Sezzle Andhara tried to scream but nothing came out. Her throat was raw. Water was a luxury that her tormentor seldom granted. Only for good behavior, whatever that meant that day. She sagged against the chains that held her arms up. They were tight enough to keep her from fully kneeling on the ground, and she couldn’t stand anymore. It never took long before her legs would give out. Each day that time got shorter and shorter.

The jagged blade of a knife appeared in the corner of her eye. It was dark with blood. It disappeared behind her again, but not to cut her this time. A soft green glow outlined her shadow on the opposite wall as her back began to itch. The feeling progressively got worse until her entire back burned. Healing magic. It was time for another round. She braced herself, curling her tail around her knees in a futile display of defence. A short laugh came from behind her.

“It can’t be that bad little princess! Don’t worry, I’ll give you some alone time. I need to stretch my legs.” Emrys patted her on the head as he moved out from behind her. She hoped he would cut his hand on her horns, but they weren’t that sharp anymore. At least she could still hope for something.

“You two, let her royalness rest. Bring the chains down a few notches. She’ll need her strength.” He paused, tapping his chin. “Hopefully she’ll be standing when I get back. That defiance is so much fun to break.”

The two traitorous guards followed his orders, letting her arms drop down to her sides. Unfortunately that meant that nothing was supporting her anymore. The ground rushed up to meet her. They should have given her blankets, not this pile of moldy straw. A rat scurried past, narrowly missing her tail. She wrapped it up over her shoulder. Her father’s necklace, the only thing Arazel let her keep, grew warm against her chest. The world around her faded, and she drifted off to sleep.

Cinder brushed her finger across row after row of books, most of which she’d read a hundred times. Picking one of the books almost at random, she pulled it out. Something behind it caught her eye. It wasn’t rare for the bookshelf to be two or three books deep, but this was a book she hadn’t seen before. Carefully setting the other book down, Cinder pulled out what looked like a journal.

It was bound in dark stained leather, and there were faded pieces of ribbon poking out between some pages. The colors were too uniform to not have meaning, but what that meaning was eluded her. There were no markings on either side, and a thin rope was tied around the book to keep it closed. The knot came undone easily as Cinder sat down on the closest bench. Inside the book was something incredibly strange. The first twenty pages were hollowed out to create a hidden storage space. Inside was a necklace. It was curved like the letter c but had three triangles sprouting from the bottom tip. A small blue stone sat in the center of the top, almost like the eye of a snake.

Cinder pulled the necklace out and set it on the table beside her. Flipping to the first legible page, she began to read. “remaining neutral like always.

Demons were driven from the lands they had obtained, purged from their hateful villages and cursed lands. The final confrontation of the War happened on the border of Dae’aval and Monain. The righteous stood outside the makeshift fortress and offered peace, as long as the Demons would never again reach a population of over 1,000. The Demons asked for a day to consider, as there were likely 3,000 total inside. The forces of Addail agreed and set up camp. In the night, the cursed race attacked, throwing away the lives of their most powerful warriors.”

Cinder put the book down. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t already read. The necklace was what interested her. It began to grow warm in her hands. Strange. She sent a small pulse of magical energy into it, but something latched on to her magic. What was meant to be a quick pulse was turned into a torrent.

Breathing became hard. It felt like something was clawing at her insides. The necklace became burning hot in her hand, but she couldn’t let go. Then as quickly as it began, it stopped. The necklace became cold, and pins and needles ran down her arm. Everything around her began to spin. There was a sharp pressure at the back of her eyes, then nothing.

It took a few blinks to clear the tears from her eyes. When the room finally came back into focus, a single thought ran through her head on loop. Master Phineas is going to kill me.

Warmth wrapped around her, embracing her like an old friend. But there was something else. Something stranger than the warmth. The crackling of an open fire. Something like that shouldn’t exist in the dungeons. Rubbing her eyes, Sezzle looked around. The walls of her cell still stood, but they looked transparent. Even her chains were faded.

Beyond the stone walls sat a comfortable looking home cluttered with various books, papers, bowls, and dried herbs. What got her attention the most was the roaring fireplace behind her back. She got as close as the walls would allow. That’s when she heard the footsteps. Not on stone, but wood. And voices. Two voices arguing back and forth.

“-ease look me in the eyes and tell me you had nothing to do with this.” A male voice, but something felt off about the accent. She couldn’t place her finger on it.

“I had nothing to do with this,” said a female voice, “It just happened. Suddenly. Without any outside... or I guess inside help.”

“So what did you do with it?”

“I left her alone and ran to get you.”

“Why did you get me instead of trying to kill it?”

“I figured it was the safest option.”

“You said it seemed disoriented! Why didn’t you, you know, zap it?”

A solid sounding smack came from behind the door. “Idiot. I told you she was chained up, not disoriented. I’m not going to kill someone like that! If it’s a demon in demon jail, and all demons are evil, that would mean that this demon has to be good, or they wouldn’t be in jail.”

“That is the worst logic I have ever heard.”

“Well it’s better than killing her in her sleep!”

The door opened, and a young man with a wood cutting axe stepped in. His arms were still damp with sweat. Behind him was a girl of around the same age, peeking around his shoulder. The two took half a step forward and passed through the hazy stone wall. The young man stretched out the hilt of the axe, poking her foot with it.

“Damn. Why couldn’t this have been one of your illusions. I thought you said she was chained up? I don't see any.”

“You probably can’t see the other walls then.” The girl waved her hand around, pointing them out.

“What other walls?”

“That’s weird. Hey, why are you in jail?”

Sezzle tried to speak, but her throat was still impossibly dry. She lifted a weak hand towards the pitcher on one of the tables. Hopefully there was something in it.

The girl picked up the pitcher. “Water?”

Sezzle nodded and the girl poured some out into a cup. She poked the boy next to her and nodded her head towards Sezzle. He raised an eyebrow.

“That means come with me.”

“Ah, right.”

The cup was lifted to her mouth, and she drank greedily. Two cups later and she finally felt like she could talk. If there was any spare water in her body, she would have shed tears. A shaky voice she almost couldn’t recognize pushed itself out of her mouth in nothing more than a whisper. “Help me.”

The girl in front of her nodded, finding where the chains were attached to the wall.

“Quill, give me the axe.”

She swung and the axe passed right through, embedding itself into the ground.

“Of course it couldn’t be that easy. Maybe…”

The girl placed her hands around a chain link as close to Sezzle’s cuffs as she could and closed her eyes. A bright red light flared in her hands and the chain fell. The girl clapped her hands, delight written all over her face.

“Magic! Yes!”

The process was repeated and the other chain fell away. Then Sezzle heard something. A low scraping. No. Metal on stone. It was coming from the hallway. Was Emyr back already? It was too soon. She pressed herself against the far wall, praying to whatever would listen that he wasn’t coming for her. The noise stopped in front of her cell door anyways.

“Little princess, are you going to invite me into your court? Or are you still going to act defiant. Don't you remember your dear father is in our care? It would be such a shame for something to happen to him.”

There was a brief pause. “Oh come now little one. I only want to play.” She could picture the knife as it scraped against her cell door. A warm hand grabbed her shoulder, pulling at it. Then another. There was a deep sense of wrongness in her stomach as she was pulled against the misty walls of her cell. Almost as if something was grabbing at her very soul.

She kicked out in a panic, trying desperately to dislodge the feeling. Phantasmal claws shredded her insides, and a fire ignited inside her bones. This time, her screams echoed through the bones of two different worlds. Then as quickly as it started the pain vanished and she was through.