A large tray of fruits flew over Rakini's head. She ducked right on time as it crashed onto the wall behind her, staining the pristine paintings and oozing miserably below. Panting, she raked her gaze around the hall.

Her father and mother were no where to be seen in the chaos. Rich silken robes billowed around as the Arkans stood defenselessly against the rebels.

They screamed helplessly for the guards, only to find themselves locked inside by the slaves.

She could hear the guards trying and failing miserably to break the heavy wooden doors from the outside, owing to the excellent Arkan architecture. A whimper escaped Rakini's lips as she tried to find cover in the room. By the time they'd throw open the doors, it would be too late.

The Raatrika slaves attacked mercilessly, the Arkans defenseless without weapons of any sort.

"Why are you doing all this?", the Head Priest screamed, blood trickling down her lip. "Why do you harm innocent people?"

"Innocent people?", the Raatri rebel leader bellowed. "We're just doing to you what you heartless beasts did to us!"

Both women came face to face, brandishing weapons grabbed from a few fallen slaves. Raakini watched in horror as they lunged ferociously at each other. The aging Head Priest wouldn't stand much against the younger, well-built Raatri slave.

Wanting to help, she looked around, trying to find a weapon of some sort. She could barely keep herself alive amidst the chaos, let alone help the head priest. Sweaty, blood-stained bodies kept brushing against her as she moved about the oval room.

Most of the Arkans were wounded badly enough to faint, but, hopefully not dangerously enough to prove fatal. Amidst all the commotion, the idol of Arka stood serenely in the centre, a cool breeze shifting through his garments.

Scanning the crowd for a familiar face, she finally spotted Sanav, busy fending off a tall, dangerous looking Raatri slave. He didn't seem to be winning.

His eyes, on catching hers, begged for help. Before she could hurry in his direction, heavy footsteps echoed behind her.

"That one! Get her!", a man screamed, with two other Raatri slaves right behind him. They held sharp, well-polished swords which glistened in the Arkan sunlight. One of them held a  thickly knotted rope.

Rakini froze, a cold tingle running down her spine. She shut her eyes in desperation. Lord Akra protect me.

A coarse palm curled around her wrist, yanking her to a side. Rakini yelped as a slave-boy pulled her along, running in between the pillars of the hall. She struggled in vain to get rid of his firm grip. Pulling her along roughly, he kicked open a slab on the polished marble floor, now splattered crimson with blood.

"Wait", she gasped. "What are you-"

"-just trust me!", he shouted in her ear, giving her a harsh push.

She tumbled down into the darkness, her bones hurting as though a thousand nails pricked them all at once. She finally landed on a hard, cold floor as the pain travelled through her skin.

A moment later, the slave jumped in after her. Scrambling to his knees, he pulled close the slab over the entry way, leaving only a small crack open. Gesturing her to wait, he peered outside.

Rakini let out a small gasp. This was the same Raatrika slave she'd smiled at sometime ago.

By now, she'd risen to her feet. Just as his eyes met hers, she delivered a hard punch to his jaw. He crumpled to the floor in shock, wincing in pain.

"Have you gone mad, Arkan?", he spat from the floor in a pained voice.

She kicked him on the abdomen in response.

"Ow!", he howled, now cradling his stomach. "Listen, I-."

Rakini raised her fist once again.

"-wait!", he screamed, holding up a hand. "I'm not with them, I swear!"

She lowered her hand as he slowly got up, groaning in pain. A small part of her wallowed in guilt at the expression on his face.

"I- I mean no harm", he panted, massaging his face. "I was just trying to save you from them."

"Save me? By pushing me down a hole?"

He frowned. "If I hadn't pushed you, those rebels would've either killed you or kidnapped you. Do you want that?"

She stayed silent as he caught his breath.

"Trust me-", he huffed. "-I'm not a part of the rebellion. I had no idea this was supposed to happen."

"So you're telling me you're not on their side?", she asked, crossing her arms.

He shook his head. "Partially.I want their cause to succeed, yes, but I disapprove of their methods."

"And what is their cause?", she demanded.

His lilac eyes shrunk in exasperation. "What do you think it is?"

Rakini stilled. "Freedom", she breathed, more to herself than to him.

"Freedom." He nodded. "But that can't be achieved through this kind of violence."

Rakini looked around the place, shivering. Absorbed in their conversation, she'd completely forgotten about their surroundings. The place was dissolved in blackness, with the only light coming out of a crack from the top. Hysteria rose to her throat. Darkness. The power of Raatri.

He seemed to have noticed her discomfort. "What's wrong?"

"It's so...dark", she whispered. She pressed a palm to her head to clear the fear. Being an Arkan, she'd never been submerged in such dense darkness before. With the attack going on outside, it felt as though Goddess Raatri herself was out slaughtering them, venting her anguish and fury.

"Don't think about it", he said in an assuring tone. "Don't think, just keep talking to me. The more you think about it, the more it hurts. That's what I do when I face the Arkan sun."

Pity washed over Rakini. She'd been here hardly a few moments, yet, the darkness made her stomach churn and throat clog. The Raatrikas must be very, very brave to toil away in a strange land, under a foreign power.

"I... I must apologize", she started. "I didn't mean to punch you."

"You can deliver quite a blow, I tell you." His hand flew back to caress his cheek. "A bit harder and you could've broken my jaw."

Rakini didn't reply. Something else had caught her attention. Her vision of the boy had been growing more and more clear. She'd been thinking that her eyes were adapting to the darkness, before realizing that if she looked anywhere else, it pained her gaze. This was something else.

"Are you...are you glowing?", she asked incredulously.

He grinned slightly. "Well yes, if you put it that way. All the Children of Darkness do that."

Rakini chuckled in astonishment. "How come I've never noticed before?"

"That's maybe because you've never been in darkness before, let alone see a Raatrika in our natural element, the darkness."

She nodded curiously. His pale skin gave off some kind of ethereal silver light, lighting up his entire figure.

"Our actual homeland is graced by the presence of Lady Raatri, in the form of a light-absorbing sun", he explained. "It is permanently dark there, and cooler."

"Always dark?", she asked softly. "There's no light?"

"Yes. But we aren't as powerful as our sun, are we? Just like you need some darkness to sleep, we need small bits of illumination, too. Our goddess was generous enough to create us with bodies that naturally lighten up. The only other source of light used there are the blue fires."

Rakini's eyes widened. "Blue fire? I've heard of those, but never seen those before. Do you have them here?"

"I'll show you some day", he replied. He held out a glistening arm in the darkness. "The glow is feeble now because this is the land of Arka. Our skins are dirty, and eyes are pale."

"I-I saw your eyes glow purple when you smiled at me."

"That happens very rarely", he admitted. "We were originally supposed to have dark purple eyes. They've just faded out here, I guess."

As they relapsed into a brief silence, Rakini's heart thudded painfully at the sound of shouting above. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to lift the slab.

"Wait, what are you doing?", he asked, panic sliding into his voice.

"I need to go help them!", she whispered back.

"No." He shook his head violently, pulling down the slab. "They looked like they were specifically after you, you can't go out!"

"I don't care", she countered. "My family-"

"-your family would want you to be safe, er...my lady", he finished, ducking his head down. His demeanor had turned cold and distant.

"What happened?", she asked confusedly.

"Nothing-", he kept his eyes lowered. "-my lady."

"My name is Rakini. What's yours?"

He stared at the floor in defiance. "It shouldn't matter, my lady. You are Arkan nobility, and I, your Raatrika slave. The likes of you and the likes of us don't mix."

She shook her head. "My name is Rakini", she pressed. "You can call me by my name. What's yours?"

"Druhin", he muttered reluctantly.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Druhin." Leaning forward, she placed her index finger to his forehead.

He reeled back in surprise. "The Arkan way of greeting?"

"The Arkan way of greeting", she confirmed.

"But I'm just a slave", he protested.

"You will be no longer, Druhin. The moment we get out, I'll make sure you're let free."

"Really, my lady?"

"Trust me. But for that, you need to call me by name."

"Thank you-", raising his finger unsurely, he pressed it to her forehead. "-Rakini."

She smiled. "Good." He smiled back.

"Do you work in my house?", she asked. "I've never seen you here before."

"Oh, I was sold to the head of your staff just a few days before. My job is to sweep the rooms clean."

"Sold?" Rakini couldn't help but wince at his casual tone. "Wait. If you've been working here only a few days, how do you know of this place?"

"I discovered that a single slab was loose while I was cleaning this hall a few days ago. It's the only completely dark place I've ever seen. I've been coming here everyday. It's gives me an experience of how my homeland my actually look."

"Thank you for saving me, Druhin."

He grinned. "I'm glad I did. You seem like a nice person."

She began to smile back, but stilled. The noise above had died down completely.

"Druhin? The sound...", she whispered fearfully. "It's all gone."

He nodded. "Do you think we should check?"

Slowly, Rakini pushed open the slab as Druhin helped her. Standing on her toes, she peeked outside.

The hall looked like it'd been brutally ravaged by wild beasts. Vases of flowers lay crumbling on the floor. Silks, gold coins, food, were littered around in various stages of wreckage.

Bodies wearing both golden robes and rags were strewn on the ground. The wounded elite were tending to each other morosely while the Arkan guards tried to handle the situation.

Her eyes widening in horror, Rakini pushed herself up to the floor alongside Druhin. She nearly slipped on a slippery liquid on her palms.

She held up her fingers to inspect the stains. Rakini recoiled in disgust. Blood.

Scampering to her feet, she looked around wildly. She could spot her father at one end, screaming at a bunch of guards about something.

"Father!",she called out.

"Rakini?", her father cried, his voice laced with relief.

She ran across the hall into his welcome embrace.

"I'm so happy you're alright", he said, caressing her cheeks. "Where have you been all this while."

"There's this boy, Druhin, he-", Rakini paused, remembering something. "Where is Mother?"

Her father's face turned grave, shoulders sagging and eyebrows furrowing. He said nothing.

"Where is my mother?", she repeated in a harsher tone. "I need my mother. Where is she?"

"I'll tell you."
The Head Priest walked towards them, hair untangled and clothes blood-soaked. The entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

"Your mother has been taken."

_________________________________________

Author's note:

Hope you enjoyed reading!

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