7 Days

0 Days

            Groaning, Avery awoke the next morning in pain. The tight bonds had cut off the circulation to her hands and feet. She looked over at Oron, Saela, and Cetra, hoping they had come up with a plan. Obviously they hadn’t, since all three looked depressed and exhausted. The sun shone brightly in the gray dungeon and Avery guessed it was probably mid-morning. Looking to her left, she saw Ashton was still sleeping. Sighing, she turned back to the others. “Any luck?” she called softly.

            Cetra turned toward her and smiled sadly. “I’m afraid n-“ Suddenly, her smile dropped and her eyes went dark and angry. Noticing her expression, the others all turned to where she was looking: the entrance to the cell. Seeing who stood there, fear and adrenaline rushed through Avery.

            “Dad…” she growled angrily.

            “Good morning!” Torben said brightly. “Today’s the day! Oh, and Oron, thank you so much for bringing everyone here for me. I really expected more of a challenge.”

            Closing his eyes, Oron replied, “You haven’t won yet, Torben.”

            Laughing, Torben turned his attention to the still-sleeping Ashton. “Still sleeping?” Lightning shot from his fingertips toward Ashton. Yelping, Ashton's eyes shot open. Confused, he looked around and saw everyone’ faces. Understanding, he turned to Torben.

            “You!” Ashton gritted his teeth.

            Torben smiled gleefully. “Yep, it’s me, Torben. I’m the one who’s going to take your beloved friends away from you, one by one. In fact, since I already have the power to breathe underwater, I think I will have…” he looked around the group, “Avery kill you after she becomes a shadow soldier! Yes, that would amuse me.”

            Avery looked at Torben in dismay. “Y-you’re insane!”

            “You’re sick,” Ashton agreed.

            Throwing his head back, Torben laughed even louder and vanished quite suddenly. “He’s powerful…” Saela said gravely, looking at the spot where he vanished.

            “But over-confident,” Cetra added. “I have an idea.”

*****

            The day passed quickly and soon it was evening. As the room slowly darkened, the other prisoners’ cries of despair grew louder. Trying to shut out the dismal sounds, Avery shut her eyes and focused on the group’s plan for defeating Torben. When the moons met and Torben came to steal their magic, they hoped he would be over-confident enough to only bring a couple shadow soldiers. If so, Cetra was to quickly grab one of the soldiers’ swords to free Oron, who could hopefully slay Torben. Unfortunately, the only way to have enough time to do all this, was if Torben was busy draining magic. Obviously, the plan had many holes in it, but it was the group’s only hope.

            Opening her eyes back up, Avery glanced around. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand,” she spoke up.

            Cetra glanced over. “And what’s that?”

            “Well,” Avery began, “why did dad wait so long to take us prisoner? I mean, there’ve been moon alignments before this…”

            “I can answer that,” Torben’s mocking voice from outside the cell. “You see, as you get older, your magic grows stronger until it reaches its peak. For most people, that’s when they’re around 20 years old or so. I had hoped to keep you unsuspicious until then, but your dear mother,” he glanced at Cetra, “became more and more rebellious. She, of course, knew nothing of my real plans, but was aware that I wasn’t the real Torben. Cetra pathetically tried to bring the ‘good’’ back out in me,” he chuckled softly, “but as she realized her attempts were futile, she began to give up. In order to keep her from warning Avery, I locked her up. I never expected my darling daughter to run off like she did…she always seemed so submissive and weak.” Shrugging, Torben went on, “But no matter. Avery’s magic is strong enough as it is. And it will be a relatively easy task to take over M’ena tomorrow.”