XII: Rin pt. 1

Previous Entry

RIN

I’m clean... I’m finally free.

Lana kept running her hand over the satin dress, smoothing the edges, and taking in the moment. What Rin had done for her was greater than anything she could ever imagine. For the first time, Lana felt a sense of worth. She had felt a portion of it weeks ago when the Halfling shared a cup of tea with her. Rin didn’t treat Lana like an object meant for one use. To him, Lana was more. She was someone who felt pain and needed healing.

However, Lana was use to people not caring beyond what the surface showed. It caught her off guard that Rin would take the time to extend such gentle care. He had barely woken a few hours ago from his week long coma. It was enough for Lana when his first words were, “Rin heard Lana when dreaming. Rin has nothing to forgive Lana for.” She had hugged him dearly, grateful for his forgiveness.

Faela then sent them home with a large jar of salve and a bill for Lana’s guild. All she wanted to do was continue to take care of Rin, but the Halfling seemed to sense the pain that lingered deep beneath her skin. How could she ever forgive herself for what Barut had done to him? Women like you deserve to be punished! continued to haunt her thoughts.

They had barely made it through Rin’s front door, Lana asking what he was hungry for, when he pointed to a chair.

“Sit,” the Halfling instructed. Lana gave a soft smile and listened. “Now close your eyes,” he insisted. Lana gave him a suspicious look, but did as she was told. Rin took her hands in his and a moment later, a mug, almost too hot to the touch, was placed in her grasp. Surprised by the trick, Lana opened her eyes. She gave the drink a sniff and knew it to be taze.

“Shall we toast your return home then?” Lana asked. Rin beamed brighter, nodding. However, he took the cup from her hands and placed it on the table next to his. He then covered her eyes with his hands. Lana kept them closed and felt Rin’s hands return to hers. Another moment passed and something warm once more was in her grasp. She looked down and found a thick slice of toasted raisin bread, with a layer of butter melting on top.

“Here’s your toast!” Rin said, like a puppy trying to please.

“Wha- how’d ya do that?” Lana asked, half laughing. She knew Rin hadn’t moved away from her, nor had time to prepare anything.

“Rin believe in magic between him and Lana,” he replied. Lana picked her cup back up, shaking her head some.

“Well Rin, here’s to us always having magic and to our victories of late,” Lana toasted. She took a sip of the taze, savoring the warmth and spices that danced across her tongue. She followed it up with a buttery bite of the raisin bread. Whatever Rin did to make the wine and toast, it was heavenly.

However, the moment was short lived as Lana realized she was enjoying herself too much. Rin was the one who got hurt. He was the one still recovering and there she was being treated.

Women like you deserve to be punished!

Lana bit her tongue, denying herself any self pity. She had cried plenty during the week and it was time to be strong for Rin.

Yet as soon as that bout of guilt had washed through her, a warmth began to stretch from her core to the tips of her fingers and toes. She felt oddly content. Lana knew it to be the food.

Women like you deserve to be punished!

She swallowed nervously, warring within herself as she tried to hide her thoughts behind a smile. Rin saw past it though.

The Halfling stood up and took Lana’s hands. He helped her to her feet before guiding her to the bathroom. Lana would have been apprehensive, but she was past caring about her welfare.

Women like you deserve to be punished!

Lana was placed on a stool as Rin prepared a bath. She forced herself to keep smiling, stewing in self loathing. As the tub filled with steaming water, Rin helped Lana undress. He used the same care he had shown the first time they bathed together. It wasn't him just trying to get close to her. It was genuine respect for her person.

Rin hummed a song, helping Lana into the bath. Soon she was sitting with her knees tucked to her chest. The hot water felt rather nice and before she knew it, Rin was washing her back with a soft brush lathered in soap. Lana rested her head on her knees as the Halfling carefully cleaned her. As he did this, humming his tune all the while, her thoughts began to drift.

She found herself in a sort of haze as the memory of her attack came to view. Barut loomed over her, reminding her relentlessly of how she deserved to be punished. I know! she wanted to yell. She hadn’t asked Rin to make her food or clean her up. For a moment, Lana found herself drowning in the memory of Barut.

Then the Halfling poured a cup of hot water over her head, waking her from her thoughts. As his hands massaged her scalp, working the soap in, she could feel Barut slip away. Rin again poured hot water over her to rinse the suds out. As it cascaded down her face, the memory of her attack began to erase from under her skin. Before she knew it, she was stepping from the tub, leaving behind the hurt, shame, and guilt. As Rin dried and dressed her in a pearl white, satin dress, it was the first time in a week Lana felt free.

He’s gone?

She twirled about, completely lost for words yet invigorated with a sense of worth. Never had she felt so unconditionally loved. “This is so beautiful!” was all Lana managed to say before giving Rin a hug.

It was in that moment that Lana knew she was irrevocably his.

✻  ✻  ✻  ✻  ✻

Next Entry

XI: The Week

Previous Entry

THE WEEK

✻  ✻  Day One  ✻  ✻

The healer, Faela, immediately spotted the three as they walked through the church doors. She quickly rushed over.

“What in the heavens happened!?”

“He’s been hurt-” Lana began.

“I can see that!”

“Can you help him? I-I don’t have any money, but please, can you at least help him?” Lana begged. The Healer led them over to an empty bed. Shard placed Rin onto it, Faela disappearing a moment before returning with a handful of nurses. They began to draw the curtains to give his portion of the ward a sense of privacy.

Shard took his leave as Lana was sat down in a chair. A nurse began to clean her face as Faela called out orders. Lana kept moving to better see what they were doing to Rin. She watched as they removed the tattered clothes from his body.

“What’s his name?” Faela asked.

“Rin.”

The Healer began to mutter his name over and over. “He’s too hot,” she commented. Faela turned to her table of ingredients as nurses poured over the Halfling, cleaning his wounds and placing cold clothes on his head.

“What happened to the two of you?” Lana’s nurse asked. She explained that they had been kidnapped and beaten, her eyes continuing to watch her friend. She hadn’t a clue how long either of them had been gone. Lana was then asked who had abducted them when she watched Faela administer a potion to Rin. A moment later he began to convulse.

“What’s wrong!?” Lana cried out, “Is he okay!?” She began to stand to go help him but was met with resistance. Her nurse tried to keep her situated, but the urgent voice of Faela’s commands had Lana’s heart racing. She tried to get to Rin. She had to help him! He deserved to live over her!

“Get her out of here!” Faela ordered over Lana’s commotion. It took all three nurses to carry the screaming girl out of the ward.

The church was filled with Lana’s hysterics. She collapsed on the floor, sobbing and begging to be taken back to her friend. When a nurse was finally able to get a word in, she passed Lana a vial of medicine and told her to go home. “Get yourself cleaned up. Take care of yourself. That’s the best you can do for your friend right now.” The nurse then turned on her heels and left with the other two back into the ward.

Lana gripped the medicine, rocking a little as she collected herself. She eventually got to her feet and walked out of the church. Sylis was leaning against a pillar out front. His face softened a moment when he spotted Lana, but she wasn’t about to let him speak.

“I can’t deal with you right now,” she said, barely keeping her tone level, “And I’m not coming back with you either. So go find something to keep yourself busy with because I don’t know when I will want you near me again.”

Sylis took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Alright,” he said gently, “I’m going to go report back to my Dean. See you when-” the Wizard wanted to say ‘when I get back,’ but quickly corrected himself, “See you when you’re ready.” Lana gave a shallow nod to acknowledge that she had heard.

Once he was gone, Lana went to the only place she knew she’d be alone; Rin’s. She entered the dim home and was barely there a minute before losing herself to her misery. Would she ever forgive Sylis? Would Rin live? Would either want her after all that had happened? They had every right to hate her.

Though Rin’s place was warm and inviting, Lana felt as though she was back on the stone floor of Barut’s prison.

✻  ✻  Day Two  ✻  ✻

When morning came Lana’s mind felt more clear, aside from the phantom sensation of cold molasses all over her face. Her head ached as did her whole body. She picked herself up off the floor and proceeded to do as she was instructed. Lana took her medicine and began to clean herself up.

Whatever was in the vial worked remarkably well. As she used her magics to wash off the sweat and blood, she watched as her wounds shrunk and the aches disappeared. However, even when she was clean, in the back of her mind she knew she wasn’t. Barut still lingered under her skin like a disease she’d never be cured of.

With great effort, Lana put aside her self pity and dressed so she could go find out the fate of Rin.

Approaching the church doors seemed to fill her boots with lead. The closer she got, the harder it became to lift her feet. She wondered if she’d be able to accept Rin’s death.

Faela came over to Lana and hugged her. For a moment she thought she knew what it meant, but soon the half Elf informed her that Rin was stable. Lana reminded Faela that she hadn’t any money to pay for her services to which the Healer told her not to worry. All she needed to do was return everyday to see to him.

Faela lead her over to the Halfling’s bed. There Rin laid, covered in bandages and poultices. He wasn’t awake, which was good. His face was puffy and dark purple patches were all over his body. Lana took comfort that she could see him breathing.

“I want you to help in cleaning his wounds. You need to see the depths of his suffering,” Faela informed her. As if I already didn’t know, Lana thought. However the Healer was right. As Lana worked with the nurses to clean and apply new ointment and dressings, she could see how severe some of the marks were. Her fingers ran along a few that went to the bone. Some she knew would always remain as a reminder of that awful day. Lana made it a point to keep her face impassive to mask her remorse.

“He spoke your name during the night,” Faela said as a new poultice was applied to one of the bone deep gashes.

“He did?”

“Yes. Spoke of Barut too. How you were the reason he was there.”

Lana’s lips quivered. Faela was the one who revived them after she, Sylis, and Shadar had tried to assassinate Barut. She knew what the Healer was wondering; was it her doings? Though Lana felt like it was, she denied such to Faela.

“No,” she squeaked out, “I never knew he would be kidnapped. I-I don’t even know how they got him.”

After the final bandage was applied, Faela washed her hands in the table basin and dried them on a towel before ushering Lana well away from the nurses and Rin. She gestured toward a chair and sat down next to her. Faela pondered a moment, something pressing on her mind that made Lana squirm inside.

"I have heard tales of devotion and love and betrayal. Never have I heard of devotion like this man shows to you,” Faela told her directly, “Never have I seen such wounds. I’ve agreed to take him as my charge. But you. Must. Agree. that when he is well enough to leave, you will never forget and never take for granted who you are to this man."

Faela suddenly was on her feet and walking away before Lana could answer. It wasn’t a choice she was given. In most instances, she would have been oppositional. Nobody told Lana what to do! But she sat there watching the Healer’s back vanish behind the curtain that separated Rin from the room. All that came to mind was how much she agreed.

Never again will I take him for granted.

✻  ✻  Day Three  ✻  ✻

Lana returned the following morning to help with the redressing of Rin’s wounds. His face was beginning to look more normal, but his bright, muddy brown eyes remained closed.

Nurses were in a constant flow, one always remaining near by. Lana did her best to keep out of the way, but with how they bustled about, she found herself leaving for a little bit. All she wanted was to be alone with Rin.

Her opportunity came as night fell. Lana was sitting in a chair next to the bed, when the nurse told her she’d be around if there was anything she needed. Lana watched as she left.

The ward was rather silent at night. The whispers of Faela and nurses could be heard and sometimes other patients, but for the most part nothing stirred. The only noise Rin made was his steady inhales and exhales. It certainly was music to Lana. It meant another day toward wellness.

She knelt beside Rin’s bed, taking one of his hands in hers. “Rin, Rin, Rin...” Lana began. All day she had been hoping he’d finally wake up and had been thinking of the words she’d say to him. Lana had thought of many excuses to explain why she was the way she was. Reasons to try and make him see that she wasn’t worth his time. Over and over the words went in her head trying to push him away, but the circle would always complete with Lana knowing she owed it to Rin to stay.

She knelt there too long, and before Lana knew it, her emotions had bubbled over again. “I’m sorry,” she said in a whisper, “I’m really, really sorry what happened.” And that was all she managed to say.

✻  ✻  Day Four, Five, and Six  ✻  ✻

Rin continued to improve as days went on, but remained unconscious throughout. A quarter of his wounds had completely sealed while the bruises faded from purple to yellow/green. Lana also began to adventure farther from the church, so as to give her something to do over stewing in her thoughts.

The fourth day of Rin’s stay, Lana had walked the markets, just looking about. She spotted a girl selling flowers. There were a few dahlias and daisies in the mix and immediately thought they’d be something to brighten Rin’s room.

It then became a daily to do. At the end of each day, Lana would return and sit with Rin, regaling the Halfling with the day’s adventure. She’d also bring nic nacs back as gifts for him to wake up to. The first night was the flowers and her time at the market.

The fifth day Lana came across a group of performers. They wore brightly colored costumes and did all sorts of tricks. Some did aerial acts while others juggled. Her favorite were the hoop artists. Lana was mesmerized by the way they danced with the hoop, sending it around their body, up their arms, around their legs, flipping and crawling and all manners of stunts she would have thought impossible to do with an oversized ring.

Lana caught herself trying to reenact one of the moves as she told Rin about the performers. Quickly she remembered he couldn’t see or hear her. She sat back down, smoothing out the pennant she had acquired from the show.

At the end of the sixth day, Lana returned with hand drawn pictures. She hung them on the wall behind Rin’s bed, telling him all about her visit with Jessie.

“When I got there,” she began, “I found all the girls had been gathered into the community room. Up at the front, the girls were putting on a skit for the parents. Jessie was already on stage with another girl named Callie. Poor Callie began to see dragons again and started going off on an adventure.

“But I was rather impressed with Jessie. She was dolled up in a frilly kind of dress with matching boots and though she never talks, her expressions were great. She tried so hard to get Callie’s attention again.

“Then this other girl, Georji, she came out dressed up as a horse. She’s such a sweetheart and was the happiest horse around. Even when Jessie began to attack her,” Lana gave a soft chuckle at that. The moment before Jessie snapped, she had jumped up on Georji and gestured wildly like she was riding her very fast. It was rather comical.

“The play ended right quick as nurses swarmed the stage. I guess Jessie’s regressed some, but they allowed me to see her. I think a lot of the nurses were surprised I had come back.

“Jessie was very happy to see me. I was worried she might have been very mad, but she wasn’t. I told her about things of late and about ya. She even tried to draw a picture of ya, see--” Lana cut off as she realized what she said. She was placing the last picture up on the wall when the words slipped. It was like a knife in her stomach as she looked back down at Rin.

Lana sat on the bed next to the Halfling. She couldn’t help but wonder why she spent so much time telling him about her days. It seemed like forever ago when they were on the cruise. How his eyes would always be watching her, listening to everything she said. He was very good at that. Being so attentive, as though she were teaching him new and exciting things. But now she was the one watching him, hoping that the healing she saw his body working meant he would wake up.

With a sigh, Lana gave Rin’s hand a squeeze before wrapping her blanket about her body and curling up in the chair. Any day now, Lana told herself as she fell asleep.

Next Entry

X: Lana

Previous Entry

LANA

“Lana, do you know what love is?”

“Yeah,” Lana lied, not bothering to look at Dr. Tomlund. It wasn’t that she was purposefully being dishonest, instead it was her poor upbringing that skewed her understanding of love. In time Lana learned how to recite the textbook answers to appease Dr. Tomlund, but never had she felt it.

That is until now.

Lana sat next to her unconscious friend. His face had become more recognizable, the swelling having gone away as the week passed by.

Please wake up Rin! Lana pleaded silently. The Halfling remained still. Once she had heard him mutter something but it was too incoherent. The only hope she had for him surviving was the steady rise and fall of his chest.

A week ago she was scared that Sylis could have spoken truth about the Halfling, that Rin might have left town after she had promised herself to the Wizard. Part of her almost wished Sylis had been right. It would have been easier to have dealt with Rin’s abandonment over the guilt she was now plagued with.

Lana had gone to check on him, hoping Rin had returned from his job, but found his home emptied. She left a note for her friend before returning to Sylis and informing him that he wasn’t there.

“Lana... do you think Rin might have left town?” Sy asked as they walked to the tattoo parlor.

“Of course not!” she retorted, “He’s doing a job. For all I know he could be gone a few days. It was wishful thinking he’d be done by now.”

Sylis however pushed the topic. He explained how on the ship, when he had kissed her for the first time, that Rin had seen the exchange. “He gave a look that a man would give another when they’ve been defeated. I think he might have loved you.”

“We’re just friends Sylis!” her words came firmly, “He said he was happy for us. He wouldn’t just leave me without saying good bye!”

At the time, Lana’s face burned as anger bubbled to the surface. If he had left, that would have been crippling. He was her best friend and the only one who didn't treat her with the hopes to bed her. For all she knew, Rin wasn't interested in women. Lana had been naked in front of him on more than one occasion and never had he reacted or treated her differently. But it didn’t help that Sylis kept trying to convince her of the Halfling's likely disappearance.

“Stop it!” she had yelled at him, “He’s not gone! You’re acting jealous ya know!”

“What have I to be jealous of? I have my forever,” Sylis said warmly, pulling her in. Lana gave a fake smile. She couldn't believe Rin loving her. She still had a hard time believing that Sylis loved her. Sure he said it to her often enough, but maybe it was just the sex...

But something woke within Lana a week ago. After being taken by Barut, she had momentarily forgotten near everything she knew. She had found herself in a cold prison, endured his rape, and escaped with friends who she thought were strangers. Lana had watched Rin get beaten and hated that of all people she’d forget, he was one of them.

The Warforge, Shard, agreed to help carry Rin for Lana. Sylis found Lana’s pack, boots, and daggers. He passed them to her and soon she had a long shirt retrieved and thrown over her.

As they left warehouse, Lana thanked the men for saving her and the Halfling. Sylis ever so often would try and wrap an arm around her. Not remembering him, the contact was stifling and sent the sensation of spiders crawling over her skin.

“Could you please not touch me?” she had demanded. Sylis, however, couldn’t believe his ears.

“Not touch you? Are you joking around with me? Lana, it’s me! Sylis!” The Wizard noted the scared look on Lana’s face and continued with a softer tone, “I'm your life, your forever.” He tried to take her hand in his.

"Why would I joke? What do you mean ‘your forever’!?" Lana spat back, jerking her hand away. “I’ve only just met you! Don’t think you can do what you like just because you saved me!” Her arms once more wrapped around herself protectively.

Sylis looked pained. After a few more minutes of quiet walking, he spoke of their shared past. He reminded her of the Bringers of Hope Guild, of how they fought side by side, of their time on the cruise, and of the red string’s meaning.

As he talked, Lana shaking her head at his attempts to convince her, it was like something melted away inside her mind. She looked down at the red string and the memories suddenly unraveled. The guild came into clear view. She started to sleep there after they failed to kill Barut at the Magic Flute. Then the graveyard where she saw the ghost of her mother, Sylis had wrapped her tightly in his arms that night as the memory haunted her. Then the cruise and the intimacy they shared there.

Lana had stopped walking. She slowly looked to Sylis and felt such a joy to see him again. He had come for her! He had saved her! What possessed her to have forgotten him?

She wrapped her arms about him tightly, enjoying his embrace for a brief moment. Sylis was a haven to the hell Barut put her through. Lana then turned to thank Shard as well, but spotted Rin unconscious on his shoulder. Something gripped at Lana’s heart as she recalled what she heard Barut say to him.

She has done this to you! She has brought you here!

It was her fault. If Rin had never helped Lana, if they never had met, he never would have been involved. The guilt was worse than when her mother’s ghost accused her for murder...

But then Rin’s voice replaced Barut’s. Rin knows Lana’s a good woman! And that was even worse. What did the Halfling see in her that would make him say that? She had brought him nothing but trouble and used him for help. His friendship was more of a convenience.

Yet Lana found herself holding Rin’s hand as she sat next to him. All week she had watched over him, putting his recovery above all else. The morning sun illuminated his pale skin. Though he looked far better than when she had first brought him to Faela, his body still was covered in gauze and poultices. The wounds were healing slowly and every time she saw them it was a reminder of how terrible she was.

Women like you deserve to be punished! Barut’s voice taunted.

Large tears poured down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away. Sylis wasn’t there to catch them and she was happy about that. She didn’t want his distraction, not while Rin remained hurt. Let alone she still felt betrayed that he would accuse Rin for being the reason Lana was abducted.

“Because I don’t trust him!” Sylis retorted when Lana asked why he had denied knowing the Halfling. “Think about it. He’s always in the wrong place at the wrong time. For all we know he could have been why you were taken in the first place!”

“How could you think that! Rin would never sell any of us out! He’s saved my life AND your life at least once!” Lana shouted. On top of everything that had happened to her over the past few hours, accusing Rin of such betrayal ignited a rage Lana didn't know she had. “Just leave me alone!" she continued to shout, "I’m going to make sure Rin get’s well if it’s the last thing I do! And I don’t need your help!”

Sylis cursed back at her, exaggerating his joy for her being back.

And so it was, a week ago, Lana entered the church next to Rin’s home dressed in just a shirt, writhing in anger and self loathing, with Shard and her dying friend.

Please Rin come back to me!

Next Entry

IX: Barut pt. 2

Previous Entry

*This chapter holds dark elements that those sensitive to torture or rape may want to steer clear. Nothing graphic is depicted, but sensitive topics are suggested.*

✻  ✻  ✻  ✻  ✻

The act had barely finished when Lana registered the sounds of struggle. Barut certainly didn’t get to savor his moment as he left Lana to her misery. She curled up, shaking from head to foot. She had begun to dread the unknown torture that was still to come, but the commotion continued. Barut was marching toward the corridor, barking orders to his men. Surely that meant her cries were answered. So Lana sat up and shouted out a warning that Barut was coming. Whoever was out there, hopefully they would be a distraction enough to allow her an escape.

Lana got to her feet and proceeded to the bars. She began to squeeze through them, pushing past the pain of the bruises and bleeding welts that covered her torso. She was nearly through when a guard entered the room and spotted her trying to escape. Quickly Lana sent her ball of fire at the man. He was knocked off his feet as the fire devoured him. A thrill ran through Lana. She still had strength to defend herself.

Once she was free of the cage, Lana suddenly remembered the hag. She looked over and was thankful to find she had disappeared. No wonder my spell worked, Lana thought to herself.

Fighting could be heard echoing up the hallway. Lana crept closer to sneak a peek of a possible way out. She would try to get the little man too. Lana looked around the corner and saw no one. Without waiting another moment she took her first step into the passage when the blonde haired man appeared, running toward her.

“You!” Lana breathed. She wrapped her arms about her, suddenly feeling embarrassed by her state.

“Get behind that corner Lana!” he instructed. He ran into the room and hid around the opposite wall. Lana didn’t react as quickly and heard another man shout her way. She looked and saw it was another of Barut’s goonies. A quick bolt of fire shot out of her hand as she slid behind her portion of wall.

The man had managed to work through the pain of the burns and rounded the corner, grabbing onto Lana. His touch was like spiders crawling all over her skin. Her mind went wild as she tried to shake him off.

“Let go of me! Let go of me!” Lana screamed. Once more it felt as though her efforts would be futile, but the blonde man came to her aid. The sound of crossbow bolts piercing skin and a sudden stiffness in the goonie told Lana that he was dead. She quickly moved out of his grasp and looked back at her acquaintance.

“Thank you! Um- what’s your name?”

“Ha! Real funny Lana,” the man replied with an unamused look. Lana looked back confused. The man took note and added, “It’s Sylis babygirl.”

“Right,” Lana said, nodding quickly. She tightened her arms about herself protectively. “Do you know who the Halfling is?” she asked.

“Nope. Never seen him before,” Sylis replied, his expression firm. “Let’s get going.”

Lana followed after. Once they got to the room where Barut conducted his torture on the little man, she could see her captor fighting valiantly against a mechanical man. Barut was looking worse for wear, which filled her with some excitement.

“Get Lana out of here!” the Warforge ordered as he hit Barut in the side. Sylis made to pull Lana along, but she slipped his grasp and ran over to the Halfling.

“We can’t just leave him. He needs help!” Lana explained as she undid the restraints. Soon she had the little man off and shielded by the concrete table. Seeing that he was still breathing and as comfortable as one could be when near death, Lana looked up and found Barut was laying on the ground.

“Is he dead!?” she shouted.

“No, not yet,” the Warforge replied. Lana quickly hopped the table. She didn’t care that she was naked. She didn’t care if the men saw her. Something new was working into her mind. Something sinister that begged to be quenched.

Barut had fallen! He no longer was in control! She had power over him!!

Without looking at the men, she asked for a knife. The mechanical being quickly placed a dagger into her hand. Lana swung a leg over Barut, straddling his chest, and proceeded to wait. All the things she would do to him danced across her mind. He wouldn’t need his fingers, nor his tongue. A few slashes to represent how he had lashed her. Oh and in the end he would need a smile to help him remember to be happy. If he managed to survive all that, then a few puncture wounds to the lungs would seal his fate.

“Baaarrruuut,” Lana cooed, stroking his face, “It’s time to wake up.” Eventually his face began to twitch, jerking around sleepily. “WAKE UP!” Lana yelled at him when her patience ran out.

Barut’s eyes snapped open.

“Hi!” she said sweetly, tapping the tip of his nose with a finger. “I hope you slept well. Looks like you had a rough night,” she pretended to console. Just as Lana expected, Barut’s eyes were filled with fear as he registered the predicament he was in. Lana’s smile broaden as she slid the blade of the dagger along her cheek thoughtfully.

“Remember how I said earlier... ‘at least I had the decency to kill you quickly?’” Lana asked rhetorically. Barut tried to speak, but Lana placed the dagger across his lips, “Shh, shh, shh. Let’s just say I’ve had a change of heart.”

A new cry filled the stone walls, a song that invigorated Lana and sent a ripple of excitement through her.

Sweet, sweet victory.

Next Chapter

VIII: Barut pt. 1

Previous Entry

*This chapter holds dark elements that those sensitive to torture or rape may want to steer clear. Nothing graphic is depicted, but sensitive topics are suggested.*

BARUT

“Baarruut,” Lana sung, “It’s time to wake up.”

Lana sat on top of Barut Mirehook, knife in hand, waiting for him to wake. She looked at his battered face, almost impatient for his eyes to flutter open. Oh the expression he would have once he saw that she came out the victor. And he would suffer as she had. But unlike her, Barut would meet death in the end.

The last thing Lana remembered before waking up in Barut’s prison, was walking about Sharn, hand in hand with some man. He had light blonde hair, like hers, and sky blue eyes. They had bickered off and on, though what about she couldn’t recall. She had also gotten two tattoos; a heart under her right eye and an intricate lace like design under her breast.

She and her friend had just left the tattoo parlor when a girl, maybe a year younger than Lana, ran past in hysterics. The look, the age, everything about the girl screamed Barut’s doings. Lana quickly instructed her companion to keep an eye out for anyone pursuing as she took off after the girl.

Lana entered into an abandoned church building. Caution had suggested otherwise, but when the blonde man caught up, he had said no one was coming. So into the building she went with the hopes to tack on another point toward Barut’s demise.

When she had nearly reached the sobbing girl, the young woman suddenly snapped her head up and yelled, “NOW!!” Instinctively Lana would have ran, but she found herself surrounded. She gained some courage when she heard the leader remind the five men to take her alive. Quickly Lana retrieved her daggers from her boots and maneuvered to the closest man. She figured she’d take out as many as she could, but she only managed to sink one of her daggers in before two arrows pierced her back.

When she woke, something wet and sticky covered her face. Lana reached up to wipe it away but found nothing was there. Instead she realized how cold her body was. She sat up, her back aching in the process. A shiver ran up her spine. For a moment she cursed her poorly chosen outfit as her thin night shirt hung off her shoulder and her waist high shorts left her legs bare.

Lana then heard his voice. She looked in the direction it came from and found Barut talking with a hag. He looked her way and curled his lips into a cruel smile. Barut returned his attention to the hag, bowing to her. She then extended a withered hand and placed it upon his head, her raspy voice saying, “Well done.”

Barut stood up right, the smile still there as he replied, “You’ve seen nothing yet.” He barely looked Lana’s way again as he left  the room.

Lana looked about the place. She was in a large cage that had iron bars extending to the ceiling. Cold stone surrounded her. Beyond her cage the room was littered with rugs and various trunks.

She began to shake. Cold and fear coursed through her. Lana had to escape... but how was the question. The thought of squeezing through the bars crossed her mind, but the hag in the corner made her hesitant. Lana scanned her surroundings trying to spot anything that might help her. Something that she could use as a weapon would have been well received, but nothing was accessible.

Barut’s voice then drew her from her plans for escape. An orb at the foot of her prison began to glow, emitting a rectangular shape that held an image of Barut and a Halfling strapped to a concrete slab. The little man looked inches from death and his bright eyes were full of fear and pain. Blood was everywhere in various stages of coagulation. Lana could only assume that this was a viewing of what would happen to her and it made her stomach churn.

“Do you know what she has done? You say she’s a good woman, but you know nothing of her!” Barut said, whipping the Halfling with a thick, scoring cane. The man yelped in pain, Lana flinching herself. “She has done this to you! She has brought you here!”

Had I brought the Halfling here?

The little man, who took shallow breaths, looked back at Barut. His face was racked with pain, but the look his eyes held was fierce.

“Rin know Lana is a good woman!”

He knows me? Lana’s thoughts questioned. She looked more closely at the figure. There was nothing about him that was familiar. Perhaps it was because he was so battered and swollen, but even the voice remained foreign.

The man quivered as he tried to lift himself up against his restraints. “Rin will see to it that you will pay!” and with that spat in Barut’s face.

“She will be your downfall!” the cruel man retorted, hitting the Halfling a few more times in his rage. Lana gripped herself as she winced. She then watched as Barut smoothed his hair back, taking a few deep breaths. He informed the little man that she was there and that he would get to watch him beat her.

With eyes wide, Lana watched Barut walk out of the scene. His footsteps soon echoed down the hall and back into her room. She backed into the far corner, keeping her eyes fixed to him, trying to think more quickly what she would do.

Burn him with fire!

Her simple fire spell was all she had at her disposal, but quickly she found that that did little to him with his hag friend watching over. Barut had begun to unlock the cage door when Lana sent her spell at him. It would have hit, but it suddenly veered away at the snap of a finger.

“There’ll be none of that,” the hag croaked.

Lana could feel her sanity slip away as hysterics threatened to take over. She doesn’t know how she managed to keep it together, but she did. Barut entered her prison with a cat o’ nine tails in hand. Lana threw insults his way, hoping to throw him off his game, but he seemed all the more humored in her desperate tactics. Barut looked up where the rectangular image once floated. It had been replaced by a new orb. All it did was shine a light toward them.

Barut smiled and positioned himself. It then registered to Lana that wherever the first orb went, someone was watching. No doubt it was the Halfling.

“You have know idea what you have done,” he began, walking closer and closer to Lana, tapping the whip handle in his hand. “Your friend,” Barut pointed to the orb, “that is what you’ve done to him.”

“I did nothing to him!”

“Your actions have done this to him!”

“What actions!? What have I done!?” Lana screamed.

Barut jerked the whip, lashing it across Lana’s face. She fell into the bars, gripping them as the pain coursed through her. When she managed to look back at Barut again, he was tossing a glowing object in his hand. He threw it toward her and a smaller, rectangular image appeared. She watched as she, the blonde hair man, and some other woman, attacked Barut and two other men.

“I did that?” Lana questioned, the memory far from her mind.

“Those were good men. They didn’t deserve what you did to them!”

“If they worked for you, then their death was earned!”

Barut pinned Lana in her corner spitting at her, “Women like you must be punished!”

The room was then rent with the sound of the whip again, followed by the ripping of clothes and the screams of Lana.  Though she couldn’t remember much of anything, she couldn’t help but wonder, would this hell end? Would the pain ever go away? Would the smell of sweat and rotten fish ever leave her nose. Would the memory of stone and Barut’s hot breath fade? Would the grip of his hands disappear? Would the feeling of him inside her vanish?

No amount of kicking or biting or thrashing could she do to thwart her attacker. Never had Lana felt so alone as the echoes of her cries went unanswered.

✻  ✻  ✻  ✻  ✻

Next Entry