///On Hiatus\\\ [Stories That Never Took Off]

Lanien; Sentenced

"Let go of me!" I thrashed wildly, kicking my legs in an attempt to free myself.

The hands roughly threw into the room. The mahogany doors were thrust open, the golden knockers clanging loudly with the force. I dropped like dead weight onto the floor. I wiped the back of my hand across my forehead, it came away wet with blood. My vision swam before my eyes, shuddering, I tried to stem the flow of blood. Rivulets of dark liquid dropped onto the group, as my eyes watching it splatter to the floor, I realized where I was standing. All around me were chalky white engravings into the marble. The lines intertwines, spinning around me like a net. A net...

A Pentagon. I scrambled to my feet, trying to take even a single step away. I slammed into an invisible force field. I was trapped. Bile rose in my throat as quiet chanting reached my ears.

"Bone and blood..." the first half of the phrase shot tremors up my spine. The Pain incantation.

My head slammed against the marble wall. Scrunching my eyes up in pain, I tried to twist to the side. Claws were at my throat, the pointed ends close enough to rip through my larynx and a few important muscles. Possibly the ones that keep my head attached to my body. I squirmed to extricate myself from the grip but the red eyes above me bore no mercy as they stared unblinkingly into my own. I could feel my pulse racing, like my heart was about to leap out of my chest.

"Lanien, Lanien, Lanien," the cold voice on the opposite side of the room whispered. The voice was light, airy, as though he was merely reciting lyrics to his favorite song. But underneath it all was cold, icy fury.

"F-father, please," I begged. I was on my knees now, the claw vanishing from my throat. I pressed my forehead into the floor, my breath clouding up the shimmering stone.

"I don't want to hear your sniveling," he snapped in a voice like shattering glass.

I was silent.

"I want to hear the reason you messed up, again." All emphasis was on "again". Although I didn't want to look up, I could see his expression in my mind. Shivers ran up my spine.

"First born son of the Nakita Clan. I'll admit I had some hope for you, but at the rate you're going... Things might change." The underlying threat was as obvious as if he had said it plainly.

"It wasn't my fault," I began.

"Silence!" he screamed at me, his hand flying out and slapping me harshly. I stumbled backwards, frozen on the spot. However, my father moved quickly to the other side of the room.

"How could you manage to send our own soldiers right into a waiting ambush?"

I opened my mouth, but he cut me off swiftly, seeming determined to blame everything on me.

"The Princess had no servants. She was weakened. And yet, somehow she managed to take out an entire battalion single handedly before dying?"

"She used a Heavenly Chant!" I protested loudly.

"There were hundreds of you!" he roared, "Not one of them could've sealed her lips?"

Silence. "No."

"Apparently not."

"Maybe I should've sent your brother. Younger. Brother. Out instead of you."

"I am more than capable of taking on this war myself," I stated firmly.

"Where's the proof of that?" he merely spat.

"Give me one more chance," I pleaded, on the verge of losing all dignity and having to beg.