SERA'S POV
"I bet you're all just grumbling at his feet like a bunch of lapdogs," I shouted, my voice bouncing off the empty, cold stone walls of the cell block. I yanked on the long chains binding my wrists, the metal groaning as I tested the distance. "You stand there guarding me like I'm some kind of monster!".
I let out a raw, deep roar, my anger a fire that refused to be put out. "If you call yourselves warriors, open these chains now! Let's have a real fight. One on all! I'll rip you limb from limb. And when I'm done, I'm going for your Lord. Your precious Lord who needs to be put out of his misery, for the Moon Goddess's sake."
I tried to lunge forward, to break the chains through sheer will, but the heavy iron around my ankles slammed me back down. I stared at the metal, the Banshee Runes etched into the surface pulsing with a sickly light. I pulled again, harder this time, but the chains around my neck only tightened, choking off my breath like a cursed item from the abyss.
In a fit of desperation, I tried to swing the hand chains against the ones on my legs. Maybe, I thought, just maybe the clash will cause a reaction. Instead, a searing blinding heat shot through the metal. I gasped as the iron began to heat up, cooking my skin with a sudden vicious speed.
"Damn you!" I screamed, clenching my fists until my knuckles turned white. My whole body shook, my eyes clamped shut against the pain. "If I ever get out…"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh".
I forced myself to transform, screaming up at the dark ceiling. I needed my wolf's strength to break these bonds. But my body didn't change. A cold, invisible force. The runes slammed into me, locking my wolf away inside me.
A faint scratching sound cut through the silence. I lifted my heavy, burning head, my eyes straining in the dim light. A small, help word almost escaped my lips, but it wasn't a guard. It was a rat. It looked battered, its tiny body scarred as if it had survived a terrible fight. It lifted its head, then its body, before falling back and scurrying toward the dark end of the cell block.
The sound of its little feet was different now. Instead of scratching on stone, it sounded like it was walking on dry, hollow bones.
It stopped once more, rising to look at me, before disappearing into a crack high on the wall.
Slowly, I turned back to my chains. My neck felt too weak to carry their weight any longer. I stared at them, then closed my eyes against the exhaustion.
When I opened them again, I dragged my gaze toward the dark corner. Exactly the spot where the sounds of bones had come from. I stared hard, focusing on the shadows.
A second later, I recoiled, pulling back so hard the chains clattered violently against the floor. My hands began to shiver, a cold dread washing over me that was worse than any burn. The sweat on my body seemed to pause for a heartbeat, then dropped faster than before.
I crawled backward, desperately trying to get back to the safety of the cold stone wall. My body wouldn't stop shivering as I used both hands to hug myself, trying to hold my soul together. As my back hit the wall, I spun around to confirm it was just stone, then spun back, squeezing my eyes shut.
"That is your fate".
The voice cut through the silence like a cold blade. I lifted my head, my gaze snagging on him for only a second before I squeezed my eyes shut. I leaned my back against the wall trying to pull myself together and refusing to look at the figure standing in the shadows.
He looked like a dark ghost from a forgotten past. I imagined the darkness of this cell block only fed his ego. He was dressed in a long, slick red sleeping robe that pooled on the floor around his feet. He stood there with his arms folded, watching me with a stare that made my skin crawl. I kept my eyes closed, giving him as little of my attention as I could manage.
"I never imagined you would pull a stunt like that," he said. His voice was deep and calm, the words echoing in the empty space. He began to move, each step slow and deliberate. The red silk of his robe shimmered, a strange bit of beauty in such a scary place.
He reached down and picked up a skull from the pile of dead wolves. He spun it on his finger, watching it dance as if it were a toy. When he grew bored, he tossed it against the stone wall with enough force to shatter it into dust.
He bent down again and picked up another. "This was Val," he said casually. " Val" he breathed, his voice dropping into a slow velvet whisper that felt like a bittersweet memory.
"Was my best friend when I was a pup." Then, he dropped it and crushed it under his heel without a second thought.
My eyes snapped open. I swallowed hard, the back of my throat feeling dry and tight. His face remained completely expressionless, like a mask of cold marble. I looked down at my heavy chains took a shaky breath and found my voice
"That doesn't mean you're off the hook," I said. I coughed, my chest aching, and lifted my ten trembling fingers. They felt weak and lifeless, but I pushed them into the air anyway. "Ten phones. That's what you owe me."
A long, heavy silence followed. His gaze straight.
"By nightfall," he said, his voice sharp and final, "you will be beheaded."
I felt those words vibrate through my veins, chilling my blood despite his calm posture. But I didn't let him see me flinch.
"That'll have to be after I get back what you took from me!" I shouted at his retreating back.
He reached the cell door and tapped on the bars. The guards scrambled to open it. I watched as his shadow vanished into the hallway, leaving me alone in the dark. What a monster, I thought, my heart thudding. He must have been standing there in the shadows the whole time, watching me scream. I bet he enjoyed every second of it.