Chapter 13: Chapter 13

ANNA

It’s dark. I am lying on a cold, hard floor. My head is pounding and every inch of my body aches; I must be covered in bruises. The voice in my head tells me I need to stand up, but my legs won’t respond to my plea.

There’s someone else in here; I’m not alone. My heart sinks.

~Are they feeding me to their monster? Will this beast finally put me out of my misery?~

Footsteps approach me.

“Oh, my poor child. They sure did a great deal of damage to you, your poor thing,” a soft, kind voice says.

Someone brushes the hair out of my face, places a cold wet cloth against my skin, and slowly wipes away the dried blood.

“You are so beautiful…and a human.” She sounds shocked.

Gently, she makes her way to my limbs and starts to wipe them clean as well. When she’s done washing me, I hear a splash of water as she dips the cloth back in.

My lips are cracked and I would love a sip of water. My throat is dry, like the desert.

“Come now, little one, let’s get you up.” She gently places her hands on the back of my head and slowly tries to lift my head. She pats my lips with the cloth to moisten them.

She scoops up some water with her hand and tries to pour it into my mouth. A few drops slip in through the cracks. I try to swallow, but it hurts.

“Come now, sweet child, I need you to drink.” She tries it again. The water slides down my top lip and into my mouth. The drops slide down my throat.

“There you go,” she says proudly. Gently she places my head back on the ground and starts to wipe my limbs again. I start to drift off into a deep slumber.

~Bang!~

My eyes flash open at the sudden report.

“Well, now, look who’s awake,” I hear a soft voice say from a dark corner of the room. Slowly, I try to push my body up.

“Steady now, sweetie, we don’t want you to hurt yourself again,” the speaker says as she comes to my side.

She is a beautiful woman with long, dark-blue hair and almost purple eyes. She has a soft smile on her face. She looks young and magical, almost like an angel without wings. She gently helps me to sit.

“There you go, honey. Now, my name is Amethyst.” She gives me a sweet smile.

I look down and see chains around her ankles. I look to my feet only to find I’m chained too.

“Anna.” That is all I manage to get out. My voice is harsh and my throat is sore.

“Nice to meet you, Anna. Here, take some water.” She hands me a bowl.

I hold it with shaky hands and take a big sip. It tastes so good and refreshing. I place the bowl on the ground next to me and take in my surroundings.

It looks like we are in some kind of basement. It’s dark and cold. There are no windows, just a small hole in one wall where a small ray of sunshine breaks through.

There is just one door, metal, that I presume leads out to those fat and ugly monsters. No mattress, no bucket, just an empty space. A very dirty space.

I clear my throat and look up at Amethyst.

“Where are we?” I ask in a whisper.

“We’re in the dungeons,” she says and gracefully sits down next to me.

“How long was I out?” I feel a little better.

“About two days.” She hands me a piece of bread and a bowl of soup.

“Thank you for all your help. You kept me alive,” I said as I take a huge bite of bread. I’m starving.

“You’re welcome,” she says, then looks at me, puzzled. “Tell me, Anna, how on earth did you end up here?”

I swallow my bread and shrug my shoulders.

“Do you have any idea where you are? I mean, not the fact that you’re in the dungeon, but the realm?”

“What do you mean, ‘realm?’” I ask, worriedly.

“Oh, sweetie, you have no idea. You’re not on Earth anymore. You’re in the supernatural realm,” she says.

I choke on my food, and she hands me the bowl of water.

“These are the ogres’ lands. They are a mean bunch.” She shakes her head.

“Wait, what?” I’m trying to take in all of this information.

~Ogres? A supernatural realm filled with monsters and weird creatures? I thought that was all myths, stories moms tell their kids to get them to behave. Now I hear it’s all true?~

~Well, maybe I should have eaten my veggies. Then I wouldn’t have ended up here.~

“I know you’re a bit shocked and scared,” she says and places a hand on my shoulder.

I shrug my shoulder so her hand falls away and shift back from her.

“Wait. What are you, then?” I ask, afraid of what she might say.

“I’m a sorceress,” she replies, and smiles kindly at me.

~Well, if she wanted to eat me, she had a lot of time to do that.~

“I’m one of the good guys. I will never harm a human intentionally,” she says.

~She ’did’ save my life and keep me alive.~

“Why don’t you use your magic to get us out of here?” I ask.

“You see these chains? They keep me from using my powers, and I can’t break them. Believe me, I’ve tried,” she says, pulling on the chains.

“That sucks. Why are they keeping us here? Are we appetizers?” I ask, smirking.

“Well, something like that,” she says, smiling a faint smile.

“Ogres can’t mate with other ogres, so to keep their population growing they need females to—”

I cut her off mid-sentence.

“Okay, okay, that’s just gross.” I shake my head at the thought.

“It is. Not one female survives giving birth to an ogre. That is why they keep on kidnapping women from all the realms,” she says and stares into the bowl next to her.

“How many realms are we talking about?” I ask, very interested in this new information.

“Well, let me see, there are the ogres, vampires, werewolves, fae, demons, witches, and the shadow realm—that’s a scary place.

“The king lives there. He oversees all the realms and keeps the peace, or tries to at least,” she says, matter-of-factly.

I feel my jaw drop to the floor.

~What the hell? Vampires? Werewolves? You have to be kidding me.~

“Wow, okay now. That is a lot to take in at once,” I say as I try to catch my breath.

“What I don’t understand is, how did you end up here? You are only human and humans can’t cross over, unless…” She narrows her eyes at me.

“No, it can’t be. It’s only a myth,” she says, shaking her head.

“What?” I ask. ~Now I’ve got to know.~

“It’s nothing, really. Come, you need to rest,” she says.

I sigh and rest my head against the wall. My body is still very sore from the brutal beating. I close my eyes in an attempt to sleep, but it won’t come. My mind is elsewhere, thinking of all the new information.

~What are my chances in this world, and how the hell will I get home?~

“Amethyst, will I ever get home?” I ask. I can hear the sadness in my voice, and the tears forming.

She looks at me, not sure how to answer my question.

“Yes, I’ll help you return. I promise,” she says—not very convincingly, but at least she tries.

We both fall asleep.

ROLAND

That woman sure knows how to push my buttons. I run my hands over my face, trying to calm myself. I feel my Lycan, Unoxi, scratching on the surface trying to come out.

I can’t believe the Moon Goddess would pair me with a woman like this. And the worst thing of all is, she’s human.

Lev places his hand on my shoulder.

“Are we going for a run?” He smiles at me. He already knows the answer to that question.

“Yup,” I reply, popping the “p.”

He launches into the air and immediately shifts into his wolf, Zoltan, a magnificent creature with dark brown fur and blood-red eyes. He is one of our best werewolf fighters and my close friend.

I shake my head at him, pull off my shirt, and let Unoxi take over.

Lev and I run through the woods until we pick up on Annabeth’s scent. It is strong, which means she is bleeding.

I hear a bellowing roar and immediately stop in my tracks. Lev turns to me and within seconds he changes back into his human form.

“Ogres,” he says with disgust, taking in a deep whiff of their scent.

“I hate the ugly fuckers,” he adds, kicking the ground.

I shift back and breathe in Annabeth’s scent.

“They have Annabeth.” I hiss through my teeth. My blood is boiling in my veins.

“That feisty little human?” he asks, smirking at me.

I growl at him. “We need to save her.”

And within seconds, Unoxi is racing through the woods tracking Annabeth’s scent, Zalton hot on my tail.

We stop at the stream. I can smell her and know she was here. Lev sniffs around to pin the direction they went.

Lev mind-links me. ~They went this way. I pick up about five ogres and Annabeth.~

Lev is a great tracker, but in situations like this I wish I had Trix with me; she is the best.

~Great,~ I respond. ~Stay on her.~

We run through the forest until we hit Dead Man’s Falls.

~Shit! There’s blood here, and it’s hers.~

~There! Look, light.~ Lev says.

I look over to where Lev is pointing. It’s a wooden cabin. It looks old and definitely not in good shape. There are ogres standing guard outside.

~I count ten outside and maybe five more inside,~ I say.

~Do we have a plan?~ Lev asks.

~Go in, grab Annabeth, and get her to safety, kill anybody who gets in the way.~

~Love that plan.~

We storm the cabin. I rip the first ogre to pieces before he can let out a warning roar and head straight for the next one.

Lev has three on him. He rips the one off his back, but in seconds we are surrounded by ogres. They are trying to split us.

~Lev, get Annabeth. I’ll take them.~

~Are you sure?~

~GO!~

Lev leaps into the air and in seconds he shifts, heading into the cabin with two ogres on him.

One of the ogres surrounding me throws a spear at me and it hits me in the shoulder. I rip the spear out and throw it back at him, hitting him between the eyes.

~One down, a few more to go.~

I give Unoxi full control.

~Oh, this is going to be fun. He loves ogre blood.~

My Lycan jumps and grabs one ogre by the head, ripping it straight off. Two more ogres come running in my direction. Unoxi spins around, slapping them through their ugly faces, sending them flying through the air.

Another ogre comes running and slashes me on the back with his sword. Unoxi lets out a fierce roar before he rips him to pieces.

~Got them. Heading to the stream now,~ Lev says through the mind-link

~“Them?” What do you mean, “them?”~

I finish off two more ogres. The others break and run for the hills. Unoxi wants to chase after them but I stop him and force the change, asserting my control over him.

~Heading your way now, ~I send to Lev.

I am sprinting in the direction of the stream when I see the cabin go up in flames.

ANNA

We hear a commotion outside. Amethyst jumps up and goes to the door, listening.

“I think we are being saved,” she says, coming back to me. “Will you be able to run when the time comes?”

I look down at my body. There are still a lot of bruises and there is blood around my ankles where the chains chafe. I am still sore, but not as bad as three days before.

“I think I can manage,” I say, and smile at her. I try to push my body up, and Amethyst helps me to my feet.

“There we go. Lean against the wall,” she says.

“Annabeth! Annabeth!” I hear from outside.

“I’m here!” I shout as loudly as I can.

Within seconds, the metal door goes flying and in comes Hulk guy. He looks like he just stepped off a battlefield.

~What the hell?~

“Come, let’s go,” he orders us. I look down at my ankles. It’s like he understands my look and follows my gaze.

“Fuck! Okay, I’ll be back,” he says, and rushes out the door again.

~He can break a metal door but not these chains? What is it with these chains?~

Amethyst answers my unspoken question.

“These chains can’t be broken, not even by a werewolf,” she says.

~Okay, he’s a werewolf. That would explain why he’s so huge and muscular. I mean, did you see Jacob in ~Twilight~? Wow.~

Lev returns with the keys.

“Amethyst first,” I demand.

Lev looks over at her and frowns.

“I’m not leaving without her.”

He rolls his eyes at me and undoes Amethyst’s chains.

“Thanks,” she says, and smiles at him.

He ignores her and releases me.

“You will have to carry her. She won’t be able to run—look at her,” Amethyst says.

I narrow my eyes at Lev. He just smirks at me and throws me over his shoulder.

“No need to fuss, ~printsessa~. I’ve got you,” he says, a bit amused.

I glare over at Amethyst, who is giggling at me.

As we burst out of the door, one ugly grabs Amethyst around the waist.

“Amethyst!” I shout.

She makes a swift gesture, and the ogre lights up like a bonfire.

My jaw drops to the ground.

~Holy shit. Okay, note to self: never get on her bad side.~

She smiles at me as we head into the woods. I can see there is still a battle going on, but since I’m hanging over Hulk guy’s shoulder, I can’t quite see who’s fighting.

~Well, I need to thank them. I mean, they did save my life.~