Walking Between Dreams

Chapter 34

As the lifeless, dingy peaks of Morath briskly approached I felt numb, absolutely nothing but the freezing gales from the north. The blonde witch, Asterin, tightened her grip on the reigns of her wyvern and drew me closer to her, the smell of leather from her armor was overwhelming enough to make my eyes water even more. Metal rattled in the sheaths of their weapon once we gained higher altitude in quicker winds.

Finally, we descended to an onlooking craggy cliff that led to an imposing archway with a sealed shut black metal doors. Large bands of metal kept it together, shining in the dying sun. However, the witches flew over the ledge to a smaller stretch of cliff further away. It was more isolated than the rest of the fortress, no rails guarded the edge and no entrance was visible. The ground was rugged from the wind, not people.

A single hit from the landing shook me to the core once Asterin landed, tossing me to the icy rock. It made no difference me as she dragged me up to my feet and threw me with more force onto piercing rocks. Blood leaked out of new gashes on my forearms and Manon lifted up her hand as signal for Asterin to stop.

The white-haired beauty stalked over to me, lifting me by my shirt. "Why shouldn't I kill you?"

I glanced away without making eye contact, I felt nothing not even fear.

Manon snarled, revealing her shiny iron teeth and dropped me back to the ground. As she walked away with her blood red cape flapped in the wind while she indicated for Asterin and another witch to pick me up. Their wyverns were now long gone with the other witches who went to their stables leaving me with the fiercest witches in the Thirteen.

Around a curve in the mountain that protruded out was a little entrance that led to a dim room. Inside there were ashes of a fire across from a huge canopy bed that was neatly made with a pile a hay that looked used. Surprisingly, it did not smell musty yet it had a hint of dirt. With the snap of Manon's fingers the other two witches left to stand guard the outside that went into the mountain.

In the silence the ringing of metal bounced off the walls from inside of the bedroom. A person with long black hair was bent over a wash bin and was scrubbing some bowls, her ebony eyes widened when she saw us. Without a word she bent her and limps to the door; metal shackles clanked against the stone floor.

"Elide, where are you going?" demanded Manon curtly, tilting her head back so she can look down on the woman.

Elide stuttered without making eye contact, "I-I thought that I should leave."

"Not until you finish cleaning my bowls." Manon finished and turned back to me, "I know you from somewhere."

I stared at the ground as I observed Manon's shadow. She took a step from me and lifted my face up so our faces met.

Manon grinned. "You are that human that gave the pastry me and was stupid enough to try to fight me. Who was your friend, Lolos, right?"

Tears began to pool and I ripped my face from her grip, her nails leaving light marks on my same cheek. It did not even faze me when she trailed around me while kicking me on the floor.

"He was strong yet too easy to kill," Manon drawled as she halted before me, "Lolos in the end was a coward."

"Hold your tongue," I snapped quietly, looking up at her leather boots, "you know little about him."

Manon smirked viciously, "Touchy subject, I see."

I glanced back to the ground, listening to her almost silent steps. Her breathes were calm and trained as if ready to kill her prey.

"It was you fault, wasn't it?" the witch chimed after seconds so silence.

Something broke in me, I do not know what it was and it did not seem possible. I stopped listening to Manon mock me, her yells became muffled noises in the distance. The pain from her strikes did not compare to the ache I felt in my chest. It throbbed so much, it seemed endless.

Bruises laced my jaw and cheeks, it stung when Manon smacked it repeatedly. Blood dripped from my nose to my chest and from broken skin. The sound of a door opening was the only thing that stopped the beating, it was Asterin.

Her eyes flickered when she saw my blood pooled on the stone. "The Matron summons you, Manon."

"Take her to the dungeons," ordered Manon while she stormed out of the room.

A stout witch with long inky hair walked in once Manon left, she had a down to earth feeling. Then, Asterin and the stout witch lifted me up and took a step forward.

"Get a better grip, Sorrel," hissed Asterin through her teeth.

Fingers dug into my arms once Sorrel, the dark-haired witch, adjusted her hold on me and they began to drag me down stairs that are outside the room. Torches burning away lit up the winding stairway until we reached a hallway. No other servants or residents walked in the halls except for us. Instead of taking another set of stairs we took a few turns to a short corridor. At the end was a wooden door that a had a silver, ornate knocker. From outside you could hear softly spoken conversations and the shuffling of quite a few people or witches.

Sorrel kicked open the door to show three witches dressed in riding armor sitting around a table, each staring harshly at us.

"Why is the human in this room?" asked a witch with braids in her hair, brown eyes narrowed on me.

Asterin countered, "You know that we cannot take her to the dungeons. There are certain inhumane practices down there."

The witch with braided hair rolled her eyes and pulled up three chairs for us. Asterin and Sorrel threw me into the chair without much thought and joined the other witches' conversation. They babbled about training and what haves you.

While looking down at the table the fragrance of dead leaved filled the room, it was intense. I wanted to vomit from it. My stomach twisted and turned until I passed out into darkness. Last I saw was Lolos' dead eyes.