The Pit

The sound of feet dragging across the metal floor caught her attention. She brushed her hair back and let her head rest against the wall behind her, her eyes trying to decipher the shapes of the guards through her cell bars. The hallway was dimly lit by torches. Quite draconian in her opinion.

The person being dragged was dropped unceremoniously in the cell opposite hers. She tried to move her head to get a better glimpse of the new inmate, but a burly guard stepped in her way.

"Keira, looks like this one should be a bit familiar. He's widely known," the guard said. "To think, your precious leader was caught so easily," he laughed. Keira watched as he turned and walked away, the other guard, much skinnier, following closely behind.

After they left, the young woman turned her gaze back to the new prisoner. With the dim light provided, she could barely make out the outline of the figure. The guard was right; it was a man. But was it really Donovan? It couldn't be. He was always fighting back, never getting caught. He was known for his grand entrances and escapes.

"You failed."

Keira sat up straighter against the wall she was chained to. It was him.

"I had no choice."

"There's always a choice," he rasped, his breaths short and laborious.

"I don't leave anyone behind," Keira countered, her voice becoming cold.

"The mission comes first, no matter the price," Donovan said. "Or do you want to live this overturned country we used to call home."

"That's rich, coming from the man who taught me that comrades came first. What would you have me do; attempt to complete the mission and have everyone who fights with us die, or leave the man you called brother behind? I made the right decision, Donovan. You would've done the same."

"I would've completed the mission."

"It was impossible! You leave me and your younger brother to take on a whole army! There was no way we would've lived! You once told me that I was one of the strongest, coming in second to only you. But I see more weakness to you than I thought. Your name misleads people. You have to earn the name 'strong'."

"Don't speak to me about weakness." By now, he was clutching the bars of his cell, his face bathed in the firelight. He was bloodied, though Keira wasn't sure if it was only his blood he was caked in. "You, who couldn't even stand up for yourself when I rescued you. I trained you!" He shook his head, his light colored eyes steeling into her own, a fiery anger behind them.

An onslaught of memories attempted to bring themselves into Keira's attention, but she steeled herself against them, meeting her former leader's gaze. "Yes," she agreed, "but that didn't mean you were strong. You had much more character when we were younger. But you had no right to lead people to their deaths! Your own brother, Donovan! Your orders killed him! Cost him his life! How dare you! He looked up to you, trusted you!" She was pulling against her restraints to let him see her fury, her refusal to forgive. "Much like I did," she confessed in a worn tone. She turned her head away from him, letting her hair block her face, creating almost a shield around her emotions.

She was done talking to him.

"Those who break the rules are worthless," Donovan said, his harsh tone never wavering.

"But those who leave their comrades behind are even lower," Keira finished. She pushed herself as far as she could without letting the restraints hurt her, trying to distance herself from the man in the cell across from hers.

A man she looked up to. Trusted. Even called him a friend.

She closed her eyes, trying to block the memories again. That's all they were. Memories. They were of no use now.They would die, along with her body and Donovan's. They were going to die in this prison.

In the Pit.