The *** and the Parliament
Elliot
"It's Syntychos!" a young woman whispered. I turned away from the woman with whom I had been speaking—Dragana, she had said her name was—to see the other woman's eyes wide with panic as she backed up against a wall and sat, holding her knees against her chest defensively. There was a large slash wound across the left side of her face, clearly still fresh and on the verge of infection.
"You better hide," another woman advised Lauren and me—the intruders—in a soft and cracked, almost singsong voice. Although she was not old, her skin reflected a lifetime of abuse, and her face was grey and emotionless as if she were already dead. Fear having been sapped from her heart long ago, she stood and faced the dungeon's entrance, simply waiting.
I turned to see Lauren shuffling into a large crevice in the stone wall. She motioned for me to join her. Not wasting any time, I dove between the stones. I could feel Lauren's still naked body gently brushing against mine, and I struggled to stay silent and motionless as the footsteps got louder and shadows appeared at the entrance, growing and growing until they engulfed the flickering torchlight.
A man in lavish robes—the only person I had seen wearing clothes in this realm so far—appeared first at the foot of the steps leading out of the dungeon. His hair was long and flowing, his features strong. The young woman who had become hysterical at the very sound of the man's footsteps now let out a single horrified gasp.
So this was the demon.
Not far behind Syntychos came a collection of large, stern-faced men who gave the impression of castle guards. Like Syntychos, they were dressed, but modestly so, in cloth tunics and leather armor. In the center of their cluster was a woman. She was breathing hard and wore an exhausted, defeated look, as if she had recently quit struggling against an overwhelming might. Suddenly she looked up, and before I had time to process a sense that she was very familiar, her gaze locked on our hiding place and her expression changed to one of alarm.
She opened her mouth, preparing to give us away.
"You better hide," another woman advised Lauren and me—the intruders—in a soft and cracked, almost singsong voice. Although she was not old, her skin reflected a lifetime of abuse, and her face was grey and emotionless as if she were already dead. Fear having been sapped from her heart long ago, she stood and faced the dungeon's entrance, simply waiting.
I turned to see Lauren shuffling into a large crevice in the stone wall. She motioned for me to join her. Not wasting any time, I dove between the stones. I could feel Lauren's still naked body gently brushing against mine, and I struggled to stay silent and motionless as the footsteps got louder and shadows appeared at the entrance, growing and growing until they engulfed the flickering torchlight.
A man in lavish robes—the only person I had seen wearing clothes in this realm so far—appeared first at the foot of the steps leading out of the dungeon. His hair was long and flowing, his features strong. The young woman who had become hysterical at the very sound of the man's footsteps now let out a single horrified gasp.
So this was the demon.
Not far behind Syntychos came a collection of large, stern-faced men who gave the impression of castle guards. Like Syntychos, they were dressed, but modestly so, in cloth tunics and leather armor. In the center of their cluster was a woman. She was breathing hard and wore an exhausted, defeated look, as if she had recently quit struggling against an overwhelming might. Suddenly she looked up, and before I had time to process a sense that she was very familiar, her gaze locked on our hiding place and her expression changed to one of alarm.
She opened her mouth, preparing to give us away.
♠ ♠ ♠
It's been such a long time. I hope it's not totally unclear what's going on.