The Devil's Warrior Queen
Chapter 184: Nightmarish

She was trapped inside a rusted iron cage.

The walls beneath the cage, adorned with sinister tapestries depicting twisted, macabre scenes, seemed to come to life in the flickering candlelight, their figures dancing with the malice of the ages. Cobwebs, like glistening silver threads, adorned the corners, bearing witness to the passage of time and the captivity of countless souls.

An ominous cauldron simmered in the corner, its bubbling contents sending tendrils of noxious smoke curling through the air. The pungent scent of strange herbs and arcane concoctions mingled with the stifling atmosphere, created a sensory assault that accentuated the girl’s vulnerability.

The distant echoes of the dark witch’s cackling laughter reverberated through the twisted corridors of the lair, each cackle a spectral whisper of malevolence that seemed to conspire with the very shadows themselves. As the fragile girl clung to the hope of escape, she knew that her fate hung in the balance, caught in a nightmarish hell where the line between reality and dread blurred into an unsettling, bone-chilling truth.

The moment she scrutinized the eerie vicinity, the vivid memories of the events that led her into that plight flashed in her head.

The cold clammy hands of dread gripped her heart, squeezing it tightly to spread an indescribable ache in her chest, an ache of fear.

She gulped loudly as she sought to escape from the cage, like a bird seeking to be freed. She clasped her hands around the bars and a chilling sensation traveled from the bar to her palms, with a shuddering breath she retracted her hands from the cold bars.

Her heart drummed loudly in her ears and heavy gasps of terror rolled off her lips in erratic breathing, cautious of her situation that seemed unrealistic and still yet, hard for her to process.

Crouching in one corner of the room, she hid her frail figure while she waited around in anticipation of what would happen next. She could taste the bitterness stuck at the back of her throat, the acrid taste of fear.

There was nothing she could do to free herself, so she waited around while hoping Rama would come to save her. Subconsciously, she rubbed her empty neck where her pendant was supposed to be resting on, but it wasn’t there.

An edgy whimper left her lips when she realized she had lost it, yet she frantically searched for it as she desperately felt the cold floor hoping it had fallen off, but unfortunately, it was lost.

Her shoulders dropped and her face fell gloomily, realizing she had lost it. The pendant had always brought her a sense of convenience and security, it felt like her own personal guardian watching over her, but now it was gone along with the smattering bit of solace retained in her, the only thing comforting her in that lonely, dark entrapment was the cold, clammy hands of fear.

Minutes turned into long hours, long hours of her sitting in that dark cell, during those hours, none of the witches had come in, almost as if they had forgotten about her presence, but she didn’t mind as long as she was safe for the meantime, at least until they would come for her....hopefully.

Every creak, every sound in the darkness made her heedful, her senses heightened in alert, as if a melancholic entity was lurking in the shadows, constantly watching her like a sentinel force.

Clutching her neck in distress, she helplessly wished her pendant was with her, she had grown so attached to it that she felt an inexplicable lost and emptiness without it, as if a hollow hole had been carved into her chest. She had never taken it off or lost it until then.

Without the pendant, she felt a strange sensation through her body, but her mind was plunged into a haze of trepidation for her to press significant thoughts on it.

Sitting alone shrouded by tembracinging darkness, she pondered on the motive behind the witches abducting her. ’What could they possibly want from her?’ she pondered inwardly but as far as she knew, there was nothing special about her.

As her thoughts escalated, she remembered the green eyed witch’s words about her soul being pure before they captured her.

Her eyes widened in horror when her mind reeled to the possibility that she could be used as a blood sacrifice for their gory rituals. Adrenaline streamed through her blood as she vividly visualized her end, slaughtered to bits in the hands of the dark witches, it was a fate she wasn’t willing to accept.

Jolting up on her feet, her body moved under the influence of fear as she approached the iron bars, clinging to them, her fingers running through her golden locks in frustration.

Obviously, the dungeon was locked, but still she tried to open it as she shook it with vigorously all the strength she could muster, but the only profit from her effort was the deafening thud emanating from the cage, she was certain the witches would hear her and her eyes narrowed to the door, expecting a witch to walk through it and yell at her for disturbing or worse still, finally proceed to kill her, but nothing happened for a few seconds.

As she swallowed in relief, a sudden growl from the dark corners made the relief she felt disappear as she saw a hideous creature emerged from the dark corner it was hidden.

Although, she was safe in the cage, her heartbeat drummed in her ears as the tension in the air grew.

She watched the strange creature approach her from behind the cage as it growled with smoke practically billowing from its nose. Her mouth fell agape as It rose to its full height from the dark corner its form had been hidden behind, she figured it was the guard to watch her.

It was in the form of a human, but technically it was a giant as it towered to reach the ceiling, it’s back was hunched slightly or its head would literally bump against the ceiling. He was enormous, its massive large hands could crush her to death with just one blow, not to talk of his large feet that made the ground boom beneath her with every step he took.

Its hard contorted face was an unpleasant sight to look at, but at that moment it looked even more displeased as its dark eyes met hers, while she stood frozen in spectating shock, she suddenly realized it was a troll, she had heard of them serving the witches but never seen one, apparently, they devoured the flesh of humans while the witches used their blood for their rituals.

The thought that he would be munching on her flesh while she was dead made her skin prick with goosebumps on them, the hair on her skin standing erect from blood curdling fear, she didn’t want to die, at least not like this.

She was abruptly snapped back into reality when it opened its mouth, revealing its jagged fangs as a thunderous growl was released. The entire cage rattled viciously with dust falling from the ceiling, making it seem as if the place was about to collapse into the earth.

The pressure from its ear deafening growl propelled her backward with force, and in the next moment, unable to brace herself from the impact of the guttural growl, she found herself tumbling backward as she fell on the floor, while forcefully inhaling the pungent reek from its mouth.

As she fell, rather than feeling fear, she felt a sense of rage overwhelm her, she was sick and tired of supernatural beings pushing her around because of her fragility, like a puppet being controlled with strings by a marionette.

She gritted her teeth in anger she had never felt before, her face beet red as she clenched her fists tightly, her eyes shooting steamy glares at the giant as she stood up on her feet.

The giant opened its mouth again to release another thunderous growl, but this time, she beat him to it.

Not caring how small or shrill her voice would be in comparison to its own, she let out a scream sufficed with suppressed rage, all the anger and emotions she had been repressing, locked in the deepest part of her heart was released.

Always having to keep her emotions locked in and never having to talk back because of her weakness and vulnerability to those in higher rank of power be it status or race, she finally released it, her fear fading away to reveal the suppressed power within her.

As she screamed at the top of her lungs at the giant, a golden glow enveloped her, intensifying as the seconds passed and before she could process what was transpiring at that moment, an invisible powerful,magnetic force pushed it back for it to slam against the wall with a booming echo that made the entire lair quiver in acknowledgement of the power displayed.