07.15.2127 - Auvyndyr Trial

[Dray]

07.15.2127 - Auvryndyr Trial

The guard shoved her so hard into the cell that Shannon hit the granite floor and skinned both knees. The loud crash of the cell gate closing behind her was almost deafening as it reverberated in the Church dungeon corridors. She lay on her stomach and sobbed, the cold floor sending a chill through her blouse, but she no longer cared about what happened to her.

She had failed her parents and now all was lost.

Time passed and she had cried until she had become exhausted with the effort. Pulling her arms under her face she fell into a fitful sleep that replayed the mornings event over and over in her mind.

…her father amongst dozens of soldiers in the infirmary, dieing from wounds from the Kah’Tharta…

…her mothers glowing hands healing her fathers open chest wound…

…the look of utter horror and shock of the surrounding priests…

…her father looking down upon her and asking for forgiveness…

…her father slamming the bowl into the Priests head…

…another priest taking a boot to the chest with a sickening thud…

…the savagery of his father as he repeatedly pummeled the same man for not letting go of her mother…

…the arrival of the six guards, two grabbing her Mom and slamming her against a wall while three others surrounded her father and the last came for her…

And then the dreamscape changed the reality of the event and turned it into a true nightmare as the sixth guard held the dagger to her throat. From behind Shannon, the guard shouted over to her two parents as he grappled her tightly.

“Dakin, you and your Witch will have no child!” the guard yelled. The dagger suddenly pierced through the bottom of her chin and pinned the tongue to the roof of her mouth even as the cold steel cut behind her nose and eyes, it’s the tip painfully stabbed her mind…

Shannon awoke with a start. Laying on the cold granite floor in the very dark cell, she at first didn’t realize where she was, when she did, she wept again. She pulled herself up and crawled to the end of the cell. Her head hurt with a thumping ache that made her want to vomit. Sitting up against the wall that shared an unclean looking lavatory, she looked around for the first time. On the wall to her left were too sleeping platforms, mounted one on top of the other by chains. It was then that she noticed that the top bunk wasn’t empty, as she could see an elbow teetering over this side of it, presumably with a man-sized figure laying on its back with his hands behind his head.

She stopped crying with another start, suddenly realizing that she wasn’t alone, and worse yet, was in a prison cell with some unknown man.

Her heart sank at the sudden sound of his deep-baritone voice.

“Now what would you have done that was so bad that they would put you, a female child, in a prison cell with a grown man?”

[Wildfire]

Shannon skittered to a corner and curled up with her hands around her knees. The darkness of the cell now seemed darker with it being shared by a stranger. The dank mildewed smell crept up her nose and the cold of the surrounding stone chilled her to the bone.

She felt alone and completely vulnerable to the whims of her cellmate. "I didn't do anything wrong." she spat hostily trying to keep a strong front. She nestled into the corner as best she could trying to stay out of lit view.

"When do they feed us here anyway? I'm starving. Is the food any good?" Shannon asked more politely than she had when responding to his question.

More than anything she wanted to know where her parents were.

[Dray]

The man on the wall-supported cot made no move to turn, he did speak again though, and to Shannon, it was like talking to the darkness. She even blinked a couple times, wondering if her young mind was playing tricks on her.

“Actually it is the middle of the night, you slept a great deal of time on that floor. I suspect it will be oatmeal in the morning though.” The man’s voice was rich in its depth and not quite as scary as she had thought a moment ago.

‘Now tell me little one, they don’t normally throw young girls in jail cells, so you must have had done something wrong, or perhaps saw something you shouldn’t have?” he asked, still lying on his back and talking towards the ceiling.

[Wildfire]

Shannon thought to herself, 'Why is he so concerned about what I did, didn't do, or saw? Why should I even tell him? I can't tell him everything...Mom told me to never talk about her gifts'

"I saw my parents defend themselves from priests and guards." Shannon said. She felt that being cryptic was probably the best approach and hoped that he would just stop asking her questions. She wanted to take her mind away from her surroundings and situations and this mystery man wasn't making that easier.

'If only I had my sketchbook and a pen.'she thought

[Dray]

“Defend themselves from the priests and guards? Here in the church?” asked the man, interrupting her thoughts. “That still doesn’t explain why they would throw you into a dungeon cell little one. Did you help your parents fight them as well?”

The man still didn’t make any move to get off his bed. The tone and manner of his voice was gentle and not demanding.

[Wildfire]

Shannon 's eyes began to well up and instead of releasing the tears she bolstered herself and answered as calmly as she could. "Before I could run or help, the squad leader grabbed me and held a dagger to my throat and threatened to kill me to get my Dad to stop defending himself and my Mom. So now I'm in this awful place...waiting for oatmeal."

Shannon knew how unfair her and her parents situation was but until now, the injustice had never quite hit her until she explained it. The fire of her anger began to flare and get hotter.

"Is it Kaine's will that I'm here? I'm no priest but I would have to say it isn't. I also don't think he would put a dagger to my throat and say he was going to kill me. What do you think?". Shannon reluctantly asked the question but couldn't help it. She wanted to trust this man and talk to him but trust was hard. She felt that the only people worthy of talking to were her parents.

Before she could stop herself she asked, "What's your name?"

[Dray]

"Well, I don't know why your father was defending himself and your Mom, but no guard should ever resort to that tactic. To threaten the life of a child is an immoral and indespicable act. It is a total lack of honor," the man said with some emotion.

"My name is Nate little one, what is yours?" he asked.

[Wildfire]

Relieved with his sympathy, Shannon breathed easier. "Shannon" she replied.

She looked around at the prison cell trying to find any sort of forgiveness from the cold stone and iron bars that surrounded her. Her only finding was the empty wall bed below Nate. She quietly slinked over and layed down. It was by no means an extravagant bed but it was much softer than floor.

"Nate? How come you're here? What did you do?" Shannon asked hoping not to offend him. He seemed kind but he was here in prison...she hoped he was here unjustly.

[Dray]

Shannon noted the musty smell emanating from the thin mattress, but it was better than the cold from the floor.

After she settled a bit on the bed below him, he replied. “A week or so ago I was taken in due to the resistance activity in Southaven, let’s just leave it at that as I don’t want to get you into any more trouble than you apparently are,”  he said in a bit of a whisper.

“Why were your parents being arrested? Are they part of the resistance here in the city?”

[Wildfire]

Shannon was confused by his question. She had no clue as to any resistance or really what it was. Since he was put into jail, a church jail at that, it had to be some kind of defiance against the church. Shannon was extremely curious about what could have happened but decided not to push the subject...at least for now.

"I'm not really sure of what resistance, whatever that is, you're talking about." Shannon said. "My dad was a soldier fighting the Kar'Thul. He was badly hurt and was going to die. I guess the priests couldn't help him. So when my Mom and I saw him she was, of course, upset. She decided she would save him...and did."

Shannon saw the scene in her mind and replayed it yet again. "The priests were angry that she could save him and they couldn't. They called for guards and before they arrived they tried to take my Mom away. My Dad beat them up...pretty badly too" she said with a smile. "Eventually the guards came and my Dad would have beaten them were it not for the dagger to my throat."

Shannon thought she may have said too much but to keep any further questions from coming she quickly followed with his own words, "But let's leave it at that...you don't need any more trouble".

Unable to contain her curiosity, Shannon asked, "So what's a resistance?"

[Dray]

“Um….wow,” the man exclaimed and she saw his elbow move. He must have put his hand through his hair as immediately afterward some long locks peaked over the edge of the bed above her.

“Resistance? Well…” the man paused, seemingly at a loss for words at the young girls story.

“Well, Resistance[/i], or to be more grammatically correct, resist[/i], is what people do when they believe the government is oppressing them. It is what they do when they think the government doesn’t have their best interests in mind. Resistance[/i] is merely what they call themselves.” The man’s voice had a deeply musical fluidity to it, Shannon’s artistic heart noted, and it was starting to calm her fear.

“Your parents must not have been part of such a group then, or you would have known,” he said matter-of-factly.

Shannon lay still, finding a secure warmth in the sound of his voice and wanting him to continue.

“So, let me guess, your mother must practice what the government calls sorcery?” he gently, but unexpectedly asked. Shannon’s heart leapt to her throat.

[Wildfire]

Shannon silently swore at herself. Her mother told her not to tell anyone and now she practically came right out with it. She quickly tried to cover her tracks. It would be hard to do though. The avoidance of a direct answer is often the only answer one needs to their question.

"She's just very skilled at healing. The priests obviously weren't and they got mad...that's all." Shannon knew it was a poor attempt and that Nate would probably see through her dodge but she couldn't betray her mother...especially now.

"So what do you do to stay busy around here?" Shannon said playfully.

[Dray]

Nate let out a quiet chuckle. “This is it Miss Shannon, I am afraid that prison life isn’t too much fun,” he said and chuckled a little more. It was a kind-hearted laugh and didn’t seem directed at her.

“But you can’t so easily dodge my question little one. Priests of Kaine wouldn’t attack your mother if she merely knew how to use a healer’s kit,” he said, returning to the question and making Shannon squirm a bit. His voice still hadn’t changed though, it was melodic and soothing, and didn’t have the intonation of accusing her as a liar.

“Admit it, your mother know’s the power of Kaine, she is a practitioner of the divine white magic of our Lord and Father,” he stated a bit more of a whisper, lest their voices be overheard down the corridor.

[Wildfire]

Shannon immediately became suspicious. 'Why would he be so interested in Mom's gift?' she asked herself. 'Whatever the reason it can't be good. If I told him he could tell the church and then she'd really be in trouble'.

"My Mom helped my Dad...that's all she did. Now we're in jail." Shannon said resentfully.

"What happens from here? Do we ever get out of this awful place?" Shannon asked. "I hope my parents are okay."

Shannon began to look at the wall for different shapes in the stone. It was dark so making out any distinguished features was a challenge. Instinctively she reached out and tested the solidness of the wall hoping it would crumble so she could escape. Her hope was dashed when she found that the wall was steady.

Her belly rumbled. "I just want to go home." she said bleakly.

[Dray]

“I know Miss Shannon, and my apologies for pushing on the subject of your parents. It’s just really strange that they would throw a young girl into this dungeon. And I want to understand why they would specifically throw you in here with me.” he said, suddenly sounding worried for the first time.

In the darkness he quickly got off the bed and walked over to the cell gate. The man was quiet as he strained to look down the corridor in both directions. He then stood still against the bars and listened.

Shannon squinted through the darkness but could only make out his silhouette. He was a tall man, with very long and dark hair that reached the middle of his back. He appeared to be dressed in cloth breeches and shirt and had no shoes on.
After at least a few turns of standing there and listening intently into the darkness he took the four steps back to the beds and squatted down beside her. Her heart leapt again into her throat and she retreated her body to the end of the bed against the wall.

“Don ‘t hurt me,” Shannon whispered in absolute fear.

Nate put up his hands in assurance. “I won’t little one. I am not that type of person.” He paused for a moment so she could realize he wasn’t moving any closer to her.

Shannon could make out some of the man’s features now. He was very good looking and a bit younger than her dad. He had strong jaw line and powerful brow. Shannon’s instincts told her that this man was a leader of men, she so wanted to trust him.

Nate’s whisper was so low she had to strain to hear it. “I am going to ask you a question. You need to tell me no alright?”