บท 12: Torture chamber
Chapter 7: The Royal Prison
Garren's world faded into a haze as he felt himself slip into darkness. Panic surged within him, urging him to fight against the encroaching oblivion. I can't… I can't faint! What is happening to me? His thoughts spiraled, each question a stab of fear. The last blurry image in his mind was the vague face of the soldier, eyes cold and intent, and the outline of a hand reaching for him, an inevitable grasp pulling him into the unknown.
Then, everything went black.
When Garren finally opened his eyes, a harsh light pierced through the fog of his consciousness. Blinking rapidly, he struggled to focus, only to find himself staring at a set of iron bars, cold and unyielding. His heart raced as confusion washed over him. Where am I? He instinctively pulled at the chains binding his wrists, the metal clinking ominously against itself. Panic gripped him anew, and he swallowed hard, trying to gather his thoughts.
Suddenly, a shadow passed by, and a plate of food slid through a narrow opening in the bars. Garren's stomach growled at the sight, but the sound of his hunger was drowned out by a deeper sense of dread.
"W-where the hell...?" he muttered, his voice hoarse and unfamiliar in his own ears.
"Welcome to the Royal Prison," came a voice from the darkness beside him. Garren squinted, straining to see the speaker.
There, not far from him, sat another boy, perhaps a few years younger than Garren. His face was smudged with dirt, and his eyes were wide with a mix of weariness and defiance. "The Royal Prison," he repeated, his tone almost matter-of-fact.
Garren furrowed his brow, trying to process the boy's words. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly.
"A peasant, like you. Caught up in the prince's conflict." The boy spat the last word, bitterness coating his voice. "Damn that prince! As if we could ever be him…" .Garren felt a spark of understanding ignite within him. He nodded slowly, digesting the boy's frustration.
A moment of silence settled between them, the weight of their shared predicament heavy in the air. Garren could feel the ache in his body, but more pressing was the gnawing uncertainty about what lay ahead.
"What's your name?" he asked after a moment.
"Eli," the boy replied, his expression softening a fraction. "And you?"
"Garren." He shifted slightly, trying to ease the discomfort in his limbs. "How did you get caught?"
Eli leaned forward, curiosity lighting his eyes. Garren took a deep breath, recalling the chaos that had led him here. "My friend and my sister… they ran out of the village into the forest. A soldier chased us the next day, and we had to split up. I fainted from the pain in my feet… and then I was caught."
"No wonder you fainted," Eli said, a hint of sympathy in his tone. "Your feet are pricked with poison needles."
"Poison needles?" Garren echoed, bewildered. He glanced down at his feet, finally noticing the darkened skin and the faint marks of thorns embedded in the flesh. Panic bubbled up again. "I—"
"Don't worry. They won't kill you yet," Eli interrupted, a hint of grim humor in his voice.
Garren flexed his feet, feeling the sharp pain radiating from the punctures. "They hurt like hell. I didn't even know what I was stepping into when I ran. I thought I was just trying to escape."
"The poison needles come from tiny flowers," Eli explained. "They won't kill you, but they'll make you wish you were dead. It's designed to incapacitate, to keep you from escaping."
Garren chuckled despite the pain. "Well, I think I can manage a bit of pain. I've dealt with worse."Eli offered a tired smile. "Good. Pain is temporary. But we need to get that poison out of your system. I can help with that."
"You?" Garren asked raising an eyebrow. "Don't be so doubting haha my father is an apothecary, i've learned plenty from observing." "Oh.."Garren exclaims, relieved.
"There are some plants in the prison yard," Eli explained. "If we can get to them, we might be able to neutralize the poison. But we'll have to wait for the guards to change shifts and think of a way to get past these bars. That'll be our best chance."
Garren nodded, resolve hardening within him. "Then we wait. But we need to make sure we don't lose hope. I know why we're here, but I can't let it break me."
"Exactly. We'll find a way out of this," Eli said, his voice firm. "And when we do, we'll make sure your sister is safe."Garren felt a flicker of hope amidst the uncertainty.
After a moment of silence, he turned to Eli, curiosity getting the better of him. "So, what about you? How did you end up here?"
At his question, Eli's eyes darkened momentarily, a flicker of something—fear, perhaps—crossing his face. But it was quickly replaced with a smile that felt a bit too forced. "Do I have to say it…?" he asked, a playful lilt in his tone that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Garren offered an awkward smile in return, but it didn't sit right with him. "I—It's alright if you don't want to share," he said, sensing there was more beneath the surface.
Yet, as he looked at Eli, an uneasy thought nagged at him. There's something he's hiding. What is it?
Eli seemed to sense Garren's hesitation. "I just… got caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said, but there was a guardedness in his voice, as if he were leaving out critical details. "You know how it is."
"Sure," Garren replied, but skepticism crept into his thoughts. He decided not to press further. I shouldn't trust him completely.
"Whatever happened to you must be tough," Garren continued, trying to steer the conversation back to safer waters. "But if we're going to get out of here, we need to work together."
Eli nodded, the light returning to his eyes, though Garren could still sense the undercurrent of something unspoken. "Right. We'll figure this out. Together."
As they planned their escape, the sounds of the prison echoed in the distance. But within the confines of their cell, a spark of determination ignited between them. They were caught in a web of royal deceit, but with Eli by his side, Garren felt less alone though Eli hid something that he didn't want Garren to know about. They would navigate this treacherous situation together, ready to confront whatever dangers lay ahead.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง