Spark of Light (Skint)

[Rhonya]

“Hmph. Very well. Prove you have the stomach to walk the true path and I’ll let you kill those orcs. You got five others in ya cell. Kill them.”

The words so easily spoken by him chilled me to the core, even thinking back on it. The fear in the eyes of those Goblins in the cage with me, when I turned to look at them. One even dashed in front of another one, clearly trying to protect her from me. His mate, perhaps? Did they really think I was going to kill them?
It must’ve been clear on my face that I had no intention to do so, because the shadowy figure speaking to me didn’t believe me either when I said I wanted them alive, that they were much more useful to me that way.
One good thing, he didn’t return my bindings before walking away. Now I could stand and move around a bit, stretching my legs and looking around.

It was dark in here, barely enough light coming through to see anything. My hands found the bars of the cage and I felt them, before leaning against them a little. My cagemates stayed on the other side now, huddled together.
No surprise, seeing I just told our captor I’d twist their souls and make them obedient slaves. At least I bought them some time, even if they feared me now. It wasn’t ideal though, in a days time or so, he’d expect results and I doubted I could convince these terrified Goblins to play along with me and try trick him, but it was the only idea I had.

I feared for the clan. They’d probably come try and find me and the captives, not knowing what they were going to run into… Not much I could do from in here though.
My inspection of the bars didn’t result in much, besides my hands now feeling half frozen. The metal was too sturdy. I had tried the link as well earlier, but all that resulted in was a massive headache. Clearly spiritual things didn’t work too well in a void infested cave.
Sitting down again, I blew some breath on my cold hands. I eyed over the wounds that I still had. They’d stopped bleeding, but they stung and I was afraid frostbite would set in. There were several, crisscrossing my arms, even one just below my neck and one in my side. I couldn’t use the light in here, there was no chance I’d be able to call on it now. Plus, he’d notice and would probably come running back to bind my hands again.
So there was just one option left. Void could heal.. I had seen it done. It wasn’t nice, it wasn’t painless and it’d probably be a risk as well using it here in this place, but I didn’t want to be weakened too much by my wounds.

Inhaling deeply, I focused. Drawing on the power here was easy. It was everywhere. I just had to be really careful not to plunge too deep.
Darkness,  pressing feeling on my mind. Something, someone. Voices… Luring, powerful. I had to ignore them. Keep my head straight. Which was easier said than done.

You were beaten. Cast aside. Ignored. They wanted to kill you. You are an outcast, even now. Don’t you see? Different. Weak.

Were these my own thoughts..?
Pain erupted as my hand covered one of the wounds with the shadow held in my hand. Forcefully, the flesh started to pull together. It’d leave some nasty scars. I clenched my teeth, not wanting to cry out, tears appearing in the corners of my eyes as I pushed through with the shadowmending.

See, how it helps you. How good it feels to wield the power. Don’t you agree?

They were there, in the back of my mind. As long as I kept this connection, they’d be there. Louder, due to the dark force surrounding me in the entire cave. 
I fixed wound after wound, shutting myself out to the ever present voices, so alluring. But I promised Nakobu I’d never give in to them. A balance had to be kept. He had faith in me. More so than anyone else I’d ever known. He trusted me to keep the balance.
So for now I simply pictured the ball of light in my mind. Not calling it into being, but I kept it in my thoughts, a small spark in the midst of the darkness surrounding me while the last of my wounds closed into a messy, ragged scar. The pain would linger for hours, I knew. But it was better this way.

Thinking of Nakobu brought a different pain. He’d be so worried, probably freaking out, knowing him. Perhaps I could at least send him a sign… a sign I was still alive, and myself.
I held up one of my hands, palm up. Slowly, a figure formed on it. Small, delicate wings much larger than the slender body they were attached to. Barely visible legs and feelers, twitching. With a few flaps of the wings, the small butterfly rose and flew out of the cage, into the darkness of the cave, barely visible. Hopefully it’d reach Nakobu first, before anyone else noticed it and destroyed it.

Sitting back, I sighed. Exhaustion crawled up inside me. Combined with the pain, it was hard to resist lying down and curling up. So that is what I did, trying to find the most warm position, alone. My cagemates wouldn’t look at me. They knew I could use the very power they feared, that held them stuck now. That they would be sacrificed to, when he’d find out I had lied about corrupting their minds to show he could trust me to want to side with him…

Darkness. Pain… loneliness. But, that spark of light. Hope. They’d come for me. I had to believe they would… or else my mind was already lost.

Outside, a small and fragile shadowy butterfly braved the odds and made its way towards its demise, the brightest source of Light it could find in the town.