I awoke to the sound of yelling. I was chained to the side of a boat, blindfolded, and gagged. I couldn't do anything but stand there and accept my fate. I heard the shouts of the people on the boat, which included Al and my father.

"We're ready to dock!" someone yelled, and the boat lurched to the side. I felt like I was going to throw up. If I was able to speak, I would've screamed from pain. The place where I had been struck burned, as if flames were licking the side of my face.

"Could someone help Alister lead the prisoner off of the boat?" Helgrind's voice carried clearly through the other talk. I felt myself being lifted and dragged off of the boat. My skinny arms burned with agony from being held too tightly.

"Why, hello there, King Helgrind," someone said. I assumed it was a guard at the prison.

"Hello there," my father answered. "You told me you had reserved the most secure cell in the Inertia for my son?"

"Yes, we have," the guard answered. "He will receive, ah, special treatment from us."

Chills of fear rippled through my skin, and my stomach twisted. What was about to happen?

I was brought around endless corners and lifted up dozens of stairs. It seemed like years of agony before I reached my cell. I was tossed onto a freezing metal floor. The chains dug into my skin, and I let out a silent scream.

"And now," someone says. "Is when the fun happens."

"The fun?" Helgrind sounded uncertain. "I thought he was just going to be brought to a cell and left here. I was never told about anything else."

The person laughed. "He's a traitor! He deserves special punishment. To make it extra fun, we'll let him speak." He removed the gag and I let out a shriek. He burst into laughter. "Care to watch, King?"

"No," he replied. His voice sounded hoarse and weak. "It... it reminds me too much of her death. Freya's death." I heard his footsteps grow fainter and fainter.

"Father!" I hollered, hoping with all of my heart that he would spare me from what was going to come next. "FATHER! HELP ME!" It was to no avail , as the footsteps faded away and a door closed behind me. Terror filled my mind and blocked any other thoughts from running through my mind.

The first blow was to my arm. I began screaming immediately, begging the guards to stop. They didn't, of course. They kicked me and hit me with swords and bludgeons. Bruises covered my stomach and legs. I screamed so much that my voice gave out, and no more tears would come.

I was slowly dying.

"Pull his blindfold off!" someone yelled. The cloth was ripped from my head. Before my eyes could even adjust to my surroundings, a blow came right to my eye. It began to swell instantly, and I could feel blood trickling down my face.

"Grab the knife and finish the job!" If it was possible to get any more terrified than I already was, it was at that moment. Finish what job?

Someone lifted me up by my bleeding arms and threw me down onto my stomach. My swelling face collided with the floor and sent another ripple of agony through my body. A guard held me down with his foot so I was unable to move, and cut straight through my wings.

My purple Ianite wings, which had carried me away from my problems for years and years, were sliced off. I could barely hear the guards cheering over the rush of blood in my ears. With my one remaining eye, I saw the majestic wings fall to the floor, stained crimson.

"The job is done, boys," someone said. "Let's hope he lives. Helgrind may not appreciate it if we murder him." With that, my wings were swept away, my chains were undone, and my cell door was slammed shut.

There was nothing I could do, so I just lay there. I lay there, in a pool of my own blood, with a swollen eye and bruised body. It could have even been broken in some areas, who knew?

For the first time in all of my 20 years of life, I wondered if it would be such a bad thing to die and leave this cruel, cruel world.