Cage of Darkness

Chapter 3: Aelin

They were still on the ship, she had discerned that much. But she couldn't tell how far away she was from Doranelle. That is, if they were going to Doranelle.

Of course they were. That was Maeve's seat of power, the only difference that would befall the city is that there would be many more guards and that their queen had a new fiery play toy.

Her stomach lurched at the thought of serving Maeve, of Cairn getting his filthy hands on another whip to try and break her.

And even though the hope in her heart was gone, she still decided that she would hold on, that she would resist.

Fighting wasn't an option for her, not anymore. All she could do is hold out long enough for her to find a way to get out, to get back.

She heard voices coming near her prison, her cage. She could barely see anything through the mask's slits. The rutting mask that mocked her and her power, as it was decorated in flames, fires, and suns.

Arms lifted up her coffin, and started to carry her. She tried to lift her arms to thrash and bang and scream, but they were leaden.

Aelin gasped as they started swinging the coffin slowly, back and forth, causing the iron to bite at the slashes on her back.

Pain filled her head and she arched, and then hissed as the movement sent more lightning through her.

She cried out as she realized that they had stopped flinging her, that they had launched her into the air.

Aelin could do nothing as she landed a few feet away onto the hard-packed ground, the impact sending her back into screaming agony.

It blinded her and shut off her senses. Everything was smothered by the pain and she blacked out, welcoming the darkness.

***

When she opened her eyes, she thought she was still asleep. She couldn't hear or see anything. She lifted her arms slowly, trying to feel around.

She wasn't in her coffin anymore, no, that had merely been a method of transportation to keep her contained.

There were still iron chains around her hands and ankles, but at least not on her neck.

The darkness that was around her seemed to be even worse than the one in the coffin or even in the deepest mines of Endovier.

At least in either places she still could hear the faint sound of the waves or of the other slaves. 

But in here all that she could sense was the faint smell of stone and iron. She must be in a stone cave she thought, or maybe another cage made out of rock and iron instead of just the pure metal.

A mercy she supposed, she could have been stuck in that coffin for gods know how long.

And at least that infernal mask was off her face.

She gingerly tested out her arms and stretched her legs cautiously. She did it slow enough that little pain shot up her back. She sighed in relief, and then laid her hands on the ground, smack right on top of was most likely a tray of food.

Aelin sniffed at it. Bread, apples, cheese, and water. The apple she avoided, as she knew that any poison in there would be near impossible to detect. The bread and cheese seemed to be fine, but she only had her smell and touch to help

She downed the food and sniffed at the water, but drank it anyway.

She knew it would be only a couple of hours until she wouldn't be able to handle the darkness. But for now she was fine, well as fine as she could be.

Dragging that ember up from deep in her, she tried, she really did try to create even a tiny flame. But the iron smothered it and it free fell right back down to the bottom of her empty well.

Tucking her head into her legs, she tried to ignore the over-whelming darkness. She thought she would last at least a couple of hours without starting to shut down, she had only lasted a couple of minutes.

Aelin of the Wildfire, stuck in eternal darkness. The irony of it was almost laughable.

She did not know how long she sat there with her eyes closed. And when she heard the creak of a door open, she turned and saw trickles of light fill the room. She sobbed in relief as she saw the light penetrate the black.

She looked up, thinking maybe someone had accidently opened the door, or else maybe, just maybe Fenrys had come to help her.

But both were wrong she realized, as her heart sank as she saw Cairn emerge from the doorway, grinning like a cat. "Hello Princess" he purred, feral amusement lighting up his eyes.

Hi everyone. Thanks for checking in on this chapter. I'm planning to make this a 20-30 chapters story, but it might go down or up. Please vote and comment and check back in a few days for the next chapter.