Adrina felt powerful hands cover her mouth. She tried to scream, but only a voiceless gasp passed her lips. Awestruck, she was swept into the crowd, buried beneath a long flowing black cloak. She looked out with eyes that saw only a dream, not that which was real; and she could do nothing as she was carried away. She could hear the din of a battle as if very far away, veiled from her eyes and masked from her ears by the silencing cloak.
Sounds of agony, her own agony, filled her ears. Once out of the crowd her captors met another group. At first she saw only many black leather boots as she peered downward through the folds of the cloak. The hand was still pressed against her mouth as she was lifted from the veil. Now she saw the masked faces of the small band that had taken her. They paused only to bind and gag her. Once the blindfold was in place, her world returned to blackness. Terror filled her mind and she began to shake uncontrollably.
The blackness began to envelop her, and for a time the princess passed into unconsciousness. This was a quiet time for her as her agony and terror subsided. Unaware that she was being hurried through the back paths and alleyways of Imtal to a waiting group of horsemen, Adrina slept. At some point she was placed onto the back of a horse and led wildly along cobblestone paths although the princess was unaware of this.
The jostling of the horse aroused her and she opened her eyes to find that she was still shrouded in the black cloak. As she regained consciousness, she realized what had happened to her. She waited now, not terrified any longer, but not at ease either. At any moment she expected the palace guard to come to her rescue. She struggled against her bonds to no avail, listening for the thunder of many hooves and the boom of angry voices, signs that her rescuers were near.
She heard hooves pounding across the hard stone streets and she knew they were still inside the city although she did not know where. But she did not hear the thunder of a hundred pairs of hooves striking the ground as she had expected; she heard only those of the small band that led her away into the darkness. Suddenly, her horse was reined to a halt, and she was lifted from it.
A quiet time passed as leather soles marched along another set of back alleyways. Heavy hands were around her thighs and she kicked, punched, and clawed trying to break free. Shouts filled the air. She heard voices screaming. The hands held her strongly now as the man bolted away. Her head bobbed up and down until it ached as her captor ran madly.
Voices followed, and Adrina realized that her rescuers were close. She felt hopeful, but then without warning she was cast to the ground; her head struck a solid stone wall and then her face hit the cold, cold rock. She lay motionless. Her world seemed still to be moving, swirling around her. Perhaps close by, or perhaps far away, Adrina heard the voices again. They screamed more wildly as panic engulfed them. Her head started to throb and a moist flow began to trickle across her forehead, running warmly until it touched the cold stone, forming a tiny pool beneath her head, which she was unable to move.
Colors of red and gray swam before her eyes. She heard the distant sound of clashing steel, which might have been right beside her; she could not tell. She started to wriggle and writhe as the throbbing in her head was joined by a dull, numbing pain that inched its way up her legs. Pain hit her quickly, sharp and excruciating, as a heavy boot found her gut. Adrina rasped and coughed.
Something fell beside her, prostrate on the cold ground beside her. She groped outward with her hands, finding a cold limp thing that she did not at first recognize as an arm. The numbing pain swept up her legs into her arms and once more she found she could not move. Her hands fell still. The tiny pool beneath her had grown until it was a small puddle that circled her head. With her head pressed against the unforgiving stone, the liquid streamed around her face; she felt it on her chin and then suddenly it touched her lips. It tasted bitter and salty against her tongue.
Hands found her again, heaving her limp form up and pressing her against the stone wall, forcing her to sit upright, her head hanging limply. A dull yellow came before her closed lids as the blindfold was lifted momentarily. The gash at the back of her head was checked and bandaged; with its binding, the moist, warm trickle ended. A dull white light flooded into her eyes as her pupils were checked. A distant voice sounding in her ears whispered, “She lives.”
Hands found her again, groping along the back of her head. The tingling that accompanied the numbing returned and then suddenly the pain was gone, the throbbing subsided, and Adrina found semi-coherence. No longer was her head against the cold unforgiving stone. Something warm was touched to it. For a long while, she didn’t note that she was again draped over a broad shoulder, firm hands clasped to her thighs.
Minutes passed silently and then a grinding noise filled her ears, followed by a pungent aroma that assaulted her nostrils. The smell made her sick and she vomited, the gag in her mouth causing her to choke on her vomit. The sour taste made her rasp and choke more violently. Spittle oozed from her mouth. The movement stopped. Her head whirled as she was brought upright; a damp cold came to her buttocks. The blindfold was removed. A soft hand touched her face and she heard a whisper: “Do not scream and I’ll remove your gag. We are friends, not enemies.”
Adrina spat the chunks of the vomit from her mouth. She struggled to clasp a hand to her nose to shield her nostrils from the foul stench that surrounded her. She couldn’t move; her hands were still tied tightly. She started to scream and the gag quickly filled her mouth. The soft voice returned and whispered kind words that she half listened to.
The gag was removed again. Adrina did not attempt to scream. She considered the words of her captor, which sounded sincere. She doubted she could believe those around her were anything but enemies, but at least the gag was gone from her mouth. She spat more of the vomit from her mouth. She could inhale through her mouth now, and the gag was gone. The smell around her was horrible, like sewage.
She was lifted and placed back onto the firm shoulder. They had not gone far when they stopped once more. Adrina could hear many voices whispering in hushed tones. One voice stood out from all the others, stronger, firmer, commanding. It was this voice that Adrina sought to key in on, to hear the words the man spoke. She heard bits and pieces of his words and from those pieces she gathered that the group was splitting up and was to regroup outside the city. She thought of escape.
They began to walk again. The splashing of water led Adrina to conclude that they must be in the sewers. It was the only place where she had ever smelled this repugnant odor. The slow, trudging march through the thick waters lasted for what seemed hours. The stench in this sector was magnified by the dank waters around them. Even the strong-hearted among the mysterious figures that held her hacked and coughed, breathing harshly in the putrid aroma of the deteriorating sludge, the waste that had been spewed from the immense city far above.
Long tunnels stretched from the ceiling above. Some spewed more putrid bilge, which landed in sputters and splashes. Others lay dormant, constructed long ago to filter natural lighting and fresh air into the dank tunnels; however, only meager puffs of fresh air found their way into these depths today. Torchlight guided their way, sometimes reflecting its amber hue in the dark stone walls about them. At certain places along this route, dark shapes slithered in and out of the muck, becoming increasingly frequent as the mysterious figures led her deeper into the heart of the sewers.
The sludge, which had become knee deep, began to recede slowly. Adrina only knew its depth because as she clung fearfully to the figure that carried her, her long flowing hair was no longer dragging through the slime. She relaxed her neck, clinging less to the broad-backed figure. The splashing subsided as they reached a dry section of the tunnel. Adrina sighed as they stopped and she was again brought upright. Thinking this was her chance to flee, she tried to run, but only made it a few steps before heavy hands found her.
Tears were in her eyes, her hair still dripped. She felt it though she did not see it. Shivers traveled down her back as she felt things moving through her hair. She let loose a wailing scream that seemed to vibrate in the tunnels until a heavy, cuffed hand gripped her mouth and cut the scream short.
A strong, deep voice told her, “I shall release your bonds. Do not scream, and do not try to escape. We do not wish to harm you.”
Adrina started to scream in response but bit her tongue instead. She desperately wanted the bonds to be removed from her wrists. Her arms were numb and her hands sore. The bonds were released from her hands and feet, but the blindfold was returned to her eyes. She was told not to remove it or the restraints would be returned.
She wondered what was happening. She relaxed her sore muscles and rubbed her bruised wrists, snapping her hands immediately afterwards to her hair. Hands grabbed her by the forearms as she did this, pulling her somewhat harshly. Her immediate reaction was to pull away as her arms were being bent back, but the hand was soft although strong, and Adrina wasn’t afraid.
“Oh, does this hurt?” said another, touching Adrina’s rope-burned wrists. Adrina had barely perceived the pain in her wrists while she was struggling, but now she felt it severely.
A tingling sensation ran through her hands and fingers; suddenly the pain dissipated and then was gone.
“There, now,” whispered the soft voice. “See, we are friends.”
Adrina thought she recognized the voice. It was a voice from the past, but it could not be the voice of the one she was thinking of.
“I will remove your blindfold only if you promise that you will not try to run. There is nowhere to flee down here and you will only hurt yourself if you flee. And we do not mean to harm you,” spoke the strong voice.
Fingers returned to her messy, wet hair. “Here let me smooth this out for you,” said the soft voice.
The blindfold was again removed. The torches had been extinguished and only the dull filtered light, eerie and off-yellow, came into the odd circular chamber. The light hurt her eyes and it took quite some time for them to adjust to it. When they did, she was startled beyond compare.