Unafraid (On Hold)

Chapter 9- Hello Torture

The room spun, the walls felt as though they were caving in, and there was a constant dripping noise in the distance. Damian awoke in a daze, his eyes aching and his head throbbing. He found himself drenched in sweat and noticed the room was incredibly hot. He looked around at his surroundings, the walls were a dark grey and the floor was stone, a pipe traveled upward along the wall and the door was on the opposite end of the room. Damian held onto the wall and stumbled to his feet. A pain shot through his leg causing him to fall towards the floor again, landing on his bottom. On his leg was a bandage soaked in his red thick blood, it was at that moment that he remembered the arrow that was stuck in his calf.

He winced at the memory and tried again to stand, this time being more cautious as to not put too much pressure on his injured leg. He slowly limped across the room and slid the door open. He was greeted by two guards standing outside, a serious expression plastered on their faces, arms folded behind them and feet spread apart. One of the guards loosened up and glared at Damian with his emotionless eyes. He walked over to him and looked down upon him.

"Come." His masculine voice spoke.

He and his fellow partner began to walk down the hall. Damian followed after as quickly as he could, his mind focusing on nothing but the two men ahead of him. They approached a large black metal door, with a lion's head as its knocker. It's evil eyes stared at Damian as they got closer. It seemed as though it followed their every movement. One of the guards opened the door and gestured for Damian to go inside. He slowly walked inside, the door slamming shut behind him.

The room was dark, various torches hang up on the walls providing a small amount of light. A dark purple chandelier hang from the ceiling. There were plenty of doors that stretched out along the wall that lengthened down the room. Damian slowly started walking, the further he went the more he could make out a small set of stairs. Atop of those steps was a throne, it had grey cushions, black metal that twisted around the arms and legs, spikes that fanned out behind the top of the throne, and clear gems were embedded in the metal making the throne shine in a weird, unusual way. Sitting in the throne was no one other than...Ravenna. Alongside Ravenna was a large lion that lay on the floor with his head on his paws, his mane perfectly shaping his face. His large claws sticking out from its paws and its tail swaying back and forth every now and then.

Damian gasped when he caught a glimpse of her. He's always heard of her, but never did he think he would be coming face to face with her. He started to shake his head as he backed away. Ravenna smiled and stretched out her arm.

"Hello Damian." She greeted.

The boy turned around and started running towards the door he came in. His heart pounded in his chest and his leg throbbed, but he didn't care. The lion leaped off the pedestal, ran after Damian and slid past him in order to block the door with his body. Damian tried to come to a complete stop, failing in his attempt resulting in him falling backwards onto the floor. The lion approached him leaning over him, his face scrunched up into an ugly, vicious snarl, a loud growl escaped his lips and drool seeped out of his mouth as he showed off his large teeth.

"Heel!" Ravenna yelled, causing the lion to relax and sit back on his bottom.

Damian's chest rose and fell rapidly as he struggled to steady his breath. He sat up and slid away from the lion. When he turned around he was shocked to see Ravenna standing behind him. Her straight, black hair falling down towards her waist, bright green eyes staring at him with little emotion, and pale skin contrasting against their dark surrounding. She towered over him and smiled, making her look all the more evil. Damian gasped and blinked rapidly.

"Welcome." Her unusually soft voice spoke.

Damian wasn't sure what scared him more the fact that he was in her presence or the fact that a woman with such a soft voice could be so threatening. Ravenna pulled Damian to his feet and wiped a tear from his face that even he didn't know fell.