The Shadow

Trouble in Lancaster - creation of the Shadow

Note: About 2 years after Melissa left Locksley, she went to Lancaster. About a month after living in Lancaster, she got caught up in helping the townspeople with their rebellion against their sheriff. A sheriff who was much worse than Vaisey. She helped them plan and organize, helping with all the details. Mel also helped make things, such as weapons, that they would need.
One afternoon, she went to talk to one of the other leaders in a local pub. Mel had/has always been extremely careful and discreet, but somehow the sheriff still found out.

This is what happens next....:
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(Written in Melissa's POV)

I came out of the local pub and was immediately grabbed by two guards whilst another two pointed their swords at me. They drug me, rather roughly, off to the town's castle where their sheriff reside. I have to say that that man is probably as bad as, if not worse than, Sheriff Vaisey. They took me to his office, hit me in the lower back with this thick staff one of them had, and then pushed me down onto my knees. The sheriff came up to me, grabbing my face with his hand to make me look up at him, and examined my face. I didn't show him any fear...just disgust, anger, and how much I disapproved of the matter. Because if I am honest...I wasn't scared or at least I was very little... I was too upset with scum like him to be scared. "My...aren't you a pretty thing...what a shame... Because you won't be this pretty once I get done squeezing what I want out of you." He glanced up at his guards and snarled, "Take her away! I don't care if you have to almost kill her, get the information out of her!" I spat at him. "I have nothing to tell. And even if I did, I'd never tell a filthy, spawn of the devil such as you!" I gritted my teeth as the guards jerked me to my feet, dragging me out of the room. They shoved me along, down to the dungeon and locked my arms in chains that were attached to two poles on either side of me. A burly, ruthless-looking man walked in with a whip, dagger, and an assortment of other items they were going to use against me. Another man walked in. He was tall and slim, but had an air about him that screamed 'vermin' or 'snake in the grass'. "So...lets try this the easy way.." He snarled. "You tell us what we already know that you know about the rebellion and...other matters...and we'll let you go without a scratch." I scoffed, "Yeah, so you can go burn a village instead and at least a hundred people will be die! Any survivors will be sold to other countries as if they were animals!" That got me a whack in the back with the whip which caused me to grimace slightly. "Borin, do what you must. Send for me when she's ready to talk," The tall, slim man growled. "Yes, Sir Destrian," Borin replied.
He whipped me as hard as he could over and over, each time I grimaced and occasionally let out an agonizing yell due to how the pain became more and more excruciating. He then stopped and yelled at me to talk but I simply spat blood before retorting, "Never." He then took out his dagger, which wasn't super sharp but just sharp enough, and slashed my right side before punching me in the gut. He roughly grabbed my face in his calloused hand and started yelling at me some more, telling me that I was only making things worse for myself. I still wouldn't talk so he put me through hell itself for the next few hours before leaving me there bloody, sweaty, bruised, and just in overall terrible shape. Two guards drug me to an empty cell, tossing me into it, where I hit the ground with a loud thud, before they locked my hands in chains attached to the wall. I spit a mouthfull of blood out and just sat there trying to catch my breath...which was actually quite hard because it hurt to breathe. Each passing day just got worse and worse... They really didn't feed me, they broke my legs which they only splinted and bandaged so that they could come back and break them again later to cause me more pain. They did the same to my right arm and they dislocated my shoulder, they branded me with hot irons on my back and side, they dunked me in the nearby pond over and over until they almost drowned me. I swear, they used just about every piece of torture they could think of, where they could try to break me, but not kill me. I still wouldn't tell them anything because I am as stubborn as a mule and would rather die than let them wipe out any of the villages. After about a month of hell they took me back to the sheriff's office and threw me down on the ground. My limbs had healed, but my hands and feet were shackled together, my clothes were now rags, and my hair shaggy and unkempt. Not to mention the vast collection of scars and wounds all over me. "Well.." He purred, slowly striding towards me. "I must commend you traitor...you've lasted way longer than the others. You're endurance is astonishing. Too bad I'm not going to play nice anymore.." The corners of his mouth turning into a devilish smirk. His face suddenly went cold, his dark eyes daring to pierce a hole in my soul. "Tomorrow afternoon, we use the stretcher. If that doesn't work...you'll lose a body part by the hour." He bent down to my level and growled, "I'm not messing around anymore, missy... I will bring you to the brink of death if I have to. As long as your final words are what I want to know." I was too weak and breathless to say anything so I just spat blood in his face. He stood up and sputtered in disgust, "Take her away!"
Later that night I heard someone quietly come down into the dungeon. I didn't even look up. I just didn't care and I didn't have a whole lot of energy to waste anyway. I heard my cell door open and saw that it was Juliet, one of the servant girls, of about the 16th age. "What...are you doing here?" I croaked out. "I won't let them treat you this way anymore. I can't bear it. I'm helping you get out of here." She whispered. With that she put one of my arms around her neck and helped me to my feet, quietly leading me to the stables. Juliet gave me one of the horses and told me that I should go straight home, grab my things, and then head to Scarborough on the other side of the country. "They'd never think to go there." She told me. I told her thank you and then headed home, grabbing everything as quickly as possible, loading it all onto the horse, and heading off at a trot for Scarborough.
I traveled through the night and was about halfway to Scarborough when I came upon a small forest and decided to stop and rest because I was about to collapse. I located a good place to camp, tied the horse to a tree, and just collapsed on the ground, exhausted due to still not being all that strong. I was also starving, thirsty, and still in a lot, a lot of pain, but I was too tired to pay much attention.
When I woke up, I found that, not only was I in a bed, but I was also clean, had new clothes, and had had medical attention. "Oh good. You're awake." A sweet voice said as beautiful women, maybe ten years older than me, appeared in front of me, coming over with a bowl of water and a cloth. "My husband found you on his way back from a trip to Nottingham. You're lucky too cause you were about dead when he found ya. You've been out cold for the past two days with a terrible fever." She dabbed my forehead with the cold, wet washcloth. I coughed. "Which town am I in?" I croaked, my throat rather dry. "Scarborough." She replied kindly. "My name is Lucy. May I ask what your name is and how on earth you ended up in such an appalling condition?" I took a deep breath. "My name is Melissa and tis a long story that I don't care to tell at this time..for all I know...I may never speak of it again because tis truly awful." Lucy nodded understandingly.
It took about a month for me to fully recover. I thanked Lucy and her husband for all they had done before heading out to do whatever and go wherever the wind took me, but this time I would help the people of England in secret. I wouldn't let anyone see my face ever again unless I trusted them with my life. From now on I was to be known as the 'Shadow'...
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NOTE: I will be coming back and editing this further. (4/5/2016)