The silent chains
1015 Words
Mia’s POV
The gates creaked open.
My feet moved involuntarily, the cold metal scraping against the stone resonating through my bones.
The air beyond felt different, thicker, like it had settled before a storm.
My pulse thudded against my ribs, but I refused to slow down.
When I crossed, I spotted her.
She stood in the distance, half shrouded by a crooked archway, her cloak shifting in the breeze.
I couldn’t see her face clearly, but something inside me reacted before my mind caught up.
A memory slammed into me without warning.
I was in a dimly lit room, I heard a woman’s voice, so low, urgent.
She was pleading with someone in the shadows. The room was dense with the scent of lavender and smoke.
I heard the sound of metal rattling, and then, a cry followed.
The woman I saw turned, her lips quivering and her eyes moist. "They can't take her, my daughter," she pleaded in a broken voice.
I nearly stumbled as the image passed so swiftly.
Who was the woman in front of me?
Before I could think, a hand grabbed my shoulder from behind and pushed me forward.
With their eyes forward and their speed quick, the Order's guards stood on either side of me.
I wanted to turn and ask for clarification, but I was unable to do so.
I wanted to turn and demand explanations, but the words did not come.
My voice was the only thing I couldn't claim. The woman met my stare across the stretch of stone, and something flared in her eyes. She recognized me.
My breath caught.
Then something flashed before my eyes; it was shorter and sharper.
The same woman, but now screaming, her hands grasping for me as someone ripped me from her embrace.
Camilla's face could be seen behind her, along with a silver ring on her finger shaped like two wolves intertwining.
I wanted to turn and demand explanations, but the words did not come.
My voice was the only thing I couldn't claim.
The woman met my stare across the stretch of stone, and something flared in her eyes. She recognized me.
My breath caught.
Then something flashed before my eyes; it was shorter and sharper.
The same woman, but now screaming, her hands grasping for me as someone ripped me from her embrace.
Camilla's face could be seen behind her, along with a silver ring on her finger shaped like two wolves intertwining.
It was chilly and unaffected by grief, uttering something I couldn't understand.
The ground underneath me appeared to tremble. "Mia of the Wolfborn," one guard said, his tone stiff and somewhat reverent.
"You will come before the First Silent Mate."
The words chilled my veins.
The first silent mate? the one muttered about in pieces, but never fully discussed by the elders?
I had always considered her a legend.
As we neared, the woman walked back into the darkness, disappearing from view as if she had never existed…
Desperate to see her again, I craned my neck, but the guards pushed me along a narrow road that was carved between walls of black stone.
We strolled for what seemed like an eternity, and with every stride I was drawn farther into their world.
The smell of moist stone blended with something metallic, blood, and the air grew colder.
Then I noticed her, kneeling in a puddle of her own blood and holding a cloth-wrapped object. "She is his now," a voice I didn't recognize growled.
Then, like a curse, I heard a name whispered: "Malethor.”
My knees went weak.
The woman was entangled with Malethor and Camilla.
We came out into a dark room with only one flickering torch.
The weight of unseen gaze made the shadows cling to the corners.
Strange patterns were carved into the walls, and there was an empty seat that resembled a throne at the far end.
I was thrust forward by the soldiers until I was standing in the middle of the room.
The ceiling was adorned with thick, black chains.
Behind me, one of the guards moved up, his breath hot against my neck. Kneel
I couldn't move because my gaze was locked on the far corner, on a figure I hadn't seen before.
She was there,the woman.
Her hood had slipped back, revealing silver-streaked hair and red-rimmed eyes from years of crying.
She took a single step forward, her lips parted as if she wanted to speak, but no sound emerged.
I felt the connection again, intense and unwavering.
My heart screamed in my ears.
The guards did not notice her; her lips formed a single utterance.
"Run.”
Before I could react, the space was filled with a slow, purposeful clap from above.
The guards froze, and my skin prickled. From the shadows above the throne, a loud, authoritative voice rang forth.
"Bring her into the lower sanctum. She has yet to grasp her purpose."
The woman's eyes widened, and a tiny tremble spread across her face.
She shook her head sharply, but the guards had already dragged me down a dark stairs on the side of the chamber.
With each step down, the air became heavier, and the walls closed in around me, making it difficult to breathe.
Stuck in the stones themselves, the smell of old blood intensified, mingling with something worse than fear.
We reached the bottom, and I caught sight of a large door wrapped with black iron.
On its surface, strange glyphs flashed dimly. No pause was made by the guards.
When they forced it open, a blast of chilly air hit me. Inside, the darkness seemed alive.
I heard distant chains rattling and then a low, incomprehensible guttural mumble.
Something large, asymmetrical, and observing moved in the distant corner.
The door started to close as the guards pushed me inside.
She was pressed against the bars of a distant cell, her lips forming the same word, when I saw her again just before the light went out.
"Run."
Then, before I knew it, the door slammed shut.
- Writer
