Green Eyes

Mallon sucked in a sharp breath as he felt his face get smothered in something frozen. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, he tried moving but to no avail. Tight leather straps dug into his wrists and ankles. Blinking the snow out of his eyes, his blurry vision slowly resolved itself into the shape of Jared standing over him, arms crossed and a stare colder than the snow that covered his face.

“Welcome back to the world,” Jared icily greeted.

“Who are you?” quaked Mallon.

“Someone you have seriously pissed off,” Jared strode towards him, brandishing his blade. “And that is something you really don’t want.”

Mallon fought hard against his bonds as Jared approached, memories of the previous night’s massacre rushing back. He stopped struggling when Jared stood over him.

“What do you want with me,” Mallon wailed in full-blown panic as Jared pressed the tip of his sword against Mallon’s throat.

“I want Selene back,” Jared snarled. “And you’re going to help.”

“Do you promise not to kill me if I help you rescue Selene?” Mallon asked.

“I give you my word that I won’t kill you,” Jared promised, withdrawing his weapon but not sheathing it.

“What do I need to do?” Mallon questioned.

“Selene would have been taken to David’s castle, correct?” Jared interrogated.

“Yes, most likely,” confirmed Mallon. “That’s the most secure place around and where the Viceroy has been staying.”

“Then you are going to get me into that castle,” Jared ordered.

“How will you rescue her?” Mallon wondered. “That place is a literal fortress.”

“I’ve gotten in and out of worse,” Jared shrugged.

“There are a thousand soldiers there,” protested Mallon.

Jared snorted. “You saw what I did your little band. Do you really think I’m going to be bothered by a few men with some knives?”

Mallon finally looked up to meet Jared’s eyes. There was such a deadly earnestness in those arctic blue eyes that he somehow knew that not 10,000 Kalashonian soldiers could stop him.

“What are you?” he whispered.

“I’m about to become a nightmare,” Jared grabbed him and hefted him to his feet. “Time to go.”

*******

With a moan, Selene woke up. Her head was pounding, her muscles weak, and her joints frozen stiff. Trying to sit up, she felt aches and pains in places she didn’t know existed. She was lying on a cold stone floor in a room that was pitch black.

“Where am I?” she asked herself.

“You are in a cell in David’s dungeon,” a raspy voice answered her.

“What do you want with me?” Selene shouted into the darkness.

“In good time my dear,” the voice replied. “But first, some light.”

Around the cell a half dozen torches burst into flame, illuminating Selene’s world. Her cell was small with solid stone walls on three sides and thick, steel bars for a door. Standing just inside the door was the Viceroy.

“Apologies for the theatrics,” Brutus spoke. “But I assure you that it was for a purpose. I wanted you to know that you aren’t the only one with power.”

Selene gulped and nodded. “What do you want with me?” she asked.

“I want your power,” Brutus informed.

“My power?” Selene squinted. “What power?”

Brutus raised an eyebrow. “Cute,” he commented, “but it’s pointless to play games with me; I know exactly what you are.”

“What I am? What are you talking about?” Selene questioned.

“It was cute the first time,” snapped the Viceroy. “But you are beginning to try my patience!”

“I still don’t understand!” Selene replied throwing up her hands.

That was a foolish mistake on her part. The Viceroy’s eyes went wide and reflexively he raised his hands, mentally throwing Selene against the wall, pinning her there. Grunting and straining, Selene tried to move but couldn’t.

“Do not try that again,” warned Brutus stepping closer to her.

“Try what!?” screamed Selene. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Brutus grabbed her jaw in his hand and forced her to look him in the eyes. Selene shuddered as she felt his cruel black eyes pry into her like icy tentacles, latching on to her psyche. Then the Viceroy started laughing: a harsh, sadistic laugh.

“Unbelievable,” he howled. “You’re telling the truth, aren’t you? You really have no idea what you are, Navi.”

“What’s a Navi?” Selene tried to wrench herself away from his gaze.

“I will be happy to educate you in due time,” the Viceroy released her, dropping the exhausted woman to the ground and walking back to the cell door. “But first I must ensure your loyalty.”

“My loyalty?” Selene rasped, picking herself up of the floor. “My loyalty? You throw me in a cell, try to kill my friend, and murder my father and you expect me to serve you?”

“Yes,” Brutus said simply.

“I will never serve you,” declared Selene glaring at the Viceroy.

“Some spirit in you, I see,” Brutus chuckled savagely. “Good; it wouldn’t be fun without a little challenge.”

Selene started retreated towards the back of the cell. “What are you going to do to me?”

“Break you, of course,” Brutus cheerfully answered. “I’m going to beat you, burn you, haunt you, and I’m going to strip your humanity from you piece by piece until you are nothing but a mindless drone. Then I will teach you about your powers.”

Selene’s throat went so dry she couldn’t speak. Frantically she began to try to find a way out but the walls were solid stone. She was trapped.

“There is no way out,” the Viceroy commented as he watched her scramble about.

“There is through you,” she croaked. Raising her hands, she tried to light them on fire like the previous night.

Nothing happened.

She tried again but couldn’t even summon a spark. Selene didn’t understand; last night she had burned down her entire house so why didn’t it work now.

“You don’t know how to use your powers,” laughed Brutus sadistically. “Perhaps a demonstration is in order.”

Flames leaped from the Viceroy’s hands as he flicked his wrists. He stomped towards her with a horrifically cheerful expression on his face.

Selene glanced from Brutus’s face to his fists and back again. “If you kill me, you can’t train me,” she warned.

Brutus casually glanced at his hands. “Oh this?” he questioned raising them up. “Don’t worry; this won’t kill you. Although,” he added with a gleam in his eyes, “you’ll probably wish it had.” Thrusting his hands forward, he launched a jet of fire that enveloped Selene.

The pain was beyond anything Selene had ever imagined possible. She felt the flames searing and melting her flesh as they wreathed around her. It hurt so bad that she couldn’t even breathe. And it never let up.

“STOP, PLEASE!” she shrieked as the flames continued gnaw at her. “I’M BEGGING YOU PLEASE STOP!”

“Oh, is it too warm in here for you?” the Viceroy asked as Selene continued to writhe. “Allow me to drop the temperature.”

Releasing the fire, he pressed his palm against the stone wall. Ice raced out turning the cell into a freezer.

Selene collapsed in a heap on the frozen floor only to experience a new kind of pain. The icy floor was such a contrast to her boiled skin that it sent shockwaves of agony through her entire body.

She couldn’t stand; she couldn’t sit; she couldn’t lie down. There was no escape from the constant torture. Reaching her hand out, she saw the charred and melted flesh; she could even see some of the bones. In the back of her mind, Selene wondered how she was possibly alive. In the forefront, she deeply wished she wasn’t.

“This was only a taste of what is to come, my dear,” the Viceroy whispered into her ear. “So until next time, pleasant dreams.”

Selene heard the metal door open and shut as she twitched helplessly on the floor. Her body was experiencing sensory overload and she felt herself begin to blackout. As her vision blurred, Selene felt a tingling sensation wash all over her body as her world faded.