by Jeff Gunzel
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Eric slowly began to open his eyes. His head felt light and fuzzy as he shook it back and forth. His first impulse was to close his eyes again and go back to sleep. The last memory before losing consciousness flooded back to him as soon as he realized he couldn’t move his arms. Now fully remembering everything, he thrashed while trying to clear his head at the same time. Stop panicking. Just figure out where you are and what’s going on. He stopped thrashing and took a deep breath, scanning his surroundings.
The black walls seemed to be made of some sort of dark stone cut into perfect rectangle bricks and layered with mortar, as far as he could tell. The bare walls held no pictures or decorations of any kind that he could see. There was not even a single bit of furniture in the plain room. There were, however, two open windows that allowed a subtle cross breeze. Hot air moving felt better than hot air standing still, if only by a little.
The floor consisted of wooden planks that were sanded smooth, but had no stain or finish of any kind. The rickety door looked to be made of bamboo shoots tied together by some kind of fibrous yellow vines. As his eyes gazed up, he could see the roof looked much like the door, bamboo tied together with the same yellow plants. His feet were bound together with the same vine, while his hands were tied behind a thick wooden post. The knots were tight. He twisted his wrists back and forth to try and loosen them.
The door swung open and a tall figure entered the room. Eric’s blood froze as the strong scent of spices filled the room. The bare-breasted woman that came in was about six feet tall. Her skin was mostly light, with several dark patches that looked to be rough and scaly. The woman had thin, white hair and was covered in shiny gold jewelry. Three large gold hoops pierced each ear, and two smaller ones graced each of her nipples. Gold and silver chains of various lengths fell around her neck. A combination of silver and gold loops ran up each arm as well. The small gold hoop in her left nostril seemed subtle when compared to the other gaudy jewelry that seemed to cover her from head to toe.
“I know exactly what you are,” Eric hissed as he began to thrash again, pulling hard on the twine ropes. “My friends and I have gone through hell just to stand before you. Where are they? What have you done to them?”
The woman’s bright yellow eyes remained fixed on him. She tilted her head to the side, looking quite amused, and smiled wickedly. She took another step towards him before sidestepping to expose the doorway.
Jade had been standing behind her the whole time.
Eric’s eyes grew wide, not knowing what to make of this. His companion stepped through the doorway with a blank look and turned to the woman. “Ericando tres toora beropa,” she said, gesturing towards the doorway.
The tall woman glided gracefully back the way she came. She turned to Eric one last time before leaving. “You sssay you know what I am,” she said in a light, youthful voice that sounded odd coming from the large woman. “Who or what I am is not important. We shall ssssssoon see who or what you are...Eric Aethello.”
The woman strolled from the room without a second glance.