When Indra wakes up again, her head throbs painfully and waves of nausea sends overwhelming sensations through her body.
What happened?
Frightened, she sits up. Her hands trembles at the feel of the rough cold surface against her fingertips, she tries to get up, but notices to her horror that she is chained to the floor.
Indra is close to screaming, but she's stops herself at the last minute.
She rubs her forehead and pulls at the iron mask, desperately trying to create a gap so she can see where she is. But it is to no use, the delicate iron mask stays fixated over her eyes, and she remains in total darkness.
What did the unknown man say? She had understood that he said sorry, but she doesn't remember any more.
Stay calm. First, you need to find out what happened. Then you can come up with a plan to get out of here.
Indra pulls at the thick chain that’s grazed her wrists raw, but nothing seems to shift it. With unsteady legs, she slowly gets to her knees and trails the length of the chain with her hands, in an attempt to find a weakness in the links.
"Well, well," says a voice out of nowhere. "The daughter of darkness has awakened."
Indra instantly recognizes the man's voice, and the faint scent of roses and briny ocean fills the room.
She also feels anger churning deep inside her, like the distant rumbling sound of thunder that is getting ever so close.
"If you want me to pray for my life, you have come in vain. Lucifer has tortured me for months without me giving into his will."
"In time, dear Indra, in time. You’ll see, I'm not like everyone else. Once I'm done with you, you'll do whatever I want."
Indra smiles. "Do you really think you can beat me? You already know I'm the devil's daughter, don't you?"
"Without a doubt. I know your weaknesses better than you do."
"I don't have any weaknesses."
The man laughs. "That's exactly what I expected you to say. But we all have our Achilles heel. You are no exception."
Indra can swear she hears the man licking his lips. "Just dare to treat me like a little girl," she replies, trying to get up, but the chain is too short and pulls at her grazed wrist’s making them sting painfully.
"Why not?You’re alittle girl."
She can hear him smiling, and she's trying to imagine what he looks like. In her inner vision, she sees dark hair and bright eyes, but his face remains in the shade. The only thing she can make sense off is the scent of his body. She doesn't really know what to think off it yet.
"Because I am not one of your frightened subjects, who flees whenever they hear your voice."
She senses a low growl, which seems to bounce between the walls.
"Stop it, Indra. This was just a test to see how you fare against the enemy. You failed catastrophically."
Indra gets confused. What does he mean? Is she still in the cell? Is it just a new kind of torture that Lucifer is also behind?
She hears the man approaching and instinctively she turns to the sound and prepares to fight. Without her eyesight, she has to rely on her other senses. She raises her hands and waits for the inevitable. She can't help but feel her body tremble with fear, but she's not going to give him that satisfaction.
She senses him standing in front of her and feels the warmth of his breath fan her face. Indra attacks and tries to get a hit into what she guesses is the same height as his crotch, but misses and punches straight into thin air. Quickly turning and spinning around, she strikes with her elbow, which appears to hit him in the ribs and he grunts loudly. She gets down to her knees and kicks around in a circle, hits his leg and smirks at the sound of his body as it falls to the floor with a dull thud. He seems to be heavily built, perhaps both muscular and tall.
Indra immediately scrambles her way across his body and puts her knee under his chin, pushing down over his throat, cutting off the oxygen supply. With a guttural wheeze, he throws up one leg, wraps it around her waist and flips her to the ground before sitting down over her body. She doesn't even stand a chance, not this time. The man undoubtedly has strength and is used to fighting. He's not as unfit and slow as her first impression of him.
She hears a deep sigh before his dark voice vibrates through the room.
"Let me guess. Black belt in Aikido?" She nods in response. "If I was going to kill you, you'd already be dead. I wouldn't even bother to free you from Lucifer."
He puts a hand around her neck and squeezes before he slowly pulls her towards him and whispers, "But now that I think about it, maybe I should end your life, here and now, and be free from the responsibility of saving you from the gods."
Indra gasps in an attempt to draw in any form of oxygen she can get while he continues to speak in the same calm tone.
"But today you're lucky, my dear, I'm not going to take the easy way. Nothing about you is easy."
She exhales loudly when his hand eases around her neck. Her heart is still hammering in her chest, but whether it's out of anger, fear or something completely different, she can't tell. She has the strange urge to bite him, feel his flesh in her mouth, but she doesn't. Instead, she pulls back, a gesture signaling that it's time for him to back off now, too.
"You don't trust me," he says in a short tone, his voice riddled with fatigue.
She tries to answer but no sound leaves her lips, so she just shakes her head.
"I hear you can read people's minds," he continued.
"I give you my permission to dig around in my head, so you can see for yourself that I am someone you can trust."
Indra flinches, her eyebrows raised in suspicion. How does he know all this about her? Right now, it doesn't matter. She is too weak to read anything at all right now.
Indra shakes her head again. He shrugs his shoulders.
"Okay, then you'll just have to try to trust my word."
She hears him get up and feels her hand in his. He wants to help her off the ground and for some reason, she allows him to help her. She accidently brushes one hand against what she believes to be his muscular chest. She is reminded of how long it’s been since she has had any form of body contact with another human except for the purpose of defending herself and trying to stay alive.
"Indra, come with me and I'll help you regain some of your strength. Unfortunately, you'll have to keep the mask for a while longer."
Theclick of the lock in the door opening up fills her with the hope of long-awaited freedom. When he stands so close to her, she once again senses the smell of roses from his skin. It's like the roses are a part of him, like they belong together.
In response to the faint scent mixing with his masculinity, her body comes to life despite the fact of her iron clad will that is set to break free, escaping as far away as she can. The scent overwhelms her senses. Indra enjoys for a moment the pleasant clean and spicy fragrance that fills her nostrils.
If the circumstances had been different, she would really consider letting this man pleasure her. She can feel his presence with all of her senses, his masculinity, strong physic and apparent sex appeal, even though she can't even see what he looks like. The thought both frightens and excites her, and she feels her cheeks blush into a deep red at the realization over what she wants to do.
Or maybe it's just her body that wants to.
He raises his eyes and looks at her face.
"Are you okay?"
She tries to get her increased breathing under control and nods to answers.
"Good. It's time to get some food into you." He leans over and sniffs her briefly before moving away. "I think we'll start with a hot bath, considering how you smell."
Indra can only agree with his inviting proposal. She allows herself to be led away by the man, lacking energy to speak with him, but that does not stop the thoughts from going back and forth in her head. New questions keep popping up. Who is he? Where's he taking me? And what does he want with me, anyway?
She wishes she could at least see him so she had something more than his masculine scent to go on. At the moment, she does not dare to trust her own instincts or current presence of mind after Lucifer's protracted torture and constantly mocking words.
She feels him squeezing her hand and wondering if she should refuse to go with him. Indra hesitates. It feels wrong not to when, after all, he saved her from Lucifer. She is grateful to be alive and can't help but think about all the wonderful things life can bring her, now that she has survived.
She suddenly feels him unlocking the heavy shackles around her wrists.
Her first thought is that she was free.
Then, it strikes her that she is still in captivity, albeit at the mercy of another man.
A man whose name she doesn't know.
He trails over her form with his eyes. She's not a classical beauty, but curvy enough to pique his interest. Her lips are pink and plump and her breasts larger than usual for a woman her age, which he estimates at just under 20 years. Her honey-colored hair is smeared with dirt and blood, and hangs tangled over her shoulders. He can see that her hair also has highlights, which catches the warm rays of the sun falling in at an angle through the window.
He squints to see her face better. As far as he can see in the gloomy light, she has a lovely face with ivory-white complexion, but also some freckles on her pale, straight nose. She is beautiful, despite all the dirt – or maybe it enhances the impression that this is a woman who is not captured so easily. She's not intimidated by shackles, let alone a little dirt.
He catches himself with wanting to rip off her mask to see if her eyes are as beautiful as he thinks. But even if he felt affected by her appearance, the worst part is that she has handled this whole situation so well. Most of the women he had become acquainted with in the millenniums he has walked this world would have cried and screamed if they had gone through what this young woman had been put through.
He hasn't seen such a strength in a person in a very long time.
Indra suspects that she's being brought into another room. There is an echo when she starts to speak, so she assumes the room must be large with high ceilings. She is guided down into a chair with a soft cushion, trailing her hands over the chair’s armrests. The surface feels like smooth but weathered wood."I am King Laurin. I am King of the Crystal Castle in the Valley of the Roses," he finally says.She senses a certain pride in his dark voice but she can't help but frown at his words. She does not trust this stranger for a second and decides not to say anything more than is absolutely necessary. All this should make her petrified, but she's not. She's way too angry."Sure," she snickers. " The King himself, from the Valley of the Roses, you impress me. Why, don’t you try the one about Little Red Riding Hood too, while you're at it.""Little Red Riding Hood?""Yes, it's also a fairy tale. It's about a little girl who's going to visit
Laurin stops and turns Indra towards him. "We're here." He strokes her gently on the cheek. "Now we just have to wait until the sun reaches the water’s edge. Then I will put a counter spell upon you."Indra fidgets impatiently. "Why do we have to wait? Come on! If you now have the power to remove the mask, just do it!""Patience, my friend. Patience.""You already know that's not my strong suit. I don't understand why I should have to wait any longer?"Laurin laughs. He turns her towards the setting sun so she stands with her back to him and whispers in her ear: "It’s time. Are you ready?"Indrafeels the warm breeze caressing her skin and the sunrays on her cheeks. She hears Laurin mumble a chant in her ear. His breath is warm and smells of fresh mint. The chant sounds like a hymn or pray to God, and she can feel the panic spreading like glowing lava through her veins.What was she thinking? What if he's in collusion with God him
"Well... What do you have to say in your defense?" Lucifer's wrath burns like red-glowing orbs in his eyes. As he folds his burgundy cape around him, the golden embroidery on the fabric glistens in the glow of the fire roaring in the middle of the ill-lit forge. Scattered everywhere are pieces of unfinished metalwork and scrap metal that has been left to rust away. Tools used in the daily work of the dwarf’s lay scattered across the floor in an unorganized chaos.Belial, Lucifer's brother, puts his pale hand on his brother's shoulder in an attempt to calm his fury against the two dwarves Sindre and Brokk, who are quivering under his intense glare."My lord, you're the one with the key," Sindre excuses himself, before running a trembling hand through his dark, bushy beard. "There's only one key to open the iron mask with.""Yes, only one key exists and you have it," Brokk stutters, correcting the chainmail he wears over his stocky and powerful body. He is a
A few weeks later. Indra and Laurin are sitting on a bench outside the castle, admiring the alluring rose garden. It's early morning and the first rays of the sun trickles down over the dew-soaked leaves on the clusters of flowers making them shimmer like blushing diamonds. Here and there, Emerald Green dragonflies dart through the air on hasty wings. One of the dragonflies’ lands on the bench next to Indra, seemingly basking in the morning light alongside her. The sea below the mountain reflects the suns bright rays temporarily blinding them where they sit. The peace she feels in this present moment is stronger than the longing for the revenge she plans for Lucifer. The sight is simply breathtaking and Indra catches herself feeling amazed at the raw beauty that the world and this landscape have to offer.Laurin hands her a cup of warm herbal tea that smells almost as wonderful as the nature surrounding them. There is no immediate danger and therefore she allows herself
"Open the damn door or we'll smash it in!" screams an angry voice.Rebecca holds the rifle in her hands and holds her breath from fear. The damp air inside the small thatched cottage feels suffocating and she attempts to grip the rifle tighter in her calm hands."What are we going to do, Mom?" asks the little boy hiding behind her skirt with eyes wild of terror. His low whisper almost drowns in the noise from the continuous banging on the door.Rebecca can't answer his question but tries her best to reassure him. "Don't worry, Joar, everything's going to be okay. I promise." She smiles at her seven-year-old son and strokes his golden unruly hair.Both of them stare at the front door, buried behind the kitchen table and the wooden dresser which she used to barricade the door with. No more threats are heard from the men outside, but it sounds like their voices are getting closer.Rebecca holds the rifle securely in her hands and focus all of her atte
A firm knock on the door can be heard behind Laurin, where he stands with a handwritten letter in his hand. Outside, the libraries large oriel window glimpses the view of a calm, quiet, and sunless landscape. He doesn't want to be disturbed, not now."One minute!" He growls at the closed door and curses quietly to himself.Having Indra as a guest progressively feels like a full-time job. Indra clearly wants to make life as difficult as possible for him, with her constant questioning of why she is not allowed to return to Asgard to check on her family. Why is he putting himself through this? What does he get out of protecting Indra in this way?The night before, they got into a drawn-out discussion which ended with Indra storming out and slamming the door so hard that the hinges came loose leaving the door on a slant behind her. Sometimes he’s almost intimidated by her powers – but only almost."Come in then!" Laurin calls out before sighing an
Indra spends all morning in her room. The letter, and Laurin's refusal to oblige with her wishes, have made her anxieties reach new levels. Soon she won't be able to take this anymore. The uncertainty is unbearable and she bites her nails nervously. It is also exhausting to just sit alone in the bedroom and wait for God knows what...She needs fresh air to clear her head. She doesn't know exactly why she decided to threaten Laurin with a pistol, but somehow, she convinced herself at the time that it was a good idea. Her brain created a rational reason to perform a foolish act.She had followed an impulse to search the halls of the castle, room by room, to find a weapon that could harm Laurin, even if it would only last a few hours. She remembers stopping outside the door before entering, but otherwise the memories are blurred and vague, like a bizarre nightmare.Indra decides to find the kitchen to fill her ceramic cup with something both strong and refreshing t
Indra's stomach twists itself small when she hears King Laurin talking to an unknown woman in his room. The female gives away a certain powerfulness, Indra can sense it even through the thick wall that separates them."Dear King Laurin, you have not reported on your successes with Indra."Indra suspects Lucifer is behind the visit. Lucifer would only send the best body hunters after her. Indra knows how frustrated he must be when he sends his elite and they repeatedly fail to catch her.All she can do is remind him of how powerful she is, and she will do so as soon as she gets her powers back, they seem to have disappeared without a trace overnight. She has no idea why her powers have abandoned her. Perhaps it is a result of Lucifer's prolonged torture, which had been going on for months. Perhaps all the stress she has been put through has messed with her head, but for whatever the reason, she must find her powers again and then show both Lucifer and King Laurin