I held back the tears as a painful cough racked my body, my eye widening as I saw a spray of blood fly from my mouth. I continued to cough, holding a bandaged hand over my mouth so I didn't ruin the blankets that covered me. My head throbbed with a new sense of pain and my chest burned with every breath I took. I new what was happening; my body was dying. I couldn't place when it happened but I knew I had been poisoned some how. Was it from my food the night before? No; I checked it. It couldn't have been during the battle, not unless it was a fast working toxin the creature had in its saliva.

The wooden door opened with a low moan, letting a beam of light spill into the room. I sat up, wincing in pain as I groped for one of my weapons. My heart was racing and the pain I was feeling grew more intense. Then all fear seemed to melt away as the door opened wider and a familiar figure stepped through the door.

Glandriss peered in through the door, his dead blue eyes looking through the dim light and finding me. He gave a faint smile, the piercing in his lip catching the light. He slipped through the door and moved to the side of my bed. The moment he stood over me he noticed the blood staining my bandages. Glandriss crawled onto the bed and sat beside me, his eyes looking over my bruised and bandaged body. He raised his slender hands and began to sign.

'I am truly sorry for the pain I've caused.' His fingers sliced through the air as he continued, his three inch nails seeming menacing despite the kind words he signed. 'I shouldn't have led you there.'

With a frown I replied, 'You hired me; I did what you told me to do.'

'I tricked you.'

'I didn't ask for specifics, Glandriss. It's my own damn fault. Why is your conscience coming into play now? Why not before all of this happened?'

Glandriss smiled slightly. 'Losing you wasn't part of the plan.' He suddenly seized me by the neck, that smile widening as she wriggled in his grasp. Using his free hand Glandriss continued, 'I've grown accustomed to your presence beside me. I will not lose that.'

I opened my mouth and tried to call out to the people I heard in the hall, but Glandriss tightened his grip around my neck. He made a few gestures with his free hand; I recognized those gestures. I reached out and tried to claw at Glandriss' face, but he caught my hand in his mouth and held it there, his teeth slowly cutting into my skin. As my vision grew blurry I had a sense of de-ja-vu. My body grew limp and as I tumbled into an induced sleep, the memories of the past few months came back in waves.