Chapter 2 Ch 2
NARNIA'S POV
The soldier tightened his grip around me while the others bound me in chains. And while Lysandra and the surviving guards were scampering into the woods, the soldier dragged me into the wagon and drove out of the forest. Lysandra, didn't turn to give me one last look or show any sign of sympathy and fear. But I was assured, Alpha Corvin would never let one of his own languish in the captivity of our enemies. Especially not me, his niece. They would come for me— save me.
In the wagon, two other soldiers sat by my side, their hands firm around their weapons as though I could attempt to break out. I expected them to speak, insult or taunt me, but they remained silent, and the wagon plunged deeper into the forest.
Soon, we arrived at their fortress. It was giant, dark, and eerie. The Hunter King had conquered half of the entire land and replaced our colonies with villages inhabited by. He ruled the shadow wolves' from this Palace, and planned his attacks from here as well.
"Alright vermin, it's time to meet the god."
The soldiers helped me out of the vehicle and dragged me out. Still in chains, they led me into the dungeon through the lavish yet mysterious hallway into another part where dungeons and prisons were built.
The dungeon was dark, eerie and cold. There was a long passageway separating the cluster of iron-guarded cells on both sides.
Shrieks, cries and growls of agony echoed in the air. The prisoners were wolves—my people, my kind. The Hunter King had them in chains, breaking their spirit, torturing them. I doubted that my fate would be any different.
But as we made a stop in the middle of the passage, I said a prayer to the Moon goddess. Let Alpha Corvin arrive on time.
"Did you do the job?" A female voice called out of the darkness, I craned my neck to see a dark figure walking out of one of the cells.
"Yes Lady Vaera," the first soldier replied. "We have caught Lysandra Regal Wolf, the daughter of Alpha Corvin."
"You all have done well." The figure said. Said to the soldiers.
"Yes Ma'am," they nodded in unison. "The King will be pleased."
"Of course he will. Now that we have Corvin's precious daughter, he is bound to comply and tell us the truth."
"What?" I gasped. "What truth?"
But the soldier only stepped behind me, and I came face to face with a woman. She was tall, with long legs, brown hair and a slim build. She was dressed in a black tight-fitted body suit.
There was hatred in her eyes, of course, but as she walked around me, sizing me up, I wondered if they could notice the cracks in my facade. I was not Lysandra Corvin. I was not the person they were looking for. I was merely an impersonator, and after Uncle Corvin burns this place to the ground, I would be their bane.
"You and your kind are demons," the tall lady suddenly said, narrowing her eyes at me. "You pollute the land with your dark magic, and infect the Veylar Wolves with your evil."
"We don't practice dark magic." I snapped, cutting her off. "And this very land belongs to the Luna wolves. You are the ones stealing from us!"
A slap! Hot and resounding. It landed right across my face, the effect pulsated through my veins and rang inside my ears.
"You disgusting vermin!" The lady shrieked, and before I could blink, a whip appeared in her hand. With another slap to my face, I crashed to my knees and the heavy lashes descended on me.
I cried out, pain and fire coursing through me, but she went on delivering with hatred and murderous intent. Pictures of my life at the pack begin to flash through my mind. Then I realised—I hadn't escaped oppression and suffering. This was the beginning of it. This is what Lysandra had pushed me into.
"Lock her in one of the cells and bind her with titanium chains." The woman ordered.
"She will suffer for the sins of her people until there is none of them left."
The soldiers lifted me off the floor, and before I knew it, I was on the cold, dirty and slimy floor of the cage, my leg was changed to a metal pole. I was left alone, and I eagerly waited for my uncle and the Regal soldiers to show up.
The hours passed, the day slowly turning dark. I had become restless, my confidence fading into fear. Where was my uncle? I asked aloud.
But just then, the doors of the cell suddenly clanged open. I raised my head in the direction of the open door, and I could never forget the sight I saw.
A tall man stood before me. But I didn't need anyone to tell me he was the Shadow King. The dreaded man whose name kept people up at night. His skin was tanned from years in the sun, the muscles on his arms portraying brute strength.
My gaze climbed up his body, and when it reached his face, my breath caught. This wasn’t the hideous creature I had been told about—the ogre with green skin and monstrous teeth. No. The man before me was beautiful. Strikingly, dangerously beautiful. Every line of his face seemed sculpted by divine hands, sharp yet graceful, commanding yet alluring.
But as his eyes met mine, something inside me faltered. My fear still lingered, but it was tangled with something else. A connection, a sharp electric jolt coursing through me, bringing me to life. The Shadow King held my gaze, drinking me in while I drifted deeper into him. The air thickened, the sound of my heartbeat filling the silence between us. I couldn’t look away.
"Does your father know you'll be dead by morning?" His voice barged into my mind, jolting me out of my thoughts.
"What! Dead? My father?" My eyes went wide, but then I suddenly remembered, I was posing as my cousin, Lysandra, the daughter of Alpha Corvin. "Um, I'm... I don't..."
"I have asked your father to meet with me." He continued. "Word has gotten to me that he is building a secret hideout somewhere."
"I don't know of any hideout."
"Oh good, you also tell lies." He folded his arms behind his back and moved closer to me. "It's only a matter of time before your walls are lying in ruin, wolf. So, tell me, where is the hideout?"
"But why do you want to know?"I snapped.
"I want you gone, that's why?" He answered coldly. "Luna wolves are evil, and dangerous. We Veylard will not know rest until you are extinct.
The Veylar are a pre-moon race, born when the world was still dark and formless.
When the Moon Goddess brought light into the night, her glow burned the Veylar and drove them into the shadows. The werewolves became creatures of the moonlight The Veylar became creatures of the darkness.
Since then, they’ve despised all her creations, especially the werewolves, who embody the Moon’s blessing.
“I sent word to Alpha Corvin,” the Hunter King said, voice cold and measured. “He refused my invitation to parley. He said he’d never kneel before a human. So I took something precious from him.” His gaze swept over me. “You.”
“What do you want from him?” I stuttered.
“I want his truth,” he said softly. “Where he hides his armies. Where he builds his refuge. He thinks I do not know about the fortress in the eastern woods. But I always know.”
It occurred to me that Lysandra would have had the answer to this question. But, I was only a servant at the pack, I knew nothing about politics. Oh no.
"Answer me right now."
"But I don't know!'
"Then you die in the morning."