Chapter One: In the dark of it all
In this chapter, Leona, a wrongfully accused prisoner, reflects on the devastating events that led to her incarceration. Blamed for the massacre of her congregation despite a lack of evidence or motive, she faces life in a brutal prison where inmates await execution in a cruel, systematic countdown.
Her only solace is her childhood friend Milo, also imprisoned under false charges, who stands fiercely protective of her amidst the constant abuse from guards and enforcers. Together, they endure the grim realities of prison life, from consuming inedible meals to grueling labor in the mines of Crystallus. Leona wrestles with despair as she witnesses the inhuman treatment of fellow prisoners, including the death of a slave Canid, and reflects on her lost freedom and the attack on her hometown of Riverdale.
Through fleeting moments of shared memories and Milo’s loyalty, the chapter explores themes of injustice, resilience, camaraderie, and the fragile hope for survival amidst darkness.
As Leona opens her eyes to the dim and sickly green light of prison cell twenty-four, the memories of the past four months come back to her. The horrible misjudgment where she was blamed for murders she didn't commit. There was little evidence left in the aftermath. Normally in that type of situation the court would have stated there wasn't enough evidence to convict her, and they would have released her, but that's not what happened at all.
She recollects how hard she cried and prayed for herself, and the souls of those that died in the attack. She will never forget the pain she felt as she was blamed for the murder of twenty of her congregation.
She sits up, resting her arms on her knees, letting out a heavy sigh as she holds herself. The horror of the past slowly flashes through her mind. She wasn't the murderer, she had no reason to ever kill someone. They were her friends, people she worked with every day on the farms. They were people she went to church with. Anger boiled up inside her then, a small ball of flaming light deep within her. How could they do this to her? She thought, They simply decided her fate without any due process.
Then they sent her away to be executed, but not your usual swift execution. No, instead it was a labor prison, where they either work you to death or they killed you themselves. Whoever is in cell twenty-five is executed after a certain amount of time, then once the execution is done everyone is moved up a cell number, that's if you hadn't died from the labor. Set up like some sick and twisted timer counting down to your death.
Her eyes darted to the movement on the bed across from her. On it sits a tall, broad built, man. He has a scar running down his back, horrible and jagged. He looks at her, his deep Almond eyes visible for a moment from the small amount of light coming through the grate in the ceiling. His long golden hair falls down to his shoulders.
“Good morning Leona. “He says as she sighs, and looks away. She replies softly, “Morning Milo." She looks around the room, a disheartened look on her face. The room has years of muck and moss. She rises from the creaky bed and begins using a rag she had torn from a shirt to try and clean the cell up using some of the water collected in a bucket in the corner. Although she tries hard to clean the cell, the small rag is ineffective at removing the years of slime and moss that has accumulated.
She looks up to the grate, the only thing that provides any light and water to the slimy cell. She steps directly under the grate and stares upwards into the light. Warmth and light bathes her face. Once her eyes adjust she looks up at the deep blue sky, and her heart grows heavy. A tear finally escapes from the corner of her eye. Memories slowly trickle into her mind's eye, a youth spent in the sun, and the now unfamiliar feelings of wind and grass, echoes of which play across her skin. But the moment of tranquility doesn't last.
She is torn away from looking at the sky when the morning guard pounds on the door. Barking, “Come get your breakfast!" She wipes her eyes and turns from the ray of sun. Milo grabs his tray of muck, grumbling, and starts eating it. Leona Takes her tray and she looks down at the grey muck. It is a weird mixture of old potatoes and barely cooked rice. At least that's what her and Milo had surmised it was. She closes her eyes and eats the stuff, every other bite of the food causing her to gag. Once she finishes she hands the tray back through. She watches as Milo gets up to pass his tray through.
“How is the little kitty today? Ready to cry for your freedom? Get on your knees and Maybe-" The guard is cut-off as Milo shoves the tray through the slot bashing the guard in the gut. The guard snarls and swiftly reaches for his keys, his face beet red. “You little Fucker. I am going to come in there and beat the-" The guard is stopped by an imposing figure, a human man, pale skin tanned by years in the sun. Leona immediately recognizes the captain of the guard.
“Stop whining and get back to work." He says in a gruff old voice to the young guard, before turning and saying in a growl to Milo, “Traitor, behave yourself or you will leave me with no choice but to come in there and handle you myself." Milo glares and sits back on his bed with a little defiant growl. Leona looks over to her childhood friend as the sound of the captain leaving echoes through the stone halls. In a hushed tone he says, “I am not a traitor. Asshole."
“You know that doing stuff like that is just going to get you in deeper trouble. We don't have much here." Milo growls and says with a crescendo, “yeah well I don't care!" Leona rolls her eyes, his familiar tantrum bringing a bit of their childhood back. She opens her mouth to say something back but she is cut off by the work bell. She and Milo quickly line up at the door to leave for the mines.
A Guard passes her and Milo cuffs. They put them on before guards step in and force dark sacks over their heads. The guards roughly guide them and others into a cramped carriage where they are taken to some mine with the other prisoners. Down in the dark mines, they are forced to work all day on mining crystal for the city's construction. The work is repetitive and tiring, but she is thankful not to be trapped in the cell the entire time.
They are dragged from the carriage, and then the sack over her head is suddenly removed. Her eyes wander across the large cavern, The crystals they are made to mine, glimmer along the walls. Leona remembered her older sister, Salindra, talking to her once about how the gems like these could be used to store arcane energy, and be used as a means to power enchantments. Her thoughts are interrupted as she is made to cough, although the cavern itself might have looked beautiful once, that was all ruined by the dense haze of smoke and powdered rock in the air, and of course the hundreds of sweaty slaves and prisoners. One of the guards points her to a vein, and she quickly rushes to her designated spot. She swiftly begins mining away at the rock as she hears someone near her get lashed for being too slow.
Time slowly is picked away till an enforcer walks by. Leona flinches as he yells at the Canid next to her. He tries to pick up speed but his arms fail, and he whimpers. The poor Collie, a slave, perhaps worse off than her in some ways. Growing up she had a friend who was a Canid, a Golden Labrador, and yet she never knew that most of Borithia treated them like actual dogs. She wanted so badly to try and help them, but she knew there was nothing she could do. The enforcers would be on her and him before either of them could do anything meaningful.
Something in the enforcer suddenly snaps and he begins rapidly whipping the canid, screaming profanities. Spit flies from his lips, and hatred boils in his eyes. The Canid collapses under the heavy blows and looks up at her, tears stream down his cheeks as the whipping intensifies, she looks desperately back into his eyes, “come on... get up! You can do it!" she whispers hoarsely. But it is hopeless. She comes to a halt as she watches the life in the Canid's eyes fade. The anger in her flares again, a roiling sun, but deep down she knows that whatever she would like to do would be pointless. As the hopelessness sets in she turns back to her work.
The enforcer stands there a moment before he spits on the mangled body, “Good riddance there's one less of you abominations. You other mongrels! Carry your dead away." A few of the prisoners rush over to carry the poor dead canid away. Leona quietly says a prayer for the dead man.
She continues picking away at the stone. Once she has gathered a pack full of crystal she gets into a long line to turn it in. A Tygerian ahead of her, who appears emaciated, collapses under the weight of his pack. Leona is forced to walk around him when all she wants to do is help him. Another enforcer comes over and starts whipping him. She bites her lower lip, fighting back her rage, and drawing a bit of blood. If she could she would turn around and bash the enforcer with a rock.
She finally reaches the cart to drop off her pack. She watches as men are forced to pull the full cart away. The stones under their feet slowly cut into their soles. What is the point of living like this, Leona wonders. She sighs and tries to go back to focusing on doing her work again.
As she works she lets her mind wander back to the days of old. Back to her Childhood… The days of freedom in Riverdale. Riverdale was a quiet area in the Northwestern parts of Borithia, surrounded by rolling green hills, a river running through the middle of town, and a very ancient fortress where she once played with her friends. Her heart feels a stab of sadness as she recalls how free she and Milo were. The two of them would run wild through town, or out into the countryside, playing tag and staying out til the sun went down. So strange was it that after years of being apart they would meet here. Years of friendship, and here they would die together.
Hours pass as she wonders in the corridors of her mind. She is brought back to the moment she is in when she hears the ringing of a bell, indicating her time in the mines was done for the day. In a similar fashion as they were brought to the mine, everyone is emptied out of it.
Once back to their cell she slumps onto her lumpy bed like a sack of potatoes. The bleak and empty look on her face prompts Milo to place a warm hand on her shoulder, a gesture that is more comforting to her than he realizes. “It will be ok. I know they are jackasses, but we have each other." She looks up at him and nods as a few tears begin to roll down her cheeks. She watches him sit back down on his bed and sigh. She recollects how Milo happened to end up in the same cell as her.
He had told her he was also wrongfully blamed. When he learned of the charges that were against him, he stole a horse and tried to flee the country. Now she wishes she had at least tried to do the same.
Leona looks over to the hatch as a tray of muck is stuck in. She quickly grabs it and begins eating. The guard mumbles something to Milo as he approaches the door and then the guard throws the tray of food onto the ground. He growls as the guard walks off laughing. She gives half of her final meal of the day to Milo and they both sit quietly and eat.
Once done she gets up and slides her tray back through the slit in the door. The guard cat-calls at her as he looks down her shirt. She flushes with anger, and is about to try and punch the guy through the slit, when Milo pushes her away from the door. He punches the guard on the other side, sending him stumbling to the ground.
The guard has terror in his eyes, his hand instinctively flying to his sword. Milo glares at the guard, “Don't you fucking treat her that way! I swear this cell won't hold me if you even touch her!" The guard stumbles off flabbergasted. She slowly sits on her bed and watches Milo sit back down, thankful to have him here.
Moonlight slowly filters through the grate in the ceiling after a while of silence. Milo lays on his bed and looks up at the small hole. He thinks back to the house his family had back in Riversdale. You could see all the stars there. He always felt so free when he was out at night. There was one night that Leona, Salindra, Lucien, Alivia, and he went to the top of the tower in the ancient fortress back home. From there they saw the night sky in all its glory, crying out to them with promises of infinite possibilities. His attention is slowly drawn back to the Elf across from him. Her hair glowing a gentle red in the moonlight shining down upon her. Her light brown eyes are gentle like a doe's.
“Hey... Do you still get letters from home?" He asks her softly. She lays on her bed, her eyes drawn to the tiny square of night sky she can see. She recalls how nice it used to be, to walk through the forest on a cool night with her friends. Some of them are dead now. How could this happen? They let the real monsters go when they charged her as a traitor.
“No… The letters stopped coming two months into me being here. I got one letter from my mom, and then the next letter… Oh god you don't know do you?" Milo shakes his head as he looks at her. “That last letter I got... It was a letter stating Riverdale was attacked. We have no idea if our parents made it out or not." He blinks tears from his eyes. He tries hard to not let his voice give away his pain. He winces slightly, memories of the olden days flashing before his eyes again.
“I am sorry Leona. I hope everyone made it out." She looks over at him saying, “I-I don't know how to feel about all of this, Milo. I am so scared." He looks at her, their eyes meet, his dark brown eyes clearly visible in the pale light.
“I will be here for you, Leona. I always will."