The grimy stairs coated with moss and humidity seemed to be like an eternity. Lilia's hair felt like it was going to be pulled out from the scalp. The jet locks was not a leash to be directed by. He obviously thought otherwise and did not lighten his grip.
 His repulsive touch still stun deep within her skin. It felt as there had been heavy lashes laid upon her dingy flesh, leaving behind unpleasant imaginary black and blue welts. It truly was only the hallucination caused by the sickening feeling she felt in the inside of her stomach by being touched by this man. Everything else was just an illusion to this circumstance. It seemed as she was being pulled farther and farther down this faintly lit chasm that even the feeling of her hair being pulled was just her imagination.
 He stopped once he had gotten to the bottom, his destination. The sudden stop jerked her body towards his but once they had collided he pushed her away instantly like she was infectious. His hand still firmly gripped around her dark hair as if a lead rope. Inside she felt a bit hurt that he had pushed her away like that although she didn't want to be anywhere near him. These feelings confused her deeply.
 The torches were much thicker in wood and wrapped with finer cloth that more burned radiantly. The light caught her eye. It had to be another deception of her mind, so she could comprehend this hell, but it wasn't. It was real. She looked up and stared in wonder as the light beamed and reflected this world before her. It seemed like day underneath the earth. The chasm was as beautifully dressed as his bedroom above but still adorning its rustic rocky appearance. Cut from the cavern of a cave deep inside the womb of the ground.
 Water leaked from mammoth stalactites that hung from the ceiling. They resembled dark rocky icicles. The droplets that fell were journeyed to a large lake that dwelled in this beautiful place. It ebbed and flowed slowly, but it was pure and clear. She could see the sand and small stones on the bottom. The lake seemed to go on and on, never ending and immense.
 
 There in front of her standing as regal as a queen stood a beautiful bed, the foundation cut from a large white marble slab. The cushion made from some soft red material, probably velvet from what she could see, filled with duck feathers. Pillows laid on top of it made of the same material inside and out. It reminded her of Mathur's tunic. She longed to run from the Priest and lay on it, but he still had her restrained by her long hair.
 It was hard to believe that such a place existed far below the temple and the stone home of the men. Did anyone know of this place? Someone had to of. Someone made this place. At least the manmade parts of it. What was it before the Priest had ownership and made it an extravagant bedroom underground?
 He smiled at her amazement. It was written all over her face. Very clear for him  to see.
 "This is your new home." He said and pushed her forward, relinquishing her hair.
 She almost wanted to thank him to be sheltered in such a beautiful place such as this. She knew better though and turned around with a questioning expression. This wasn't her home, this was her prison.
 "You will never leave here. As I told you, you'll never see the light of day again Lilia. Only these bright torches that bounce off these wet rocks."
 "Why are you doing this to me?! I didn't do anything to you!" She screamed.
 Her voice echoed off the stab walls coming back at her. Seeming to slap her square in the face.
 The Priest Baeddan smirked.
 "You have to be punished for your heresy to the Goddess. I get to kill you as slowly as I wish. Or I can keep you alive, and you'll beg for death."
 Lilia scoffed as she narrowed her eyes at the tall figure standing in front of her.
 "She doesn't care about me, obviously. I've done nothing to her but worship her my entire life! The same goes for your wife."
 Tension burned behind his forehead as anger brewed behind his eyes. His fists clenched within themselves. He stared at the young defiant woman standing prominately in front of him. How badly he wanted to end her life right there and now. He knew that would be too merciful for a creature such as her.
 A growl rolled off his tongue as he rushed up to her, forcing her up against a rock pillar. A large thin stalagmite rushing from the ground. She collided with the stony figure with a jolt and let out a muttered gasp. It felt like her insides had all crashed into each other. He drew a sharp blade from the inside of his robe and held it to her throat. Its sharp edge pressed dangerously close against her soft skin.
 Baeddan snorted. His hot breath was like acid to her flesh. Dissolving the outside eating its way to the inside. He lowered the blade from her neck and cut the dress she was barely wearing from her breast to the tattered ends where it loosely hung from her hips. She watched fearfully as it lazily fell to the floor.
 His anger temporarily lost itself as his eyes fixed themselves in amazement at her nudity. They lurked up and down her body until they met back to her refusing face and he recollected everything and why the heat had boiled behind them. He pushed her hard into the stone pillar backing away but leaving the blade in her direct view.
 "Get in that water and bathe yourself. Now!" He demanded.
 At first she so desperately wanted to refuse him all the way. So it would anger him so much he would slit her throat. But the thought of somehow escaping and surviving, living to see another day in the sunlight was more appealing then her blood dripping down from her neck until her last moments. She couldn't understand why she had these thoughts. There was no way she could leave this place.
 She did as was demanded by the tall man in the tan robe. The water was so kind to her abused flesh unlike him and these past few days. The tiny nymphs who resided in the watery kingdom kissed her dirty and rueful skin, caressing it with loving touches. She splashed the clean crystal water on her body washing away the dirt and grime that had attached itself to her in those days in the cellar.
 He sat himself down in a chair made from the same cut marble and the same soft blood red fabric. He watched her bathe. The Priest licked his lips as he stared at her imagining what he could do to her next. What punishment could be worthy for such a woman as she was. A woman who had committed the terrible crimes she had.
 Lilia's heart raced with threatening thumps as she caught him just simply sitting there staring at her with the eyes full of terrible intentions. She could barely imagine what he was planning to do. His mind was indeed twisted and he did not deserve the holy right to be a priest of the temple.
 Her mind shifted as her thoughts were brought to attention to the temple itself and the Goddess which it housed. She wasn't even sure how Lady Mayia had died. It could have been the beautiful man from the monstrous gateway or it could have been something else completely. What Goddess would turn her back on her own children for simply breaking the rules? She agreed to an extent there would have to be some sort of punishment, but nothing like this. The Goddess wasn't the loving and giving mother she thought and was raised to believe in. Indeed she was the monster that Lady Mayia had implied that day in front of her chambers. Maybe that man from the shadows was something more divine than the Goddess could ever be and she got jealous and had to destroy the only witnesses to the proof of something better.
 No, but that couldn't be true. The Priest had witnessed the events by seeing the echoes of the past through ritual. Probably Marea as well as some of the other temple girls. She wondered if they could possibly felt what she had. That wasn't possible. If they had she wouldn't be in this predicament.
 Her grey eyes migrated slowly from her contemplative thoughts back into the world of solidity. The chair before her which held the Priest Baeddan was empty. Her senses whirled to be as alert as they could. She turned around only to be face to face with him. She didn't even hear him enter the water. No sign of splashes, and not a sight of ripples.
 An intense expression was locked into his facial features. His eyes the most extreme part. She backed away from him until the water reached her neck. A smirk came to his lips as they curled he stalked her every move.
 He pulled her close to him, only then did she notice that he had removed his clothing. The sick feeling pulsed like an insect inside her stomach as their flesh touched once again. Though with a larger region the more gigantic the wave of sickness rolled in her stomach.
 He continued to stare as if dazed or staring at someone else completely. Maybe even through her. She tried to escape his touch but as she did he firmed his grip around her. As he did so he dragged her with him to shallow water and leaned her against a rock that was prisoner to the water.
 The water now just barely covered her waist. She trembled as he moved his hand slowly down her back. The other restraining her stomach to the rock with his weight.
 Her back was smooth under his touch. The skin was clamy from the water but he could feel the heat radiating from underneath the upper layers.
 His hand restraining her at her waist moved up slowly to touch her innocent styled face. She turned away from him abruptly. His eyes swirled with anger as he grabbed it harshly in both his hands. He narrowed his eyes at the defiant woman as he gently rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs.
 "Don't fight me. You'll only regret it." He said.
 She softly whined underneath her breath as he proceeded.
 He bit into her lips with gentle pressure. His teeth released themselves from the soft tender flesh as his own lips pressed against hers. She willingly kissed him back in fear of what he would do to her if she didn't.
 He released the tight hold he had of her face. The large hands slid down to her strong shoulders that was cradled by her wet hair.
 Lilia wrapped her trembling arms around his broad structure, which pressed his body onto hers. Her stomach quivered with the sickening feeling.
 Baeddan's tongue viciously entered her mouth. Another soft whine escaped from her, although to him it sounded like a moan of pleasure.
 Her primal functions were beginning to take over. If she didn't think about how this feeling came about it was going to be okay. She embraced his touch. His mouth on hers. His hands roaming from her shoulder to her breast.
 His tongue felt like what she imagined the glorious bed would feel like. So that's what she imagined it as. Red velvet rolling around in her mouth. Gliding softly on her tongue.
 His stomach was pressed against hers. Equally mingling with each breath they took. She liked the feeling of his body weight pressed against hers.
 The deluted imagery was wonderful. It kept her deceived from the real moment she was now captive to. Until she felt a terrible pain surging from her waist. He entered himself inside her and reality came back to her.
 "Please stop." She cried.
 He could tell by the tightness between her legs why she had asked him to stop. He closed his eyes ignoring her request and continued.
 Tears exited from her eyes as she clenched them shut. Trying to ignore what was happening. Not embrace it, or imagine it being something else. Completely being away from this place. But as he thrusted and groaned with pleasure reality became more solid and formed hands pulling her back into this existence.
 "Stop!" She screamed.
 Once again her pleas were ignored as he continued. A little more rough now that she was persistent on him stopping.
 Her fist raised like tiny hammers slamming down on his hard flesh, but he did not budge. He continued as his pace continued as each thrust became more pleasurable. She dug her nails into his arms as she arched back screaming in pain. Tiny crimson rivers fell from the moon shaped wounds she inflicted.
 His body became ridged as he seemed to suffocate under his own heavy breathing. One last powerful painful thrust jolted from his hips. He sat there motionless for moments inhaling the moment. Getting the steps back to his breathing. He peered his eyes open at her.
 She stared back at disgusted and face tear stained.
 He smirked and got up standing over her. She didn't look up into his face, just mergly stared into the flesh of his thick thigh. Nothing existed anymore. No unfair Goddess, no whispering ghosts, no Death coming to take her away. This was her only home.
 He bent down as he slid his hands up her thigh feeling the warm liquid that was escaping from between her legs. He brought his hands to his face and stared at it. The blood covered the wide width of his fleshy palms and digits. Then his eyes glanced downwards at his manhood which was covered with the red stain. He emerged from the water and wrapped the tan robe around himself.
 She stared off into the distance. Gone.

 He closed the hidden door behind him once he had climbed the eternity of stairs to his bedchambers. The tapestry was put in place to secure its concealment. There was a knock at his door.
 "Enter." He said still mesmerized by the blood on his hands.
 Mathur stepped in. His eyes grew wide when he saw the spectical before him.
 "You killed her..."
 "Thats right. She's lucky thats all that I did to her."