On The Other Side

Chapter 2

I was alive, that was all i knew, i must be alive because there was no way death was this painful, also, for as long as i could remember, i have known i would die at the sea, which was surprising because i knew how to swim.

A man that can swim will never drown, my father used to tell me and my siblings, that was before he left us for good. I wondered if he was even alive, if he even thought of the three kids and a wife he had left to fend for themselves. i was three the first time he took me swimming, now it was as natural as walking for me. My family would be mad with worry, i never missed our weekly family video calls, my mother and i talked almost daily. They would have called all my friends and land lady till now, and the police. I have been off grid for a week now, it felt like yesterday though, me and my sister, sitting on our fathers back as he swam to the deeper end of the pool.

"You fought well." A voice said and i woke up from my trance, it was the woman i had fought. "There is no need for you to suffer, i could kill you right now." She said.

"Please." I said hoarsely, i hadn't had water in day.

"You aren't like the rest of humans we bring in." She said and sat down on my cot. "I am half human you know." She said. "That's why they picked me to fight, i am dispensable." She took a vial out of her cloak. "This will heal your arm and leg, there is a tap at the corner for water. Food will be served once a day so don't get picky." She said and pulled out a vial from her pocket, she tipped it in my mouth a little and i gulped the few drops.

I hadn't thought that the pain i was in could increase, it did however. My arm and leg burned like it had been tossed into fire. She pulled out a cloth and stuffed it in my mouth.

"Don't scream, they will kill you, take it out when the pain stops." She said and i nodded, my eyes shutting on their own accord as i felt my body jerk.

I put my hand in fire by mistake a life time ago, i remembered it now because that's what my insides felt like, as if the same pain was coursing through my veins. After hours and hours of thinking that taking death would have been better, the pain stopped and i stood up. My arm and leg good as new, hell even my right knee which always felt a little off felt alright.

And then the screaming started.

"Hey." A voice yelled from a few rooms down, it echoed through the stone walls "What's going on?"

"The army is here." Another voice said. "It's going to be a massacre out there."

"What army?" The first voice asked.

"The emperor's army." The man said. "With any luck they will free us, even the human down the hall, they are soft like that." He said with a snort.

the screams and yells went on for hours, i could hear metal clangs and loud cannon noise. I couldn't sleep that night with the noise, at one point i could see smoke and fire from the small window at the top, the angle made me realise i was almost underground. I sprang the night curled up in a ball, as if making myself smaller would make it all go away. at dawn however, the screaming stopped, and then silence. The silence somehow rang louder.

My cell was bare, all it had was a cot on one end, a small pot and the tap with water. A small window let In a narrow stream of light, it was definitely winter sunlight, it was cold.

I didn't call out for hours, thinking someone would kill me, when night came, so did hunger.

"Hello" i yelled. "Is somebody there?"

"No one is coming." One of the men said. "You are from other side, human." He stated, not a question.

"What do you mean no one is coming, they couldn't have forgotten we exist." The other man said.