Bloodline of a Tempest

Chapter 16

This time the way to the dungeons took much longer than the last time as if every step she made deeper into the darkness was giving her time to change her mind.

It was a strange place – this fortress. It did not matter where you planned to go, or why – unless your mind was set upon your destination, you could wander for days, and the stairs and the hallways would be nothing but a maze of frustration.

Nema knew it was some kind of magic, but she did not like it one bit.

Once the only sound around her was the splashing of stale water Nema knew she was on the right track. Now she was relying only on her inner compass of fear, and when the darkness became alive around her, she knew she found the fire-feeders.

The barred cells were all the same, and when she reached the middle of the corridor, Nema stopped.

She did not say a single word. Nema knew they were watching her from their dark corners, like a predator watches its prey, feasting on its fear.

The image of fire swallowing her was still alive in her mind, and even though the burns were healed and the scars were gone, Nema still felt the heat making her eyes water every time she closed her eyes.

'You are here again,' the voice from inside the dungeon said. It was Orrel. Even she could not see his face, Nema felt the anger emanating from the corner of the cell like a bonfire.


Nema wasn't that brave. When she was eight, Ruzar dared them to go into the forest just after dark and stay there until the dawn. Sena returned as soon as she heard the first rustle, but Nema stayed. She was crying the entire night, whipping her tears with the woolen scarf. The shadows and the sounds inside the forest made her cover her ears with both hands.

Nema wasn't that brave, but she never allowed anyone to see her fear.

'I am here again,' she said.

The whispers that echoed through the dungeons reminded her of the clattering of the arms. It was impossible, she knew, just like she knew that even locked inside here, they were just as dangerous as they were when they were free and armed.

Cay's words came to her mind – they were the elite army of the most feared kingdom in the constellation – the kingdom of fire and destruction. They had no conscience and no honor, and around them you had nothing to count on but your stupid luck.

Nema approached a step closer, closing her both hands around the iron bars. 'If you want to kill me, do it now,' she said.

Orrel said nothing.

Nema wasn't bluffing.

After some time inside this fortress, the reality lost the sharp edges of its boundaries. She was walking through the world she was creating in her sleep, followed by an entourage of beings who translated every of her wishes into reality, adding a bit of gold to it, and Nema saw no point in her existence. She was suffocating the cries of her heart until she couldn't hear it anymore, and every day spent here, Nema was another step closer to insanity.

Nothing seemed real anymore – not even her fear.

'Please,' Nema whispered, 'the world is dying.'

She was pleading a murderer.

Orrel said nothing.

Suddenly, a voice from the next cell called. 'Orrel,' the man said, 'she has the right of the sacrifice.'

Nema did not know what it meant. She was too afraid to ask what she was sacrificing.

'On one condition,' Orrel finally spoke. 'I will help if you,' he said, 'but you will have to do something for us.'

Nema nodded.

'Once your seals are broken you will open a portal,' he said. 'We want out.'

There were cheers of approval heard from every cell. Only now Nema realized how many of them were locked in here.

She was looking at the floor, even in the darkness there was nothing to be seen. Every step she made closer to the dungeons today was a step that carried her further away from the father. If she opens this portal, the king would never forgive her. The fire-feeders were his sworn enemies.

Nema smiled a little sad smile.

She knew exactly what she was sacrificing when she came here. 

She was never going to see her father in the first place. Those chances life was giving her were always set up in a way that made her lose as soon as the first sprout of hope took the root on the ground of her soul.

People like her always arrived late – for all those things that mattered. Once it was her turn to receive, the world would close its hand the moment she opened hers.

'I can not open a portal,' she said. You needed an insane amount of force to make the reality split. She only managed to do it once when she thought they would kill Demian.

Orrel came closer. 'Once the seals are broken you will be able to open the portal to the very realms of Sollbel if you wish so.'