Time passed without anything happening at all. The small girl suspected that she was either forgotten, locked away in a small dark room, destined to rot there for eternity, or that Captain Thramoun started to experiment with her loneliness and deprivation of senses.

Nothing changes. Everything is dark and quiet. The only times anything happens at all, is when the guards in front of the door are changing their shifts and she can listen to the sound of hollow metal boots slowly clanking down the hallway.

Afraid to be forgotten, the girl tries to free herself from the magical chains, but no matter how hard she tries, she keeps being tightly bound to the metallic wall.

Once, when she trashed around with all her might, hope filled her tiny body, as a guard knocked on the door and told her to quit it. At that moment she knew that at least somebody still remembered her.

As she was wondering when she will be allowed to talk to the Captain again, the door was suddenly thrown open, revealing Mark standing behind it with a grin plastered on his face.

“Hello beauty. Still enjoying your miserable life? Are you interested in some news? Yes? Well, guess who was sent to investigate your old home?”

“You?” the girl asks uncertainly.

“That’s right. Good ol’ me paid a visit to your home. And look what I found.” As Mark keeps talking, he proudly presents her a thick worn leather book, as if it was the greatest treasure on earth.

The girl on the other hand, gave to book a dubious look filled with confusion. After some seconds ticked by, she lifted her gaze and gave Mark a blank stare stating that she has never seen the bock before.

“That’s what I thought. I didn’t tell the Captain about it yet, because I just started to skim through it. Don’t want to disappoint him if it turns out to be a hoax. Anyway, I found some pretty interesting stuff already and now I’m here to confirm it.” He gave her a wicked smile, as he turned back into the hallway and grabbed for a device leaning next to the door.

As he turned back around the girl got her first look at the device and her heart skipped a beat whilst her face drained of all colours.

“Did he give that to you? Did you get his permission? Did you meet him?” the girl demands of him.

“Ah. I can see you recognize it. That’s good, that’s good. Well, I sadly didn’t see your friend, but I want to try my hands at his research anyway.” While he keeps talking to the girl, he pulls more and more of the device into the room, revealing multiple tubes, topped with sharp metallic tips, connected to multiple small containers. A device the girl knows all too well.

“Anyway, enough with the chatter and let’s get to work.”

Those were the last words uttered before the pain slowly set in and Mark left the room. By now, the girl was already back in her old world of unending pain and for some reason wicked laughter, even though she thought she was alone in the room.

--------------

Suddenly, the girl awoke to Captain Thramoun opening the door and curiously gazing at her face.

“Well hello there. If I could sleep as much as you, I’d die of boredom.” Were his first words to the girl after days of absence.

As Thramoun greets the girl, she notices that all the tubes and the rest of the wicked device are gone without leaving any trace. She must have passed out and missed the ending of her session. She hoped Mark was not mad at her for her blunder.

“No greetings for me? Seems like someone got up with the wrong foot.”

Feeling neglected, the girl rebukes him for his thoughtless remarks. “How am I supposed to get up, if I am bound to the wall? I couldn’t even lie down in the first place. You don’t make any sense at all!”

“Well, seems like I was right and someone did indeed get up on the wrong foot. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I figured out who your dear friend was. Your friend went by the name of Edgar, also known as the wicked warlock. Your connection might explain his reign of terror and his staggering amount of twisted powerful spells.”

The name didn’t ring any bells for the girl and she just continued to listen without any change in her expression.

As Thramoun continues his story, a complicated expression crosses his face. “I don’t know if you heard some rumours or exaggerated stories on your small journey, but I figured you’d want to know anyway. About a month ago, your friend was slain in the great battle about a day’s travel from here. We won’t be seeing that mad bastard ever again!” At the end of the sentence, the Captain couldn’t contain his victorious laughter anymore and just let it out without paying attention the heartbroken expression of the small girl.

As he started to leave the room, he grinned back over his shoulder and left some parting words behind for the broken girl. “You, my dear, just arrived in time to celebrate our victory over Edgar and his reign of terror. I hope you will enjoy it as much as the rest of us.”

Left alone in the dark room, filled with mad laughter and heartrending weeping sounds, the girl was startled as she suddenly heard a muffled countdown. As the countdown reached zero, she felt small tremors vibrating through the walls, followed by muffled cheers from the town.

Whilst Goa erupted in drunken cheers and drowned in alcohol, the dark room beneath the mansion of the Guardians was cast in silence so complete, that you could even hear the heartbeat of the chained girl, beating in a spiteful rhythm of vengeance.