Dungeons

Indrik's Pov

Cold! Pain! And even more pain! That's all I could think of as I drifted in and out of consciousness on the cold dungeon floor. This room seemed to have been abandoned for years. I had fallen face first into a web of cobwebs, the tiny strands of which I could still feel in my eyes despite my desperate attempts to get them out.

In here, I could see the reason why this place is so feared. It is a nightmare. The room is round and tiny. So tiny that I have to either stand on my feet or keep my body curled in a ball with my legs resting on the iron gate that secured the entrance, which I need not say was not very comfortable. Apart from that, the roof seemed to be connected to water of some sort, the source of which I was pretty certain I did not want to know. This water had been perpetually dripping to the rough concrete floor. Overtime, it had managed to crack the floor and algae had grown through it and then spread to the walls. Everywhere was practically covered with that dastardly thing. And that was not even the beginning of it. The dripping water seemed to have created an ecosystem of its own. One that accommodated insects which grew to ten times their size here. I had seen an ant that grew to the size of a crab. It might have been a crab though. But the worst inhabitants I had met yet are the rats. They grow to the size of a full grown cat although they are not half as cuddly. Seeing their beady eyes that glow in the dark and listening to the scuffle of their extraordinarily large feet was enough to keep me awake. Apart from that, there was the problem of this place being in perpetual darkness. Apart from the faint light that strayed in through the breaks in the iron door, the room was pitch black. There were no windows, even the roof was so far up, I couldn't be certain it was there except for well, the never ending dripping of water. My dry throat pushed me to stick my tongue out and have some of the water but i convinced myself that I was not that desperate just yet.

I was not alone in this hellhole though. A while ago which might have been a day ago as easily as it could have been an hour ago, I had curled up in an uncomfortable position and was starting to sleep when I felt cold black claws crawl over me. I had sat up with a shrill scream only to be barked into silence from voices that sounded dry, hungry and vengeful all at the same time. Even the memory was enough to make me shiver. I could not even begin to imagine what it must be like to be here for ages on end without any hope of ever going out. I had always known there were people like that. Criminals, thieves, stray wolves who had threatened the peace of the kingdom. They were all thrown into this place. Sometime ago, I had heard the clanging of keys and then, the grating of iron trays as they were slid to the prisoners. None came for me but I knew I was still relatively better than their lot. While I had the hope of leaving here after a week, if I survived, they knew better than to hope to ever be free. I shivered, glad I was not put in the same cell with them. I shivered again and something about the way my teeth chattered fiercely against each other told me it wasn't due to gratitude this time.

I sat up and made the mistake of placing my back on the wall. The pain that shot through my system made sure that I atoned for it. "Ribbit! Ribbit!" I heard the croaking of a frog and looked around blindly wondering how a frog could survive in a place like this. How had it even ended up here in a land where sun does not shine?

Sitting here all cooped up with nothing to talk to other than rodents that had chosen the large path was really starting to get to me. I wished there was someone I could talk to but something told me the prisoners would not be feeling very chatty right now.

I remained sitting silently for what seemed like forever until I couldn't take it anymore. My bladder had grown so heavy that I would probably spray my clothes like a little child if I did not find a way out of this soon enough.

"Is anyone listening?" I called out in impulse having felt around the small room and finding nothing like the door to a restroom. I was met by an eerie silence. "Hey!" I called again, louder and more desperate. Still, there was no response. "Where is the restroom around here?" Hearing the words coming out of my mouth, I realized that they probably sounded stupid. I am not sure you could blame me though, having had to hold it in for what seemed like an eternity with an initial thought of holding it till I was freed. Something told me that would not be working out. "Hey!" I cried again.

"Shut up!" A voice rasped.

"Please!" But none of my pleas could draw any answer from them. Eventually, desperation drove me to do the most lowly thing I had ever done in my entire life. I moved closer to the crack in the middle of the ground and emptied my bladder. The hole wasn't that large which means my room was soon full of water. Looking up at the water that was dripping, my eyes widened as I wondered if that was what it was as well.

I moved as far as I could from the pool and ignored the pain in my back as I rested on the wall. First day in the dungeon and I was doing pretty well. Six days to go.