The Monster In Chains
1973 Words
Footsteps in the dark edged nearer. Something down there wasn’t staying put.
Staring hard, Kael held his gaze on the guards. They shifted under his stare. Not once did he look away.
"I asked a question."
The air caught in his throat as he knelt. A hard breath followed, then silence.
"We were following orders."
"Whose orders?"
Neither man spoke.
Faces changed fast, fear showing clear. Then silence filled the space where voices had been.
It hit her then - Elara saw it clear. A quiet moment, yet everything shifted.
Fear of Kael ran deeper than duty among the guards.
Fear gripped them whenever they thought about the one who gave the order.
Downstairs, a sharp noise split the air. A heavy thud followed right after.
Stone trembled.
Floating specks broke loose above. A slow rain of particles filled the air.
A sudden twitch ran through the soldier on duty.
Down on their knees, they seemed close to passing out.
Out of nowhere, Kael looked at the dark - a thing he hadn’t done since showing up.
A flicker of worry crossed his features.
Gone almost immediately.
Yet Elara noticed. She was the only one who did.
If the Lycan King felt fear….
Beneath the palace, something stirred - worse than her worst guesses. It crouched there, silent, deeper than Footsteps faded down the hall. Stillness crept back into the air. Quiet settled like dust after motion stops.
Far off, a clink of metal stirred the quiet.
Staring hard at the soldiers, Kael did not look away. His eyes stayed locked on them.
Heavy silence pressed down, moment by moment, as if the sky itself were sinking lower.
"Who told you to do this?" he said once more.
Quiet came out of his mouth. A stillness lived in the way he spoke.
Somehow, that twist only deepened the mess.
Bent at the knees, he dipped his chin toward his chest.
"My King... we were told the girl was a threat."
Elara's eyes widened.
A threat?
To whom?
Stillness stayed on Kael's face.
"By whom?"
The guard hesitated.
A loud smash rang out downstairs again.
The stairwell trembled.
Ceiling grit fell like snowflakes. Dust dropped through the air above.
Out of nowhere, people faced the dark. Then came silence.
Out of the silence came a quiet chuckle. It rose like smoke through still air.
Out of nowhere, the noise cracked apart. A sudden hush followed, uneven and raw.
Rough.
Almost human.
A shiver ran through Elara’s body. The cold crept along her back without warning. Her breath caught as the air turned sharp around her. Something unseen shifted nearby, making her skin tighten. Silence pressed in, heavier than before.
Horrified looks spread across the faces of the guards.
Backward, one stepped without thinking.
A sound broke out once more.
Longer this time.
Mocking.
Something beneath seemed to relish the moment, almost as if it were smiling through the dark. The air above barely moved, yet down there, a quiet delight stirred.
Kael's jaw tightened.
The creature spoke.
"Still... giving orders..."
The words were distorted.
Every beat of speech came out raw.
Like it hadn’t spoken in years, the sound cracked through silence.
The guards froze.
Elara's breath caught.
It spoke, that object. Words came out when it moved its hidden mouth.
It wasn't a beast.
Just because it looked wild didn’t mean it lacked thought.
A figure stood there. Someone had been present.
Once upon a time, that was true enough.
Kael remained silent.
A quiet laugh came from the thing. It didn’t shout, just let sound slip out like breath through glass.
"How many years has it been, old friend?"
Fury flickered in Kael’s eyes for just a second.
Old friend?
Her eyes locked onto his face. He stood still under her gaze.
It was familiar to him, that thing.
Not as a story.
Just like any ordinary person.
Personally.
What came clear shook her deeper than any other thing had.
Another chain rattled.
Out of the black, a sharp snap rang, cold and bright like breaking steel.
Some of the guards twitched, clearly startled.
The prison was weakening.
Everyone knew it.
A hush fell as the being drew air in deep. It lingered there, quiet, filling its lungs like tide rising on stone.
Then spoke again.
Laughter colored her words now.
"You should not have brought her here."
Through the hallway, the words rang out. A hush followed behind them.
Elara's pulse quickened.
Her?
The creature was talking about her.
And somehow...
From the first note, it seemed like she was already part of its story. could measure. Elara's heart pounded.
A chill crept through the hallway without warning.
The sound of its voice stayed hanging around. It did not fade like most things do.
"You should not have brought her here."
One guard looked at the other, then away. Their eyes met again, both unsure.
Each refused to glance at the stairs again.
Almost like a dread of meeting their own gaze.
Kael did not move at all.
Too still.
The silence stretched.
Out of nowhere, a laugh came from the thing once more.
A hush crept through the air, jagged at the edges. It wasn’t loud - more like a whisper that cracked halfway through.
"You never were good at listening."
A sound filled the black space around. It moved without shape, just noise traveling where light had gone missing.
Kael's eyes hardened.
"Enough."
A voice echoed down the hall, carrying weight behind it. Authority moved fast, slipping past doors before anyone could react. Orders landed sharp, cutting through silence like a blade. Power shifted without warning, reshaping what came next.
Shaking came from the walls. They didn’t just stand there - something moved inside them.
Then came quiet again.
Out of the silence came its voice once more.
Now the sound came through sharper.
Stronger.
More human.
"No."
A hush fell over the room when that one word landed. Stillness followed, heavy and sudden.
A heavy impact shook the stairwell.
Another chain snapped.
A sharp sound split the air, loud as a storm. Metal rang out across the open space.
A guard muttered a swear word under his breath.
He almost slipped but caught himself just in time.
The prison was breaking.
Fast.
Elara's stomach tightened.
She looked toward the darkness.
A shape shifted in the dark below.
Something large.
Something powerful.
Then she heard it.
Her name.
"Elara."
Fear hit her like a frozen wave. The warmth drained from her veins.
A sound came out sharp. It carried every word without blur.
It wasn’t an error. Mistakes didn’t happen here.
She was someone the creature recognized without doubt.
Footsteps stopped. Air hung still.
Some of the guards seemed taken aback.
Into the dark Elara looked. Darkness held her gaze.
"How do you know my name?"
A quiet laugh slipped out from the creature.
A strangely sad sound.
"As beautiful as she said."
Nothing in the sentences added up.
Elara frowned.
"Who?"
No answer.
Only silence.
A hush followed, then a breath crept up like smoke.
"Your mother."
Stillness took hold of her, every part locked tight.
Her mother?
The one who passed away while Elara was young?
The one people just never mentioned? That was her.
The one nobody seemed to know much about? That was her.
Her thoughts burst wide open, a swarm of doubts rushing in without warning. Then silence, heavy and thick.
Without delay, her gaze shifted to Kael.
A shift crossed his face now. What once sat easy there had slipped into something else entirely.
A flicker of real fear crossed his face - first time since he got here. That moment broke the calm he’d been holding.
Not anger.
Not concern.
Alarm.
Like it showed a threat without meaning to.
What Kael had prayed stayed buried. Hidden, far beneath silence. Out of reach. A secret he carried like a stone. One glance could crack it open. The kind of truth better left untouched.
Beneath their feet, a second set of links creaked from the weight above.
A sound escaped its throat again.
This time, victory colored its words.
It held a secret she hadn’t caught yet.
Whatever that secret turned out to be….
It was finally beginning to surface.
"What did you say?"
Out of her mouth burst words edged with more bite than meant. The sound surprised even Elara herself.
Inside her head, the being’s voice kept repeating. It lingered like a hum beneath thought.
Your mother.
A weight settled just saying it out loud. The sound rippled through the quiet without warning.
Water stirred where her thoughts grew thin. Waves moved across pieces of moments almost gone.
A gentle smile.
A warm voice.
Dark hair brushing her cheek.
Then nothing.
Back then, she was just a kid when her mom passed away.
She’d heard those words before. Nothing more than that stuck around.
No stories.
No family history.
No explanation.
Just silence.
For the first time in ages, a person spoke about her like they’d really known who she was.
Like a memory had stirred inside them.
Down the hall, Elara moved closer to the stairs.
"How do you know my mother?"
"Elara."
Her feet froze when Kael spoke.
She turned.
Something about his expression caused her to stop.
That look on his face felt unfamiliar, sharper somehow. She could not recall seeing him so rigid before.
Not angry.
Determined.
He stood there, like a shield when danger looms. A quiet presence where harm might pass. Not loud, just firm, as threats near. Like roots holding ground before the storm hits. Stillness that blocks what creeps close.
"Step away from the stairs."
Her eyes locked onto his face. He stood still under her gaze.
"No."
Out of nowhere, the word slipped out - she didn’t see it coming. It caught her off guard, like a stone skipping across still water.
A guard's face dropped, frozen in shock.
Fear kept every mouth shut when the Lycan King spoke.
Still, moving forward felt impossible to quit.
Still, that was no time to stop - solutions now just a breath away.
A quiet laugh came from the thing. It made a small sound, almost like wind through leaves.
"She's just like her."
Kael's eyes flashed.
"Be silent."
Still louder came the laughter. It rose without warning.
Beneath, a chain snapped into motion with sharp jerks.
A sudden split echoed through the air.
A snap gave way again.
Shaking ran through every part of the hallway. A deep rumble rolled underfoot just as dust began falling from above.
Ceiling grit fell like snow.
A guard lost balance, stepping back by accident.
"My King," he whispered. "The prison - "
"I know."
Out of nowhere, Kael's voice carried a tight edge.
Not afraid.
But close.
Out of nowhere, the being broke silence once more.
Now its voice carried more weight.
Less broken.
Like each shattered link gave back some power it once had.
"You've hidden the truth for too long."
Out of nowhere, shadows throbbed like a slow heartbeat.
Breathe.
Move.
"She deserves to know what she is."
A sudden hush fell inside her chest.
A sudden jolt ran through her at those words.
What she is.
Not who.
What.
A shiver ran down her spine. She felt it crawl up from nowhere. Cold prickled at her skin like tiny needles. Her breath caught midair. Silence followed, sharp and sudden.
A sound escaped its throat - sharp, brief. Then silence settled like dust after a fall.
Slow.
Knowing.
Triumphant.
Beneath the palace, far down where light never reaches, a vast shape stirred within the black.
It hit her then - Elara saw the prison wasn’t just breaking down. Something deeper had already cracked. For the first time Elara realized the prison wasn't failing. It was opening.
- Writer
