The Girl From the Never Realm (l.garmadon)

Six

The force from the crash knocked me from Kataru's back. I slammed into the wall, making some icicles fall from the ceiling and almost impale me. I rolled aside just as their sharp points hit the floor.

The blizzard samurai marched ever closer.

One of them pushed through to the front.

I snarled.

Vex. This damn asshole just couldn't stay down, could he?

And he had the nerve to wear a smug smirk on his face.

My hand twitched from the desire to run him through with his own sword.

"You're trapped," he pointed out.

Gee thanks, like I couldn't already tell.

"Give up now," he said, taking a spear from the samurai beside him and leveling it at my eye height. "Or be destroyed."

I glanced over at Kataru, having no idea what to do. We could try to bust through, but we were both tired. And more reinforcements were pouring in. If we tried to smash through the window... well, it was too high up; and if we tried to climb to it, we'd surely be struck down on the way.

After a moment, Kataru shifted back into human form, his bear cap lopsided on his black hair. He raised his hands in the air.

I did the same, and we were led back to our cells.

"ARGH!"

I screamed in frustration as my latest attempt to break the chains binding my hands failed.

Again.

When we were thrown back into our cells, Vex had personally handcuffed both Kataru and me with shackles made from Corrupted Ice. I didn't know exactly what the stuff was made of, but damn was it strong. Apparently it also had magic-restricting abilities, since neither of us could shapeshift anymore. It didn't make much of a difference for me, but poor Kataru could no longer call upon his bear form to warm himself. At night I could hear his teeth chattering in his sleep.

As punishment, our food rations were cut down. Sometimes, we weren't even given any food, just a cup of cold, dirty water.

And the days passed, in shivers and silence and the taunting of Vex. We were too cold and famished to even snarl at his words, or whisper to each other.

So, I thought bitterly. This is how I'll spend the rest of my life.

But on the bright side, if things kept going the way they were, my life didn't look like it would be much longer.

Well...

That still wasn't much of a bright side.