Arc 2 - The Dark Monster Before His Eyes

He woke up with a startle, his head still ringing from all the shouting, his mouth still tasting of blood but, in the next instant, all that was gone.

It was silent in there, wherever there was, and the light was comfortably dim, sparing his sensitive eyes. More than that, he couldn’t recall having ever lain on such a smooth and comfortable surface. The bed where he’d spent his days had been hard, the mattress made of dry straw, the covers of cheap cotton or stinging wool, the red satin drapes hanging around the bed trying to give the room a lush, distinct air, since nothing else would.

His body too, lying on his side, didn’t hurt as much as he’d expected it to and, as he tried to take a deep breath, he noticed the bandages wrapped around his chest. He made a gesture to touch them but his arm hurt, refusing to move. Only his fingers twitched in response. Well, at least he could feel them again, he thought with a sigh of relief, hopping that meant he wouldn’t lose them after all. Even his feet had been tended to, he noticed, feeling his movements comfortably constricted.

His throat was dry, he realized, swallowing hard, which immediately made him aware of the collar around his neck. So he was still a prisoner, he concluded, tilting his head back so he could better see what his new prison cell looked like.

The bright-blue eyes that silently stared back at him made his heart stop for a split second. Eyes the color of the sky but that glowed as cold as ice. He had completely forgotten the dark, huge monster he’d seen before. And now it was right there, sitting in front of him, towering over him, ready to swallow him whole.

“You’re finally awake,” it said, in a deep, dark voice that sounded more like a death threat, and he wished his battered body could manage enough strength to move, so he could spring out of that bed and make a run for his life. As far as he could tell, beside the collar around his neck, no one had chained or tied him up … yet. That he would lose this opportunity to escape was beyond mortifying, it meant certain death.

“What is your name?”

Shuddering, he wished he could at least look away from that monster. That gaze was like a very hard rock weighing on his chest, making it hard to breathe, making it impossible to move.

“I think you’re scaring him,” another voice said, sounding a bit more gentle. “Maybe he can’t understand us …?”

“He can,” the monster replied with complete certainty.

“Maybe he’s afraid of the qinrien. Who knows what those men did to him,” the other voice suggested and the monster seemed to consider his words for a brief moment.

“You’re not suggesting we take it off, right? He won’t kill me. But I’m sure you won’t be so lucky.”

“Of course not!” the other voice urgently denied, much less gentler now. “I still want to live to an old age!” he went on and suddenly his face too, was in his line of sight.

He, at least, looked like a normal person, probably the same age the Lord had been, though he had none of the frail beauty and grace of the other man. His eyes were dark-green, a rare color amongst the common people, and the smile he plastered on his face was clearly fake, and was obviously there to try and make him lower his guard.

“Kid, you can talk, you know? The qinrien won’t hurt you unless you scream. Do you understand?”

The qin-something again, he thought, and the feel of the collar around his neck made him swallow. Were they talking about the collar? And it was supposed to hurt him how? Thinking back it was true that the Lord had ordered it off on the two occasions he had wanted him to scream … The other man too, had told him that it would render him unconscious should he utter a single sound. So it was there to silence him, he concluded, firmly pressing his lips together, his lower lip hurting from where he’d bitten down on it.

“I think you just made it worse,” the monster concluded and, grabbing him by an arm, roughly pulled him up, forcing him to seat.

“Careful! You’ll reopen his wounds!”

“Don’t worry. Don’t they say they’re sturdier and more resistant than normal people? He’ll be fine. And if he dies, well, I had nothing to do with it.”

The nicer man sighed and moved away.

His back burned at the sudden movement, making him gasp before he quickly pressed his lips closed again. And yet no amount of pain could ever be scarier than the endless darkness looming right before his eyes.

“Your name! Talk or I swear I’ll feed you to the dogs!”

The hand around his arm squeezed him until it was painful but the word dog left a different cold fear in the pit of his stomach. He hated and feared them probably as much as he feared that monster, with the difference that he knew first-handedly what a wild dog could do to a small, defenseless child.

Lips quivering, he opened his mouth and tried to use his voice to speak, which he hadn’t done in a very long time.

“Snow …” The word broke halfway out, his throat too dry, his lips cracking with the movement, making his mouth taste like blood again.

The hand released his numb arm and the darkness pulled back, giving space to the other, nicer man, that gently pressed a cold glass of water to his parched lips.

“Drink slowly.”

Snow tried to obey and tried not to spill. Who knew when he’d be offered water again? But, even so, his lips wouldn’t move the way he wanted them to, and the precious liquid still dripped down his chin and onto his legs.

“A common name,” the man offering him the water was saying. “As we thought, no one registered him.”

“Who in his right mind would? It’s already amazing they didn’t kill him at birth. They probably thought they’d stroke gold when the local Seer announced his birth. Probably intended to sell him for a good price to the Finders. And then he came along. That they didn’t kill him on the spot is a miracle in itself,” the monster replied

The other man gave him a sorrowful look and nodded. When the water in the glass was all gone, even though half of it had been unfortunately wasted, the glass was taken away and the dark monster occupied his entire vision again.

“Where did you come from?”

Blinking and trembling from the sheer intensity of him, Snow simply shook his head.

“You’re terrifying him, you know?” the green-eyed man asked.

“How come? I haven’t done anything to him …”

“Still, just look at him … He’s shaking like a leaf.”

“You and that bad habit of yours, pitying everything that looks small and frail. Do I need to remind you that this little leaf of yours murdered one-hundred-and-twenty-seven of our men in one breath?”

At that Snow’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief, filling with tears as he pressed his lips tighter again.

“You can close your mouth all you want! Now is a bit too late for that!” the monster almost growled at him, his anger making him look even darker, even more terrifying.

It wasn’t as if he could help it. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried to hold it in. After what had happened in that dark cell he had tried his best … he really had … He had never wanted to harm, much less kill, anyone. He hated the mere thought of it. The sight of people dying, the pungent scent of blood, their vacant, cold eyes staring back at him. He wished he could undo it. All of it. But he knew better. And he also knew that there was no use trying to explain any of that.

“So answer me! Where did you come from?” Lips pressed tightly shut Snow shook his head again. “What does that mean? You don’t know or you don’t want to say?” the monster asked again, his voice sounding harsher with every passing moment, and he forced his lips to part again. Anything but being thrown to the dogs … he’d rather die right there and then.

“Don’t … know …” his voice cracked again and the monster seemed to grow angrier.

“What do you mean you don’t know??”

He cowered at the sound of that large roar and the other man stepped in again, bravely placing an arm around the monster’s shoulder.

“Calm down. Do you want him to answer or faint from fear?” The monster growled some more but went finally quiet. “Don’t be afraid. He won’t bite you,” the green-eyed man joked, but the monster’s bright blue eyes were still fixed on him, a constant looming threat. “My name is ZenTar. You can call me Zen. And your name is Snow, right?” The boy nodded, still clearly afraid, his pale eyes looking like large, round moons. “So, Snow, can you tell us how you came to be here?” he asked, as gently as possible, keeping that fake smile on his lips, and Snow lowered his head trying his best to bring some order to his foggy memory.

“Men … came … Took me … away …”

“Men? All right. Where were you when they took you?”

A frown marked his forehead.

“Bed …” was the only word he could think of.

“Bed? Were you sleeping?” Snow shook his head. “You were awake, then. Were you sick?” He shook his head again. “But you were in bed,” ZenTar wanted to make sure and received a nod as confirmation. “Was the bed in a bedroom?” Snow nodded again and, at the word bedroom, fragmented memories floated back to the surface.

“Green … walls … Brown covers … Dark ceiling … Red drapes …”

“Windows?” ZenTar asked and the boy shook his head.

“No windows … no light … one candle …” he whispered.

“I see … And how long were you in that bedroom?” He shook his head and then looked up at the monster, startled, recalling how angry he’d been the last time he’d answered like that.

“Don’t … know …”

“A long time?”

“Long … long … time …” he confirmed.

ZenTar seemed to ponder for a moment, his expression turning cold and serious for a moment, before he returned that fake smile to his face and looked down at him again.

“Were you alone, Snow? In that bedroom?”

“Some times …”

“And the other times?”

Another memory popped into his head.

“JanHai …” he blurted out and ZenTar frowned, making him wonder if he’d said something wrong.

“JanHai?! A woman? Was this the name of the woman staying with you?”

“Some times …” he repeated, fearful of what they might do to him, and the black monster sighed.

“Obviously a fake name. Women of the night will frequently adopt noble names, even though being caught doing so is punishable by death.”

“Why, my dear Calzai, you’re surprisingly knowledgeable in the most unexpected areas,” ZenTar mocked and received a deadly glare in return. “Can you remember any other names, Snow? Strange names like JanHai …”

The boy made an effort to recall something else, any other name, any other word.

“Wei …” he finally whispered.

“Wei? Only Wei?” He nodded.

“Another woman?” the monster asked but he didn’t know how to answer that.

“It could be a man. A Nobleman. Or maybe … the Province?” Snow tried his best but he still couldn’t tell which. “Well, I’ll look into it, anyway,” ZenTar decided with a sigh, and then the monster was leaning over him again, those bright blue eyes boring holes into his soul.

“Are you a Celestial?” his thundering voice asked but he could only look up at him, unable to move, almost unable to breathe.

“I believe you’re asking the wrong question, Nox.”

“You have got to be kidding!”

Ignoring him, ZenTar leaned forward as well.

“Snow?” the gentler voice called him, and it took his entire willpower to avert his gaze from those blue eyes and look upon the other man’s face. “Do you know what a Celestial is?”

Still blinking, he shook his head and then thought it was better, and safer, to use his own words to answer.

“I don’t …”

The sound of a cold, cutting laughter made him cringe, because there was nothing happy or funny about that sound.

“I can’t believe this shit! I feel like I was forced to adopt a damned, dumb pet and will be put to death for doing it!” the monster growled again, his blue eyes looking even more savage, even more dangerous, and Snow cringed again.

“Now, now, don’t be like that. We’ll find a way. You’ll see.”

“Yeah I’ll see! I wonder if they would let me live if I offered him as a sacrifice to the Temple! As atonement or something. You know? Like when people offer livestock to be burn in the holy fire in hopes it will cure a disease. Since I won’t be the one doing the killing I’ll probably survive, don’t you think?”

“Well, yeah, probably. If you can manage to stay alive for that long …”

“And then there’s that,” the monster grumbled and Snow did his best to act as if he hadn’t just heard them discuss his impending death. Well, it wouldn’t be all that bad, he thought, lowering his gaze. If they only wanted to kill him, that is. It could be worse. Much, much worse, as he very well knew.