Cold and Dark Chp9

Chapter 9

Dernwyn hadn't been looking where he was going. He was in too much shock over what he had discovered, that he didn't notice the puddle of water from earlier that made him slip.

The young marten shrieked in surprise, falling backwards-

-only to be caught by the unmistakable clawed paws of Zurzak.

"Are you alright-"

"Leave me alone!" the pine marten shrieked, thrashing out for freedom. Somewhat to his surprise, Zurzak made no attempt to hold him.

Dernwyn ran full pelt out of the dank, horrible dungeons, never wanting to go down there ever, ever again.


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"Miru? Hello? Are you asleep?"


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Dernwyn returned to his room, slamming the door shut. He couldn't... he couldn't... couldn't what? Breathe? Yes, he was having trouble breathing, but that was easily remedied when he stopped and focused on taking deep breaths. But there was something else. Something...

The door suddenly opened and closed again.

"I told you to leave me alone!" the pine marten snarled, not bothering to turn around as he knew it was Zurzak.

"You know I can't leave you alone like this," the wildcat's hissing voice replied, placing his claws on Dernwyn's shoulder.

The young marten turned then, swinging his arm up to ward off any further contact. "I don't care!" he screamed. "Just leave me alone!"

His flailing arms were caught by strong clawed paws. Zurzak's voice sounded hollow. "Temper, temper, my little prince."

Dernwyn screeched and struggled in the wildcat's grasp. "I'm not your little prince! Now let me go!"

Zurzak threw back his head and actually laughed. A laugh that made Dernwyn stop and stare horror-struck at him.

"It amuses me to no end how you still think you can give me any orders," the wildcat sneered. "Your father is dethroned and my prisoner. I have conquered your kingdom. I have a whole army at my back. I am by far stronger than anybeast here. I am the one who gives orders here, not you! And that means," he added, bringing his face closer, "that you are my little prince."

Dernwyn growled as he tried to hide his fear, struggling to break free. "No I'm not! Now let go!"

Moving with the speed of lightning, the wildcat pinned the young marten to the wall, holding him up so that their eyes were level with each other.

Zurzak's glittering eyes bored into Dernwyn's, making them water.

"I am now King around here. It is I who gives the orders now. You have no power over anything."

One of the wildcat's clawed paws closed itself around Dernwyn's neck. The young marten gasped and clutched at the claws, trying to pry them loose.

"Stop trying to fight me," Zurzak hissed. "You are weak. You can never hope to defeat me. And yet, it is I who you can rely on, remember? Nobeast cares for you, not even your father. But I still do... but I won't if you keep on trying to rebel."

For the first time in his whole life, Dernwyn felt unbearably hot. The black robes of the wildcat was smothering him, and the strong claws were slowly closing off his air.

"Such a delicate thing," droned the big cat. "I could very easily break your slender neck right now."

Dernwyn gasped, staring pleadingly into the slitted green eyes... then the clawed paw released its hold on his neck. The marten breathed in deeply, sobbing... and then gasped again when the same paw crawled its way up Dernwyn's face, towards his eyes. The young marten struggled weakly and cried, but all to no avail.

"Shhh," said Zurzak softly, wiping away the tears. "I'm sorry, little prince, forgive me. But you really must understand. You only keep your title just because I say so. That way you are not at the mercy of the entire kingdom. So don't try to leave, little prince. Don't try to get me to forsake you. Just stay with me. Stay."

As Zurzak spoke, everything seemed to grow darker.

"Stay with me," the wildcat whispered.

Dernwyn suddenly realized just how hard it was to keep his eyes open. His eyelids seemed so heavy...


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"Miru? Come on, sleepyhead, it's time to eat."


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Something was sliding across his body. Something smooth and soft, sliding as if it were water. It must have been water because Dernwyn was beginning to feel the warmth leave him. Moaning in protest, the half-asleep marten waved his paws about, trying to put an end to whatever it was that was taking away the heat. He felt his paws brush against something warm and hard...

Dernwyn gasped in surprise, opening his eyes wide to see he was touching Zurzak's horrific face.

The young marten jerked his paws away, choking back a disgusted scream.

Zurzak, however, only smiled - a horrible, horrible smile. "Good morning, little prince. Its high time you were awake. You've been asleep for two days."

Dernwyn blinked. "Two days?"

"Yes, and you really must get something to eat, and get washed," the wildcat said, pulling back the blankets.

The young marten struggled to get away, but his arms were seized by those horrible claws once again. Dernwyn was pulled off the bed and dragged across the floor towards the washroom, where a tub full of steaming water awaited.

"Hurry up and bathe yourslef," Zurzak ordered, setting the pine marten near the tub. "I'll have the guards give an order that your breakfast is to be served in your room. And don't take too long, or I'll be tempted to wash you myself."

And with that, the big cat was gone.


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"Miru... hey, little mate, c'mon, you gotta eat. Stop sleeping."


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Dipping himself into the steaming warm water, Dernwyn made certain to wash himself carefully and quickly, not wanting to find out if Zurzak was serious about what said about washing the pine marten himself. His bony paws trembled as he tried not to fumble with the foamy soap. Normally he would've enjoyed, even basked, in the liquid warmth of the bath, but now... now he felt terribly exposed and wanted to get dried and dressed as quickly as possible.

Finally he finished scrubbing and rinsed himself down, and, wrapping a towel around himself, was just about to get out of the tub (trembling at the severe chill that washed over him as he did), when the door opened... and Zurzak came back in.

Dernwyn gave a startled shriek, huddling back into the bathtub, taking the towel in along with him.

The big wildcat stared at the young marten for a long moment, making Dernwyn feel even more frightened and embarrassed. He wrapped the now-drenched towel around himself, wishing fervently that Zurzak would go back out.

But he didn't.

Instead, he stepped into the washroom and closed the door behind him.


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"Mmm... I'm trying to sleep..."

"Didn't I just say to stop trying to sleep? You've done enough of that. Now come on, its time to get some vittles in you."


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"What are you doing?" Dernwyn cried, sinking as low as he could into the water while the demonic wildcat stepped closer. "Get out! Not even a king can do this!"

"I am merely fetching you a drier towel," Zurzak stated calmly. And indeed, the wildcat picked up another nearby towel and set it on the floor next to the tub. "Also, here are some new clothes," he added, holding up some linen robes of dark red and black. "Wear these, and try not to take long. Your breakfast is here."

"Yeh-yes, thank you," the pine marten said, still trying to cover his entire self with the wet towel. "Now... please... please... please just go away!" He couldn't repress the shrill cry any longer.

An even shriller cry escaped when Zurzak reached forward and stroked his ear with one claw. The big wildcat chuckled. "When are you going to trust me?"

Dernwyn didn't answer.

Finally Zurzak made his exit.


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"Alright, Skip, alright... I've just got to... wake up..."


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Washed, dried, and freshly clothed, the young marten was then lead to the table in his room, where he was firmly set in a chair. The table was laden with a plate, a knife and fork, a water-filled goblet, an empty goblet, and two trays with large silver lids, along with what looked like a wine bottle.

Standing behind the young marten, Zurzak placed his claws firmly on Dernwyn's lean shoulders to keep him from rising.

"Sit still, little prince," the wildcat warned. "I know its very hard for you to eat, ever since you saw what happened to your mother. But I have no intention of allowing you to starve yourself."

Before the young marten could say that he didn't starve himself, Zurzak reached forward and seized the water-filled goblet, holding it towards Dernwyn's face.

"Some water first. Drink up."

Swallowing, the pine marten obeyed, taking the cup in two thin, slightly shaking paws. Reaching over the young marten's head, the wildcat lifted the lids from the two trays, revealing dishes of savory cooked vegetables and small, sweet-looking pies.

After Dernwyn took a good drink of the water, Zurzak put both of his paws on the back of Dernwyn's seat and, with a light shove, pushed the marten closer to the table.

"Go on, eat," Zurzak said. It sounded more like an invite rather than a command.

Dernwyn looked at the food in disgust. "How do I know its not poisoned?"

Suddenly he gasped in pain as Zurzak pushed him against the table harder, the table's edge threatening to slice through his flesh.

"If I wanted you dead, I would have done so already," the big wildcat hissed warningly. "Now eat. I had it all made specially for you."

Swallowing, the young marten picked up the knife and fork with trembling paws and set into the food. Dernwyn ate with little appetite, despite the fact the food was delicious. He was barely a quarter of the way done with the vegetables before he set down his fork.

"I can't eat anymore," he said, slumping backwards a bit.

"You hardly ate," Zurzak growled. "Come now, you need your nourishment. You're too thin."

Dernwyn shook his head. "I can't. I'll burst."

The wildcat sighed. He pushed the dessert tray closer to the marten and poured some wine into the goblet. "Well, then at least try to eat some of this. Just a little," he said with surprising gentleness.

Dernwyn complied, taking a few bites out of the pie, though it was a bit too sweet after all those vegetables. He set down his fork again and leaned back, holding his stomach, which felt as though it would burst.

Suddenly he felt the wildcat's claws curl around his paw. Dernwyn gasped but soon realized that Zurzak was merely putting the goblet back in his paw. The wildcat poured some more wine into the other goblet and sat down in the chair next to Dernwyn, watching him over the brim of his cup.

Dernwyn shied away from the cat's gaze, sinking back into his chair, still holding the goblet.

"Drink," Zurzak said, holding his cup in a way so that he would not have to bend his head and cease looking at the pine marten.

Trembling, the young marten took a sip from the wine and promptly set it down, pulling a face at the strong, bitterish taste.

The wildcat laughed, that creepy, hollow chuckle. "Too strong, eh? Well... I suppose you'll be wanting to know what happened while you were asleep."

Dernwyn remained silent, and after a moment, nodded.

"Well, first of all... we held a funeral for your brother."

The young marten looked up sharply, his eyes wide.

"I thought it wouldn't be necessary for you to have to bear with the whole thing," Zurzak went on, "so I let you go on sleeping. I suppose the shock of what had been going on was too much for you.

"We also held funerals for all the fallen soldiers as well. Many families were sorely grieved over the loss of their loved ones. In fact, a few of them were murmuring against your father, saying they were glad he was no longer king... even saying they wished he had been conquered sooner."

Dernwyn's ears twitched and his heart burned, yet he didn't know why.

"I also sent out scouts to see about the enemy horde, if they were still going to attack, or if their losses were as great as ours', and are going to leave.

"...I think you might be happy to know that the second case is how things are. The enemy horde has indeed left for good; they took just as many losses as we did, if not more. We don't have to worry about any invasion for now."

Silence from Dernwyn.

Soon silence was all there was in the room.

Then the door burst open.