The world came back wrong.
Fire tore through my veins. Iron bit into my skin. Thick ropes burned into my wrists, crushing my chest. Every breath was agonizing.
Sound followed.
A roar, Massive, Crushing.
Cheering, Spitting and Laughter.
It rolled over me like a storm.
Flames twisting in the night wind. Shadows danced across the stone,
"Kill him!"
"Burn the demon!"
"Make him suffer!"
Their voices blurred together, too loud, too many. I couldn't think. Could barely hear myself.
Blood dripped into my eyes, warm and sticky. I tried to look up, but it felt too heavy.
My legs were right in front of me, but I couldn't move them. Spikes were driven through them. One bent at an angle no leg should ever bend.
"By the authority of Dolkan,"
The young lord stood above me, clean, untouched. Calm. Almost bored.
"Kayon is found guilty of betrayal, abuse, and corruption. The punishment is, public shaming."
'What is he talking about? Abuse? Betrayal?'
Guards stepped forward.
The first blow.
I felt lightning run down my spine.
A sharp, hollow snap echoed inside my chest. Air vanished. My vision flickered.
The third.
I didn't feel it.
Only the force of my body jerking against the ropes.
Darkness crept in.
Water filled my mouth. I choked, gasped, I was dragged back into my body.
Pain surged in all at once.
"Stay awake," someone whispered.
The beating continued.
I screamed.
Or tried to.
My voice was swallowed by the crowd.
The floor felt cold the warmth of my body seeped out.
Footsteps approached cracking the silence.
I felt a warmth lift my head.
Then I saw her.
Soren.
For a moment, everything else disappeared.
The crowd. The pain. The noise.
Gone.
Just her.
Relief hit so hard it hurt worse than the wounds.
"Soren…" My voice cracked. "You came…"
She didn't answer.
Just stood there, watching me.
Something felt… wrong.
I tried to focus. Tried to see her clearly.
Her face didn't move.
No panic. No fear or anger.
Just calm.
My chest tightened. "Soren…?"
She stepped forward.
Not rushing.
The young lord chuckled beside her and extended a blade.
She took it without hesitation.
My thoughts stumbled.
'Wait. No,'
"Soren…?" My voice broke. "What are you doing?"
She finally smiled.
It stretched ear to ear. I had never seen her smile like that before.
"I want a turn."
The words didn't make sense.
They hit… but didn't land.
My mind rejected them.
"A… turn…?" I whispered.
The lord laughed.
"Cut the arm he raised against you."
Silence.
Everything slowed.
My breathing.
My thoughts.
My heart.
"No…" I shook my head weakly. "Soren… no… you don't"
She stepped closer.
Close enough for me to see her eyes.
There was nothing there.
No hesitation.
"I remember everything," She said quietly.
The blade rose.
And for a second, I thought she would stop.
That she would drop it and choose me.
She didn't.
The blade came down.
Pain exploded. My scream tore my throat as she kept cutting.
The crowd cheered but I could feel the sound of the blade cut my flesh and grind my bone,
The pain quickly faded.
My body felt numb.
Smack.
A slap hit my face and I saw the hand that hit me.
It was mine.
She then raised it to show the people,
The crowd gasped.
Then cheered, blood poured down the stone like rain, Soren stepped back smiling, her hands shaking as she took short but fast breaths.
She approached Sera.
"Go on," Soren said. "Take something too."
Sera looked at Soren, And held the sword.
"What's left?"
"Let's take the other leg," Soren said lightly. "Balance him out."
"Yes, yes, let's do that!" The lord exclaimed. "Alex, I like these girls. They are crazy."
"Y-yes alright.." Sera said this and signaled the knights to help hold Kayon's leg.
They grabbed my leg but I couldn't even speak anymore.
Healing light washed over me,
"we won't let you die so easily" A man whispered,
"Don't heal him too much just keep him barely alive, enough to feel everything" The lord spoke.
Then she started.
Her blade was slow,
That made it worse, as I felt every moment the blade dragged, stuck, and failed to cut the bone.
When the pain started to feel numb I would be brought back to even more pain.
The time felt endless, the world became nothing but agony and soundless screaming.
"Finish it," The young lord yawned.
With one strike the leg was separate from me.
'Finally.
It ends.'
As darkness closed in, I heard.
"All his wealth and power now belong to the city of Dolkan."
Cheers followed him into the dark.
Then silence.
I slowly opened my eyes.
A dusty, ruined ceiling stared back at me.
The air smelled old. Dry, I tried to stand up but fell to the ground I couldn't move my body.
Then footsteps echoed.
Followed by the distant voice.
"you finally awake huh" the steps got closer
"who is it" my voice felt foreign to me.
The figure stepped into the light.
Carai saw Kayon on the ground in a panic she ran to lift him up,
"what are you doing, look at this, the bandages are all dirty now" Carai started to remove the bandages on my arm and leg,
I stared at her wrapping my hands.
Then I noticed my hand missing.
I reached to grab it but it really wasn't there.
My head snapped towards my missing foot.
"where? where? are they!" My voice broke out of me.
Carai tried to hold me tightly in her arms.
"Kayon please! it's alright, am here please calm down Kayon"
Her voice fell on deaf ears as I cried, clawed at my head, wounds and hair.
I pushed her away, but she held me even tighter.
A drop sparkling as it fell onto my face,
I froze.
looked up,
It was Carai crying "Kayon please its oky am here now,"
Her face coverd in scratches, "so don't worry you are safe here they won't get you anymore"
The sound of her soft yet trembling voice,
felt warm, it felt safe.
I drifted into sleep.
I woke up and saw Carai siting by the fire,
"How did we get here" I whispered.
"You don't remember?"
I nodded my head, "No"
"It's a long story I will tell you later oky so just rest up for now" she stood leaving the room.
"No!" I tried to follow her.
She rushed to hold me before I fell. "Do you want to hurt your self again.
"Please tell me, how did I get here and what happened to me?"
She put me down took a deep breath.
"we are in a ruin outside the city... as for how we got here"
She got up to get some food, sat next to me.
"eat this then I can tell you, do we have a deal"
"Oky"
Carai started to feed me,
"So what's the last thing you remember"
"I don't know, ahh" A sharp stubbing pain hit my head.
"Are you oky? Carai puts down the bowl and started checking for injuries.
"Is it the bandages are they too tight or bleeding"
"Am alright, and the last thing I remember is running behind Soren"
"Oh I think that's just moments before I arrived" she sat down and continued feeding me,
"When I got there…"
Carai's voice pulled me back.
"…your leg was already gone."
The crowd pressed in from all sides, bodies packed tight, heat and noise suffocating.
Carai forced her way through, shoulder first, ignoring the shouts thrown at her.
"Move"
No one listened.
She shoved harder till she saw the platform.
And froze.
Kayon lay there.
Broken.
Motionless.
Her breath caught.
Above him, the young lord unrolled a scroll, his voice cutting clean through the chaos.
"From this moment on, all of Kayon's wealth will belong to the city of Dolkan, and will be managed by Zephi."
A figure stepped out from the crowd.
Zephi.
She climbed the platform slowly, like she had all the time in the world.
Carai's hands curled into fists.
Zephi stopped beside Kayon.
Looked down at him.
Then, she stepped on what remained of his leg.
Carai flinched.
"Why isn't he dead yet?" Zephi laughed, pressing down harder. "How does it feel, huh?"
Her voice sharpened.
"I've always despised that foolish attitude of yours."
Carai moved.
A hand caught her arm.
"No. Don't."
Carai turned, ready to strike.
Kala stood behind her.
"We have a plan," Kala said.
Carai yanked her arm slightly. "I don't care."
"You will if you want him alive."
That barely stopped her.
Carai's chest rose and fell fast. Her eyes snapped back to the platform.
Kayon wasn't moving.
Kala raised her hands slightly.
"We're not your enemy," she said. "We're here for him too."
Carai didn't answer.
Didn't look at her.
"Can I trust you?" Her voice tight.
Kala nodded once.
No hesitation.
"Good," Kala said. "There are thirty-eight of us. We'll create a distraction."
Carai finally looked at her.
"How?"
Kala's lips curved faintly.
"We're hybrids."
A beat.
"Get him out when you see your chance."
Kala stepped forward.
Then she howled.
It tore through the square.
The crowd went silent.
Then it broke.
Not laughter this time.
Screams.
Figures moved through the mass, fast violent. Guards were hit before they understood what was happening.
Steel clashed.
People dropped.
The square broke apart.
Carai didn't wait.
She moved.
Pushing forward as the crowd scattered, slipping through gaps that didn't exist seconds ago.
Her eyes stayed locked on the platform.
Guards were turning now, trying to regroup.
Too slow.
The chaos had already spread.
The young lord was shouting something but hands were already pulling him back.
Away from the platform.
Soren.
Sera.
Both dragged off with the retreating guards.
She reached the platform.
Climbed.
Her hands hit the ropes immediately.
They were soaked.
Warm.
Her grip slipped.
"Damn it..."
She wiped her hands against her clothes and grabbed again, pulling a blade free.
Her fingers shook.
"Hold on…" she muttered, cutting into the rope. "Just hold on…"
The fibers resisted.
Behind her, fighting was getting closer.
Too close.
A shadow rushed past behind her one of the hybrids.
A guard went down.
Carai didn't turn. Didn't stop.
She cut harder.
The rope snapped.
Kayon's body dropped.
Carai caught him and nearly collapsed with him.
"hmm!"
She bit back the sound, forcing herself upright.
He was heavier than she expected.
She pulled his arm over her shoulders.
Adjusted.
Forced herself to stand.
"Move," she whispered.
She staggered toward the edge of the platform.
Her legs shook.
Kayon didn't move at all not even a breath.
Her chest tightened.
Behind her.
"Carai."
Kala's voice.
Carai turned slightly.
Kala stood between her and the remaining guards, blood on her arms, her stance steady.
"Go," Kala said.
Carai hesitated.
Just for a second.
"Tell Kayon…" Kala's voice softened, "…we're thankful."
Carai frowned. "What? Why are you."
Kala moved.
Fast.
She grabbed Carai.
And threw her.
The world flipped.
Carai hit the ground hard, Kayon still in her arms.
Pain shot through her side.
She rolled, barely keeping hold of him.
By the time she looked up.
Kala was already gone.
Back into the chaos.
Not looking back.
Carai didn't call out.
Didn't hesitate.
She tightened her grip on Kayon and ran.