Tears fell from her cheeks. She was finally free. Free from the leers, the fighting, the hatred, the punishment. She felt her ribs again, trying to see if they were broke. She knew they hurt.
She thought over her life. What was her name? It wasn't slave. Her mothers name was Anerra. Her fathers was Ainar. But she couldn't- no... She recalled someone saying... Saying... She tried to remember. A person had to have a name. It was... Inarra. She closed her eyes. Inarra. It was pretty. But why couldn't she remember? The memories of her parents were fading. She sobbed, biting her lower lip, bringing black fingers to wipe away her tears.
She slowly rose, gasping in pain. She needed to get away from the mine. She staggered forward, teary eyes seeing a road a ways off. She needed to get to a town. She fell. Why was it so hard to walk? When did she get this weak? She dragged herself forward, inches, feet, it didn't matter, so long as she still moved forward. Her ribs ached with the movement. She reached a hand out and- her fingers met cool, paved stone. She was at the road. Now- she needed to get up.
She gathered her arms and legs under her, sitting for a moment, then pushing up, standing slowly. The ache, the fire in her body, burning, reminding her what she was running from. She winced from the pain, now fully standing on shaky legs. One step forward, and she almost fell. She corrected herself, barely, and stood, gasping. The pain, the weakness. She'd always had to deal with them. Not in this amount, though.
A step.
Another step.
Yet another.
The world revolved around the next paving stone on the road. Each grainy- fuzzy- Who cares what they looked like, just... Keep moving. Need to get away from the mine
One, two, three. Counting the paving stones, trying to figure out how far she went, but her mind couldn't focus, kept tripping over itself. Who cares how far, she just- needed- rest...
Aela shot one last arrow at the giant before turning away, sprinting towards the fallen woman. She slowed, stopped in front of the traveler. She knelt by the other woman, reaching out a hand to check if she was still alive. Yes, thank the gods. Aela turned the woman over, gasping quietly at the feeling of bones.
The woman- a dark elf, was startlingly beautiful, even being thin beyond anything healthy. She wore tattered clothes, more skin showing than not, and most of the skin dark with bruising, or bloody with- lash marks? This woman seemed to be- a slave.
Aela stroked the unconscious woman's forehead, then gathered her in her arms. "Farkas! Kill that thing! I need to help her." She called out to her shield brother. What would have happened had she not found her, had they not taken this job? Aela shuddered to consider it. She walked away from the combat, towards the entrance to Whiterun.
As she stepped up to the gate the gatekeeper stepped forward and nodded to her, then noticed exactly what she carried
"What's that- is she dead?" The gatekeeper called to her.
"No, but she will be if you don't get out of my way." Aela's tone was annoyed. She stepped forward as the man moved away, pushing through the gate, nodding to the smith on her way forward. The Avenicci smiled, nodding her way as well, before she passed out of sight.
Aela stepped up the stairs, out of the trade district, the Dunmer in her arms light. Too light. It concerned her, in an odd way. She shook her head, moving up to Jorvasskr
She shouldered open the door and heard the telltale sounds of a brawl. "Trust me, I'm gonna beat you, weak elf!" The voice of Njada rang out. One of the more spirited ones, always fighting with Athis.
"Shut up, weakling, I'll beat you till they think you're a dark elf!" Athis' voice called.
Aela bumped Skjor. "Hey. She needs a healer. I need to talk to Kodlak, so I need you to send one of the whelps to take her to the temple." She nodded to him, then stepped away, heading towards the living quarters, setting the woman down on the chair before descending the stairs.
She woke, coughing. Her lungs hurt, her throat was dry, and she couldn't stop coughing. A man in a yellow robe moved next to her, his hands held out as a light washed over her. Her coughing stopped, and her head fell back as the healing washehd over her.
"Wh- Where am I?" Her voice was less than a whisper. The man held a bowl up to her lips, warm liquid touching them. She drank, glad to finally have something, and sighed at the taste of the broth. It had been a long time since she'd tasted something good.
"Where am I?" In a much stronger voice, but still rough. It hurt to speak
"This is the temple of Kynareth. I am Daron. I am here to help. Don't worry, just stay lying down." He placed a hand on her forehead, bowing his head and praying. Kynareth's spirit washed over her.
"That feels... Good." Inerra closed her eyes... So... Tired... And she slipped out of consciousness.
Aela knocked on the open door, nodding to Kodlak and Vilkas. "The giant is dead, though- Kodlak, I wish to speak with you." She looked at Villas pointedly, then returned her gaze to the old Harbinger. "It is important."
Villas shrugged. "I'll get out of your wway. But don't take too long. We were talking." The gravelly voice grated on her nerves. Another reminder of why she didn't like men.
When her shield-brother left, she sat in the vacated chair. "While fighting the giant- on the road, there was a woman. She had been beaten, and whipped. I don't smell the wolf-blood on her, but she reeks of silver, which makes me suspect silver hand. Their methods have never been the most... Humane. I would like to bring her in here, find out what she knows. If she's one of them, then we let her go, she's in bad enough shape. If she's not- she has spirit, I can feel it. When she regains her strength- she may be able to help us." Aela didn't say the other reason for wanting to talk to the woman. The strength of her, the resilience, to be able to last through that much pain and tragedy, intrigued her, and attracted her. There weren't many women of strength these days.
Kodlak nodded. "When the temple says okay, then yes, you may speak to her. If she remembers where they were, we may be able to track them down. As well- a scholar friend of mine may have heard of where a shard of Wuuthrad is. We may want to look into it. He has no concrete evidence, however."
Aela nodded. The news about the shard- that was good. That meant they were one step closer to completing the fabled axe. Hopefully she would get sent to retrieve it, though, as she had retrieved a shard already, it was probably going to be someone else. The shards seemed to be appearing much more frequently, for some reason. It confused her. This was the third one to appear in Kodlaks lifetime.
Inerra woke slowly, her eyes cracking open. Another day, more work, more whips. Her fuzzy eyes tried to focus on her surroundings. It was lighter than her sleeping quarters usually were. Why- She remembered her escape, strong, woman's arms around her. She focused her eyes. The temple- Understanding slowly dawned on her.
"Some broth, Elf?" The Nord held out a bowl to her. She took it shakily, spilling, then drank down the contents. "Hungry?" The Nord smiled.
"Thirsty... Water, please. If it can be spared." The man walked away from her, to get the water. Now that she was properly awake... The agony of it... Her backs stinging, her ribs ache. The twinge she felt every time she took a breath, to where she wouldn't even take deep breaths. Then there was the brand... Magically enchanted to always burn, to always sear into her skin. A constant reminder of her years. Her legs felt like they were dead, without feeling, and her left arm still hurt from getting it seared working to shovel coal at the smelter.
"Hello, Elf." The smooth voice of a Nord spoke, and- oddly, it gave her shivers down her spine. Not unpleasant ones either. "I was wondering if you were awake."
Inerra tried looking for the Nord at the head of the bed, but couldn't crane her neck. The woman noticed and leaned over her, the fiery red hair swaying down to brush her cheeks. She shivered again. "Hello, lady... I- ah..." She blushed, closing her eyes and smiling shyly.
"No need to call me lady. My name is Aela. I brought you into Whiterun. I was curious as to your story, so I stopped by. I'm glad you're awake. You haven't been the past few times I've been here." The Nord put a hand to her cheek, gently cupping it, looking up as the priest returned with a cup of water. "Here." The woman reached a hand out for the cup.
"I am- Ah... I'm not important." She blushed that the Nord was taking such an interest in her. It couldn't be romantic, and besides, women didn't interest her, but- Someone who cares more than just as a place to put their- It wasn't good to bring up this thoughts. Too many bad memories. Too many betrayals.
"Sit up a little." Aela lifted her, bringing the cup to her lips, resting her against her chest. Inerra flushed to think of exactly what her head was resting on as she drank. "Even though you may not see it now, importance is not judged by self. It is judged by your friends, your world, and-" Her voice faded, and she wrapped an arm around Inerra and lowered her to her lying position.
"And what?" Inerra was curious, as well as a little embarrassed. She liked this woman, but she couldn't fathom why. Maybe it was that she wasn't extremely feminine, like most women. She had a- feral aspect. An animal. Even more than that of the bestial races, and it flushed and flustered her. It was strange. But she should just forget about it.
Aela stepped beside the woman on the bed, running her fingers along the woman's arm. She was still in her tattered rags. Why? Aela shook her head, looking over the woman. Whip marks covered her back, bruises covered all places where there wasn't open flesh. She looked into the red eyes of the elf. "And, if the gods are kind- and your lover." Aela didn't know why, but talking about this made her embarrased. The blush on her cheeks was faint, but- this woman was pretty. She wasn't sure why this woman intrigued her, but her smell, minus the silver, was intoxicating.
"Are you flirting with me?" Inerra gazed pointedly up at her. Her heart beat faster. Was this acceptance, or rejection? For some reason, her gut burned, and she squeezed her thighs together. This woman- She was different.
"It is what you want it to be." That was neutral enough, hopefully the woman didn't go off on her. She liked her, already.
"I don't know what I want... I just want someone to..." She looked away.
"Someone to?" Aela prodded, taking the woman's hand and clasping it in hers.
"Be here... I'm so alone..." She closed her eyes, slightly shivering.
Aela took the cotton blanket and draped it over the dark elf. "Hey, look, I'm here. I'll stay here through the night if you want. I'm here for you."
"Thank you."" The dark elf smiled.
Authors note: I made some minor changes to this one... I'll probably be tweaking on any and all chapters that I put up. Sorry for the blenk page next page. I have to rework something. A reviewer pointed something quite obvious out. Here's to miss carver.