Page 2 of Upon Buried Embers (Upon Buried Embers #1)

Elf

I didn’t die, but I wish I had.

The first time I woke, I tried to climb back up to the entrance, my final hope of getting out of here and back to Effy, but all it’s left me with is my fingers more mangled and bloodied than before.

Still, I tried and tried until I exhausted myself.

I just kept sliding back down to the bottom, the way it’s intended for those thrown down here into the cavernous cave systems.

And there have been many thrown into The Pit.

I can feel their bones beneath my feet, their skulls laying against the walls where they rested before they died.

Alone.

My body is willing me to give up, to let the cold and hunger take me as my injuries consume me…

But for some reason, I’m still moving.

Every step feels like my bones will snap, and every breath feels like I won’t take another. Yet I’m still here, awaiting a fate far worse than the last, I’m sure.

I don’t know where I’m going, I can’t see anything as I lean heavily against the rock wall to guide my way, the sticky wetness running down the side of my face the only warmth I feel.

I laugh lightly to myself. I love being warm, yet it’s such a rare thing for me to feel. To feel it now from my life blood as it pours out of me, is both a comfort and a cruelty.

Elvanan must hate me so.

After trying so hard to survive for years, to fight in any small way I could, even when my mind would wander for an escape, for an end… this is what I get for staying alive?

To be discarded because I stole food?

It wasn’t even for me, it was for Effy.

Effy… Gods what will happen to her now?

Anger fills me at that thought, an emotion I’m not often familiar with. What’s the point when I can do nothing with it but exhaust myself?

I brought Master the most coin. Many paid him to use my body for their anger.

Weekly they would come and he’d sit there, counting his coin and listening to my screams as they dragged me away. Listening while I begged for it to stop until I couldn’t anymore.

I went through all of that, to be left here to die on his terms.

Suddenly, I hear a growl somewhere in the distance, bouncing off the walls, making it seem like it’s next to me.

I suck in a sharp breath.

They are hungrier in the winter.

I breathe deeply until it becomes painful, locking my knees to prevent them buckling. My fingers dig into the cave wall as I balance against it, sure my blood has left a trail behind as I press forward toward that sound.

If I’m dying, then so be it. It will be my choice. I won’t stay here and rot.

I’m sorry, Effy.

I try to follow the sound of the growl as best I can in the darkness, leaving the safety of the wall and heading for it, my hands held out in front of me.

I hiss when I connect with even more jagged rocks, the sting from the cuts racing up my palms. My feet scuffle along the floor to make sure I’m standing on something solid as I let my anger guide me. The unfairness of it all.

The pain of it all.

I can do that now. There’s no one here to beat it out of me, to hang me in the barn for days for disobedience. To take the cane to me, or put me in the bottom of an empty well where my thoughts are my only friend.

I spot an orange glow in the distance, and I lean on the wall as I make my way to it, a slither of warmth washing over me.

I just need to get there and let it all end.

Eventually though, exhaustion wears me down. Pain and starvation gnawing at me. I limp until I find an opposite wall, feeling my way as it curves around into an open space, the glow my only guiding light.

Don’t fail me now, body.

Another growl comes, this one louder, like rumbling thunder. The air seems to vanish, and the glow ahead suddenly disappears, plunging me into darkness.

No, that was my only chance! Master said the lava in these caves burn all year round, they never go out.

Does it even matter how this ends?

No, I guess it doesn’t.

I slowly press on, one small step at a time. But when I lift my foot on the fifth step, my knee gives way and I cry out in alarm, crashing into the wall and sliding to the floor.

Gods, my ribs burn, my ankle throbs and my head spins.

Groaning, I catch my breath and squeeze my eyes shut as a sharp pain goes through my head. Trying not to throw up, I lift a hand, feeling the blood there and a heavy sigh leaves me as I close my eyes.

Still slowly bleeding to death.

Weak.

Useless.

Just like he wanted me to be.

Just like I’ve always been.

Another growl, this one a deeper rumble, and I can almost pretend it’s a thunderstorm after all. Watching as nature ravages the sky with no consequence is my favorite thing to witness.

Storms are the cries of the silent that have been made too scared to speak up.

I should know, I’m one of them.

If I stay here for a moment, the sound could lull me into an eternal sleep, pretending I’m walking into Elvanan’s grasp.

Or at least that’s what Effy had heard from another elf one time. Elvanan is who we bless, who we go to when we die. I don’t know if that’s true, but I hold on to it, needing that connection to who I am.

Who I could have been.

I must have fallen asleep at some point, because hot breath on my face startles me awake. The puffs of air are harsh but steady, and I don’t dare open my eyes at the sudden heavy feeling.

Not yet.

A deep inhale, then a rough exhale follows it. My hair blows back around my face, and I swallow roughly.

Oh Gods.

My hands tremble, limp at my sides, my head turned halfway into the cave wall.

Now? Is this it? Is this finally my end?

Bracing myself for what may be the last time, I peel my eyes open, only to be pinned in place by one white and one purple one.

Only they’re much larger, much scarier, and belong to something with a mouth full of teeth.

My body tenses, a whimper spilling from my lips before I can stop it. It growls low, showing me just how sharp those teeth are.

Light flickers behind it, the glow from earlier much brighter now as the beast moves enough for me to see all of it.

Its scales, horns, tail.

It’s a dark color, black maybe? Or is that the shadows playing tricks? It’s large, and if I were to stand next to it, my head would be far below its knee.

I don’t know why I’m thinking about that, it doesn’t even matter.

I blink a few times, trying to adjust to the light, and I realize its left eye—the white one, has a scar running through it.

Who did that to you? Does it hurt?

We stare at one another, my heart beating as fast as a rabbit running for its life, but I don’t dare move right now.

I’ve never been this close to a dragon before, only seen them high in the sky. I’ve always admired them. Their strength, their ability to take flight at a moment’s notice to get away.

How wonderful would that be? To fly away and never come back.

Tears sting my eyes at the thought.

The dragon blinks, a clear lid coming from the side of its eyes, and a black lid down from the top. I take a deep breath, wondering what I should do, but then… what can I do?

This is what I wanted. The lava would have been better but then again, when have I ever really had a choice? Only ever the illusion of it.

Sighing heavily, I lift a hand and place it against the wall, groaning at the pain as I move my other hand to the floor.

The beast grunts, huffing loudly, and hot air from its nostrils reaches me once more.

I dig my fingers into the stone, taking a deep breath and pushing, standing up on shaky legs.

It growls again, its mouth opening wider as that light from the side seems to expand. Then I think I hear the sound of someone talking, but over the rumbling, I’m not sure.

Still locking eyes with the beast, I slowly release my hand from the wall, making sure I’m steady as I take a slow step closer, determination running through me.

Just this one thing. Give me this.

Pain shoots through my hip and ribs with the step, and I breathe heavily through my nose.

My body feels truly broken in a way I’ve never felt before.

Even worse than when I was beaten so badly I couldn’t move for days until my body finally started to heal the injuries, but the pain lingered much longer.

All I did was refuse his friend’s advances, running away and hiding in a cupboard until he left. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do.

The beast’s jaws open wider, pulling me from my thoughts as its black tongue presses down to the bottom of its mouth. A subtle glow begins in the back of its throat, and I’m mesmerized by it for a moment as heat surrounds me, such wonderful heat. Then I realize it’s going to—

“Drogonah!” A voice comes from somewhere, and I startle, the beast snapping its mouth shut as it moves its head toward the sound.

Its wicked horns glint as they draw back from the sides of its forehead, its ears—which are beneath the horns— twitching.

“Drogonah, we’re leaving. What are you doing over here?

” The male’s voice is harsh, a dark edge to it, and the dragon’s tail swishes behind it in what seems to be irritation.

I hear footsteps next, a flickering in the distance where the glow was, and a shape comes into view.

Oh no…

I see the figure’s head tilt out of the corner of my eye, but I don’t dare fully take my eyes off of the purple one that’s blinking at me, like it’s assessing me.

The man comes closer and walks up alongside the beast, palm out, stroking over its scales. He has some sort of lantern attached to his hip, and I do look around then, wondering if I can make a run for it. Anything’s better than letting this man have me, but I’m in no state to run.

I’m frozen in fear as he nears, then stops where the massive head is lowered, eyeing me.

“Drogonah,” the male murmurs. “Are you playing with your food?” He looks me over. “It would only be a small dinner.”

The horror of the situation, the pain in my body and the anger at the unfairness of it all, has me doing something I never do.

I shout.