Draco's quest

2. Stuck in a world so strange

Narrator

Draco was carried to his cell. The walls were made of huge blocks of rocks. The ground was muddy and dirty. Draco saw strange-looking insects crawl on the walls. Small insects that crawled on their tummies, some of them glowed in the dark, while others left trails of slime as they moved. Draco cringed when he saw the condition of the cell he was supposed to stay in, for as long as they wanted him to. 

As soon as they made him land on the muddy floor, they shut the door of the jail and locked it. 

“Fillanimis.” One of them yelled as they pointed to the bars of the jail door before glancing at Draco who helplessly stared at the strange beings. Their faces were still covered with their hoods, adding to their mysteriousness. 

“Now you cannot escape.” He muttered and waved his hand, releasing Draco from the invisible force that held him. 

“What......” Draco gasped as soon as he could. 

“Why are you doing this? I...just got lost.” He tried to explain as he walked towards the bars of the jail, matting his shoe with the dirt and mud in the cell. 

He tried to appeal as he extended his hands towards the bars, but as soon as his fingers touched it, he screamed and stepped away. He frowned at the gate of the jail. 

“What the fuck.....this thing electrocuted me.” He whimpered, blowing on his pained fingers.

The two guards laughed as they removed their hoods, revealing the most mysterious men Draco had ever seen. Draco gaped at the two strange men, who had colourful hair and dazzling eyes. One of them had bright pink hair while the other’s hair was bright blue.  

“We told you already. You cannot escape. Why else would we remove the restrictions on you?” they mocked. 

However, Draco was now too mesmerized by their strange looks. Their skin was smooth and supple. Not a single scar or blemish was on their faces. Not even a strand of hair in the wrong place. Their flawless skin and colourful hair only made them look as if they spend an awful lot of time in a high-end salon. 

“Hey! Prisoner! It is useless trying to escape. We have cast a spell on the gate. You will stay here until tomorrow. The judge will be ready to sentence you by then.” They said rudely and walked away. 

Cast a spell? Draco thought. So they have magical powers? It was obvious that they did. They could float and hover in the thin air. They could make invisible forces bind you. They even looked strange. Not like normal humans. 

Draco his face and sighed in exasperation. What had he gotten himself into? Maybe being too curious was not a good thing. Maybe he should have just led a silent life back at home. Shaking his head he looked around to find a suitable place to sit down so that he could rest. 

Who knew what awaited him? If the guards are floating freaks that can do all those hocus pocus who knew what the judge would be capable of. Maybe he would be able to make Draco disappear forever. He sat down on one side of the cell, where though was the most suitable to rest his aching body. 

Disappear huh? That would be better than this. He thought. 

He leaned against the wall, giving some rest to his tired muscles. It only then did he realise how tired he was. Slowly, his eyes started to feel heavy. Though he didn’t want to fall asleep in that filthy dungeon, he had no other choice. He was exhausted. Soon, he drifted off into a deep sleep. 

*****

Draco was left in the dungeon for the rest of the day. In this land, since the sun never set, day and night were determined by time. Draco continued to sleep for a long time until he woke up. And when he did, he was so hungry that he could eat a huge horse. She slowly stood up from where he sat and looked around. 

“Don’t they bring food for their prisoners?” he murmured and walked towards the bars of the jail, taking caution not to touch it. There was no one in sight. 

“What the hell. Not a single guard around.” Draco muttered. 

His stomach rumbled. Draco wrapped his arms around his stomach for some time and stepped back from the gate, regretting his decision to go on this expedition. 

“Maybe I should have started the business mom wanted me to.” He grumbled under his breath, slightly pissed off at himself for not taking his late mother’s advice. 

She had advised him to start a business and settle down and perhaps find a suitable bride. However, he was too fed up with people after his fiancé cheated on him with his best friend. He considered himself lucky to have walked in on them and caught them red-handed. But after that day, his desire to mingle with others had ceased. 

His stomach growled in hunger once again. 

“Gah. If only I could get something to eat.” He mumbled.

“Prisoner!” 

A loud voice startled Draco who was at the far end of the cell. His heart skipped a beat when he heard the voice, making him jump. When he saw the pink-haired guy at the door, he relaxed a little. 

“Dude. You didn’t have to scare me like that.” Draco muttered. 

The guard raised his eyebrows and scoffed.

“Whatever.” He replied and waved his hand before inserting a small package through the bars of the jail. “Now eat. The judge will come soon. We have to take you to the courtroom before he enters.” He informed and waited for Draco to finish his food. 

Food! Draco’s eyes widened. He scurried towards the little package that was waiting for him at the gate. However, when he opened the package, he got the shock of his life. The blob of what looked like a piece of meat was screaming. Its shrill voice filled the whole cell. Gasping in shock, Draco dropped it on the floor. 

“What? You act as if you’ve never had scream meat before.” The pink-haired guy exclaimed. 

Draco looked at the guard who he would say was a weird freak with a shocked expression on his face. 

“What?” his voice sounded like a gasp of breath.

Rolling his eyes, the guard handed him another package. 

“Here. Take some wheat. This is some surface food we found recently.” He huffed.

Wheat? Surface food? Well, that sounded a little better. Draco thought as he took the package from the guard’s hand. To his relief, it was a piece of bread. He was quick to gobble up the small piece of bread which barely satisfied his hunger. However, that was better than nothing.

“Now come with me.” The guard ordered as he opened the gate. As soon as Draco got put, he was handcuffed.

Sighing, Draco followed in silence. He didn’t even try to resist. There wasn’t anything he could do anyway. What could do against these bizarre people who had magical powers? So much for exploring. Draco thought as he followed the guard with his eyes downcast. Well, at least now he knew for sure that worlds other than the human world do exist.

And these beings possessed powers he never knew of. At least this time he was not bound up by some unseen force. And at least he could talk. And at least he was allowed to follow on foot. 

Obediently following the pink-haired guard, Draco kept his fingers crossed, hoping that the judge would go easy on him.