Okri

They sat in the depths of the castle prison, both chained and worn from given little food and water to drink. The castle prisons where damp, cold, and the hard stone floor felt unforgiving. It was no place to be sitting for hours on end. The straw beds were not much comfort either, but at least there was one.

Rin was huddled in a corner with his knees close to his chest. The shackles he wore proved heavy on his wrists and ankles. He clawed at them with his fingers but did not have the energy to attempt to escape. His head turned toward the window high above him where he could see the outside through the iron bars.

The waning moon appeared nearly a crescent in the night sky and clouds smothered the stars as they drifted through the atmosphere. He couldn't see much of anything else.

The sound of other moving chains startled him and his gaze dropped to the cell next to him where Canin turned over in his sleep. Rin watched him sleep a moment, the content expressionon the lycan's face that only faultered for a second as he snarled in his dream. Rin wondered what he might be dreaming about.

He himself had gotten no sleep for weeks and wondered if it might be due to his turn into the vampire. He had been told the undead do not rest very often. Still coming to grasp with being undead in the first place, he had time to think about what he wanted to do about his new transformation.

Canin had already told him that the moment he fed on human blood, the change was permenent and he could never go back. But to his knowledge as well, there was no real cure for vampirism, especially being turned by a full blood's blood.

A heavy rock sat in his stomach as well. No matter what he ate or how much, nothing satisfied the hunger he felt. He somehow knew this was due to being changed into the monster he chose to become out of pure temptation.

Rin surveyed the room from his cell, peering through the bars. He placed a slender hand on their cool, rough surface, slowly hoisting himself up and onto his feet. His chains slid across the floor, being just long enough to allow him to move freely throughout the cell.

From his spot, he could see guards sitting at their posts near the front of the prison. With their heads bowed and arms crossed across their chests, they seemed to be sleeping, or so Rin thought.

"If they aren't going to take this job seriously, I much rather try and get out of here," Rin thought to himself.

Rin shifted closer, reaching a hand through the bars, and shaking the wolf's shoulder.

With a harsh snort, the wolf opened his amber eyes and rolled toward Rin, his chains clinking together like small bells as he did so. He squinted and a frown hung heavy on his lips and his jutted-out jaw.

"What do you want, Rin?" he muttered sleepily.

"I want to get out of here," Rin whispered harshly.

"Don't we all?" Canin said with a wide yawn. His long dog-like tongue curled in his mouth and he sat up.

"The guards are asleep," Rin said lowly pointing the lazy, sleeping men down the hall.

Canin lightly sniffed the air, his nose wiggling. "I can smell their tired breath from here. Unfortunately, I don't think that we are going anywhere for the time being."

"And why is that?" Rin spat, irritated with that answer.

"We are in here because of the cult. If they were to come in and see us gone, there would be far worse consequences besides imprisonment," Canin answered. He brought his knees upward and rested his arms on them and peered over to Rin. "The thing is, I'm a lycan and you have vampire blood running through your veins. An escape is highly possible as these chains were not meant to mute our magical powers."

Rin took hold of the bars and squeezed his face between them a little. "Then we should get out of here before they come looking for us or worse, do something to us," Rin bantered.

Suddenly, the door at the end of the hall opened with a long loud creak, and men filed into the room. When Rin and Canin turned their heads to see who it might be, they recognized the man leading the brigade instantly as Zinlar.

The elf's long purple cloak fanned behind him as he walked down the hall of the prison. Shadows cast across his angled features and large nose and his eyes were a glowing deep purple. His amethyst eyes rolled to the side as he eyed Rin and Canin. His pursuit stopped right in front of their cells and he raised his gloved hand toward the doors of their prison doors. They unlocked with a loud click.

"Oh good, both of you are awake at this hour," Zinlar said, his smile unusually cruel for that time of night.

"What could you possibly want with us at this hour?" Canin grumbled, uninterested in any games while he was trying to sleep.

"The king and I have reached agreements regarding my endeavors," the elf returned as he waved his men into the cells. "You will be coming with us. You," he said turning to Rin. "I have bargained for your release, under conditions."

"Like I will follow 'your' conditions," Rin spat bitterly. "I'd rather die in this cell. I have nothing at this point but a reason to go home and stop with all this kingdom and shard nonsense."

Zinlar placed his hands behind his back. "If you'd like to go home, I cannot stop you, but judging by your current location, I bid that leagues away from here. And my men would simply hunt you down, and kill you."

Rin remained silent after that. He didn't have the energy to further entertain the dark mage. He gave him an even glare. "What do you plan to do with me?" he dared ask.

Zinlar's smile grew, curling from ear to ear. "You are an important piece to finding the kingdom and making sure that we have the power to rule just over our subjects and bring a new order to Zaniah."

"I don't want any part in your games, Zinlar," Rin growled.

"You don't have a choice," Zinlar said cruelly. "Bring them both up to the throne room," he ordered and soon his strong men's hands had both Rin and Canin in their grasp. They walked both of them down the hall and past the guards who now watched them, a hint of fear in their eyes.

No matter how hard they fought and squirmed, it was no use. Forced from their cells, the men jabbed them in the back and arms with long spears and daggers to get them to corporate with them. They ushered both prisoners through the halls, tugging on their chains harshly. Soon, they burst through the dark doors into the vast hall they had been brought to before their imprisonment.

The king stood at the front, his gaze distant. Rin noticed an immediate difference in him. Where his round features and small tufts of curled blonde hair had stayed the same, his eyes now glowed a deep purple instead of blue. He held a much more solemn expression, one less naive than before.

Rin pulled harshly on the chains that bound him. "What is the meaning of this? Have you possessed the king?"

Zinlar strode up the stairs where the throne mounted the top of an elevated surface. He placed a hand on the king's shoulder. "I have done no such thing. His majesty just realized where the true power lies in this world, and that is with Death himself." He leaned in close to the king's ear. "Shall we continue with the merge?" he asked.

"Do as you must. I would like to see what ability this Prana has," the king answered.

Zinlar bowed to the king. "As you wish, sire." His gaze turned to pure venom as the world slowed and his eyes pried right into Rin's. He withdrew the cross he had confiscated from him and held it up in his right hand. It swayed, the shards embedded in it glittering as he walked closer to Rin. Zinlar began to mutter words he did not recognize, each syllable straining and ringing through his ears like a thousand whispers.

"T'ak zaw mu ngi hab jek sdu silzwab okri, T'ak zaw mu ngi hab jek sdu silzwab okri," Zinlar began to repeat over and over again.

Rin could feel his heart thunder in his chest, sweat feel from his pores and he fell to his knees hitting the rough red carpets of the floor screaming in agony. "What are you doing?!" he yelled.

Canin instantly tried pulling away from the guards to be at Rin's side. "Fight it, Rin!" he yelled. It took the might of several men to hold back the wolf. He pulled and pulled trying to get to his friend till his hands turned red and purple from lack of circulation.

Rin quaked and panted hard. His brown eyes bled over with a ruby shade and the veins on his pale skin darkened to a deep shade of dark grey.

"T'ak zaw mu ngi hab jek sdu silzwab okri, T'ak zaw mu ngi hab jek sdu silzwab okri!" Zinlar yowled.

"Rin!" Canin cried, but it was the last thing Rin heard before falling face first onto the floor.