Frozen to the Core

by Paul Cude

  As blood dribbled from the knuckles on his right fist, tears froze just below his eyes, so powerful were the memories of his incarceration. Vowing there and then to exact revenge not only on the incompetent Osvaldo, the current dragon monarch, whoever that should be, (boy, was that going to be interesting), but the dragon domain as a whole, he rolled up all of his hope and compartmentalised it just like he’d been taught to do, all that time ago. They would escape this place, and when they did, there would be hell to pay.

  “Please can you take me to your leader?” asked the naga from within the remote enclosure.

  Nodding in agreement, knowing that his boss would want to see the despicable creature as soon as possible, the guard led the way through the freezing cold compound, determined not to look in the direction of all the others milling about in their immediate vicinity.

  It was effectively night time, although nobody within the frosty prison actually knew for sure. Not long after their confinement, it had been decided to set their own day and night hours, so that everybody knew where they were even though it probably didn’t match what was going on in the outside world, somewhere far above them.

  Nearly asleep in his chair, the blood from the gash on his fingers from having thumped the wall, soaked up by one long, twisted, dirty rag, wrapped tightly around his hand, the slightest movement in the doorway to his room snapped him back to reality in an instant.

  “Sorry,” declared the guard, aware of having woken up their leader.

  “What is it?”

  “Our guest here has finished his task and wanted to update you on his progress.”

  Deep within Man’s father’s mind, fireworks were exploding, a sense of fulfilment and joy resounded off every dark corner. Surely it had worked, was all that he could think.

  “Do send him in, do send him in.”

  Through the dull lit passageway, sliding silently across the floor, Marg slithered in through the doorway, slipping to a halt directly in front of the leader.

  Sensibly, and not wanting to get his hopes up more than they already were, the leader decided to wait and see what kind of progress their guest had made. As it happened, quite a lot.

  “I managed to contact one of my kind on the outer limits of my telepathic reach,” announced the serpent-like beast.

  “Impressive,” ventured Man’s father, pouring on the charm.

  “Thank you. I asked that she contact the king, and get him to come to us as soon as possible. It should be done, but how long it takes could be anybody’s guess. Days probably, maybe even weeks... it all depends on where the monarch currently resides. As you know, we, as a race, lead a nomadic existence, not staying in any one place too long. He could be anywhere in the southern hemisphere.”

  Although not thrilled to hear all this, the fact that the message had gotten out, pleased him immeasurably. All they had to do now was bide their time, and then the endgame could begin. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

  The following day Man awoke normally, pleased that his brother was nowhere to be seen. After a meagre breakfast of raw vegetables on the run, the elder of the two brothers ground to a halt next to a fruitful patch of recently grown food in one of the hydroponics bays. Filling one of the huge sacks lying on the ground, he plodded off in the direction of Unlucky, determined to fulfil his duty to the best of his ability, hoping that he wouldn’t bump into his sibling along the way.

  Strolling purposefully around the corner, Man arrived at the haggard detainee, instantly aware of two things. There was no sign of his brother, and that the defenceless prisoner once again sported mysterious injuries, this time across both of his wings.

  “I see you’ve managed to hurt yourself again... that’s quite some talent you have, particularly given your bindings.”

  Unlucky’s gaze remained firmly on the white permafrost floor, hardly noticing the new arrival at all.

  “What’s going on?” asked Man softly, sensing something was amiss, but not really having any idea as to what.

  Still nothing.

  “Fine! Don’t talk to me then. I go out of my way to make sure you’re fed, stop my brother from taking out his anger on you, and this is the way you pay me back. Perhaps I should stop coming altogether. Is that what you want?”

  Sluggishly, Unlucky lifted up his gigantic prehistoric skull to meet Man’s gaze head on.

  “Do you really expect me to believe that you don’t know what’s going on?”

  “What do you mean? I have absolutely no clue as to what you’re talking about. Now please, tell me what’s been happening.”

  Willing away the pervasive agony from not only the fresh injuries, but the others that he’d sustained night after night for some time now, Unlucky, as he’d become known by the two boys, had to think more than twice about revealing the truth as he knew it. Realising he could pay dearly for speaking his mind, he wanted nothing more than to set the truth free.

  “You are a very naive young... I nearly said human, but of course you’re a dragon.”

  “Why am I naive?” he asked aggressively, some of his anger from the previous nights events shining through.

  “You come to feed me every morning, and yet only on a couple of occasions have you noted my injuries... injuries that if you thought about it for just a moment, you’d realise I couldn’t possibly inflict on myself. Naive sounds about right, don’t you think?”

  Swallowing down his anger, Man thought about what the dragon prisoner had said for a few moments, trying to get his head around everything that was going on. Just like the conversation with his mother and brother only a few hours earlier, he really didn’t like where this was all going.

  “If not by your own hand, how did the injuries occur?”

  Letting out a huge freezing breath that clearly caused him an awesome amount of pain, and resigned to his fate, Unlucky continued.

  “Your... father pays me a visit almost every night. We have what he likes to call... a little ‘chat’. After which he normally takes out more than a little of his frustration.”

  Man was aghast.

  “How long has this been going on?”

  Shaking his huge dinosaur-like jaw, this way and that, it was all Unlucky could do to hold on to the question in his tortured brain.

  “Uhhh... some time now I suppose. Time here seems immeasurable.”

  Man knew exactly what the trapped prisoner meant. The passing of time in this godforsaken place had no meaning whatsoever. Seconds could be minutes, days could be weeks. Months blended seamlessly into years. Nothing was as it appeared in this hope-crushing confinement.

  Rubbing his forehead with his fingers in an effort to stave off the cold, a small, hidden part of him reached out, squeaking that it knew all along what had been going on. Had he known? It didn’t seem like he did. Perhaps deep down though, his subconscious knew. If that were the case, that made him complicit in what had been going on... wanton torture and cruelty.

  Dropping the sack of food he wrenched his head back as far as it would go, and facing the ceiling let out the loudest cry that he could. Rocks shook, snow fell, as wickedly spreading cracks appeared in the ice across the floor.

  Frustration, rage, fury and anger fought for dominance within the youngster at the dastardly deeds going on all around him. What had happened to his mother all that time ago, something no one seemed comfortable in mentioning, no one comfortable in calling it what it was... RAPE! Still going on, even now, even when supposedly there was no need, it could no longer be classed as part of the plan and a necessity. Acts of violence carried out in the dead of night against a bound and helpless prisoner.

  ‘Surely we’re better than that?’ he thought.

  And then there was the underlying plan, to subvert the naga and any of his kind and... do what? Force them to do their bidding? How on earth would that work? He had absolutely no idea, but after the awkward conversation last night, he had little doubt that’s what was going to happen. And so here he was
, stuck in indecision, mired in a pickle, caught in a conundrum, the morals inside him tested to their full extent, unable to foresee a way out for any of them.

  Out of nowhere, he felt drained, let down, lifeless. Letting himself go, he slumped to the floor, the tattered, filthy rags acting as trousers taking the brunt of it as his arse slammed down on the ground. Head in hands, for the very first time in his life he felt lost and alone, a creature out of place, surrounded by darkness and unnecessary evil.

  “I’m sorry to add to your burden,” submitted Unlucky, softly. “You seem like an honest being, full of honour, unlike most around here. And to answer your question, I am grateful that you come to feed me every day, even though sometimes it may appear otherwise.”

  Of all the beings trapped here below the ice, the two he found most relatable at the moment were the bound and chained dragon, a relic from their original incarceration, and the newly arrived visitor, a member of a totally different race. How had it come to this?

  “There seems to be more than just this troubling you. Is it to do with finding your magic and the stunning transformation that you undertook yesterday?”

  Somewhere inside him, a voice shouted out that he’d already said too much, and that to reveal any more would be an act of treason, something he’d be unable to undo. But whether because of how truly lost and alone he felt, or because he was desperate for some sort of guidance, he unwisely ploughed on, realising that he’d reached some kind of tipping point, one that could either plunge him deep into the darkness, or fill him full of light. More than anything, he needed another being’s opinion.

  “The women here were raped, over and over again. That’s how we were created,” he blurted, a sense of guilt rushing over him at having been born out of that.

  Waving his head through the frost filled air, flexing his degrading muscles as much as his bonds would allow, Unlucky answered with as much kindness as he could muster.

  “Although I didn’t know for sure, I figured as much.”

  “How can beings do such a thing to other beings? It makes no sense at all.”

  “Dark deeds can be born out of necessity, frustration, hidden agendas and of course good intentions. Without knowing all the details, it would be impossible for me to comment any further.”

  “As if that weren’t enough, I find the torture of a prisoner to be a regular undertaking as well as...”

  Silence hung like the cold in the air between the two of them. Maybe this was a step too far.

  “There’s something else, on top of what you’ve already told me?”

  Not wanting to repeat what his mother had told them last night, especially given it could be tortured out of the dragon prisoner by his father on his next visit, Man decided there and then to stay quiet. But it was never going to be that easy. Although only having been a guard, doing his duty for his monarch and the dragon domain as a whole, Unlucky, much like every other dragon in his position, was quick witted and smart, something he’d kept hidden for nearly all of his incarceration, figuring it would get him into more trouble, hoping to prolong his stay, just in case a rescue attempt was in the offing. He had, however, long since given up on that happening. Here and now though, his intellect and inquisitiveness was positively shining through.

  “There’s something going on with the naga, isn’t there?” he asked.

  Inside his mind, Man cursed loudly at having given the game away. Denial seemed a complete waste of time now.

  “They’re planning to use him somehow. I don’t know all the details.”

  Unlucky pondered what he’d just been told for a few moments.

  “I would have thought they wouldn’t stand a chance. Nagas are formidable warriors with a vast array of unusually tainted magic. I’d bet my life on the fact that the single being who arrived here out of nowhere, could with little or no trouble, take out the entire underground frozen realm and everyone within it. What you say makes no sense.”

  “Something’s afoot, of that I’m sure.”

  “Have they asked you to be part of it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re the only one amongst them, the only one here other than the naga, that can access even a semblance of their magic. You might be the difference between winning and losing.”

  “I haven’t been asked, and I won’t help them.”

  “That sounds like the right thing to do, but how strong is the courage of your convictions?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Only that your leader, and father, is much more cunning than anyone gives him credit for. I’d be surprised if he hasn’t planned for every eventuality.”

  This gave Man more than a little cause for concern. Considering everything he knew, Unlucky seemed to have hit the nail on the head. From the very first second of all this happening, his father had been one step in front of them all. If that were the case now, what did that mean for...”

  One thought, and one thought only popped directly into the front of his head. Instantly he knew how he’d do it. Kicking the overflowing sack of food off in Unlucky’s direction, Man whirled around and hurried off in the direction of the female quarters, with but one objective... to get to his mother, as quickly as possible.

  Without any airs or graces, Man charged into the women’s block, shouting for those in front of him to move out of the way. They did so, albeit reluctantly. Turning the sharp corner into his mother’s tiny space, he wasn’t totally surprised to find it empty. Glancing around for any sign that she’d been here recently, and more importantly, to see if there was any sign that she’d be coming back sometime soon, it was then that he noticed the marks on the floor. Beings had been here, not too long ago, and more than one, he thought. As well, there were clear marks in the ice where someone had been dragged away, against their will.

  ‘Oh Mother,’ he thought, as his mind turned over and over what could possibly have happened. Rallying against doing anything rash, instinctively he cast those thoughts aside as the magic within him welled up inside. He had power now, real touchable, usable power, something that he could hold over others, in an effort to demand his mother’s release. They wouldn’t defy him, not even his father. As far as he was concerned, he had the power and justification for what he needed to do. And so with that, he turned and very deliberately stomped off in the direction of the leader’s room, heading for the mother (get it?!) of all confrontations.

  On their leader’s orders, the remote enclosure that the naga had used for peace and solitude in an effort to contact his brethren, had been turned into a basic refuge for him, and very pleased he was about it, constantly thanking those in the immediate vicinity, more than really needed to be there. It was a good job he wasn’t paying too much attention, or his mind might have asked why there were so many, and just what were they all up to? Thankfully, for the leader at least, he didn’t. Almost the furthest point away from the dragon prisoner, and more importantly, the entrance point to the submerged stream, the only real way out of the frosty confinement they all found themselves in, nearly the whole of their fighting force sat between the naga and the only way out, again something he hadn’t really considered.

  Arriving at the outer reaches of his father’s accommodation, he was surprised to see the guards move aside with such ease. Clearly he was expected. Plucking up all the courage he could muster, and with his face as neutral as he could make it, he marched full throttle around the corner, determined to take control of what would happen next. Little did he know what was playing out around him.

  Father facing away, leaning down and fiddling with something unseen, he draw silently to a halt, barely able to contain the rage he felt inside.

  “Ahhh... if it isn’t my prodigy? What fine timing. I was just coming to ask you for your help.”

  As the leader turned and stood up to his full height, Man got a sense of something else going on, although he wasn’t quite sure what.

  “You are going to give me your undiv
ided loyalty and help... aren’t you?”

  Swallowing nervously, alone and afraid apart from the anger and fear pumping through his veins, he remembered what had been done, and that in itself stoked his decision making.

  “NO... I won’t help!”

  “Hmmmm... I’m shocked.”

  That wasn’t the reaction from his father that he’d been expecting.

  “What have you done with her?”

  “Ahhh yes, your mother. I thought she might come in handy.”

  “For what?”

  “To persuade you in your wisdom to do the right thing and help out your brethren.”

  “Why would you think I needed persuading?”

  From a small dark space, adjacent to an icy corner that he’d never spotted before, out stepped his brother, head bowed, unable to look him in the eyes.”

  One word and one word alone popped up inside Man’s highly functioning brain.

  “TRAITOR!”

  “Some here still have morals and family values.”

  “DON’T YOU DARE TALK TO ME ABOUT FAMILY VALUES AFTER EVERYTHING YOU’VE DONE! AND AS FOR HIM, BETRAYING HIS MOTHER LIKE THAT, THE TWO OF YOU CLEARLY BELONG TOGETHER!”