Unbroken (Untouched #2)

Prologue

THE air in the room was still and stale. But, like everything else that had happened, the nothingness did not last long.

In a sudden expulsion of energy, the door exploded on its hinges and slammed against the wall. Dirt and grime fell loose from the crevices of the rock, and the smack of heavy wood against stone echoed through the cavern. A small band of huddled figures streamed through the doorway. What had been great emptiness was now brimming with palpable tension and not one of them dared to utter a single word for fear of breaking the deafening silence.

Maintaining the ashen laconism, the group parted and a figure emerged from their huddled depths. His arms cradled the limp body and the lifeless limbs brushed against his legs. Taking purposeful yet quick steps forward, the figure placed the corpse on the sheets of the awaiting bed and took a step away so the others had a view of the fallen. They bowed their heads and held their breaths as the sordid moment hung in the air.

Though unspoken, the same question lingered inside each of their minds.

The vessel had died; no one had to tell them that. The skin was cold and pale, and the heart still within its cage.

But had they had made it back in time? Had they defeated the everchanging odds which seemed to be against them at every opportune moment?

The figures were broken from their sombre-filled trance as a man crashed through the open doorway. Clamouring for balance, he fell to his knees as a guard rammed him in the square of his back. Small dust motes surged into the air as he landed in a crippled mass on the ground. His knees screamed as they scraped against the harsh crevices of the stone and a veil of greasy, filth-ridden hair fell around his face.nose.

Between wheezes of laboured breaths, he clawed at the ground and struggled to stand. Between the holes in the cloth that hung from his thin frame, his rib bones poked out and threatened to break free. His skin hung in loose rolls, and his cheeks hollow.

"You! Awaken him!" one of his captors roared, brandishing a curled finger in his direction and then pointing towards the downed body. The finger shimmered in the man's view and he could have sworn that he saw the whites of the bones through the skin. He dropped his eyes to the ground and focused on the clumps of dirt and filth which had accumulated on the floor. It did nothing to alleviate the pounding he could feel deep inside his head.

"Are you insane? I can't!" he growled through a dried throat, raising his chained arms. The words scratched at his throat like sandpaper. He could feel something warm seep from between the cracks on his lips. The salt tinged his taste. "I don't have enough black knowledge to do this. I could end him forever...damage his vessel! Even if I could, I don't have the energy to complete the ritual! It could succumb both me and him! Are you insane enough to take this chance? There are others a lot more experienced in this than myself. Why don't you drag them in instead? I don't know what you want from me. I'm innocent!"

"Try then, you ungrateful piece of vermin. In fact, why don't you try as if your life depended on it."

He raised his gaze and blinked as he focused on the skeleton. Trembles and quivers – was it fear, he didn't know – shot through his nerves as it inched ever closer. The skin on the top of the finger barely settled on the top of his shoulder when something ice-like bloomed through his veins.

The horrible sensation tore at his joints and shot through the rest of his limbs. An involuntary convulse shook his body as he struggled to shake the sudden frost. His chest faltered as he drew unsteady breaths.

Closing his eyes, he swallowed hard.

The prisoner lifted his arms, his wrists shaking from the weight of the shackles.