Snippet #1851112

The evening sun was slowly dipping closer and closer to the western hills of Torin. This natural and admired beauty was impossible to be seen inside the cold stone walls of the Duke Ollin’s dungeons. Usually trapped in pitch dark, the Duke had taken expert care that not a single part of his dungeon but one cell remained lit in the orange shadow less glow of burning candles. The normally full dungeons had been vacated of all but the watch in the presence of a single prisoner kept in the 4th cell down on the right.

The small glow from the candles illuminating the dungeon’s hall cast a faint glow on a sole tiny figure sitting in the back of the cell. A young girl, a slim figure not yet out of childhood, leaned her back against the cold stone wall, her legs brought close to her chest and hugged by her arms to hold as much warmth to her body as possible. A threadbare dress covered her small form and an assortment of bruises and half healed wounds covered her body. Her white hair lay in an unkempt mess upon her head and a thin layer of dust had stained her ragged dress and body.

A guard’s armored footsteps echoed throughout the deep dungeon and every once in a while the muted sound of laughter drifted in from the guard house where prisoner’s belongings were kept. The laughter was strained though, and the footsteps of passing guards wary. Every few hours the child’s ears would be touched with the whispers of, ‘devil, hell spawn, kill it now.’ along with a myriad of other insults or fears. For the most part, the imprisoned girl paid no heed to the guard words, though the once in a blue moon rock that was thrown at her through the bars did do its fair share of stinging pain.

Some new guards had been taken in that week, fresh of the training block ad put to duty. Each one was to be given a shift of duty in the prisons once a week but none were told of the girl locked behind cell number four’s thick iron bars. Of those who questioned the older guardsmen soon wished they hadn’t when handed the nature of their tiny prisoner. Cell four’s occupant, a tiny seemingly defenseless little girl, went by the name Nasiladashun, a demon child, spawned of the underworld and for six years helped to lay waste the states of Fein and Nosit before being apprehended, judged, and sealed by the Academy of Magic.

The quickened steps of a guard hurried past Nalla’s cell as the child continued her meditation. The walls around her were man made and thus provided only a tentative connection to the nature located somewhere above her head. Though muffled by human hands and tools, Nalla still find solace in the stone’s energy and the reverberating footsteps of the guard’s heavy plated boots upon its surface. How long had she been here? A week? Two weeks? Three? Time was different to a person when the only keeping of time was the changing of your guards and the hunger gnawing at your stomach. Sure she was fed scraps by her captors, but that wasn't enough to keep her alive. She had a slight advantage of being able to kill the unlucky rat that skirted by and take it's measly useless soul. Worse still was that her best meal was an ancient dog, that had at least given her something, though it also gave her a very harsh beating.

Nalla sighed and hugged her knees closer to her as a small chill took the girl's body, she did not have the energy to escape, she could take out one candle with a rock and then make a single jump to the shadow, but then to escape the prison. It was impossible, and she was not about to become some lowly duke's newest toy. Four more guards came and went before a small plate of gruel was placed in between the bars of the cell. Nalla finally broke her meditation and opened her weary flame red eyes to see the rough captain of the guard staring at her, a disgusted look crossing his face. His voice was thick and course and it practically dripped with hatred. "Come and get your meal demon." Nalla's eyes shifted to the gruel and back to him, her stomach growled. Sure it didn't give her much energy and tasted worse then sand, but it was still something to sate her unending hunger. Slowly Nalla got up and walked carefully to the bowl. Reaching down for the bowl, Nalla felt a sudden tug at her arm and then a sharp and painful jab as the guards knee came up and connected with her chest. Nalla doubled over onto the ground clutching her stomach and being very careful not to let a tear drop from her eye as the guard laughed at the little girl. He grabbed her by her shirt and lifted her up off the ground. "You'll be getting a little friend to join you in your cage little birdie. For your sake, I do hope you'll do as your told and kill him." The man's other hand brought his knife to the side of Nalla's face, the cold metal sitting against her cheek. "Otherwise, I might just have to put a little blemish on this pretty little face, and Master Ollin wouldn't want that now would he." The man's resounding laughter at her had been grating for weeks and to make matters worse she felt naked without touching the ground. Nalla spat in the man's face, immediately ending the laughter as he threw her across the room into the back wall. Nalla hit the wall with a high pitched gasp as she crumpled to the ground. "Know your place demon!" the man spat angrily as he kicked the bowl, sending the gruel spilling across the floor as he walked away. Nalla quickly scrambled to save what she could of the cold meal but was only able to rescue a few mouth fulls of the disgusting food.

Her stomach growled loudly again but Nalla tried not to pay it any mind as she sat cross legged in the back of the cell. Her body felt like it was on fire but concentrating on the dim energy pulsing from the rocks around her helped to soothe the pain. How had she ended up in this mess? It had to have been those kids back in town. They had been making fun of her hands and feet, she didn't harm them, just tossed them around a bit. How could she had known that the older boy had been related to the Duke, and even worse that the Duke actually hunted her town for beating his nephew up. Nalla shook the thoughts from her head. The captain had said a man was being brought into the dungeons later. Perhaps with an extra hand she might be able to escape this thrice cursed cell. Slowing her breathing, Nalla took several slow and deep breaths as she worked to match the earth's own breath.

Slowly, slowly, the gentle hum of the earth and Nalla's own soft breathing lent the girl a few hours of sleep before she was awakened by the sound of many footsteps coming down the hallway. There were perhaps 12 figures approaching, one sound she had learned to pick out was that of the duke. This had to be the prisoner they were taking to her. Nalla pulled her knees back up to her chest and slipped into the shadows of the cell, hoping to avoid any more beatings from the group of guards and watch as they brought the prisoner forward.