets, black and red wings folded against their backs...the usual. Except, one was carrying scraps of what looked bread, and other held a jug of water.

They grumbled as they tossed a piece of bread through the bars of most of the cells. The pixies attacked it desperately, splitting it in half. One demon poured a bit of water into a small cup, and shoved it through the bars of the same cells that got food.

They stopped in front Talnerr's cell. The piece of bread hit him in the shoulder. He nibbled at it slowly.

The one with the water glanced at him. "Isn't this the one Balrok wanted to see?" He shoved the cup through the bars.

"Yeah, looks like the rumours were right, then. Red eyes, black hair."

"What is he?" Curly Hair asked excitedly.

"We've been trying to figure that out for hours." Flower Hat scratched her neck casually.

The demons glanced at the pixies in disgust. "He's dead, that's what he is. Or going to be very soon. The prisoners that Balrok wants to see never last past the first meeting."

The pixies looked at Talnerr in surprise. "Bad luck, Blood Eyes!"

Talnerr, however, was distracted with half-formed escape plans. A meeting with Balrok, eh? Well, he'd figure out a way to benefit from it. He smiled. Meeting his dreaded father might prove to be the key to his escape.