Page 12 of Einar (The Brigands of Ruk #2)
Chapter Twelve
ROWAN
SOMETHING’S IN THE ROOM WITH US !
Years of conditioning snap me awake in an instant. Immediately , I think Robert’s already found me, even though I have no idea how such a thing would be possible. The room is bathed in darkness, the light Ruby left on has been turned off. If my sister had gotten out of bed in the night, it would have woken me up.
So .
I KNOW SOMEONE IS IN HERE WITH US .
A strange sound, almost like sandpaper rasping over a piece of wood, catches my attention before a horrid stench makes me gag. Just as I go to sit up, something grabs me by the back of the neck and yanks me up in the air, my legs dangling. A flash of blood red a foot above my head catches my attention.
ARE THOSE EYES ?!
Terror robs me of speech, as the thing that holds me shakes me violently for no reason. I’m just hanging here; I’m not fighting back or making any noise. Stifling sobs, I desperately try to see where Ruby is.
Where is my sister?!
Whatever has ahold of me is … hissing.
And is answered by a distinct set of hisses from across the small room.
I know they have Ruby when I hear her short yell before it’s abruptly cut off and becomes muffled. Just as I open my mouth to call out to her, a vile piece of material is shoved against my face, suffocating me and making my lungs rebel with the beginnings of an asthmatic wheeze.
Oh no! OH ! NO !
Whatever is on the cloth is making me woozy and causing me to have an asthma attack. Weakly , I reach for my bag and the lifesaving medicine hidden within it when suddenly a bright light flashes, and I see what has captured us. My mind scrambles for some sort of reference for what I’m seeing when it finally hits me. Robert forced me to attend a diplomatic event once that showcased traditional mythology from all round the globe. The things holding of us are…
Nagas !
Giant snakelike creatures with the head and torso of a humanoid but the length of a massive serpent instead of legs. These creatures aren’t pretty like the paintings and sculptures I saw, though. They’re massive and their entire bodies are scaled, not just the snake part. Blood -red eyes with vertical pupils are staring at us like we are pieces of meat.
Making eye contact, I reach out toward Ruby , trying to grab her hand as I see her head fall forward into unconsciousness. That’s the last thing I remember before the vile, liquid covered cloth on my face also robs me of consciousness.
Why is Ruby shaking me? It can’t be time to get up yet, we just went to bed.
“ What ?”
Why am I whispering and also wheezing?
Peering up at Ruby , I see her motion me to be quiet and my mind tries to banish the fog clouding my mind. She pulls me close to her, “ Do you remember anything?”
What an odd thing to ask. I don’t understand why I’m so confused right now. I’m never this bleary when I get up. Forcing myself to focus on what I remember, I answer her question the best I can. “ What ? … No , the last thing I recall was you walking into the bathroom to take a shower. Wait a minute, … there was something holding you and then a really bright flash.”
The mind-fog vanishes and memories bombard me all at once.
Nagas .
Rotten meat stench.
A vile cloth shoved against my nose and mouth.
I can feel panic creeping up on me, making my already labored breathing worse; a rattling sound deep in my chest tells me I’m on the verge of being in deep shit. Ruby grabs me by the face and forces me to focus on her.
“ Look at me Rowan . I need you to breathe, sis. That’s right. … No , don’t look around, just keep your eyes on me. We don’t have your meds, so I need you to concentrate on making your lungs expand. Take a few deep breaths in and then out. Now do it with me. Watch my chest and mimic it just like we did when we were kids.”
Focusing on slowing my breathing, I start a simple breathing exercise. Inhale for four seconds. Hold it for four seconds. Exhale for four seconds.
Wash . Rinse . Repeat .
Just about the time I’ve gotten my airways opened back up a little, the women around us start waking up. Most of them are crying, or in some cases wailing, realizing they’re waking up somewhere they didn’t go to sleep in. I’m not excited about being … wherever the fuck it is that we are but thank God I’m not by myself. I know that makes me a terrible person, but I’m glad Ruby is with me. There’s no way I would survive without her here to keep me calm.
A blood-curdling scream pierces the surrounding air, jerking our attention in the screamer’s direction. Women are darting all around the room, shrieking, crying and running away from something. Through all this commotion, Ruby and I keep a death grip on one another, so we aren’t separated in the melee.
The sound of a thud next to me causes me to glance over, only to see a woman lying there with her eyes closed. Squinting , I look closer and see her chest moving.
She’s just passed out.
A woman I don’t know grabs Ruby by the arm and pulls us toward the back of the room. Her words are so low, they’re almost inaudible over the chaos all around us. “ Come with me, they always grab the ones closest to the cage door.”
They ? Who are THEY ?
Peering around Ruby , what I see makes me freeze and I suck in a breath to let loose a scream of my own … because it wasn’t a nightmare after all. Ruby must have felt me tense up because her hand slaps across my mouth before I can release any sound at all.
“ Don’t make a sound.”
Her words are just as low as the other woman’s, and I nod sharply, letting her know I understand.
“ Ruby ?”
“ Yeah , sis?”
“ Are you seeing what I am?”
“ I think so.”
“ There is no such thing!”
My whimpered words are lost in the din of screaming women. The colossal creature is … leering at us. Seemingly enjoying the havoc its appearance is wreaking on the room full of women. Its face is creased in a facsimile of a smile and the hisses coming out of it almost seem like … laughter.
That sick fuck. It’s enjoying this. Just like Robert enjoyed hurting me.
This creature relishes inflicting terror on those smaller and weaker than it. Terror fills me as I realize I’ve gone from the frying pan and landed in the fire. I escaped one monster, only to be taken by something far worse.
Ducking its head and torso, the Naga enters the room virtually silently, his serpent tail allowing him to move with stealth. Observing it from across the room, I remember the flashes I saw when they grabbed us. These are definitely not the nagas of human folk lore or any sci-fi romance book on earth. The torso and head do not resemble a man in any shape, form, or fashion. Its face is flat without any protruding features such as a nose and the eyes are set back into the skull with eyebrow ridges protruding out from the face. This thing is basically a semi-upright snake with arms. Nothing sexy about this bastard at all.
Jeez . This thing has to be pushing eight to nine feet tall and dwarfs every single woman here. I can see the light playing off its scales, reflecting the same colors of the room around it, making it difficult to keep track of. This species can camouflage itself as well, creating a predator to be reckoned with.
One woman tries to dart past the bulk of its body and out of the cell, only to be violently stopped with a massive hand around her waist. She’s then thrown back into the cell. I hear Ruby whimper when a hood like a king cobra snaps out around this thing’s head and neck, as it snarls down at her, gigantic fangs dripping liquid that can be nothing else but venom on to the floor.
The fact that the floor is sizzling with each drop is horrifying.
Reaching up, it snatches a stick looking thing off a harness across its chest and jabs it at several women, including the failed escapee. The stench of burned skin and the screams of agony from the women in front of us makes Ruby push me behind her.
Note to self.
Do not let the stick thingie touch you.
I’m not sure what’s happening since Ruby shoved me behind her and won’t let me look, but I do notice when the screaming abruptly stops. The only thing I can hear now are a few muffled whimpers here and there. The lady that grabbed Ruby is trying to tuck herself into the shadows, but the naga grabs her before shoving her violently toward the front of the cage and out the door.
Burying my face in Ruby’s hair, I try to ignore what’s happening around me as tears leak from my eyes and roll down my face, wetting the skin on her neck as they fall. She pulls me tighter against her and we start moving. I don’t know where we’re going and I don’t care. As long as I have my sister, I know I’ll be okay … well, mostly okay.
Well , okay for me.
She manipulates my body, pushing and pulling me around as she maneuvers us to wherever the Nagas want us to go. After we leave the cage, all of us are forced to line up against the wall in a long, dark hallway. Peeking out from where my face is still pressed against Ruby’s neck, I watch as our captors start taking women, several at a time, through a doorway that opens and closes behind their massive bodies without any visible or audible command.
The lady next in line attempts to move to the back, but before she can make it, one of the snakes snatches her up in his arms. She sure does put up one hell of a fight, though. Screaming , yelling, struggling, she fights him with every ounce of effort she can. I see the second one of her nails catches the male across the face. Roaring in anger, its mouth opens wider than should be possible, fangs flashing in the light, and bites her on the shoulder. The sound she emits … it will haunt me until I die.
It’s so bad, even Ruby looks away, and I watch as tears stream down her face. Glancing back at the woman, I see her collapse in the monster’s arms as it turns away from us, taking her lifeless body with it. After that, the silence is deafening. None of us are willing to make any noise, less we call attention to ourselves. I’m trembling so hard, I can barely stand and if it wasn’t for Ruby , I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to walk. She’s the only thing holding me up right now. Sooner rather than later, we reach the front of the line, and I know we are about to be separated from one another.
One of the monsters approaches us, grabs Ruby while snarling in her face and I can feel her breathing hitch as she tries not to vomit as its putrid breath hits her in the face. The bastard does his best to pull Ruby off of me, but no matter how hard he tries, she clings to me like a spider monkey. It gives up sooner than I expected it to before shoving both of us out of the room through the automatic door.
Pushing my face back into Ruby’s neck, I pray to whatever God is listening to help us. I’ve been doing it for years with no answer, but I’m desperate.
Abruptly , Ruby starts moving back the way we came, her grip on me is so tight I know I’ll have more bruises to add to my collection. Her movement is instantly halted, and a scream of pain escapes her throat before she jolts forward, dragging me with her. A warm, wet sensation catches my attention. Looking down, dread fills me as I see Ruby bleeding from a deep wound in her side.
Raising my head, horror fills me when I realize that we’ve been herded into an area that looks like a Miss American Pageant gone wrong. There is a t-shaped stage with human women … and things that appear to be female with those damn Nagas escorting them down to the end and back.
It’s the audience however, that makes what little bit of sanity I have left flee.