Chapter Eleven

Zephyr was awoken from her position on the floor when she felt something touch her shoulder. Acting on reflex she turned away from the touch and pressed herself into the corner. Her bones and muscles screamed and rubbed together in ways that were never meant to happen and she nearly passed out from the pain of moving so fast.
"Easy. It's okay." The voice that spoke to her was calm and strangely soothing. She tried to raise her head from the position she was in to see who it was that had spoken. "Don't try to move around so much. You're in pretty bad shape."
Zephyr opened her swollen eyes and saw a pair of armored feet. It was a guard. "Stay away from me," she growled out.
"I'm not here to hurt you." The guard reached out and touched again, lightly. Zephyr tried to press herself tighter into the corner. Her wings scraped against the rough stone and reopened wounds that had only just closed.
"I don't care. You are not a friend of mine. That makes you an enemy. You are working here, keeping me hostage. I will take nothing from my enemies except their lives."
The guard took off his helmet and raised an eyebrow. "With talk like that, you wouldn't think that you had just been beat within an inch of your life." He placed his helmet down and Zephyr realized that even though he was covered in armor she had not heard him enter the cell. He lowered himself down so that Zephyr could see his face. They studied each other for a moment, she was young and physically broken but her eyes argued otherwise. He was old and his eyes told a different tale; they were dry but he looked like he wanted to cry.
"I can't stand this place any more than you, child."
"I don't see you wearing any chains," she snorted.
The old Winglie shook his head. "I heard. I heard about that beating that Axel gave you. I heard you didn't make a sound. I'm sorry that this happened."
Zephyr spit bright red saliva on the cell floor and then tried to push herself up into a sitting position. The guard tried to reach his arms under her to help but she waved him away. "I'd never give him the satisfaction." She sat and felt all the gashes on her body. There was sprays of blood all over the floors and walls. "Just because you think that you feel bad for me doesn't mean that I want your help or your pity. I don't know you." She wiped her mouth lightly. "Like I said, you are my enemy. If I had the strength to fight right now, I would."
She looked at him with burning eyes and he slid back a little, not out of fear, but out of respect. The guard pulled a small pouch from his armor that had been tied around his neck and tucked where no one would have seen it. He opened it and dropped a small slice of bread and some dried meat into his gloved claws. Zephyr didn't even blink. She felt much too tired and beaten to think of something as trivial as hunger.
"You're probably not hungry right now, but there isn't much time and I saved this from my rations. It's for you." The guard held the food towards the prisoner.
"Even if I were hungry, how would I know that it isn't just poisoned?"
The guard shrugged and took a small bite of the bread and a bite of the meat. "Is this enough proof for you?" Zephyr blinked slowly but didn't reply. "My name is Roch. I've been here most of my life. I was drafted into the Defenders when I was a little younger than you are now."
"That's nice. You must really love your job."
Roch reached quickly for Zephyr's claws and pressed the food into them. "I hate it. I hate this place. I hate the missions. I never have liked it. That's why I was sent here and held under the threat that if I didn't follow the orders and do as I was told, my family would be the ones that paid the price. This place is as much a prison for me as it is for you, just because you can't see my chains doesn't mean that they aren't there."
"So then, why are you helping me. Why after all these years? Why now?" Zephyr closed her claws around the scraps of food.
Roch narrowed his eyes and whispered, "Because they broke their promise."
With that he stood quickly and grabbed his helmet from the floor. He wiped off some blood with a gloved claw and placed it over his head. "Stay alive, child. I will be back as soon as I can."
Roch moved silently across the room, unlocked the door and slipped out. Covered in armor, he hadn't made a sound. He moved like a ghost. No wonder Zephyr hadn't heard him when he came in, she didn't even hear him go out.
There was something about Roch that made her feel like she could trust him, even though her head was telling her that she shouldn't. She raised the piece of meat and sniffed it. It sure didn't smell like there was anything wrong with it, so she put it inside her cheek and let it sit there. The dryness made it too tough to chew with her jaw as beat up as it was, but by leaving it in her mouth it would soften up. It wasn't great but it was better than nothing and she knew that she would need the nutrients if she wanted to keep living.
As she tried to get comfortable on the ground again she drifted off to sleep wondering how old Roch actually was. How long had he really been here? Why was he trying to help her? There hadn't been a draft for ages. Nothing made sense. Maybe it was all really just a dream anyway.