The Real Enemy [Klance]

Chapter 20

           

When he awoke it was to a dark cell and a splitting headache. No one else was around. He tried to move, but was held in pace by the shackles that were holding his arms above his head.

At least his feet were on the ground.

His shoulders were burning with the effort that they had been making to hold the rest of his body up, but now that he was conscious he was able to straighten his legs to give them some respite.

His armor was gone.

He was standing in the body suit underneath the Galra armor disguise that he had had.

He felt cold and vulnerable and uneasy. Like a stone had settled in his stomach and it was getting heavier and heavier and-

Keith took a breath, calming the rising panic within him. The cell was completely closed off and silent. The door was across from him, a few meters away. It looked heavy. There would be no way that he could bash it out on his own.

It didn't much matter though because he was trapped in the shackles. No amount of jerking could get him free, and he tried.

His breaths were getting faster and suddenly he thought that he might pass out right now if he couldn't get his arms free. He jerked harder whimpering and grunting as it scored deep, burning cuts in his wrists.

He was alone in this silent cell and he could feel his demons awakening and if he let himself be consumed by them now he would never be able to break free. He couldn't stop them.

He tried to think of something, anything else but that day, but he couldn't.

He could remember the way it felt when he saw them disappear from his sight. He remembered the soft purple light coming from all directions, making his stomach feel sick and his mind spin. He remembered the small pod that he had been stuck in, about as big as the cell he was in now. The impossible silence. He was forced to watch as they-

Then he heard it.

It was faint, so faint that if it hadn't been deadly silent he wouldn't have been able to hear it. A soft voice was shakily humming along to an upbeat song. He searched for the source but couldn't find it. He knew that the walls of the cell would be soundproof so he shouldn't have been able to hear anything at all.

Were they transmitting music in here? There was no reason for them to do that. The sound was calming and the longer he listened the more relaxed he felt.

He focused on the sound, pushing away the horrible memories that were resurfacing to the back of his mind. He needed to calm down if he wanted to find a way out.

The humming was wobbly and weak, almost as if the singer was uncertain of the tune. He focused on every nuance of it, following the ebbs and flows intensely.

One breath in. A slower breath out.

He could do this, he just had to think this through.

It was another dobash of slow deliberate breaths before Keith felt the tension leave his mind.

It was only a moment more before that calm was wiped away in a matter of ticks. The door to his cell opened and in walked the witch herself, two of her druids following behind her on either side. Her robes dragged against the floor, making a hardly decipherable scuffing noise as she moved. Her long, colorless white hair swayed with her every movement. Her eyes were hidden by her deep cowl, which casted dark shadows over her face.

Keith felt himself shrink back unintentionally, but he forced his face to stay stern and unintimidated.

"This," Her voice was haunting as she held up his dagger, "belongs to you." The Blade symbol was standing prominently on the hilt, impossible to miss. A sneer formed on her lips as she threw it at him. It didn't hit him, just clattered off the wall to his right. If she had wanted, it could have pierced his heart in one shot. He could have died with his hands chained above his head and only the fear in his chest to keep him company.