The Four Horsemen

Chapter 40

Unlike the War Games she was used to, her days were filled will cleaning instead of training. She spent every morning scrubbing the floors until her hands were raw. She spent every afternoon dusting and re-dusting every corner, for ash seemed to find its way everywhere. Then she spent every night getting more and more burns as she had to shut the lava vents in the Throne room.

By the time she was escorted back to her cell, parts of her suit were hanging off in strips. Her hands were bleeding. Blisters and burns spotted her arms and legs. She was covered in ashes. Despite everything, Morana never complained. She never fought back when she was dragged out of her cell to clean. She never yelled in protest whenever she was thrown back in. She ate, she cleaned, and she slept.

Morana dropped to the ground on her pile of hay. She curled up, hugging her legs close to her. She shivered. Morana pressed the side of her head up against the stone wall. She gritted her teeth. A coldness clawed at her chest. She hadn't seen the Horsemen at all. Loneliness was beginning to eat away at her.

She was about to close her eyes when a shimmering caught her eye. Morana turned her head to look at it. A small ball of light that could have fit in her hand hovered in the corner of her cell. Morana frowned. She began to crawl over to it. She kneeled in front of it, her body aching in protest. Morana peered through the bars of her cell in case anyone was watching. It was still too dark to be able to tell.

She looked back at the ball. Morana cupped her hands underneath it, pulling it closer to her. It responded to her presence. An image began to form in the center. It became bigger and bigger until it was the same size as the ball of light. Morana frowned, the image was unclear.

"Hello?" she whispered. She didn't want to draw attention to herself, though she was sure the guards wouldn't be surprised if she started to talk to herself. She had also gone days without using her voice, only muttering a string of curses every time she burned herself.

The image reacted to her voice, quickly becoming clear. Morana held back a sob of relief. Caiden stared at her, grinning.

"Hey, Mor," he said, as if it were any other day.

Morana smiled, her chapped lips splitting. "Hey Caiden," she replied, her voice raspy. "Are you alright? Where are the others?"

"We're fine," Caiden answered. "Amberlynn seems to be treating us better than you. How are you? You don't look too great from this side."

Morana sighed. "I'm doing better now that I know you guys are okay."

From the other side Caiden gave her a questioning look. "You should start worrying about yourself, Mor. Are you going to alright going through three more challenges?"

Morana bit her lip, glancing around her cell. "You know I've had worse," she said, looking back at him.

Caiden frowned, "Yeah, but -"

"Is that her? Did we get through? Let me talk to her," Divya's voice cried somewhere nearby on Caiden's end.

"Okay, Divya. Just give me a min -"

Divya came into view as she shoved Caiden off to the side. She smiled at her. "Mor, thank the gods you're okay."

"Hey, D," Morana chuckled. It made her ribs hurt, but Morana ignored it. She wished she was there with them. "How are you?"

"How am I? How are you, Mor? You look like you've been beaten up non-stop."

Morana rolled her eyes. Leave it to Divya to tell her how she really looked. "Unlike you guys, who appear to be having a comfortable stay, Amberlynn didn't want me to just sit in my cell and wait for each challenge. She's made me into another one of her servants," she explained.

"She's making you clean?" Divya gasped.

Morana laughed. "Yes, Divya. It's awful, I know," she said sarcastically.

"We're going to get you out of there."

Panic started to fill her chest. "No," she said quickly, her voice hard.

"Mor, we can help," Divya insisted.

"I know you can, but if Amberlynn finds out she'll kill you. I'm in this mess because she's holding you hostage. I'm doing this to save you guys, not myself."

"Morana, you've saved us plenty of times, let us save you."

"I - I can't," she choked out, "I'm not worth the risk."

"Morana -"Divya started, hurt flashing over her face.

"No," she said firmly, "I'm not going to let you guys risk your lives for mine. I'm sorry." She crushed the ball of light in her hand, ending the conversation. She knew they cared about her. She appreciated that they wanted to help, but there was nothing they could do. They were trapped just like her, if not more.

Morana stared off into the darkness, numbness washing over her. She was prepared to die for them. She was prepared to do whatever it took to save them. But she was a stone thrown into a river and she was sinking to the bottom, she was sinking fast. She wasn't going to drown the Horsemen with her.

Tears burned her eyes. She blinked them away. Now was not the time to fall apart. She just needed to hold herself together a little longer. She needed to get through the first trial. Survive the first, worry about the rest later. Morana crawled back to her corner. Just a little longer.