𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 | 𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐒𝐎𝐍

10 ⋆✶⋆ The Dark Truth

TW: Animal cruelty, still

The animal's eyes lowered to the puddle next to my feet. Footsteps traced from it leading to the iron door. It was locked at that moment, I'd heard the key being turned, but in the morning those men in black would return, maybe to take more young, to cause more damage to their already splintering souls. 

I got the clue and nodded, tracing the red tracks, but stopping at the solid iron gate. I wasn't going to get through it, but at least that way the Wargals saw I had done something with the information they had bestowed upon me. 

Until the morning came, I slept, in the cave which only echoed drops of water falling, or large beasts shifting in their cages. The laments had stopped, maybe because I'd given them hope. An eerie chill snaked up my spine as I realized the creatures had understood my words. My promises. What if I couldn't keep them?

There had been too many promises in my life, one I was sure I had broken by choosing to stay with Gilan. He had told me he'd negotiated with Baron Arald for an apprenticeship for my brothers, but the older man had only granted one. It was my hope it had become Steven's as he was such a fanatic for laws, that being a Cleric seemed the only option. Fred would've of course chosen the Knight's school, all though he was much better with the horses, so the stables should be his pick. I wondered if I'd chosen anything else had I been offered another apprenticeship. I doubted it, the woods and sneaking around had always been a hobby of mine. In particular paying visits to my neighbors barn. I had loved playing a rogue queen, turned a spy for her kingdom, infiltrating the enemy lines. The thrill of being chased out had always made me come back, until one day I hadn't just been shooed off.

I ran a thumb over my hip unconsciously and turned over, just as the commotion of steel on iron teared through the clear silence. The Wargals immediately howled at the sound: one last song for their fallen family member. I squatted down and gathered my pouch, hiding it in the pockets of my cloak. The small door, not the big one, swung open and two men in dark tunics strode in, evil grins on their faces. Had they always been this way? Or was turning brute the only way to survive in this castle. My mentor had said in my first week, that monsters weren't born, but made. A soft ache kissed and stroked old scars on my heart, as I remembered why he'd told me that. To remind me why he'd taken me away.

"Breakfast is served!" They screeched, pushing forward a wooden cart, stocked with black meat they hurtled to the animals carelessly. If it wasn't within reach, then that did not qualify as their problem. 

At the last cage they stopped, looking at each other with played ignorance. "Oh I believe it was this cage that's been chosen for today, wasn't it?" 

The man looked to his colleague who nodded fiercely. "Oh yes Gerald, these lucky monsters are bestowed the honor of serving our Lord Morgarath." 

The blood in my veins turned to ice. They would serve. In a war. Cruelty wasn't even beginning to describe this, this was inhuman, from another deeper depth of the earth. The little cubs yelped, having understood every word, knowing the fate that was approaching them. 

A roar thundered through the cool air, electrifying it and when that caused more high squirms, it fell into a soft three tone whistle. Not like the rhythmic songs of the soldiers, like a lullaby. It echoed through all the cages with little ones, so it had to be something that calmed them down. Relief warmed my mind as I had found something to help the king. If he were to blast these tunes, it could be that the Wargals soldiers would stand down, just like when they were little cubs. 

I waited until another family was broken apart and followed the bastards who had done it. All the way down the spiraling stone corridor, slithering in the shadows, where they couldn't see me. But I saw them and all of their sins, the fulfillment they got from finally arriving at a small door, hooded in the dark. I almost hadn't seen it would they not have stopped there. When the heavy door threatened to fall close behind them, I hurriedly shot over a loose pebble, which held it open the smallest bit. We'd gone down so far I feared to see what was behind it. My boy sang that it wasn't right, that whatever laid beyond it wasn't something I could bear seeing. But if I'd wanted a life free from pain I should've chosen death, instead of the apprenticeship. 

With a thick swallow I pushed down the handle and slipped in, just in time to hear the screams. The screams ripped straight out of a nightmare, otherworldly and not right. It had sounds through my village when the wind and people are quiet. The cry of an animal staring into death's eyes and screeching, begging for help as the knife comes closer and they can't move. 

What they did to those cubs wasn't much different, but I haven't found it in my heart to burden any other soul with the horrors. But all that is important for you to know is that I fled, like a coward, hurtling out because my stomach couldn't bear the sight. 

Monsters are made, not born.

My feet stomped into the dark stone, sounding clearly, signaling my run to everyone who was bothered to hear. I sprinted up two flights of stairs until I'd reached the tiled hallway leading to the cellar with the hidden exit. An escape I was so desperate for I didn't care who I alerted with my steps. Soon enough there was a legion following me through the underground labyrinth, carved by the creature from legends. The walls of that castle had started to come closer, pushing the air out of my lungs, heating my blood until it boiled for a fight. Had I not gotten out, I would've slaughtered every last guard in that damned cave. Drown them so often, death seemed like mercy.

The pursuers gave up fairly quickly, as the markings on the walls weren't something they were aware of. It sucked up a few seconds of my precious time as I fled, but it had been worth it. Somehow I felt that if the creature had to help me a second time, it would give me a very long sermon on the dangers of getting lost in it's maze. Even though it couldn't talk, I knew it would do that. 

When the bright light finally came into view and I stood on the grass, I had to squint a while to get used to it. I wanted to go home, to Gilan. To fall into his arms and be reminded that there was still some good left in this world. 

However that didn't seem to be in the stars for me, because a two beat song sung by a legion of Wargals strutting down the mountains. Their little red eyes were all fixed on me.