Chapter 2: The Prison Breaker
1299 Words
Lyriana's POV
For years...
I counted time by the sound of chains.
The first year, I counted the days.
The second year, I counted the nights.
After that...
I stopped counting.
Because inside the Tower of Darkness, time meant nothing.
The world outside continued moving without me.
Kingdoms rose.
People changed.
Lives continued.
But I remained trapped in the same place where they left me.
A forgotten daughter.
A forgotten princess.
A forgotten mistake.
The tower was my prison.
But it was also the place where I learned the truth.
The world did not save the weak.
The world only feared what it could not control.
And they feared me.
---
The moonlight entered through the small window above me.
The only window.
The only connection between me and the outside world.
I sat on the cold floor, staring at my reflection in a broken piece of glass.
I barely recognized myself anymore.
The girl who entered this tower was gone.
She was innocent.
She believed love could fix everything.
She believed her father would come back.
She believed someone would open the door.
That girl waited years.
And no one came.
My fingers touched the chains around my wrists.
The same chains that carried my father's magic.
The same chains created to silence me.
The same chains that were supposed to hold me forever.
But they failed to understand something.
Darkness does not disappear.
It waits.
It grows.
And now...
It was awake.
A small movement caught my attention.
A black shadow moved across the stone floor.
Then two golden eyes appeared.
"Sebas."
The small black snake lifted his head.
My only companion.
My only friend.
The only creature that stayed when the entire world abandoned me.
He slowly climbed toward me and wrapped himself around my wrist.
A small smile escaped my lips.
"You came again."
Sebas moved closer.
Almost like he was angry.
Like he was telling me I was foolish for giving up.
I looked at him.
"You know..."
My voice was quiet.
"I used to hate this place."
I looked around the tower.
"The walls."
"The chains."
"The silence."
My fingers touched his head.
"But then you came."
Sebas stared at me.
"You were the only one who didn't look at me like a monster."
The snake moved around my arm.
For years, he was just a creature from the darkness.
But somehow...
He became my family.
My little brother.
My protector.
My reason to survive.
---
That night felt different.
The air changed.
The tower felt uneasy.
The shadows moved without my command.
I looked toward the chains.
Something was wrong.
Or perhaps...
Something was finally right.
The magic was weakening.
The ancient symbols carved into the walls flickered.
The barrier surrounding the tower trembled.
I stood slowly.
Sebas immediately lifted his head.
"You feel it too."
The snake moved toward the chains.
I watched him carefully.
For years, I thought Sebas was only a normal creature.
But I was wrong.
The moment he touched the chains...
The magic reacted.
A dark purple glow surrounded his body.
My eyes widened.
"Sebas..."
The snake was not just a companion.
He was connected to the darkness.
To my darkness.
The tower began shaking.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The ancient runes started cracking.
The magic that kept me trapped was fighting back.
The tower knew.
It knew I was leaving.
I stepped closer to the chains.
For years, they controlled me.
Now...
I would destroy them.
I closed my eyes.
And for the first time...
I stopped being afraid of my own power.
"Enough."
The shadows answered.
The room became darker.
The wind inside the tower screamed.
My power moved through my body like a storm.
The chains burned against my skin.
Pain.
I felt pain.
But I welcomed it.
Because pain reminded me I was alive.
"All these years..."
The chains cracked.
"They thought this tower would be my grave."
The walls shook harder.
"They thought I would disappear."
The magic exploded around me.
"They were wrong."
A loud crack echoed.
The first chain broke.
Then the second.
Then all of them.
The sound was like thunder.
The tower screamed.
The prison that held me for years was collapsing.
Sebas moved beside me.
I looked at him.
"We are leaving."
The snake curled around my shoulder.
I looked at the broken chains on the floor.
A symbol of my suffering.
A symbol of my weakness.
But not anymore.
I stepped forward.
And the tower doors opened.
---
For the first time in years...
I felt wind.
Real wind.
It touched my face.
The moonlight covered my skin.
I looked up at the sky.
So many stars.
I almost forgot they existed.
My chest felt strange.
Not happiness.
Not yet.
Something else.
Freedom.
I stepped outside.
The Black Forest surrounded me.
The trees moved.
The shadows whispered.
They knew I was free.
The creatures hiding in the darkness watched me.
But none attacked.
Because this forest knew something the kingdom did not.
I was not trapped by darkness.
I belonged to it.
Sebas rested on my shoulder.
I touched him gently.
"We survived."
The snake looked ahead.
And together...
We walked away from the tower.
---
Leaving the Black Forest was harder than I expected.
The forest itself tried to hold me.
Branches moved.
The fog surrounded me.
The whispers followed.
They showed me memories.
My childhood.
My mother.
My father.
The night everything was destroyed.
I stopped walking.
My mother's voice echoed in my mind.
"Don't let them take your heart, Lyriana."
I closed my eyes.
For years, anger kept me alive.
Revenge kept me breathing.
But my mother's last wish...
Was the only thing keeping me from becoming exactly what they feared.
I opened my eyes.
"I won't break."
The forest became silent.
Then it let me pass.
---
Hours later...
I saw something beyond the trees.
Light.
Not moonlight.
Something brighter.
I stepped forward.
And stopped.
My entire body froze.
A city.
A massive city.
Buildings taller than castles.
Lights brighter than magic.
People everywhere.
Machines moving through the streets.
Sounds I had never heard before.
I stared.
"What is this place?"
Sebas lifted his head.
Even he looked confused.
I slowly walked forward.
Everyone passed by me.
No one knew who I was.
No one bowed.
No one feared me.
No one knew my name.
For the first time...
I was invisible.
And strangely...
It felt peaceful.
I looked at the buildings reaching the sky.
The world changed.
While I was trapped...
Everything moved forward.
I touched the glass of a building.
Cold.
Strange.
Not magic.
Something else.
"This world..."
I whispered.
"It's different."
People stared at me.
Maybe because of my appearance.
Maybe because I looked like someone who walked out of a nightmare.
Long dark hair.
Pale skin.
Eyes carrying years of darkness.
I didn't belong here.
Not yet.
I walked deeper into the city.
Every sound was unfamiliar.
Every face was unknown.
The kingdom I remembered was gone.
The life I lost was gone.
Even the person I used to be...
Was gone.
I stopped in front of a reflection.
I looked at myself.
Not a princess.
Not a prisoner.
Not a daughter.
Just Lyriana.
A survivor.
Sebas moved closer.
I smiled slightly.
"Looks like we are strangers in this world."
The snake wrapped around my arm.
But then...
I felt something.
A strange presence.
Someone watching me.
Someone powerful.
Someone different.
I turned around.
But there was no one.
Only the city lights.
Only the crowd.
Only the unknown future waiting for me.
I clenched my hand.
I escaped the tower.
But I knew...
The real battle was only beginning.
Because the world forgot Lyriana Zelarion.
And soon...
The world would remember.
The cursed lady has returned.
- Writer
