In the Dungeon

Seren

“Seren! Seren, wake up! Damn it. Seren, you have to wake up. I don’t have much time. If only I could get those stupid guards to stay away longer. Wake up!!” Kayla pleaded.

Everything hurt. My head pounded; my eyelids hurt. I tried to open them, but they felt like they were weighed down by bricks. I started trying to move, to breathe, but my chest felt like it was both on fire and filled with glass. “Ugh…ow…”

“That’s it, Seren. A little more now. You have to wake up!” Kayla sounded scared, and while my head told me she was shouting, in reality she was whispering.

I tried lifting my lids again, and this time managed to blink them open and keep them that way. Things were blurry, but I tried to focus on Kayla. “What…what…happened?” I croaked out.

“You’re in the dungeon, and I only have a minute. Here’s some water, and some food. We have to hide it. The guards will be back anytime now. Mom distracted them for me. You have to hang on, Seren. I can’t get you out of here yet, but I’ll figure out something. You’re badly hurt. You need to drink and eat and try to gain some strength back. The ball is tonight, so no one should bother you for a while,” Kayla whispered, frantic. “You need to rest. Get what strength you can, and we’ll figure something out from there. You’re clearly not safe here anymore. I’ve got to go.” She got up, shoved a bottle of water and some packaged sandwiches towards me through the bars of the cell. Then, she was gone.

Cell? Why am I in a cell? What the hell happened? ‘Kara? Are you there?’ I reached out to my wolf, still trying to figure out what was happening. I ached all over. ‘Kara?’ I started to panic a little. Kara was always there to answer.

‘Shhh, it’s ok. I’m still here. I’m just tired,’ she finally responded. ‘I’ve been healing us the best I can, but we suffered a lot of damage this time. We need to rest.’ She was faint in the back of my mind, and I could tell how tired she was. I started trying to take inventory of what hurt, but it was hard when absolutely everything did. My arms didn’t want to work, but I managed to crawl over and get the food and water that Kayla had brought over for me. Just that movement told me I was in real trouble.

My ribs felt like they were broken; I couldn’t take a deep breath. I couldn’t grasp the food or water with my right hand—it was clearly broken. My head swam, and I reached back to find my hair matted with dried blood and a large knot on the back. My ankle wouldn’t hold my weight—sharp pain streaked up my leg when I tried to put any weight at all on it, so that was likely broken, too. I crawled back to the cot and tucked my treasure underneath the blanket. At least they gave me a blanket this time. Usually, they just tossed me in wearing whatever clothes I had on and left me. That’s when I realized that most of my clothes were ripped and bloody.

What the hell happened to me? I tried to remember, but everything was coming up blank. My head just kept throbbing. It was difficult, but I lay back down on the cot and closed my eyes. Just a little nap. I’m so tired. The little bit of effort I’d spent to get the food Kayla brought me has exhausted me. Blinking, my vision dimmed around the edges. Everything went black.