The Sorcerers of Infinity/4

Chapter Four
Death Gardens

A sentry dressed in dark green armor stood at the inner gate of the Mur’tombi’kaam prison at the somewhere between Dassinth and Sycracia. Rain was pouring as hard as could be over the prison’s open-air rooftop. Peering into the distance, he could a familiar sight—an immense black horse with a wooden box-throne on its back. There sat a man in black armor, and behind him, there was a woman wearing a mauve-colored coat.

“Another mage I see,” the sentry snorted, chuckling derisively.

The man in black armor said nothing. He threw the woman off the horse, and she landed in the thick mud in front of the prison.

Tarja felt herself being hoisted with a rope, and then dragged across a disgusting muddy area. The dark violet coat over her leather clothes became wet and thick with grime. Yet her half-consciousness could not let her do anything that the rope was already hindering her from doing. Her pale ice-green eyes rolled over in her head—she could see a tall grey building, devoid of happiness.

Her world became a living void of darkness.

She fell unconscious once more.

When Tarja awoke next, there were bars. Tall metal bars that looked as cold as the floors felt. She felt damp and, for the first time in a long time, afraid. What was this place? Who brought her there…and what were they going to do?

“You,” whispered a voice next to her.

Tarja backed up to the corner of the cell, afraid of where the voice was coming from.

“Who are you?” Tarja demanded, trying to conceal the fear rattling in her voice.

“No, no, don’t worry,” the voice said. “I’m not trying to harm you.”

“How can I be sure?” Tarja demanded.

Her voice was starting to lose conviction of her ending up alive.

“Because I’ve been hurt before here,” the voice said in a warm, assuring voice. “I don’t want it to happen to you, what with you being a mage and all.”

“How can you tell?”

“I can tell from those beads on your arms and that purple robe of yours.”

Tarja immediately stood, trying to fit herself into a tiny corner.

“You can see me?” she cried, half-surprised and half-violated.

She heard a rumbling noise coming from the far side of her cell. On that side, the ground nearest a crack in the wall began to loosen. Finally, all of the dirt broke from the surface and tumbled down. A hand shot from the dirt. Tarja aimed her finger at it.

“Sieltä nevalainen,” Tarja chanted, expecting to see a bolt of flames shoot at the hand.

Nothing happened.

“What is this place?” she whispered to herself, shaking with fear.