Music is Cavendish Lab from The Theory of Everything. Play it!

     Her skin was damp with sweat and her throat was parched. It felt like she couldn't breathe anymore, and perhaps that was why she woke up. 

     Verana's eyes shot open and before she could comprehend anything, she screamed, her legs forcing themselves under her. Her eyes frantically searched the darkness before her as she quickly backed up. A shockwave went through her mind, working to figure out what her eyes were seeing. She stepped onto her dress and one of her knees gave out, causing her to fall. 

     Her face hit the floor and she groaned, clamping her eyes shut. Planting her palms down on the cold and dirty surface, she rose into a sitting position. She dragged her fingers across her cheek so as to remove the grime but only succeeded in rubbing more dirt onto her greasy face. 

     She flapped her wings and suddenly cried out, curling in on herself. She groaned as her fingers shook. Verana wanted to flex her wing; she wanted to believe that the pain was just a cramp. But it hurt too much.

     They had broken her wing. She wouldn't be able to get home. Warm tears slid down her cheeks, soft sobs falling from her lips. She attempted to move, but every little movement sent lightning strikes of pain through her wing. 

     Inhaling sharply, something got caught in her throat and she coughed. Water. Her body needed water.

     Slowing rising to her feet on wobbling legs, she gritted her teeth as her head throbbed. She realized that she couldn't even hold the wing, all strength seeming to have disappeared. 

     Verana wrapped her hands around her left wing, holding it in her arms so that she could move freely. It still hurt, but she didn't make any sudden movements so as to keep the pain bearable. 

     She positioned her free hand in front of her, lighting them with her power. The room around her was indeed filthy, like her face, and straw littered the floor. Black, metal bars met her eyes from across the room and she carefully walked towards it, reaching her hand outside of her prison. 

     Her shock increased as her light brightened the cells around her. They were all filled with. . . humans. Her eyes widened and her fingers lost all strength as the people inside reached out for her, clawing at the air as if they could take her power. "You shouldn't have let yourself get captured, little volucris," they said and she screamed, backing away from the bars and allowing her power to diminish. 

     Verana pushed her nails into her scalp, the exhaustion she didn't know had been slowing creeping up on her since the moment she woke up finally catching her off guard. She resisted the urge to scream once again; to cry in vain; to curl up and block out the world. But that wouldn't get her anywhere, she would still be in the same place. That could not happen. 

     A million questions zipped throughout the far reaches of her brain; wondering, begging for the answer to one question: how had this happened? 

     Verana walked forward, examining the bars of her cage. Never had the phrase "bird inside a cage" meant more to her in that moment. She ran her fingers along the metal, so foreign beneath her skin. She had heard of the substance before, but it had never been used for anything besides ovens in their realm. Her mind vaguely wondered what else the humans used metal for. 

     She didn't know much about metal, but she did know what it was hard, very hard. Which meant that it always had to be melted. Verana wasn't sure if her light would be hot enough to melt away a good amount for her to be able to slip through. . . or even a little bit of the seemingly impenetrable door.

     Verana knelt down, setting her still limp wing onto the dirty floor. She hissed at the pain and took a deep breath, trying with everything she had to ignore the hurt.

     Closing her eyes, she focused her senses. Verana pushed away the exhaustion that still hung over her head, threatening to throw her under. She needed to get back to her family, back to Zan. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of what they might be feeling at this very moment.  

     The images of her family in grief fueled what energy she had left and she pulled it all to her palms. Verana gripped the metal harder, gritting her teeth as a fire lit in her eyes, burning throughout each of her fingertips. 

     It didn't matter that her wings were broken, she would get out of this prison and find some kind of shelter until she healed.

     Verana could feel heat in every line of her skin, and for a moment, she wasn't sure if it was even her own anymore. But by Conan, it felt amazing. Utter power fell off of her in waves, she could feel it leaving her soul, or was it revolving around her soul? Verana didn't think she had ever used so much raw power and that's when she realized that was because she had never been this desperate to get back home.

     Because this had never happened before. . . and nothing had prepared her for it.

     Red mixed with gold rimmed her ivory eyes as her eyelids slid open, sweeping away every sliver of determination and hope that had once been taking residence in her heart. Four guards stood at her cell door, holding torches of burning fire. The wisps of the flame already seemed to be reaching for her, begging to immobile her. . . maybe even kill her.

     Verana yelped, her hands leaving the unharmed bars, the red imprints of her hands slowing fading like the confidence she had allowed to overpower her senses. She continued to back up, wanting nothing but to escape the oncoming heat.

     Her wing screamed in pain as her back hit a wall. The men finally unlocked the door and her heart leapt into her throat. The light from the fire flooding the entire room and she sobbed, shaking her head as the men brought her very weakness closer to her. "No, please," she murmured, putting her hands out to them.

     One of the men suddenly drew a sword and pointed it towards her. "Stop! Put your hands down!"

     Verana was so shocked by the action that she didn't even have time to obey before another man came forward, grabbing her hands and twisting them behind her back. She was on her knees before she could scream and one of them stamped their foot into her hurt wing before she could remember why she had gone out of her room to look for the unknown.

     Her already dry throat squeezed with the effort of her heart-wrenching scream and she lost the strength to stay upright. The man who had been holding her arms before didn't help to keep to from falling, simply allowing her hands to slip from his grip as she fell to the side, once more coating herself in dirt.

     The fire was everywhere at once, creeping into the parts of her body she thought would be concealed. It felt like a thousand hands brushing her skin and she shuddered with whatever strength she still had left. Her heart beat anomaly fast. Verana swore that eventually, she would die from the exertion of its speed.

     Her eyes rolled back into her head as she arched her back, struggling to breathe as her throat closed. She made a strangled sound, her fingers clawing at the ground below her.

     Someone gasped and she heard sizzling sounds as voices muttered inaudible things to each other.

     Verana remembered this feeling that fire gave her from long ago. From the time of her grandmother. From when her best friend had hurt her. The hopeless too, it was there in her memories. Her parents never let her see her grandmother after the incident and the old woman had died a couple weeks later.

     She had been crushed, much like in every moment in the last minutes. She was going to die. Either from the lack of oxygen reaching her lungs or the fire that still licked at her skin. There was nothing left for her to do.

     A tear fell down her cheek at the regret that she would never get to tell her parents one more time that she loved them. That she would never get to see Lacilia use her power. She would never watch as Jen finally married someone. She would never get to kiss her own children. . . and Zan would move on without her.

     Without her.

— 

     Verana woke up, and this time she knew where she was. The darkness greeted her glazed eyes and she didn't move. Her limbs were frozen in place by exhaustion.

     Her head throbbed, reminding her that there was nothing she could do. You can't escape.

     She tried to move her fingers and they spasmed back and forth. Verana would have cried, but her chest burned at the thought. You have nothing left. Her eyes caught the glint of metal around both of her wrists, but she could care.

     So this is what else the human's use metal for. They probably use it for torture weapons too. 

     Gone was the heat from fire, leaving the air cold, but the scent of smoke clung to the tips of her hair. Or maybe it was just coating the inside of her nose. Every time she breathed in she could taste it on her tongue. Verana didn't know what was happening anymore, and that feeling made her stomach clench.

     Whispers sounded behind her and the muscles in her back went rigid, eyes opening wide towards the black wall in front of her. They wouldn't know she was awake, but still, haunting thoughts flashed across her mind. Threats, and screaming, and pain. She resisted the urge to cry. She wanted to run and get away from the gazes burning holes into her spine. 

     They were judging her. They were talking about her, deciding her fate. 

     "They did a good job," the deep voice of a man said.

     "Then why did you exile them, my lord?" a second voice asked. Also male, but younger and less threatening.

     The deep voice grunted. "Her wing is broken. They did what I asked and were paid, but they gave me a damaged gift."

     There was silence and Verana prayed that they had left. Her legs were cramping from her stillness and she didn't think she would be able to stand the irritation for much longer.

     "What do you plan to do with her?"

     The moments of no response gave Verana agitation. "You'll soon find out. She's listening." Her heart rate spiked and a gasp fell into the silence of the air. Without warning, the two men walked away, their steps echoing into her cell. 

     Verana shot upwards, her breath coming out irregularly. He had known she was awake even though she hadn't allowed herself to move. He had known the whole time. . . and then walked away. 

     Warm tears washed down her face as she moved against the wall, her limp wings dragging along the ground and her chains clinking together.

     She curled up and shivered as her arm hit the cold wall. She pressed harder still, hoping that it would provide heat later.

     Verana tried to remember how she had gotten into this mess. It had been her mistake, of course. Her stupid decision to look for that creature. She gritted her teeth. It had been her choice to go out alone. 

     Someone opened her cell door and she didn't even have to look over to see two torches burning in the darkness. They hadn't even given her a chance to regain her strength and even try to escape. How rude.

     She outstretched her good wing, hardly caring if they did anything now. The ache in her left wing was ever-present and she could feel the difference in the broken joint. It would heal that way, and she would probably never fly again. 

     Verana considered asking them to treat it, but then outwardly pursed her lips. They would never help her. Not after every cruel thing they had already done to her.

     She gazed down at her dress, the colorful and now worthless clothing feeling silly on her now. She was surprised they hadn't taken it from her yet to sell or burn. They wouldn't be able to take much more from her after that. 

     Verana exhaled, leaning her head on the cold rock surface. She wanted to ignore the heat of the fire, pretend that she was having to provide her own warmth, but there was no ignoring her venomous enemy, which could be used against her at any second.

     She wouldn't give them a reason to step closer, to hurt her anymore. Her mind no longer held the strength to fight back. She was so tired. Her body needed all of the things that she had taken for granted her whole life. Who would have thought that the only thing she truly wanted in that moment was something that was free—air.

     Sweet, clean air. Anything than the smoke that tainted her throat.

     Verana fell asleep dreaming of walking through a clean forest and drinking water from a cold spring.

     But that was a harsh impossibility that her mind conjured. . . and did so every day after.

     She willingly obeyed, raising the bowl once again to her lips.

Thanks for reading!

Why do you think the humans captured Verana? Who were the people talking outside of her cell? How did one of them know that she was awake and listening? What do you think will happen next?

Shoutout to @winterinheaven for the cover in the media section!

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