I stop pacing in circles around my cell as I hear shouts. I press my face up against the bars, but they're inset an inch or two from the hallway, so I can't see anything.

Chains clink against the floor as a fight breaks out and someone cries out in pain.

"Move it," A Guard or Soldier growls. A voice grunts as they stumble. At least I think they're the same person. 

The sound of footsteps grows louder until I can see six figures. Three Soldiers, two Guard, and someone in chains.

The chained figure ducks under a Soldier's arm as he tries to shove the figure into the cell opposite mine. I catch a glimpse of the figure's eyes from the torchlight as they whirl around to punch the Soldier in the stomach, and there's murder in their eyes. The other two Soldiers rush forwards to restrain the figure as the injured warrior steps back, an arm wrapped around his stomach.

"You'd be dead if it weren't for these chains," The figure snarls as they're finally locked in the cell after another few minutes.

"I disagree, but I'll see you in the morning for your meeting with My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XIV." A Guard waves as he walks back down the hallway with an arrogant smile. Two of the Soldiers nurse black eyes and broken noses, and the other Guard cradles a snapped wrist in his hand.

"That was quite a fight you put up back there," I say after a few minutes.

"Indeed it was," comes the reply.

Wait. That voice sounds familiar. Wait, wait, wait. How is Dove here?

"What's your name?" I force my voice to stay even. The figure laughs.

"I'm your brother, Wolf. I'm Dove." They chuckle.

"W-Wha-What? How?" I take a few steps back from the bars of my cell.

"I was the bird."

"Ha. That's impossible."

"You have wolf ears, claws for fingernails, and now fangs. Me being able to turn into a dove doesn't seem all that weird to me."

"Fair point." My canine teeth have grown, and my upper canines protrude from my mouth like vampire teeth. Goodness gracious. I poke one of them with a finger, and it comes back with a droplet of red.

"So are we just stuck in here, or what?" I gesture to the cell trapping me. It's a rhetorical question, but I want to hear it from my brother.

"Yep, though we'd probably be able to just kick down these walls in a month or so if they forgot about us." Dove leans back from where he's sitting on his bed to scratch at the wall. Bits of stone crumble beneath his fingertips.

"We'll be dead in a month."

"They won't forget."

"How do you know?" I frown.

"King Garonda XIV wants to kill us."

"Oh."

"Yeah. The Guard and Soldiers won't disobey him."

"So we'll be dead tomorrow?" My voice trembles.

"We'll escape."

"How can you be so sure? We're trapped in cells right now, and King Garonda XIV has an entire army of Guard and Soldiers at his disposal!"

"Trust me. We're getting out of there alive."

"How?" I make my way to the bars of the cell and wrap my hands around them. Rust falls to the ground in flakes.

"I don't know, but I know we're getting out of there alive. Trust me, Wolf."

"We are?" I murmur. It doesn't feel like we are, but Dove said we are and he's my brother. He wouldn't lie.

"We are, Wolf. I promise."

"Alright."

"Try to get some sleep, ok?"

"Alright," I repeat.

"Wait. One quick thing. You still have that pewter pendant, right?"

"Yeah." I fish it out of my pocket. The surface is warm against my skin.

"Put it on. It'll help keep you safe."

"How?" I ask as I slip it over my head.

The metal suddenly heats up, and I jump back, pulling at the leather cord in an attempt to remove the pendant. But I can't get it off; it's somehow stuck on. The deep grooves inset in the pewter start to glow orange. At first it's just a faint color, but it soon lights up into a bright orange- the exact same shade as my eyes. The walls of my cell turn to fire as the pendant glows brighter.

"What's going on down there?" Footsteps echo in the prison.

"Hide it!" Dove hisses, his voice nearly silent. I nod and tuck it down my shirt, crossing my arms over my chest.

"What was that orange glow I saw?" It's Screech, and he's fuming.

"What orange glow?" I ask.

"Don't play dumb. We both know what happened, so tell me what it was." He stalks forwards until he's right up against the bars.

"I didn't see anything. Perhaps it was the torches casting some weird light on the walls?" Dove stands up from where he was sitting on his bed.

"Uncross your arms," Screech suddenly demands after a few moments of silence.

"Huh?" I say.

"You heard me. Uncross your arms," He growls.

"Fine."

You'd better have stopped glowing, pewter pendant.

I lower my arms to my sides. Screech snarls in frustration when the orange has disappeared. Though I want to smirk in satisfaction, I keep a neutral face.

"I told you there wasn't anything. Now, if you'd be so kind as to leave, I'd like to get some sleep," Dove sighs, flopping back onto his bed.

The springs squeak and the framework groans as he bounces. Screech walks back down the hallway, and his annoyance is clear in how he stalks away and his fists clench and unclench with every step.

I curl up on the part of the mattress that doesn't have springs sticking out of it and try to get some sleep. Minutes tick by, and they slowly give way to an hour, then two. Owls hoot outside, the sign that night has fallen over Ragdon.

I'm lightly dozing when I hear a sort of sparkling noise. I jump to my feet, looking over to Dove, but he's sleeping, an arm draped over his eyes and a foot hanging off the edge of his bed.

"Hi."

I scramble backwards, nearly tripping.

"W-who are you?" My muscles tense in the fight-flight-or-freeze response.

"Cotton Candy."

A sort of cat-like creature floats in front of me a foot or two in the air. Their fur is a mixture of light pink patches and baby blue patches. Portions of their body vanishes before reappearing. A dark purple, almost amethyst, blindfold covers their eyes, and has been wrapped around their head several times. A pair of yellow headphones hold it in place.

"C-Cotton Candy?" I repeat.

"Yeah." Cotton Candy's voice is flat.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was told to."

"By who?"

"My boss."

"Who is?"

"The King of Ragdon."

"King Garonda XIV?"

"Yeah." Jeez. Short answers that don't really answer the question.

"What's your reason for being here?"

"I was told to." Cotton Candy is going to be the death of me.

"Are you here to question me?"

"No."

"Then what are you here for?" I run a hand through my hair, ignoring the foreign feeling when my fingers run over the fur of my wolf ears.

"I was told to. You already asked me that."

"I didn't, but ok. Do you have a reason for being here, because if not, I'm going to please ask you to leave."

"No."

"What were you told to do here."

"I was-."

"Please don't say you were told to."

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" My voice rises.

"I don't know," Cotton Candy shrugs, circling the cell.

"How does that work? You were told to come here." I'm tempted to rip my hair out.

"I don't know."

"What were you told to do? Tell me exactly what you were told."

"I was told to come here. That's it."

"Was there anything else? 'Cuz that doesn't make sense."

"No."

"If you don't have anything to do here, then please go away."

"Oh, yeah. There was something." Cotton Candy stops walking in circles around my cell.

"What was it?" I sigh.

"He said to ask you a question."

"Which is?"

"Let me think."

"Fine."

"Oh, I remember."

"Great. What did he say?"

"He said... He said to ask you if you had a pewter pendant. He wants it."

"Wonderful."

"Do you have a pewter pendant?"

"What does it look like?"

"It's in the shape of a wolf's head, though in my opinion it looks more like a heart crossed with an arrow. There are lines on it, which look like many patches of lines all pointing in different directions. There is a small indent where one of the eyes would be. The lines glow orange when in comes into contact with you. Have you seen it?"

"No." I look at Cotton Candy's eyes, or more like the purple blindfold covering them.

"That's unfortunate. He really wants the pewter pendant."

"Who is 'he'?"

"He really wants it. He said he'd tear Ragdon to pieces in order to find it, which would destroy the White Tent Sea, his castle, and Ragdon Volcano."

"He as in King Garonda XIV?"

"He also said he'd-."

"Is the 'he' you're referring to King Garonda XIV?"

"He really really wants the pewter pendant." I give up.

"Great. Can you please leave now, Cotton Candy? I want to go to sleep." I move to push the ghostly cat out of the cell, but Cotton Candy disappears before I make it halfway.

"Thank goodness," I breathe as I fall back onto the mattress. The end of one of the springs digs into my back, but I ignore it. After half an hour of taking slow, deep breaths, I fall into Dreamland. I don't wake until morning, nor do I dream.

"Wake up! Wolf! Dove! WAKE UP!" Snappy roars, slamming the flat of his dagger against the bars of our cells. I'm up in an instant.

Today's the day of our supposed deaths. Dove said we wouldn't die, that we'd get out of here alive. I hope he's right.

Scorn unlocks the door to my cell. "Good morning, Lupetto. Did you sleep well?"

"What do you think?" I glare at him as he pulls out a rope and binds my wrists behind me.

I walk behind Dove as Snappy, Screech, and Scorn lead us out into the light. My eyes water as I adjust to the brightness.

"Where are we headed?" Dove asks after a few minutes.

"We're headed to My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XIV. Specifically his throne room," Snappy replies.

"You will be expected to bow before My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XIV in a display of your submissiveness." Screech looks me and Dove in the eye as he speaks. Neither of us reply to the Guard's words.

I don't... I'm not going to bow, and Dove won't either.

A short while after we leave the prisons, King Garonda XIV's castle comes into view.

It's a monster-sized fortress with walls stretching tall towards the sky. Marble pillars support the roof of the entrance and all of the windows. Gardens bursting with every plant imaginable sprawl across the surrounding landscape. Torches burn on the sides of the walkway. Scorn pushes me back into motion when I stop to look at the intimidating castle; everything about it screams corruption.

"My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XIV is waiting, and he doesn't like to be kept waiting," Snappy growls to me and Dove.

"Come on, Lupetto. It gets more elaborate inside." Scorn pulls me a bit faster.

"I'm moving, I'm moving. Don't you worry." I sigh.

The castle looms in front of us, and the doors are like a gaping maw. Once inside, I see more marble, but this time with purple swirled in. The walls are bare, devoid of any sort of decoration. 

"Why is there so much purple?" I murmur under my breath.

"It's actually amethyst," Scorn replies. "It's King Garonda XIV's gem of choice."

"How dare you say My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XVI's name in vain!" Snappy whirls around, his eyes flashing with anger.

"Sorry! Sorry! I slipped up! I won't make that mistake again!" Scorn lets go of my elbow as he puts his hands up in the air.

Something tells me that that's a lie...

Snappy seems satisfied as he turns around and continues leading Dove towards what I presume will eventually be the throne room.

Thank you for reading this chapter! Please comment and vote!

What's going to happen in King Garonda XIV's throne room?

Is Dove correct in that he'll escape with Wolf?

What do you think of Cotton Candy?

I know this is only the fourth chapter of the story, but what do you think?

-Werewolf14-