In the middle of nowhere, among a sea of sand with famished vultures circling above, awaiting their next meal, lies a woman nailed to a corpse tree. Waiting for death. She is past the hope of rescue. She doesn't know what day it is. How long she's been here. The only thing on her mind is how painful the nails in her wrists are. How starved for sustenance she is. Her body is weak from hunger and her throat is dryer than the desert itself.

She has screamed for help, and now her voice has gone hoarse. She endures the chill of night and the heat of day. She endures the fear of vultures circling above. Her body rattled and scarred. Bleeding out on the floor with bones beneath her cross. She sees her blood isn't the first to stain the dead.

Her fighting spirit is diminished, and all she has is the hope that she'll die someday. When, she doesn't know. But she knows she will. She prays for soon. Prays to any god out there that her pain will end. And yet, she is abandoned. Accompanied only by the void of the endless sands and the birds high above.

Her body weak from restlessness, and her gaze constantly fixed on the skulls below her. Curious when hers will be added to that pile.

Then she has her first visitor in a long time. A vulture. Valyrie feels the pecking at her neck. Testing to see if she's still alive. Valyrie doesn't move, even if she feels the pain. She winces as the vulture continues to peck at her battered flesh, and before it lunges to strike, something else strikes first. The corpse tree rattles as she turns her head to look at the axe imbedded into the cross. The vulture is pinned to the cross as feathers flutter about.

Valyrie watches the bird pose motionlessly against the tree, frightened. But filled with glee at the prospect that her end is near. She looks down at her trail of blood and sees a man walking towards her. Long flowing hair. His body strong like a rock. And eyes with a piercing gaze, cutting through her. He gets closer to her and grunts, "Another one."

Valyrie isn't sure what he means, but she manages to mutter a single word. Croaking out her first word in days. "Kill."

The man shakes his head, denying release. "Where I'm from, we let others die in the battlefield. Not strung up on a tree."

Valyrie is filled with grief. Her face winces as she struggles to voice another word. "Please."

Her chapped lips form the words she can't speak, and the man walks closer to her as he places his hands on the cross. "You people are soft. You should learn to survive."

He grunts as he pushes the cross down onto the ground, and Valyrie inaudibly welps from the impact. She then sees the man kneel down and place his hands around the nails in her wrist. She then feels a chill down her spine at what she's about to feel. She prepares herself, but even still, it hurts all the same. Her body convulses as she screams through the pain. She grits her teeth and it feels like hours before the nails are removed.

She wonders why the man is letting her free, even if he explained why. The man takes his axe back and then he tosses something to her side and she looks at it, unfamiliar with it. She looks inside and sees water. She chugs it down without thinking twice. She drinks all she can before the man takes it back. "These lands are dangerous. Unforgiving." The man puts the waterskin back on his belt and continues. "But I'm the only one that'll save you."

He starts to walk off but turns around and remarks. "Perhaps I should've kept you on that tree."

The woman is still on her side, contemplating the life she had before. Weak. Beaten. The man walks closer to her again and proclaims, "Live. Love. Burn with life. Slay, and survive. Don't be like those savages."

The woman looks up at the man as he begins to walk away as he says his parting words, "Welcome to the Exiled Lands."

Then a wall of sand comes over the horizon, engulfing the mysterious man, but she can see his figure still moving in the distance. But to her dismay, the storm is getting closer to her. The sand starts bombarding her and she cries in pain. She looks around for shelter. Anything. Anywhere.

The storm gets closer and closer, and her body is battered with fast moving wind and sand. Branches scratching her body. Sand seeping into dry wounds. She sees a giant structure in the distance, and she races to the best of her ability towards it. Her legs are weak, and her body can't take anymore. The storm finally engulfs her and sand begins to attack her without rest. She trudges through the sand, trying with all she has to find shelter, but it's not enough. She falls to her knees and screams in utmost agony, waiting for it to end. Waiting for death. Sand then begins to fill her ears. Filling opened wounds by the storm. She closes her eyes and waits for the end.

She then finds herself still alive after what feels like hours. Her body weaker than before. Her muscles fatigued. Her eyes heavy. Feeling like she could die at any moment. Why she hasn't, is beyond her. She then opens her eyes to see a green, energy wall and a giant structure ahead. The one she tried to escape to. Something tells her to stay away from the wall, and something else tells her to go to it. She then remembers what the man said. To survive. And one other thing that frightens her still. Welcome to the Exiled Lands.

Why she's here, is unknown. She only knows of a life before this one. And why she couldn't be there anymore. Why she's forced to endure this pain. What am I supposed to do? She thinks. Only one thing comes to mind. Igniting enough of her fighting spirit to stand and fight. To survive.

(B)

Note from Author: Apologies for the gap in uploads. I was burnt out on Batman and needed something else to get back into the groove into things. I've been sinking a ton of time in Conan Exiles. Follow my Twitter