Chapter six- IRON CASKET

CHAPTER 6

​Zara's POV

​The darkness was so thick that I could feel it pressing against my eyelids, and for a long time I just lay there wondering if I had finally died and gone to some hollow place where the moon goddess didn't exist. My head was throbbing with a rhythmic pain that matched the heavy thudding of my heart, and every time I tried to shift my weight a sharp ache shot through my skull that made me want to vomit. I tried to reach up to touch the back of my head where the guard had hit me but my wrists wouldn't move, and that was when the panic really started to set in because I could feel cold metal biting into my skin and holding my arms tight against my sides.

​I started to thrash around on the hard floor and my breathing became shallow and quick as I struggled to understand where I was, but the space was so small that my knees immediately hit a cold wall and my head bumped against a low ceiling. It felt like I was inside a metal box and the air was getting warmer with every breath I took, and there was a strange metallic smell that made my skin crawl and my muscles feel like they were turning into lead. "Help! Is anyone there? Please let me out!" I screamed until my throat felt raw and scratchy, but the only sound that came back was the muffled rolling of wheels on a bumpy dirt road and the distant sound of horses being whipped.

​"You can yell all you want, little wolf, but nobody is coming for you out here in the woods," a man's voice suddenly grunted from somewhere outside the box, and I heard the sound of a heavy latch clicking into place followed by a low chuckle.

​"Where are you taking me? Seraphina can't do this, she can't just send me away like this!" I yelled back while kicking my legs against the side of the container, but my movements felt sluggish and weak as if my body was forgetting how to function.

​"The Young Mistress was very specific about your destination and she paid us a lot of gold to make sure you never find your way back to the Nightshade pack, so you might as well save your breath because this box is lined with silver and it's going to drain every bit of strength you have left," the man said, and I could hear him shifting around on a wooden bench as the carriage jolted over a deep pothole.

​I slumped back against the floor and felt a cold tear slide down my temple because I knew what silver did to our kind, and the thought of being trapped in this tiny iron casket while my wolf was being suppressed made me feel a level of despair I had never known before. My father was gone and my best friend had betrayed me and now the man I was supposed to marry was in bed with my enemy, so it felt like the world was intentionally trying to crush me into nothing.

​Get up, Zara.

​The voice wasn't mine and it didn't come from the outside, but it echoed inside my head with a strength that made my eyes snap open even though I couldn't see anything. It had been months since I heard my wolf, Ayla, because the trauma of my father's death had pushed her so deep into my subconscious that I thought she was gone forever.

​You are not a slave and you are not a victim, so stop crying and start looking for a way out before they reach the border, Ayla whispered, and I could feel a tiny spark of warmth spreading from my chest to my fingertips despite the silver dampening my energy.

​"Ayla? Is that really you?" I whispered under my breath while trying to ignore the way the metal walls seemed to be closing in on me, and I felt a faint nudge of affirmation that gave me just enough hope to start feeling around the seams of the box with my bound hands.

​"Hey, what are you doing back there? I told you to stay quiet!" the guard shouted while banging his fist against the metal, and the vibration rattled my teeth and made my head spin again.

​"I can't breathe in here, the air is running out and I'm going to suffocate if you don't give me some ventilation!" I lied while desperately searching for any weakness in the construction, and my fingers finally brushed against a spot where the metal felt slightly thinner and rusted near the bottom corner.

​"That's not my problem and I'm not opening this door until we meet the buyers at the crossroads, so just lay down and die quietly if that's what you're worried about," he replied with an annoyed tone, and then I heard the sound of a bottle being uncorked and the smell of cheap ale wafted through the small air holes.

​I ignored him and focused all my remaining strength into my right leg while bracing my shoulders against the opposite wall, and I pictured Seraphina's smug face and Marcus's cold eyes to fuel the anger that was bubbling up inside of me. I kicked the rusted seam with everything I had and a loud screeching sound echoed in the cramped space, and for a second I thought the metal was going to give way and let me spill out onto the road.

​"What was that? Did you just hit the wall?" the guard yelled and I heard the carriage begin to slow down as he pulled on the reins, and my heart started racing because I wasn't ready to face him yet while my hands were still tied.

​The carriage jolted violently as it went off the main path and onto a much rougher terrain, and I was tossed around like a rag doll inside the box while the guard kept swearing and shouting at the horses to move faster. I tried to regain my footing but the silver was making me so dizzy that I could barely tell which way was up, and then I felt the entire carriage tilt at a dangerous angle as if we were heading down a steep embankment.

​"Wait, something is wrong, the horses are spooked by something in the trees!" the guard screamed and I heard the sound of a struggle followed by a terrifying howl that didn't sound like any wolf I had ever heard before.

​The box slid across the floor of the carriage and slammed into the back door with a force that made the wood splinter, and I held my breath as I felt the wheels leave the ground and the world began to spin in a blur of motion and noise.