The Underworld
May 27
The slave region
Section 9....
The clouds remained grey and vicious as though it was about to rain. No sun.
Never was there light from above.
The atmosphere was cold and polluted with the smell of blood and corpses.
And there she was. Bounded in chains ....that restricted her movements.
Locked in a prisoner's carriage made of rusted iron bars along with the rest of her kind. All barefooted
The midwives!
Those who worked on May 25. The day of the vivat. And as small as the carriage was, they were 20 in it,the last batch.
Behind those rusted bars, she watched ....
how the slaves suffered. Their right to life had been taken away from them. Now, they await their death.
The punishers were ordered that all new births born on may 25, must be killed, including their mothers.
Yet, the VIVATRA was yet to be found. And so was the mother.
All birthhouse was searched,still they made no discoveries.
Now, the midwives are to face such fate.
Guilt gripped her tightly, unable to let her go .
Innocent babies were killed, and their mothers burnt alive. Burnt to ashes. Far beyond recognition.
They shivered in fear as the carriage came to a sudden halt.
" Fall out!" The loud voice of a punisher pierced through their ears. So unpleasant.
They obeyed without hesitation,to avoid beatings from any of the punishers.
"Single file!"
Movement was almost impossible. The unleveled ground tortured their feet.
And then she saw!
Not far from where she stood...a pile of heads. Heads of her fellow women.
Those who came before them.
Then she realized. Whether you reveal the truth or not,your life will still be taken.
"All kneel!" A punisher ordered.
At once, they knelt.
"All bow!"the punisher ordered again
At once, they bowed. Face down to the ground,not to lift it up unless told .
Then silence took over.
Until, she began to hear... quick.. light... footsteps.
It's impossible for one's footsteps to be light in a stony and unleveled place like this.
But the footsteps became quicker and lighter....until she couldn't here it at all.
Silence fell once again...for a few seconds
and was suddenly broken by a cold voice that barely whispered her name.
"Who is Agnes?"
She froze. Unable to move ,unable to identify herself.Her heart beat became unsteady. That voice sent shivers down her spine.without knowing,her own hands betrayed her.
" Bring her to me" the voice ordered without a hint of emotion.
Before she could catch her breath, she was lifted by a strong hand. That's when she realized her knees were bleeding. The stones must have pierced through her soft skin. Walking was barely possible.Yet,she dare not raise her head to see who possessed the cold voice.
A whip suddenly landed on her back sending signals of pain through her fragile body.
"Walk faster, You fool!" A voice shouted from behind,followed by a roar of laughter from the punishers,the whip landed on her back once more. Hence,she stuggered forward.....tripping on the chains that held her legs,she fell at his feet.On the stony ground.The cold breeze sent shivers down her spine. Her nose began to bleed for no reason.
"Raise your head"she heard the voice once more. "I want to see your face"
Slowly...she raised her head
And saw.... HIM!
The one who killed her sister for a crime she didn't commit!
There he stood,his aura made it impossible for her to breath. Like it drained her life.
Dressed in a black attire, black hair that was swept to the back,dark red eyes, soft pink lips that tend to utter the sweetest words but comes out as dreadful nightmares.A stud he wore on his left ear and his neck was covered in tattoos. A gorgeous beauty that upholds the darkest powers and creates children nightmares. A dream walker.
The first prince of the underworld.
Lord Cage
"Give me full details on your whereabouts on may 25" his voice sounded like a million voices screeching into her ears." Leave no a single detail. Start"
"My lord" Agnes began . Her voice trembling " I stayed in my house all day as it was written on the public boards"
Cage chuckled.
" You lie" he whispered " I hate liars"
" On may 25, your husband who happens to be one of the elders in council reported that his wife went missing"
Agnes turned pale.
A white napkin was presented before her with her family's name embroidered on it.
Her eyes widened in fear.
" This was found in one of the birth house outside the city, in a basin" Cage said without a hint of emotion.
Agnes began to shake her head in disbelief.
She couldn't believe it. She cleared everything,but forgot the basin. The most important thing.
" You knew the baby was the VIVATRA.
Didn't you?" He began in a quiet tone.
" That's why you didn't return home,for fear that your husband might question your whereabouts.For fear that you might put your children in danger." His anger rose by the minute and it showed in his tone.
" You didn't think we'd find you" his voice suddenly became nothing but a whisper.
" But we did".
Agnes began to shake vigorously! Like a possessed demon. But Cage wasn't done yet.
" You helped the pregnant woman, because you needed the money for your father's treatment" Cage began to laugh.
It displeased one's ears.
He knew . All that he said was all true. Is this how her life was going to end? Impossible! She has to safe her children.
Yes! Her children! She has to safe them.
" It's a pity though" Cage mocked.
" Your father and your children are going to be dead anyway. And your husband isn't an exception "
Tears welled in her eyes.
She lost her sanity and began to scream.
" Don't you dare harm them,they had nothing to do with this!" Agnes cried.
She accepted her fate.
" I only ask that you kill my sins!"
Cage laughed again. It irritated Agnes.
" What a well refined speech. The moment you realised you couldn't escape,you secretly sent a letter to your husband which told him everything you've committed and told him to leave the capital with your children and never return."
He revealed flatly.
Agnes became speechless.
" Death is the easiest punishment to give a sinner,ofcourse you yearn for it so willingly "
Cage stood.
Grabbed Agnes by the neck.
And whispered into her tender ears that will soon be lifeless.
" Tell me,the whereabouts of the child and the woman that bore the child"
He tightened his grip around her neck.
Agnes struggled to breath.
" I .... don't....know about their whereabouts"
He stared at her for a while as the though judging if she told a lie.
Then he released her from his grip.
Cage waited. Waited for Agnes to catch her breath.
" Then there no reason for keeping you alive"
Slice!
A clean cut by one of the punishers.
Her head fell from her body.
Never was there a lady called Agnes
She never existed.
Her children and her entire family would go to the grave with her.
Her generation shall end.
Never to be remembered.
Ever forgotten.
Wiped out from history.
" What about the remaining the midwives? What shall become of them?" One of the punishers dared to ask.
Silence fell.
He turned to the punisher and whispered
" Kill them"
Cage knew one thing.
The VIVATRA must be killed.
The last one wrecked havoc and that led to his mother's death.
He remembered her words
" The VIVAT is an aura, possessing one's body. The VIVAT never dies. Even though killed. It returns every 100 years. In another body,in another shape,in another form"
He recalled her soft tone
"It's exists in every world,yet we sometimes fail to recognise it."
"And that body it possesses is called the 'VIVATRA' which means ' the living aura' hence it never Dies!"
It continues to live among us.