A sequel to "Floating Stars"
Generations have come and gone in Natanstrelle. The people have been free to live without fear for almost a century, since the light magic's triumph over the darkness. However, hatred still lurks within the land; the Tro...
Blind to the world around her, Beanni could only focus on the scorching pain within her chest. It felt as though someone was clawing through her, like they were tearing their way to her heart. Pinned in place all she could do was scream. The screeching ripping from her throat made her deaf to her father's desperate, shaking voice. She felt his presence beside her but her pain was far too overwhelming to take heed of his words. She was trapped in a deep, dark abyss. Trapped in a sea of suffering. Her head pounded and her chest aflame. Tears fell across her cheeks and pooled into her ears as she fought to catch a breath; a breath that was only to be used to fuel more cries of pain.
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The sound of Ethan's torment echoed from the dungeon. Oslac could not ignore such a sound filled with relentless suffering, it broke his heart and made his legs pound the sturdy floorboards faster.
"Wait!" he heard Guard Dìl Dìon hiss after him.
Once he got to the entrance to the dungeon, the guard caught up to him and grabbed the prince's arm.
"You can't just barge in there! It's not safe!" he said, pulling Oslac away from the archway, ensuring that he would stay hidden from the torturers standing just down a few steps from them.
"They must be stopped! I cannot allow this to go on!" Oslac demanded, and tried to push the guard aside. Dìl Dìon shoved him back against the wall, the sudden movement knocked the wind out of him.
"Hear me, they are bewitched, possessed, they will not listen to you!"
Ethan's pain-filled cries made Oslac wince.
"I must get down there. I told you to take me to him! I need to help him!" the prince pleaded, trapped in the guard's iron grip.
"I understand, but you cannot stop the guards, you must wait. I'll protect you from them. But there is nothing you can do for the man, not until they leave the dungeon," Dìl Dìon spelled out, staring the prince down. Oslac glared back, a fierce fire roaring deep within his mind, making his lips tremble. A heat then stung his eyes and he bowed his head in defeat. He gave Dìl Dìon a nod and watched him quickly retrieve his light orb. He drew, on Oslac's chest, an eight-pointed star within a neat circle.
"Wait, did you just draw the royal Samhun Tealia?" Oslac questioned as he watched the light magic sink in. He then looked up at the guard for an explanation. How could a guard use the royal Samhun Tealia? It was unheard of. However, Dìl Dìon's eyes drifted past him and it was clear he could no longer see nor hear him.
"Stay by my side, Prince, so I do not lose you."
"Why did you not put protection on yourself?" Oslac asked, but of course Dìl Dìon did not give him an answer, nor did he react to his voice at all, for he was deaf to it.
"Follow me," he whispered and turned towards the dungeon's entrance.
He followed him through, not knowing what the guard had planned. As they neared Ethan's cell the guards inside turned towards them. Their dark eyes piercing through the bars.
