Hours passed slowly within the dungeon cell.
At first, I spent most of that ti moving around the room searching desperately for anything useful.
Anything at all.
But there was nothing.
The cell was almost completely empty.
A rusted bucket sat in one corner beside the wall while a large filthy cloth laid across the stone floor which I assud was ant serve as a bed.
That was it.
No loose stones.
No tools.
No weak bars.
Nothing.
The chains around my wrists rattled constantly while I hopped around the room awkwardly without my prosthetic leg.
Eventually exhaustion started overtaking frustration.
After hours of finding absolutely nothing useful, I finally lowered myself onto the cloth and closed my eyes.
Sleep eventually ca despite the cold.
...
...
...
Tink.
Tink.
Tink.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Soone was tapping against the bars.
The dim dungeon hallway beyond the cell slowly ca into focus.
Kael stood there calmly.
Two heavily ard knights stood beside him.
Neither of them looked particularly friendly.
Kael folded his hands behind his back while staring into the cell.
"Well?"
I slowly pushed myself upward against the wall.
"Have you decided cooperate?"
My throat felt dry.
But the answer still ca imdiately.
"No."
Kael remained silent for several seconds.
Then slowly—
He looked toward one of the knights.
The man imdiately unlocked the cell door and stepped inside.
For one brief second—
I thought maybe they were just trying intimidate .
Then the knight punched directly in the stomach hard enough force all the air from my lungs.
Pain exploded through my body.
Before I could recover—
Another blow slamd into the side of my face.
Then another.
And another.
The beating beca relentless.
Steel-plated boots drove into my ribs while fists smashed into my jaw and stomach repeatedly.
At so point I hit the ground.
The knight continued anyway.
Every attempt protect myself only delayed the hits slightly.
Eventually warm blood started dripping across the stone beneath .
The knight finally stepped back breathing heavily before wiping blood from his gauntlet.
Kael calmly looked down at from outside the bars.
"I’ll ask again tomorrow."
Then the three of them turned and left.
The cell door slamd shut behind them.
Silence returned once more.
I remained laying on the floor barely breathing.
Everything hurt.
My ribs burned every ti I inhaled while blood slowly dripped from my mouth onto the cold stone beneath .
Hours passed like that.
Then eventually—
Footsteps returned again.
One of the knights approached carrying a plate.
Without saying a word, he shoved it through the bars toward .
So kind of gray mush spread across the plate.
I couldn’t even identify what it was supposed be.
The knight stared at briefly before walking away again without another word.
Leaving alone once more with the darkness.
————
The days inside the dungeon slowly blurred together.
Pain beca routine.
Every morning Kael would appear outside the bars with the sa calm expression and ask the sa question.
And every day—
I refused.
Then ca the beatings.
By the third day, I barely looked human anymore.
My face had swollen badly enough that one eye barely opened while dried blood coated parts of my skin permanently.
Dark bruises stretched across nearly every inch of my body.
Worse still—
I had beco frighteningly thin.
My ribs pressed visibly against my skin now from the lack of food.
Even breathing hurt.
The only thing breaking the endless silence anymore were the conversations between two guards stationed farther down the hallway.
Ironically, listening to them had beco my only entertainnt.
Usually they talked about won, alcohol, gambling, and complaining about work.
But today—
Sothing felt different.
"...I’m telling you, there weren’t any survivors."
One of the guards sounded genuinely unsettled.
The second scoffed.
"That’s impossible."
"I thought so too."
A pause followed.
"Fortress Holdsted is gone."
My eyes slowly opened slightly.
Holdstead?
That fortress protected the eastern roads leading toward the city.
It was massive.
The second guard lowered his voice slightly.
"You serious?"
"Dead serious."
The first guard swallowed audibly.
"They found the walls lted."
A cold feeling crept slowly through my chest.
"What?"
"The stone."
The guard sounded disturbed even saying it aloud.
"lted."
Another silence followed.
"...That’s not possible."
"They also found armor fused into the ground."
The second guard nervously laughed.
"You’re drunk."
"I wish I was."
The first guard continued quietly.
"One patrol survived long enough make it back."
"And?"
The hallway beca silent for several seconds.
Then finally—
"They said the sky turned purple."
My breathing slowed slightly.
The second guard spoke again, quieter now.
"...Purple?"
"They said darkness spread over the fortress first."
The guard’s voice beca increasingly nervous.
"Then soldiers just started disappearing."
My heart pounded painfully against my ribs.
Another silence followed.
Then the second guard finally muttered:
"...You think it’s connected to that prisoner?"
The first guard imdiately answered.
"Possibly."
Neither of them laughed this ti.
Then quietly—
"Apparently before the commander died, he heard soone asking a question."
The second guard sounded hesitant.
"...What question?"
The first guard lowered his voice almost into a whisper.
"’Where is Leon?’"
Every muscle in my body froze.
A long silence followed afterward.
Then finally the second guard muttered:
"Probably just rumours."
A while later, footsteps echoed down the dungeon hallway again.
Kael appeared outside the bars calmly.
Though today—
He looked more tired than usual.
His eyes carried faint exhaustion beneath them now.
"You know the drill," he said quietly.
I tried answering.
But honestly—
I barely had the strength speak anymore.
So instead I just stared weakly upward from the floor.
Kael sighed slightly.
Then nodded toward the guards.
The beating started again.
This ti I couldn’t even properly react.
Every hit simply blended together into dull pain.
Eventually they stopped.
The guards left first.
Then Kael followed them silently back up the stairs.
I remained laying motionless across the floor afterward barely breathing.
Hours passed before I finally managed dragging myself weakly back toward the filthy cloth in the corner.
At this point—
It genuinely felt like my bed.
I slowly curled against the wall before staring blankly into the darkness.
Then suddenly—
A scream echoed sowhere above.
My eyes slowly opened.
Another scream followed.
Closer this ti.
Then another.
And another.
The sounds rapidly multiplied.
n screaming.
Shouting.
Begging.
The further the sounds traveled downward through the halls—
The more desperate they beca.
One scream abruptly cut off halfway through.
Then ca another sound.
Heavy.
Slow.
Footsteps descending the dungeon stairs.
Two separate sets.
One calm.
One panicked.
Suddenly one pair of footsteps started running.
Then—
Kael practically stumbled into view before collapsing directly in front of my cell.
His face looked completely horrified.
"He’s here—!"
His voice cracked desperately.
Kael turned back toward the darkness beyond the hallway.
"PLEASE WAIT—"
Sothing hit him.
Not visibly.
Not physically.
Yet his body launched sideways violently into the stone wall hard enough make blood explode from his mouth on impact.
The entire dungeon went silent afterward.
Then slowly—
A figure stepped into view.
Lillith.
She stood completely covered in blood from head to toe.
I knew that not a single drop belonged to her.
Her expression looked cold.
Empty.
Almost monstrous.
Then—
When her eyes landed on , everything changed instantly.
The mont she saw the state I was in, horror overtook her face completely.
Both hands imdiately covered her mouth.
"...Leo..."
Her voice broke.
She looked like she couldn’t even process what she was seeing.
Then suddenly she flicked her fingers sideways casually.
CRUNCH.
The iron bars that had caused days of frustration twisted apart instantly like soft clay before being thrown aside effortlessly.
Lillith imdiately rushed into the cell.
Tears stread down her face as she dropped beside and carefully pulled into her arms.
"It’s my fault..."
Her voice shook violently.
"I left you alone that night..."
She held tighter.
"I swear on everything I have—I’ll never let you leave again..."
Her breathing trembled.
"Because you’re my everything."
I slowly looked upward toward her.
Blood covered almost every inch of her clothing.
Yet tears continued streaming endlessly down her face while she held like sothing fragile.
So despite everything—
I gave her a weak smile.
The mont she saw it, her own expression imdiately softened.
She smiled back through tears.
"Oh, you poor thing..."
Her fingers gently brushed against my face.
"You must’ve gone through so much..."
Then incredibly carefully—
She lifted into her arms.
Almost like a mother carrying an injured child.
As she turned leave the cell, her eyes briefly shifted toward Kael lying broken against the wall.
A faint purple glow appeared within them.
Instantly Kael’s unconscious body lifted into the air behind us.
I weakly looked back toward him.
Lillith noticed imdiately and then smiled slightly down at .
A little too sweetly.
"I just want punish him for a bit later."
Sothing about the way she said bit made feel genuinely bad for him.
Lillith slowly carried through the halls afterward while Kael floated unconscious behind us.
The deeper we moved through the mansion—
The worse things beca.
Blood covered almost every corridor.
Bodies.
Destroyed walls.
Burn marks.
At several points I saw pieces of armor embedded directly into stone.
If I had eaten anything within the past day—
I probably would’ve thrown up.
Eventually Lillith entered a kitchen area.
With one hand still supporting effortlessly, she created a translucent purple chair beside the counter.
Then she carefully lowered onto it with absurd gentleness.
Like she was afraid I might shatter.
Afterward she searched through the room before eventually finding a loaf of bread and several containers of water.
Then she returned beside again.
Very carefully, she tore off tiny pieces of bread before holding one toward my mouth.
"Say ahhhh."
I stared at her weakly.
"...Lillith."
"Ahhhh."
Eventually I gave up and opened my mouth slightly.
For the next twenty minutes, she quietly took care of .
Feeding .
Giving water.
Making sure I ate slowly.
Gradually, warmth started returning slightly into my body again.
Lillith imdiately noticed the small amount of color returning to my face.
Relief flooded her expression instantly.
"Thank the heavens..."
She gently grabbed both sides of my face again.
"You’re alright..."
A while later she packed together a bundle of food and supplies before lifting back into her arms again.
Kael still floated unconscious behind us as we finally departed the now silent mansion.
And the entire ti—
Lillith continued holding against her chest like I was the most precious thing in the world.
Reviews
All reviews (0)