Chapter 8
1915 Words
Slowly, Ashta opened her eyes. She felt a little dizzy and she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head.
Ow! she thought, as she rubbed the sore spot with her hand, and as she looked around, she saw she was in a cold steel cell. There was a bed and toilet in her room and a barred door. Three of the walls were made of old brick that seemed to be partially covered in thick green moss. Ashta found herself on the floor, and she quickly got to her feet and walked over to the barred door, and shook it.
“Come on!” Ashta growled, and surprised herself.
That was the first time she had ever growled. Heavily, she sighed as she shook the door again.
“It’s no use,” said a familiar voice.
“What?” asked Ashta, surprised to hear that someone was down there with her.
“I said it's no use. The monsters have us locked in here, with no chance of getting out.” said the voice sadly.
Sharply, Ashta inhaled as she recognized Lashanna’s voice.
“Lashanna?”
“Ashta! Oh my god, you are alive!” Lashanna cried happily.
“Me, I was more worried about you. I thought that rat bastard killed you!” exclaimed Ashta.
“Well, I would rather be dead,” Lashanna said, sadly, as she sniffed.
“What happened to you?” Ashta asked, concerned.
“You will see,” Lashanna sobbed, and Ashta’s heart broke for her friend.
What did they do to her? she wondered sadly.
“Lashanna, I am going to get us out of here!” Ashta stated, confidently, as she looked through the bars, and rested her head against the wall.
Suddenly, they heard a loud bang, and Ashta heard Lashanna gasp.
“Sh-sh, he’s coming,” she whispered, and Ashta looked out of the bars, confused.
“Who’s com…”
“What is all of this racket?” a deep male's voice boomed, and Ashta crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall.
“Oh, I am sorry. Were you taking a nap? I wasn’t given the list of rules,” sneered Ashta, as a man approached her cell door and looked at her.
Noticeable, this man was very tall, handsome, and muscular. The man had dark hair that looked wet, pulled back in a bun, and he had a short, full beard on his face. To Ashta’s surprise, she had never seen a man that beautiful before. He had no shirt on, a pair of black pants and boots.
“Aren’t we a little feisty one?” he asked her, and she looked up at his handsome face, noticing his brown eyes with the speks of gold in them.
Seemingly, the man was about her age, and his chest had a tattoo that ran up to his shoulder and down his arm. Suddenly, Ashta felt uncomfortable with him staring at her like he was.
“What are you staring at?” she snapped at him.
The man shook his head, suddenly reached through the bars, grabbing the back of Ashta’s neck hard, and pulled her close to his face.
“Is that anyway to talk to your prince?” he snarled, as he squeezed a handful of hair, and it sent pain all over her head, and Ashta looked up at him angrily.
“Well, when I see a prince, I shall show him the same respect as he shows me!” she snarled, as she reached through the bars, and grabbed the back of his neck.
“What are you going to do?” he asked, as he smirked at her.
Quickly, Ashta planted her feet against the bars and looked at him coolly.
“Only this!” she said, and smacked his head hard against the bars.
Immediately, the man let go of her, and he stumbled back from her cell. Proudly, Ashta smiled at the man as she saw the blood dripping from his nose and lip. Suddenly, there was another loud bang, and a man dressed like a guard ran to the guy's side.
“Prince Roman, are you alright?” asked the guard.
Roman glared at Ashta as he wiped the blood from his lip with his hand. Slyly, Ashta smirked at Roman and he lunged at the bars. Quickly, Ashta took a few steps back, and he sneered at her through the bars.
“Good. I like opponents on their toes. You got fight in you, I will give you that,” he said, and Ashta smiled a charming smile at him.
“You have no idea if you and I get into an altercation. My grandfather told me I could be a handful,” Ashta noted, proudly, as she took a daring step closer.
Cautiously, Roman watched her as she crossed her ankles and bowed to him.
“My apologies, prince Roman,” she said, and looked back up at him.
He looked at her strangely.
“What?” she asked.
“You just apologized to me!” Roman said in surprise.
“Of course, I smashed your head against the bars, and I apologize for it,” she explained softly, and Roman turned his head to the side.
“Is this a trick?” he asked, confused.
Ashta smiled and shook her head.
“No, no trick. I was just raised differently,” Ashta said in a cheery voice.
Roman searched her eyes and sighed as he looked away. There was something about her that made him feel beside himself. After a moment, he shook his head and thought, oh she’s good. Ashta looked at him oddly.
“Stop, with your tricks!” he snapped at her, and he walked away from the cell.
Ashta heard the prince slam the door.
“Is he gone?” asked Lashanna cautiously.
“Yes, he’s gone. He went to go nurse his busted lip,” Ashta said triumphantly.
“You busted his lip?” she asked, and Ashta smiled at her small victory.
“He shouldn’t have been getting too close to the bars, if he knew what was best for him.”
She heard Lashanna giggle, and she smiled to herself. Seemingly, she was glad to get her friend to laugh, and now she had to figure out a way to get them out of that cold, damp place.
“So, how did you end up down here?” Lashanna asked, and Ashta thought for a moment.
“I don’t know. One minute I was fighting Selvempt guards and then next thing I knew I woke up down here,” explained Ashta.
“So, do they have your weapons too?”
Ashta thought back to having dinner with Riah and her family, and she remembered she didn’t have her weapons on her when the guards attacked. They were still in the room that Riah let her sleep in, and she didn’t know how, but she knew that was the safest place for them to be at the moment.
Riah lived by the old code of Halondelle, when the land was thriving, and she knew that the sword was sacred and special. Ashta hoped Riah had found it and hid it somewhere safe after she had been taken.
“No, it is safely hidden,” said Ashta, confidently.
“That’s good.”
They heard the bang from the dungeon door again, and Ashta and Lashanna stayed quiet. Suddenly, Ashta saw the guard from the forest walk past her cell.
Kralom! she thought, angrily.
“No!” Lashanna cried, as Kralom approached Lashanna’s cell.
“Come on, pet. You will be back soon,” he said, as he opened her cell door.
“No, please!” she cried, and Ashta heard a small struggle.
“Come on! I have got people waiting on you!” Kralom snarled, and Lashanna cried out in pain.
Ashta watched as Kralom dragged Lashanna by her hair, past her cell.
“Ashta, please don’t let him take me!” she screamed, and Kralom growled, as he picked Lashanna up by the back of her head.
“Your friend can not save you now!” he snarled at her, and pushed her back to the floor. Ashta growled at him as she jumped on her barred door.
“Save it! You are going to need all your strength. The prince is not a kind creature, especially since you busted up his face,” Kralom growled, as he pulled Lashanna out of the dungeon.
The dungeon door slammed and Ashta jumped off the bars and kicked them angrily.
Where was he taking her? What were they doing to her? Ashta wondered, and she sighed a heavy sigh, and she laid on her bed.
Immediately, she got off of the bed, placed her feet apart on the floor, and she began to dance her fluent dance, and thought about the elements. Calmly, she relaxed her mind as she moved her body like liquid. The air element danced with her and created a small tornado around her.
At that moment, she danced more intensely, and she lifted into the air. The hurt of losing her grandfather and she felt ashamed about not being able to protect her only friend. The water element danced with her as tears of pain formed in her eyes. Small waves of water fluently spun around in the small tornado of air. The fire element danced with anger that had begun to rise inside her and shot flames through the swirling water and air.
Suddenly, the ground of the dungeon began to shake as the earth element rose around her, and she growled loudly. The tattoos across her shoulders began to glow, and she closed her eyes.
“Ashta,” whispered a voice, and she opened her eyes.
Again, she found herself back in the mystic dream-like garden of the spirit world.
“Where are you?” Ashta called, as she looked around, and two glowing green eyes appeared before her as she gasped.
“I can not believe that you are alive, after all of this time. Where have you been?” Asked a dragon-like creature that appeared before her.
“In the human world,” Ashta said, as the dragon’s tail curled around her, and the dragon looked at her with its glowing, reptilian eyes.
“You are the one!” he said, and Ashta looked at him oddly.
“What does that even mean?” she asked.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
Ashta and the moon god heard a voice and looked at each other. Surprisingly, Ashta watched as the dragon disappeared.
“No, wait!” called Ashta, but she was too late. The creature and the garden faded away, and the cell came back into view.
Slowly, Ashta descended to the ground and the tornado of elements disappeared. Ashta blinked a couple of times and looked at the cell door. There was a guard standing in front of the door, holding a large box. Nervously, the guard opened the door, shoved the box inside and quickly shut and locked the door.
Without a word, the guard did the same at Lashanna’s cell and then walked away. Curiously, Ashta looked at the box, and then she cautiously walked over to it. She then sat on the ground and opened it. Surprisingly, the box was full of food and snacks, and her stomach growled. Happily, Ashta feasted.
- Writer
