Two-Thirds Blue

Chapter Seventeen: Abyss

Cress stayed active. For days after Rhan was taken, she spent nearly every waking moment training as much as she could in the cramped cell, alternating between standard exercises and practicing taking swings and jabs with her bone knife. The rozkod didn't feed her enough to let her build any muscle, but she could feel her stamina improving. Whether she was actually getting stronger, she had no idea, but the work kept her mind sharp. She wouldn't just lapse into lethargy again. Even when her energy was spent, she kept moving, pacing back and forth as much as the cell's narrow dimensions allowed. She'd be ready when they came for her. She knew that day would be coming soon, too– she hadn't heard the rozkod bring in any new prisoners. Their supplies would be running low.

Soon they proved her right. The door rattled. A key slid into the lock. She slipped the bone knife into her right sleeve. She'd already decided that she would wait for the right moment rather than attacking as soon as the door opened. She didn't know how many rozkod would be sent to take her. If there were two or more, she'd only be able to kill one at best before the other cut her down. So she didn't greet them standing tall. Instead she played the part, curled up in the far corner of the cell with a look of terror on her face. It wasn't hard to fake. Then again, it wasn't completely fake.

The door swung open. Two lightly armored rozkod stood outside, grinning with sick anticipation. Each was armed with a sword at its belt. One of them entered the cell and reached for her.

"C'mon," it grunted. "Time to go."

Cress resisted as it seized her arm and hauled her to her feet. She tried to pull away, but not too hard. She didn't know how strong she was, but she wasn't about to let them find out. She'd wait until they'd gotten used to holding her, then surprise them.

"Where are you taking me?" she demanded.

"Down," the second rozkod leered, grabbing her other arm. "Our pet's getting hungry."

That confirmed it, then. There was some kind of beast down the left side of the hallway. She'd need to free herself before they reached it.

A splash of red in the corner of her vision caught her eye. Something had been painted on the door of the cell next to hers– Rhan's cell. An unfamiliar symbol painted in a vivid red, not dark enough to be blood. She didn't understand it, but she did her best to commit it to memory. It was like an hourglass lying on its side, twisted into a coil, bisected by a knotted vertical shape.

The pair of rozkod dragged her toward a spiral staircase at the end of the hall and began to descend. She did her best to study her surroundings along the way. The walls, floor, and ceiling were seamless, not built from bricks, but carved from solid stone. The craftsmanship was too fine to be rozkod handiwork. Since when did they ever create anything? All they did was destroy. Something else had built this place.

She realized the walls were inlaid with some kind of unfamiliar glowing stone. But not stone, exactly– it was translucent, like quartz. She'd never wondered where the light outside her door was coming from, believing it to have been from torches or lamps, but clearly she'd been wrong. These lights only raised more questions.

By the time they reached the bottom of the staircase, she'd lost track of what direction they were facing. They started down a new hallway, this one branching off in several directions, but they stayed on a straight path. That was fortunate– she wouldn't lose her way too easily. She only saw one other rozkod, but it ignored them, walking down a different route that intersected their own.

At the end of the hallway, they stopped in front of a solid metal door that was secured with a heavy crossbar. A sound came from the other side of the door. A creature's horrible cry, somewhere between a roar and a wail. The floor shook. Cress felt herself trembling, but not from the vibration.