Lunars of the Caribbean

Trapped and ... Unafraid (22)

She grew weaker by the day. She could no longer feel any sensation in her arms, as they were chained up above her. She could barely keep herself awake. The torch on the cavern wall blinded her. Her bones ached, her head throbbed.

Crescent was dying, more and more each day. The growls of her stomach were indistinguishable from the screams of agony in her mind. Her throat was drier than a desert. The scales on her tail shriveled from lack of water. Sure, from her pool of water that reached her hips, most of her tail was under water. But the water was stale, confining, and dirty.

She hadn't drunken anything in over a week. Her last morsel of food was given to her days ago. She never thought she could be any thinner than she already was. Sadly, she was mistaken.

Other than the flickering of the torch's flame due to the cold wind, there was no sound audible in the cave. That is, until footsteps echoed off the walls. Crescent knew what that meant. Her captor was coming to "ask her more questions".

Step by step, the villain grew closer and louder. She couldn't fight her off anymore. All she had was her ability to remain silent. She hadn't spoken in weeks, knowing anyone could hear her.

The most wicked woman Crescent ever met walked into the cave, acting regal and like she was deserving of whatever she asked for. Her lips stretched to form a thin smile. Her black hair swung lifelessly at her waist. The sight struck resentment in Crescent. Seeing as the woman approaching her was the same monster who chopped off her formally long locks.

This time, the villain was holding another torch in her hand. Her heels clicked as the hit the cave ground, echoing throughout the area and giving Crescent as splitting headache.

She stopped a meter before the minuscule pool of water Crescent was trapped in. Well, half of her was trapped in. This scenario had been played through dozens of times. All of them ended with her captor storming out the cave in rage and Crescent holding down her screams of agony.

Her villain, her monster, her worst nightmare. Sybil Mira, First Lieutenant to Queen Levana's entire military and country. She'd been the cause of every horrible thing in Crescent's life. Sybil stole her from her family, forced her to work for Levana, and held her against her will for years.

Crescent found the will to escape when she met a daring captain, and went on a whirlwind of adventures with him. They'd found treasures, discovered uncharted islands, uncovered mysteries and stories the world had never seen before.

One of those adventures led her to her own kidnapping. To Sybil taking her captive and "interrogating" her to extract the location of the treasure. Her life had been restored to its former torture. But all was not lost, seeing as how Crescent's actions led to Thorne's escape. If she'd stayed on his ship with him, he would have been taken with her.

She had to hide the Lunar Codex from him. To protect him, and so she was the only one to blame for "misplacement" of the sacred book. A text that could lead to the end of Levana's tyranny.

"Where is the Codex," Sybil demanded. The first question she asked Crescent every time she entered the cave. And every time, Crescent refused to answer.

Since she was the only one who knew the whereabouts of the Codex, Sybil couldn't kill her. Levana desired to possess the book, and/or destroy it before it reached the hands of anyone who could overthrow her.

In Crescent's opinion, the queen's paranoia would lead to her downfall. Like Macbeth, her actions were made out of fear of resistance to her rule, and it would hopefully cost Levana her life.