Enter Abyss

Chapter 10; The boy king.

At some point during the journey, Archer remembered blacking out. When he awoke, he found himself in a stone room, chained by his arms between two wooden pillars. The room he was in was small, contained no windows-- which made sense, seeing as they were underground-- and smelled of blood and death.

Archer also noted that his vest, shirt and boots were gone. He had his trousers on, thankfully, but the cold air of the cell against his bare chest made him shiver. The arrow was gone from his arm, replaced with a bandage. It probably just meant that they wanted to keep him alive for longer so they could torture him more. Cheerful thought.

Looking up at the sound of a door opening, Archer narrowed his eyes when he saw the dark-haired young man approach him. In the torchlight of the cell, he could see that he had a red gem imbedded in his forehead that shone as if it held a light from within. It was a curious thing and Archer wanted ever so badly to ask about, but he figured that now was not the time.

The young man stood before Archer, placing a pale, slender hand on his bare chest. "Tell me," he hissed, "Why are you here?"

"I don't have to answer you." Archer snarled. Immediately, pain rocketed through him as if it had lept from the young man's fingers into Archer's own body. His vision blurred for a moment and he shrieked as the feeling  continued to rip through his body. It felt like he was being torn down to his bone and when it finally stopped, he shook.

"I said," the young man had a smirk on his face, "Why. Are. You. Here?"

"Why do you want to know?" Archer gasped out, his lungs feeling like they were going to collapse any moment.

The pain came again, harder this time and Archer screamed from the force of it. This time, when it stopped, he vomited blood onto the floor directly in front of the prince. Archer's whole body was slick with sweat and the chains binding him were the only thing holding him upright.

But just as it looked like the dark haired main was about to deliver another blow, the cell door suddenly flew open and a commanding voice called out angrily, "What is the meaning of this, Mordren?"

The man stopped, a slow, evil smile coming to his face as he turned to greet another young man--about Archer's age-- who hobbled more than strode into the room. This newcomer was pale as the moon, with eyes that glowed silver and hair white as snow. He was more handsome than the dark haired man--Mordren-- with softer, kinder features and a wide, innocent gaze. His body was frail and he leaned heavily on a carved staff while his chest rattled with coughs and labored breathing.

"Ah, brother." Mordren's voice was smooth as cream and twice as sweet, but Archer sensed a sharp edge beneath that charming smile. "I was wondering when you would join us."

"You know our laws," the pale boy said, "Now let this young man go--"

"So what?" the sweetness suddenly left Modren's tone, replaced with a bitter snarl, "So you can try to get information out of him by asking nicely? MY interregations have always been more fruitful."

"And yet they are unethical." the boy paused, "As your king, I command you let him go."

Archer watched all this with interest, despite his aching body. So this was the king of the Underworld? Funny, he had expected someone taller... and scarier. This boy only came up to Archer's collarbones by the look of it and while he had a good commanding voice, he coughed and shook so much that the effect was nearly ruined. However, Mordren seemed to get the point and hurled the keys to Archer's chains at his brother's feet before stalking off to go be scary elsewhere.

Leaning on his staff, the pale boy approached Archer and undid the chains. With a thankful sigh, Archer slumped to the cold stone floor, feeling drained. "Thank you," he breathed, "I wasn't sure I would see the light of day ever again."

"Well, you still won't, seeing as you're at the bottom of this pit."

"Ah. I hadn't thought of that."

"Just making sure you knew."

Archer grinned; he'd never met someone who could match him in witty banter. It was quite refreshing finding someone who could be as annoying as him at times. It was like this boy king was having a normal conversation with him, as if the sarcasm naturally flowed from his mouth.

"Archer." Archer said.

"Was that your name or do you always say random things with no context?" He blinked his silver eyes at him, clearly amused.

Rolling his eyes, Archer extended his hand, "My name is Archer Bram." 

The king looked at his hand as if confused, then hesitantly took it in his own. He didn't shake it, he just held it awkwardly, making Archer uncomfortable. Then it occured to the boy that perhaps they did not know what hand-shakes were down in the Abyss. Perhaps they greeted one another in a different way. Taking his hand back-- which was even more awkward-- Archer cleared his throat and prompted, "And you name...?"

"Oh, I'm King Galen of the Shadow Kingdom." he said it as if they were discussing what they had for breakfast that morning. He paused, "I heard from one of the guards that you can speak the Old Language. He said you weren't very good but it was something at least. Cre ama nae hedaras?"

Archer smiled, he understood that Galen was asking him if he was hungry. Searching his mind for the word, he finally answered with yes. "Adiras."

The king then helped him to his feet and gave him his cloak to wear, promising to find him some proper clothes later. But just as they were about to leave, Archer burst out, "Wait! I came here with two friends; a blond boy and a girl who almost looks like a boy. I can't leave without them."

Galen nodded, "Of course. We can look for them now, though they are probably unharmed."

And it was the 'probably' that worried Archer the most.

                                .................................

"By Threndas' wooly beard, if you cowards don't let me out of this cell this instant I'll clobber the lot of ya!" 

"Pip, for the hundredth time, they aren't letting us out." 

Cogs was trying his best to be patient, but when it came to Piper, that became a difficult task. Much more difficult than he would have liked.

"Perhaps I should try asking nicely."  Pip mused, ignoring him completely, "Oi! Please let me out OR I'LL CLOBBER YOU...GENTLY!"

'Dear gods.' So far, being trapped in this cell was not as bad as Cogs had feared. In his eyes, they were not torturing him and that made the situation better. Not only that but they'd probably feed them if they weren't too scared about Pip biting them— which she'd done once already. THAT had been quite amusing, and he had to pry her off when she'd locked her jaw on the guard.

Now, she was resorting to yelling threats at them; entertaining, but useless as a whole.

Covering his ears against her shouting, he tried to think of positive things, but his mind only kept returning to the thought of Archer. Where was he? Was he alright? Why did that scary man take only him and not Pip or himself? Perhaps his friend was alone somewhere, in pain or cold and scared. What if they were torturing HIM? These were the things he wondered about as Pip continued to yell obscenities at the guards. For no one could swear like her, that was for sure. And in multiple dialects too.

But just as she let out another stream of curses, a scream split the air. A very FAMILIAR scream...

Pip stopped and listened, her face going pale and Cogs felt his stomach drop. "That's Archer, isn't it?"

She nodded, not speaking for the first time possibly in her life. The screaming continued; horrible shrieks that no doubt ravaged that person's throat. It cut through the air, hammering into Cogs' brain, making his spine shudder. Would they be next?

He looked at Pip; at her wide eyes, her face that had gone pale, and in his heart he vowed to protect her... even though she would probably end up protecting him.

Still, he could always try.

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