Daxton - Episode 13
The 5th Compass | Tales of Stonehaven [2,313 words]
Daxton is the first book in the 6-book series, The 5th Compass, which takes place in Stonehaven. Released in serial form, two episodes each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The audio version is coming in the future for paid subscribers only. Visit the table of contents for a list of previously published and upcoming episodes.
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Nelle was taken directly to shore without a word passing between them. Spire didn’t ask what happened in the captain’s quarters and Nelle offered no explanation.
“When next you visit with your brother send him my warmest greetings. That is, if he should remember we were ever there.”
“I am afraid he will not remember you. But I will never forget the kind words you spoke of him. And if your father were a smart man, he’d be proud of the pirate you have become. Till we meet again, Captain Spire.”
As Spire rowed back to his ship, he found himself smiling. He did not hear nor take notice of two men approaching Nelle from behind. She watched him as he drifted further and further away from shore then glanced down to see the shadow of two towering figures cast by the moon.
Before she could react the two men seized her. One grabbed her around the mouth and throat while the other took hold of her arms behind her back. He tied them with thick rope, placed a gag around her mouth, and a bag over her head. Then the stronger and taller of the two hoisted her onto his shoulder and carried her to a waiting carriage.
He dropped her awkwardly to the floor and climbed inside, the carriage swaying to one side from his weight. The other pulled himself up to the driver’s seat and grabbed the reigns. She heard the crack of a whip on the horses as the carriage lurched forwards onto the rocky terrain. When the road leveled out and became smoother, she could tell where they were headed; King Rowan’s castle.
She made no attempt to free herself, instead, she spent her time trying to figure out why the king would kidnap her? What did he want? Perhaps he knew of her visit to the Shadow and wished to know what purpose it served? If that were true, then she needed to know what was worth telling and what needed to remain forever a secret. She learned long ago that kings were easily appeased with even a sliver of information if it proved true and worth its weight in gold. There was much she knew and none she wished to impart on anyone, let alone a king she knew had summoned the Paragon, but these were desperate times.
She was not afraid until the carriage finally came to a complete stop and her heart leapt into her mouth. She could hear the rather gravelly voice of the driver speaking to another man, most likely a guard at the castle gate.
“We’ve come with a package as requested by the king.” Footsteps sounded just beyond her hearing and the carriage door opened. She tried to turn her head which laid awkwardly on the floor of the carriage, but all she could see, as she strained to look through the loose stitching of the sack over her head, was the boot of the man who put her there. The door slammed shut, and then a gate was raised, increasing her nervousness. The carriage lurched forwards as it passed through the gates onto the castle grounds.
This time the carriage only went a short distance before it stopped again and the man who was inside with her stepped out. Under his weight it rocked again, the unexpected movement causing her head to bang against the wooden bench disorienting her sight. He lifted her with little effort and placed her over his shoulder once again and they marched inside. Her head bobbed up and down with each step he took, and nausea overcome her.
They stopped at a large door that was opened for the two men and Nelle to enter. She was dropped carefully into a high-backed chair that had no arms or cushion and felt rather uncomfortable to her. The sack over her head was removed and the larger gentleman cut the rope which had her hands bound behind her back. Under any other circumstance, she would’ve quickly used them to her defense and brought forth all her power down upon them, but she knew the Paragon must be nearby.
She presumed all kings were less than intelligent but none of them would be so stupid as to leave a witch control of her hands. She was no fool. She’d never come up against a Paragon before, but of all the lessons she was taught at Woodvale Academy, the one that stuck with her was to never try and defeat it. She chose instead to sit perfectly still and did her best to look unafraid.
The men who brought her stood at attention on either side of her chair. She turned slightly from side to side to catch a glimpse of them for the first time. She recognized the driver right away by his small size. He was probably her height with extraordinarily little meat on his bones and no way he could’ve lifted her. He looked like he hadn’t eaten in a long time and she bet he was not a member of the royal army. They always looked well fed. The other, much larger and tougher didn’t look like he was part of any army either, as shown by his rather portly stomach. He was a heavy drinker; she could smell it coming off his pores. She was about to say something when the door through which she was carried earlier opened and she heard footsteps coming towards her.
King Rowan, with his long green cape dragged upon the floor sat and crossed one leg over the other as it spread across the steps leading up to his chair.
“Nelle, how good of you to come and see me. I trust your trip here was a pleasant one?” His voice was warm and inviting but she knew better than to take lower her guard. He was never to be trusted.
“Oh, it was. It was,” she answered, looking up at both of her captors with contempt. “I trust there is a good reason for my being here and it was not to exchange pleasantries?”
“As a matter of fact, my dear Nelle, there is. I have it on good authority you paid a visit today to the Shadow. I would know why?” She noticed out the corner of her eye the smaller of the two men flex both fists as he waited for her answer.
“I was summoned to the vessel by Captain Silver—,” she stopped short, remembering no one was to ever say that name in the king’s presence. “She was devastated by the attack your ship posed on her men that morning. She needed to know what you may have in store for her next.” She eyed the man again and saw his knuckles turning white. “I told her I saw nothing.”
“You lie witch,” the smaller of the two men rounded on her and grabbed her by the throat with one hand. He lifted her off the chair with such ease, her eyes grew wide with fear. She knew instantly who he was, could feel his power even now coursing through him as he squeezed tighter around her throat.
“Enough!” King Rowan shouted. The Paragon dropped her back in her seat and resumed his stance next to her chair, his chest heaving with fury. “I apologize for my friend. He is new to this world and does not yet know how to control his temper. But you and I know how to behave do not we, Nelle? And if you do not tell me what I wish to know I will be forced to let my friend here get it out of you. I’d really hate to do that.”
Her voice shook, along with her hands as she brought them up to her neck. She couldn’t see them, but she knew red marks, imprints of his fingers, were already present. She swallowed again and it hurt as she cleared her throat to speak. “I have told you all I know, you bastard. You thief. You and I both know whose head that crown truly belongs on.”
“Take her away and do not return until you have gotten out of her the answers I seek.” In a rash moment of anger, she spoke out of turn and now it just might cost her. An ignorant comment would cost her dearly and fear gripped her as she waited to be taken away. General Corwinn took her gently by the elbow, her knees grew wobbly for a moment and she fell back in her chair. The Paragon smiled at her with eyes of red looking down upon her. She would not let these men best her, would not cower. She gathered what little courage she had and stood up straight, squared her shoulders, and yanked her arm out of General Corwinn’s grasp. She took a step towards the Paragon he was not expecting and moved out of her way.
“Shall we, gentlemen. Do what you want to me. I have already seen your fate and it is not a happy one. No matter what you do, you cannot change it.” She looked directly at the king, his smug expression changing to one of concern as she walked out of his chamber with Corwinn and the Paragon following close behind.
They led her down a long corridor that took a sharp turn towards an alcove which had stone steps leading down into a dungeon. Each step she took made her legs feel like cement and the further they walked the harder it was for her to continue.
“Do not tell me Nelle the witch fears me?” the Paragon asked noticing her slowed pace.
“I fear no man. It is men who cower before me.” He stopped at the bottom and they continued onwards down yet another corridor, this one littered with cells. Some held men within them, all emaciated from lack of proper nutrition.
The Paragon halted at an empty cell and stepped aside, letting Corwinn remove a key from his belt and open the gate. It made a loud squeaking sound as it swung open and Nelle shoved inside. There was not much to see as there was only a sliver of darkness coming through a small rectangular window several feet above even her height. A bed made of hay was haphazardly piled in one corner and in the center of the room was a chair. A stench emanated from a bucket in the corner so unbearable Nelle found it difficult to suppress the need to vomit.
“You should leave,” the Paragon said to Corwinn who stepped inside and started to close the cell door behind them.
“I’m fine.”
The Paragon gave him a grin that made Corwinn shudder. He flexed his shoulders uncomfortably, refusing to be disturbed by him as he felt an electricity unlike anything he’d ever experienced. “If you insist.” The Paragon turned his head slowly towards Nelle who backed into a corner of the room. Her eyes darted around looking for an escape but saw none. She quickly made an orange flame appear in the palms of her hands, but when she looked at the eyes of the Paragon, they glowed yellow and his teeth became pointed, licking his lips, her flame vanished.
The Paragon stepped towards her and she felt the electricity more intensely. She couldn’t take it any longer and let out a scream so loud Corwinn’s face contorted in agony to hear it. Nelle’s veins beneath her skin appeared on the surface of her body, trying to escape, as she lost all control, falling limp to the floor.
“What are you doing? If you kill her how can we find out what she knows?”
The Paragon lifted a hand towards Corwinn, and he was flung back against the gate of the cell with a force so powerful it dropped him. “do not ever question my methods. If you do not like how I do things I suggest you leave. Besides,” he turned to Nelle with an evil grin, “I am only just getting started.”
Corwinn stood, brushing dirt off his new uniform. He scowled at the Paragon but knew it would be pointless to say anything. He opened the gate and stormed out without another word. Halfway down the corridor someone in a cell nearby leaned on the gate of his cell and asked, “Aren’t you Corwinn the Coward?” The thought of a prisoner thinking he was a coward for leaving the torturous scene angered him, so he turned back to where he just came.
Nelle let out another scream even louder and more intense than the last. He could not bear the sound any more than he had to. He looked straight into the eyes of the man in the cell and answered, “Yes, I am,” then walked with haste up the stairs as far away from her screams as he could get.
It was several hours later before the Paragon found Corwinn eating in a room at the furthest end of the castle.
“Since you stopped drinking all I have ever seen you do is eat. Is this any way for a king’s General to look?” Corwinn was shocked to see him with a smile on his face.
“I trust you got what the king wanted from her?”
“I did indeed. We leave tonight so eat hearty. That pirate will be mine before the moon rises over Gaspar on the morrow.”
“And what of the witch?” Corwinn asked.
“Do not tell me you worry for her life? Worry for your own.”
“I care not. But if she should prove useful to us later, I just think it would be wise to leave her alive.” The Paragon gave no answer to Corwinn, who feared Nelle lost her life to this monster and he could easily be next.