Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ella and Draikis were hauled off, their clothing bundled up in their arms, rushed to different transports, separated before they knew what had hit them.
Draikis, despite his nudity as well as his impressive manhood which still at half-mast, looked as though he was ready to fight his brothers, damn the consequences, but Ella caught his eye, shaking her head and mouthing a very clear, “Don’t.”
Talented as he might be, this was one man versus far more than a small group of street thugs. And these were his friends. His brothers in the order. She didn’t want them, or him for that matter, to be hurt on her account.
“Clothe yourself, female,” the lead guard aboard her craft commanded as soon as the door shut and they lifted off.
“What about Draikis?”
“He is no longer your concern.”
Ella thought to ask more, but the stone-cold stares from the men crowded around her were more than clear in their meaning. She would not receive any details from them. Nor sympathy, for that matter. The best she could hope for was a safe trip back to the Norvalian compound, short as it might be.
The small ship landed without sound or sensation, depositing her at the end of the landing field closest to the entry to the imposing building she’d never been shown in her many outings. She soon learned why.
“This way,” the guard said firmly, ushering her to the entryway.
Ella kept her mouth shut, following his directions without complaint. Her eyes darted this way and that, searching for the other ships. They landed moments later but farther across the field. Draikis was roughly shoved out, Totaxxis close behind him. Her lover, she noted, was in shackles.
At least they let him get dressed, she mused, taking in the sight of him with a flare of joy in her heart. It was her final glimpse of him, the walls of the corridor into the building stealing away her view of her man.
Ella didn’t ask where they were going. She’d find out soon enough. Deeper into the structure they walked, first taking a turn to the right, then left until they arrived at a lift disc.
“Are we going up?” she asked.
The guard snorted and activated the transit device.
Rather than shooting up, it dropped abruptly, the solid stone surrounding them, oppressive in its weight.
As always, there was no sensation of movement but the visual stimulus of the walls zipping past was more than enough to make her legs feel a little wobbly.
Then, as quickly as it had begun, the lift disc came to a halt.
“Move.”
She did as she was told, stepping off into an imposing set of heavy stone catacomb-looking passages and corridors.
“Where are we?” she quietly mused to herself, not expecting an answer.
She received one moments later when she spied Elder Soparo standing beside a heavy door. A door with heavy metal hinges. This wasn’t a new facility; this was one she’d read about in the ancient archives.
The original dungeon. It has to be. But I thought the old cells were replaced after the great upheaval.
She scanned her surroundings, confirming her initial impression. The place was old, and unmistakable. She’d read enough about it, after all, though mostly in the older texts. It was supposedly razed and replaced with newer facilities in the rebuilding.
Apparently not. Seems the newer texts got that bit wrong.
Elder Soparo stared at her with a disappointed look on his face, as one might have gazing upon a misbehaving child.
One who had done something very bad. He nodded to the open door.
Ella stepped inside, searching for a hint of kindness in his face.
He avoided looking at her, stepping back as the guards shut the door, sliding the thick bolt into place with a resounding thunk.
The smell hit her at once. Dry. Old. The air faintly scented with hints of some sort of burnt incense or some such from days long gone.
Ella walked the small chamber, her fingers tracing the lines of the massive stone blocks set into place thousands of years ago.
The illumination was minimal, a lone light bar mounted to the ceiling.
It was the only high-tech addition to the space, it seemed.
The room was actually fairly decent in size, nowhere near as constraining as a prison cell. But the low ceiling and stone made it feel oppressive all the same. A small bunk sat up against the wall, a thin mattress and thinner blanket the only comforts afforded her.
“At least the toilet’s clean and functional,” she noted, taking a closer look at the hole in the ground where a steady flow of subterranean water ran beneath her feet.
Ella moved to her bed and sat, a shudder making her body tense up, the stress of the situation finally taking hold. She’d been so blissfully happy less than an hour ago, and now? Now who knew what would come of this.
She forced back her tears, a pang of worry flooding her body.
“What are they going to do with him?”