De'mari coughed, watching blood splatter on the flagstone beneath her. Her vision was hazy, the edges of which seemed rather dark, perhaps that was from her swollen eyes. Her shoulder ached, though less than before, but being dragged through the city wasn't exactly her idea of sight-seeing. Back at the plantation, she and others had always talked about travelling to the city. Though being two days outside of outpost, a seven day journey wasn't exactly in their budget. Though once a week her adopted parents would travel to the town, and De'mari would always go with them. Reveling in awe like a child at such a large gathering of people and buildings. Much different than the worker's shacks, and the tiny house her adopted parents had occupied.
If Outpost had been big, then Providence was endless. Everywhere her bleary eyes looked she saw an endless sea of people, who make sure to stay out of the guard's way as they hauled their bloody prisoner. The main road cut through town, straight up to the castle. Towards once side she could see thousands of rooftops, those farther on seemed to be in varying states of decay, mere shambles. She guessed those were the middle class and slums areas. They didn't look near as nice as those around the main road, with their polished windows and elegant gilding. Their bright shingled roofs, the flowers adorning the middle of the road, window sills, and second story balconies. It would have smelled pleasant, if not overpowered by the acrid stench of blood, dried and fresh.
Her seven day journey had been a nightmare. But for the last two days the three remaining guards had made sure to as savage to her as possible. She had been given no food, no water, and had been beaten until their cudgels had become stained red. She coughed again, more blood marring the walk. Her clothes, which had once been a loose white worker's shirt, the kind that tied up in the front, and her rough woven slacks no hung in bloodied tatters. Her shirt was no longer white but covered with the brown stains of dirt, and the darker streaks where the blood had soaked it. Her stomach turned, but all she got was a dry heave. Not all of that blood was hers, she shuddered at the memory, heaving again.
The two dragging her said nothing, the third was leading and parting the crowd. The wood of his cudgel dark red. He had hit her the hardest, she had probably killed someone important to him. The world seemed to pass in slow motion as they hauled her towards the castle. The people going about their daily business staring to gawk at her. The ladies and their hushed whispering, the men with their whoops and hollers. They crossed several patrolling soldiers, each saluted in turn before walking along. This kind of stuff must be pretty normal for them by now. Only the younger ones stared, their blurred faces unreadable. De'mari let her eyes close, just for a moment, a part of her terrified that she would wake up to the cudgels again, the angry faces of the guards flashing in her mind. Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes flew open out of fear. She coughed, her dry raspy throat turned it more into a helpless wheeze. There wasn't even any blood, though she didn't notice as her swollen, black eyes closed again out of pure exhaustion.
The creature stood atop a pile of bodies, all loaded into the back of a wagon. Streams of blood poured from each crack and crevice. But the creature liked it, it stood and howled from atop it's throne. A blood curdling sound, eerie in the pale night. De'mari looked on as the creature lashed down at the corpses, spraying blood, finding joy as it splattered on its clothes. It's eyes entirely red, from corner to corner, glowing brightly. The blood pooling on the ground moved towards her, becoming a wave of crimson. The creature's eyes looked at her, laughing haughtily. The wave rose off the ground, floating around her. Forming into words of laughter, she cringed back. The blood formed into "HaHaHa" , giving a visual to the cries of laughter from the demon.
The blood parted and the demon looked at her again. It's skin pale blue. It's body long and lithe, well built and supple. It's sky colored hair cascading around its head, damp with blood. She was looking at herself. De'mari screamed, falling to the pile of bodies beneath her, atop her throne on the wagon. It's skeletal horses whinnying, the cloaked driver turned and look at her. His eyes were fire, and he laughed, something deep and demonic. There wagon burst into flames and De'mari laughed, running her hand through her sticky, blood soaked hair.
De'mari took a ragged gasp of breath, waking up in a panic. Her aching, broken body screaming in protest as she flew off her cot and onto the ground. Her arms came out to catch her but they slipped along the cool, slick rock of the floor. She fell flat on her face, her broken ribs screaming in agony, her stiff body creaking with pain. She choked on the dryness of her mouth, laying with the side of her face on the floor, it's coolness feeling like a sort of comfort to her burned skin. "Here..." A man's voice said from above her gently. He gave her a hand as she bit her lip with the effort of rolling over. His arm snaked underneath her and helped her sit up as he pressed a cup to her lips.
The liquid was slightly bitter, but refreshing. He gave her a small sip before taking the cup away, she whimpered in protest, unable to help herself. "Ssh, just a little at a time or you'll make yourself sick, you're dehydrated." It went on like that for a few minutes, her would give her a sip and take it away, and she would anxiously await the next sip of the bitter liquid, her dry taste buds coming back to life to find out it was much worse than she first thought. But it was something. "I know it tastes like piss, but it's mostly herbal juice, the main ingredient is the Flower of Aine. Ever hear of it?"
She had in fact, it was quite rare, and obscenely expensive. The lore behind it was that the Goddess Aine had bestowed it upon one of her ancestral Fae, Lilith, who had nearly died in her battle against Ba'ale, a general knight of the demon armies. It had healed Lilith in a single night, and even the festering wounds from Ba'ale's sword Exxus had closed up into light pink scars. It was in fact, a very magical healing herb. And it was in high demand from those wealthier than the poor folk, some people thought it would let them live forever. It had a nickname...
"The flower of immortality," he said, chuckling. "Perhaps, but you are pretty lucky to wind up stuck in this cell with me. I have a friend, born of a blood nobler than I."
De'mari took another grateful sip, feeling her parched throat once more functioning properly. She gave a weak cough, feeling slightly nauseated. "Thank you..." she muttered as he helped her back onto her cot. She laid back on the thing, stiff mattress. Apparently they didn't give people like her a pillow, but she was just exhausted enough not to care. Even the floor felt comfortable. Though, oddly, the skin on the back of her neck felt stiff. Not the sunburned kind of stiff. She reached back and felt the raised flesh on the back of her neck. Her fingers traced the outline of a skull and crossbones branded into her skin. It didn't quite hurt, which meant she must have been out for an entire day.
"Marked for death.." She said, feeling a sadness well up inside her.
"Branded, nothing more. Like I said, you're in the wrong place, but at the right time. If you keep your wits about you, I'll take you with me when I leave," she heard him sit down on the cot opposite of hers. She turned and looked over at him. He was wearing a cloak, over shadowing his face, he waved at her as he leaned back against the wall. People say never trust a man who's face you can't see, but De'mari didn't care at this point. "What do you mean, take me with you?" She felt the exhaustion settling over her again.
"I'm not asking you to trust me, but that's a decision for you to make when the time comes," he replied, as if it were the most normal way to answer her question.
She wanted to ask more but she felt her eyes closing again. Felt her body go limp, the last shreds of her energy fading away. Her mind spinning over his offer, of her situation , of the last couple days, of Rat. She did not fall asleep with a peaceful smile, but a grimace. Her dreams filled with scenes of vengeance against Rat.
"Sleep now, because you're life is going to change when you wake up."