I come across an ancient prison with a prisoner behind its bars,
--Stripe markings = bars
alone.
--Outcast
In the halls there are torture machines: sharp implements;
--Sharp teeth
curved blades;
--Unicorn
racks that stretch skin over bones.
--"skin is pebbled and stretched over bony plates"
The prisoner is naked, their coat taken at the door.
--"Aquila does not have a coat"
The weaponry seems quite superfluous now,
--Tail and build are meant for underwater warfare from the rift, none of that applies in peaceful above-ground helovia
for the captive speaks without hesitance.
--"She often speaks her mind and observations "
But they don't seem comfortable as they crouch within that cell.
--"This makes it difficult for her to relax (so she never does)"
They stare out from their cage with an unbroken gaze.
--"she rarely ever blinks"