Without Waking Him Up

"Do I bring her up, or is she going to stay here?" her Master asked.

"No need to release her," Menkar said in a cold, stern voice. With those words, he stormed out of the dungeon, his boots clicking eerily on the stone floor.

"Water," she whispered, her hands on her head. She stumbled up from a pile of hay, her clothes stuck to her body and her hair matted with sweat.

Her Master approached the bars of her cell. He passed her a pitcher of water. As soon as she wrapped her hands around the pitcher, he cracked the cane on her knuckles, sending her screaming to the floor.

"Not so soon, Tania," he hissed. "Not so soon. You have failed."

----

Eltanin felt… empty on a basic level. And it wasn't surprising that the nightmares haunted him in his sleep.

The hazy and bloody features of the woman blurred in and out. Aluba, the beautiful nymph, had come from the realm of nymphs, as an emissary of her queen. But she betrayed him and ended up deceiving him. He fell into the hands of his nemesis. There was so much blood around her that Eltanin felt he would puke. But he was holding his beast inside. Footsteps sounded in the cavern and a man with black, misshapen tattoos on his face came to stand in front of him. "Let your beast out, Eltanin," he hissed.

"Fuck off!" Eltanin spat through his clenched teeth as his beast clamored inside him to come out.

Felis threw his head back and laughed at his stubbornness. He ambled to where Aluba was lying, on a stone altar that was soaked red.

"Aluba is a beautiful woman," Felis said, tracing a finger across her face. She was dead, her work done, but why did she betray him? She sacrificed it all for nothing, and Felis tortured her as well.

"Do you know why Aluba broke your trust?" Felis asked, as if understanding Eltanin's puzzled look. "It was simple. Her lover was in my dungeons. I had promised that I would return him to her if she got you over here." He looked at Aluba' whose lifeless eyes now stared at the ceiling. "I kept my promise and have killed her lover too. They are both together somewhere in hell." He barked a laugh. "Her lover was a Hydra who developed feelings for her. And no Hydra—" he hissed, baring his teeth. "No Hydra can go soft for women!"

Eltanin stared at Felis as the rage burned inside him.

Felis motioned his guards. The cave filled with the sound of his pained grunts as a soldier punched him three times: His shoulder, his head, and his ear. The bones inside them cracked. "Why don't you give in to me, Eltanin?" Felis remarked nonchalantly. "It would be so easy for you."

Eltanin was chained on his knees, shackled at the wrists and ankles to the solid walls behind. He couldn't move, and his thoughts were as hazy as his vision. Perhaps a vein had ruptured inside.

"Give up?" he asked, spitting blood on the ground. "You were always out of your mind." His beast wanted to erupt, to kill them all in a rage — but he knew the moment his beast emerged, Felis would leash it with his dark spells and control it.

"You think you will be rescued this time?" Felis asked as he curled a claw beneath Eltanin's chin, digging into his flesh and lifted his face. "No one can save you now. My Fort is impenetrable!"

Eltanin shook his head. "Did you forget that I escaped, unhurt, twice before?"

Felis struck him across his jaw, dislocating it. Eltanin's head whipped to the side, and blood sprayed on the ground.

"Don't defy me," Felis growled. "Give me your beast."

Eltanin laughed, through his bloodied mouth. "Stop wasting your time."

Giving his beast to Felis would mean that he would become his slave for life. He would just be a human with a soul under someone else's control. He would never be able to refuse Felis's orders and he knew what Felis was up to. He wanted to control Araniea and the realm beyond.

"You can keep me here for another hundred years," he said, "and I will not submit!"

"Then your wish shall be granted!" Felis said, waving his hand. His soldiers started beating Eltanin.

Felis strolled over to the edge of the solitary table on which Aluba was lying dead. Behind him, the soldiers attacked Eltanin as he did what he could to control his beast.

Someone shrieked in agonizing pain. Was that Aluba? His cold voice sounded again from the darkness that surrounded him. He felt… stifled. He needed to break out.

Eltanin jerked awake, gasping for air, struggling to move but gripped with unease. When the realization hit him, he was drenched with sweat. His disorientation alleviated, and he saw that he was alone on his bed. His head was pounding with a terrible headache. Outside, it was dark, despite the sun God riding in his chariot above the clouds. A thunder rumbled, and lightning struck the palace. The ground shook; the windows rattled. How long had he been asleep for? He hadn't slept this well in a long time, and he hadn't had a nightmare that bad in such a very long time.

Last night's memories flashed in his mind. The girl… in a white chiffon gown— Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. The bed, however, was empty. A dangerous growl escaped his chest. Sweeping his feet off the bed, he lunged at the door to see if the girl was still around. When he opened it, nothing greeted him other than the usual babble of servants and soldiers and guests. His second in command, General Fafnir, was waiting outside the door with his hands clasped tight behind him. Four other soldiers flanked him on either side of the doorway.

Eltanin scanned the corridor for her. Everyone froze under his deathly stare.

Panic and fury beat hard in his chest, and his eyes glowed with rage. His lips peeled, his fangs showing, his fists curled tightly beside him. How dare she leave without waking him?

"Did you see a girl leave this room?" he asked Fafnir.