The Above

-Seventeen-

"Where are we going?" I asked as she led me through corridors, eventually coming to a set of stairs. She began to walk down, her mouth shut, the six horns of her helmet brushing against the low ceiling of the long hallway. Sighing, I followed the woman, trudging down the steps behind her.

We eventually made it to the bottom, where a looming metal door made of blackstone and silver inscriptions stood. She did not move when we made it to the entryway. Rather, the Shadow King stood still, darkness staining the air, as she formed what appeared to be a key. When its formation was finished she opened the door and entered. I slipped into the room alongside her before it could close.

It was dark inside, shadows lingering in every corner. The lack of light sent shivers down my spine and an aching for my power to run through my veins.

"There are torches on the wall," she spoke, her booming voice crackling through the speaker in her helmet. "Go ahead, set them ablaze."

I quirked an eyebrow, skeptical of what she wanted me to do. Still, I had no place opposing her, and it wouldn't do any harm. I gathered what little light was hidden in the corners of the room, harnessing the particles' substantial amount of energy and spreading it to where I could feel the torches, letting the molecules speed up and transfer electromagnetic to thermal energy. It worked, a flame igniting on the wicks of each one.

"Why don't you just use electricity?" I asked once I was finished, the small task draining quite a bit of me; after all, it was difficult to expand light to the capacity that I had when the room was filled only with darkness.

"A raid would only be imminent if we did. The Fulgur faction's ability to control lightning is too strong. It's far easier to simply use fire, or just live without light," she shrugged. I hummed in jibe.

I began to take in my surroundings, noticing that the room we were in was primarily empty minus the scarce markings on the wall of people or objects. A large circle surrounded us, painted onto the black floor. A dot marked the middle, a line marking the diameter. It was similar in appearance to the arena in the cafeteria, and it only spiked more inquiry about why I was brought here.

"What do you need me for?" I asked as the King rolled her plated shoulders. Before I could receive a response, she began removing her armor. She discarded her horned hat and shuffled out of the metal that enveloped her body. She stepped from the pile of priceless coverings, revealing the plain black shirt and stretchy trousers hidden underneath. I tried to mask my shock, as I looked around for guards somewhere, anywhere, but there were not. She was leaving herself entirely vulnerable with me. If I was capable enough, I could kill her.

"Because," she said, turning to me, her hair tied in a bun, "I want to test you. I want to measure your perseverance, your worth. After all, you did put on quite the show earlier."

"You saw that? And more importantly, you didn't think to try and save me?" I scoffed as she entered the circle opposite of me.

"I have eyes everywhere. And as I've already stated, I want to test you. You won, did you not?" I let out a laugh at her words, out of exhaustion or hysteria or perhaps both. Does she just think of me as a game? Am I her entertainment?

"Y'know, for a ruler, you don't seem to have much regard for those who serve you." As soon as the statement left my lips, a breaking pressure fell upon me. It felt as though every bone protecting my body was being crushed under the weight of overwhelming power. I let out a cry of pain as I dropped to my knees, trying to fight it, trying to stand, but it hurt, it hurt like nothing I had ever known, it smashed my skull and pounded against my head, only hearing the overbearing thrumming of my rushing heart as I expected it to cease its rapid beating, to mark the end of my pathetic life.