Era of Wrath (Chrim Chronicles #2)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Gaspar

The flickering torches outside our cell gave warm orange streaks through the metal bars. Tavi crouched over to me and placed his back against the moist wall. A skeleton sat in the corner across from us, a former prisoner's remains, and the dripping rain from above had caused a slight dent in his skull. Inside one of the cells far off someone vomited.

A rat slipped through the metal bars inside our cell. The rats in The Wik were bigger than I had ever seen, shooing them away was of no use. They'd just stare at you, and eventually the rats would come closer as if to taunt you.

"Your turn," Tavi muttered.

Placing my hands on the uneven, rough floor I hauled myself to my feet. With careful steps I approached the beast. Its nose quivered. Upon noticing me, the rat froze and bared its teeth. If it would stand up its body might have been as tall as mine. A shiver crawled down my spine as I skulked slowly towards it. There came a hiss from the beast as I made a turn sideward. The rat also turned around, much to my frustration. We stared at one another, it didn't let me out of its sight.

"Tavi..." I swallowed. "It won't let me go around. Either you'll have to do it, or find a way to distract it." I heard his clothes ruffle and his footsteps coming near. This made the rat rotate its body to Tavi. "Good, keep it distracted."

"Just hurry," Tavi whispered.

The rat scurried towards him. I lunged at it and grabbed it by its long tail. It snapped at my arm and tried to dig its teeth inside my flesh. I swung the rat as far out of the cells as I could. We stood in front of the bars for a moment, waiting to see if it'd come back. In the distance we heard the creaking of the wooden door as it opened. Before the guards would beat us with a stick we quickly returned to our former spots and fell against the wall. Our heads turned to the floor as the footsteps echoed closer.

They stopped in front of our cell. Tavi and I exchanged a quick glance and swallowed, but did not look up. Maybe, if we didn't look at them, we'd live a while longer. The cell across from us opened with a shriek, and I could hear the thump of someone being thrown inside. The footsteps turned around and left, yet we did not dare to look up even after the door had closed with a bang.

A high-pitched little voice broke the silence. "Gaspar?"

Slowly, I turned my face up. In front of me sat a figure who wore the dark cloak of a Grim Reaper. A grin appeared on my face and I leaped forward to the bars. Across her face she carried desperation and despair, and inside her eyes I could see nothing but a hollow darkness. Even her colors, which had always been dull and innocent, lit up bright. She'd become a sinner, as wicked as a sinner could get.

Holding the bars, I called out to her. "Wren? Is that you?"

"It's me," she said, and grinned. "It's so good to see a familiar face. What are you doing here?"

Tavi crawled next to me and leaned his forehead against the metal bars. "Looking for you."

"We came to find you and bring you back to Earth," I added. "But, things haven't gone as planned." I tilted my head aside and snickered. "Obviously."

A moment of silence went by, then Wren threw us a brief smile. "Well, you found me."

"Great," Tavi said. "Now we'll all perish here together. What are you doing here anyway? You're supposed to be in the Abyss."

"How long have you guys been here?" Wren said, ignoring Tavi's remark. "And how did you get here?"

"The Emperor figured out we were trying to kill him," I said. "That was four nights ago."