Steve via Pexels, edited with Canva
The air inside the mould-infested cell was stifling and freezing. Risi shifted her weight on one buttock, the other numb from sitting on it for hours. The chains used to tie her wrists around a thick iron pole rattled as it ground together, the sound echoing in the empty room.
By the corner of the room was a plate of dry bread, untouched and a half-empty bowl of water. She had kicked the plate to the side when one of the guards brought it. Tiny insects now feasted on the bread.
Risi's life had been an undulating one right from when she lost her parents in the Cicily war and was almost kidnapped as part of the spoils by the Cicilians until Tyrak and his men rescued her. They were nomads of the Sahara travelling to the Nile valley when they found her. She joined them and lived like them for seven months.
In those few months, Tyrak treated her with utmost care and she fell in love with him. That was when he revealed who he truly was. Risi feared for her life but he swore an oath that she was safe with him and he would never hurt her. She believed him.
Risi had found her home only to be taken in the middle of the night, three days ago by Vergahn, the bastard son of the Cicilian leader.
Her eyes watered with unshed tears. When does this end? She wondered. Her thoughts strayed to Tyrak. Will he come for her? Just then the heavy iron door leading to the cell groaned as someone pushed it open. Heavy footfalls thudded on the ground.
"Nothing?" Vergahn asked one of the two men flanking him.
"I tell you, nothing. She won't eat the food I placed in her cell."
"We'll see about that."
Vergahn shook the bars of the cell, the loud noise bouncing off the wall. Risi stared at him with eyes widened in fear. He opened the door and drew menacingly close to her. He glanced at the plate of dry bread then at her.
He squatted in front of her. Risi stared him down, her body taut, ready to fight him off. Vergahn grabbed her by the hair pulling her head back so her eyes were focused on the ceiling. He breathed down her neck. "I won't let you make a fool of me before my father as Tyrak did after the war when he rescued you. You will eat and I will present you to my father tomorrow—"
The sound of shouts and screams of men in other parts of the house reached them. The two men with Verghan looked at each other before glancing at him for instruction. Vergahn released Risi and motioned for them to leave. "Go. Find out what's happening."
The two men rushed towards the iron door leading to the cell when it flew off its hinges, the weight of it shook the building. Risi gasped in shock while Verghan glanced at her. The men fell on each other.
"Damnit!"
"What the —"
Verghan heard the two men exclaim followed by loud screams. Blood splattered on the wall beside the cell. Verghan's eyes bulged at the splatters. Then the house fell into silence. Verghan drew his sword from its leather sheath around his waist, hands trembling and thrust it forward.
Risi turned pale as Verghan unlocked the chains tied to her wrists with one hand and jerked her onto her feet by the collar of her blouse. She raised a free hand, punched him in the nose and turned to run out of the cell.
"You bitch!" Verghan shrieked, pulled her back and backhanded her across the cheek enough to make the skin redden. Risi yelped only to snap her mouth shut at the sound of a guttural growl that shook the house to its foundation. She gasped in relief. She knew who it was.
Verghan immediately pulled Risi in a tight grip and held her against his chest as a human shield, the edge of his sword on her neck. Risi froze in fear. She could feel Verghan trembling as blood trickled slowly from the edge of the sword down her neck.
They both heard the thud of heavy footfalls draw closer until a ferocious looking forest wolf, almost as tall as a human, appeared outside the cell.
"What the devil!" Verghan stuttered, visibly trembling. "Stay b-back," he shouted, pointing his sword at the unnaturally huge animal.
It was bulky, bigger than a normal-sized forest wolf. It narrowed its orange-red glowy eyes at Verghan, the hairs on its head and neck erect. Risi used the distraction to shove an elbow as hard as she could into Verghan, throwing him back against a wall. The sword clattered to the floor. Risi hurriedly leaped out of the cell and fell on the wolf's neck.
Before Verghan could recover, the wolf was inside the cell in a blink of an eye, strutting towards him, its mouth opened, baring long, sharp canine teeth.
"No, no, n-no…," Verghan pleaded, his hands raised to shield his face while the front of his trousers dripped wet with his urine.
Eyes on the animal, Verghan patted the ground in search of his sword until his fingers found the hilt. As he raised the sword, the wolf struck and gripped his neck with its teeth. Verghan's sharp scream became a guttural sound as he choked on his blood flowing out from between the carnivore's teeth to the floor.
The entire house became silent.
"Tyrak?" Risi whispered from outside the cell. The wolf released the dead Verghan and turned its golden eyes to stare at her. She crawled forward, knelt and fell on its neck, holding the wolf tight.
Tyrak saved her yet again.
This is my entry to the Scholar And Scribe Monthly Short Fiction Contest. To know more about the rules, click on the link. You have two more days before the deadline.
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