Warning! This chapter is rather violent and gory in the last few pages. Just a caution! I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING REGARDING THE DARK HUNTERS.
Saloria
An Eternal Soul Story
by Lana Ves
Chapter 3: Beginning
There was a strong wind beating against her, nearly ripping through her slight body. It struck her blow after blow, and she could dodge nothing. An exceptionally large gust finally brought her to the ground, crying from pain and fear.
"Everything is going to change for you, little one. The lifestyle you now live is disappearing, and you'll never get it back." a sexless voice whispered through the wind. The voice was strong, almost comforting despite the words. It was as if the voice cared what happened, but could not stop it.
"Why? What have I done? I've been a good girl!" she cried, reaching out blindly for the figure, but the body the voice belonged to pulled away so only her fingertips brushed against naked skin. It was soft, warm skin. Familiar, but she knew she'd never sensed this person before.
"They are going to die, young Soul, and your fate will be decided. Remember, we choose our paths, not the gods we hunt. Never forget your duty, young Soul. Let your destiny form you, let your pain and hate and despair create the greatest Eternal Soul known to the universe. Find your way. I pray you have strength, Saloria the Blind Soul, for you will need it. Fin it within yourself to remain alive as long as you can in this life. Fight with every ounce of determination you possess. May the Universe be merciful, for you will not be."
"But I don't want things to change! I'm happy the way I am! I don't want to hate anyone or anything! Please! Hello? Wait! Don't leave me--!"
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Saloria woke to the sound of hooves on a hard surface and the creaking of wheels. Cloth rustled around her, and she heard the soft breathing of two sleeping bodies. She smelled dust, horses, and human sweat. The princess sat upright in a panic. They were traveling.
"No!" she cried, scrambling over the cushions of her seat and onto the lap of one of her brothers. It smelled like Anlu, and her guess was confirmed when she accidentally kneed him in the stomach and he cursed in pain. "No, no! I don't want to go!" she yelled, searching desperately for the door. Hands took hold of her and held her.
"Saloria, Saloria, calm down!" Anlu cried, worry obvious in his tone. Saloria began to cry.
"But if I go, our family will die!" she sobbed, hiding her face on the first shoulder she came upon. It smelled like Tanlu, the second youngest boy.
"We will still be a family, Saloria, even if we aren't together." Tanlu said, caressing the girl's hair to comfort her, but she wouldn't be comforted. But after a while, Saloria calmed down. "Where are the others?" she asked.
"They are outside acting like guards." Anlu explained. "We're too young to do that, so we're in here with you. We are in a luggage cart." Saloria frowned.
"Why?"
The boys shrugged. "No clue." they said together.
"Why are we all going?" Saloria asked, picking herself up so she was sitting on her own. She still sensed it when Tanlu shrugged.
"Ask Father," was the only reply. Saloria still felt the stirrings of panic in her stomach. So this is what fear smelled like. That was the smell her father had been exuding…how many nights ago?
"What day is it?" Saloria asked, irrational fear beginning to consume her. She was only five, but felt fear like one much older.
"Three days since you fell into that panic," Tanlu replied. He was interrupted by Anlu.
"Which was scary. The priests told us of it. It was like you were possessed!"
"It's the day after your birthday." Tanlu said forcefully, and Saloria could tell from the atmosphere in the cart that Tanlu was glaring at their brother. She smiled. The two youngest boys were always fighting over everything. Saloria smiled, but it faded.
What if she lost her brothers and father like she lost her mother? Death was not something Saloria completely understood, even with her extraordinary intelligence. Animals sacrifices died, but those were necessary. The feeling she got from the potential death of her family struck her with an almost physical blow of fear. She did not want to lose them like she had her mother. Another tear slipped down her cheeks. She could hear Tanlu open his mouth as if to say something, but then the cart rattled to a stop at the command of her father. She heard him dismount and stomp toward their cart, heard his hands on the handle of the door and his breath as he stuck his head in.
"Saloria, child, you are awake!" Salgalu said, relief evident in his voice. He squeezed himself into the small cart and wrapped Saloria in his arms in a tight hug. She smelled fear on him, along with the smell of horses, sweat, dust, and that smell that was uniquely her father's. Saloria took comfort in that smell, and the warmth of his arms. The girl sighed, and calmed completely. Nothing could harm her while she was in his arms.
"She panicked when she woke." Tanlu said, and Anlu murmured his agreement.
"That is understandable. Those evil priests drugged her, giving her enough of the sleeping draft to kill a grown man, let alone a child." Salgalu growled.
"Are people trying to sacrifice me?" Saloria asked, still calm. The king ran his hands through the girl's hair.
"Hush, don't speak of such vile things." Salgalu cooed. Saloria managed not to roll her eyes.
"Why did the priests try to kill me?" Saloria pressed, grabbing the front of her father's shirt.
"Do not worry yourself over adult matters." the king replied firmly, releasing his daughter. The girl's heart choked her for a moment, then calmed. "We are about two weeks from Assur." Salgalu added. Saloria grimaced, so to change the subject, she asked, "What were you going to tell me before the temple?"
She heard Salgalu's sharp intake of breath. "I forget sometimes how smart you are." he chuckled nervously. Saloria just pointed her face in his general direction, frowning. She could hear him fidgeting. "I was just going to tell you we were all going on the trip." he said, far too hastily to be true, but Saloria refrained from pressing him for answers. She would learn the truth some other way. Saloria only smiled wanly up at her father.
"Why are we stopped?" the girl asked. Salgalu sighed with relief that his highly intelligent daughter hadn't interrogated him.
"We needed a rest, and we heard you were awake." Salgalu replied easily. Saloria nodded, listening to the outside. She heard the breathing of 14 men, not including the three in the cart, plus the snorting and stomping of maybe 20 horses. Saloria frowned.
"Why are there only 10 people other than us?" Saloria asked. Usually, a trip would include a whole caravan of people, no fewer than a couple hundred persons, which went with them. Saloria had only been on two full trips in her lifetime, but had heard of ones before that. Again, her father tensed.
"No reason. Like I said, I wanted this to be a family affair." Salgalu said, his voice and body tense. Saloria sighed. Just because she was five didn't mean she was stupid or couldn't handle the truth.
"Father," Saloria said crossly, "I am five years old. I can handle the truth." She said this so seriously that none of the males in the cart could laugh.
"I will not tell you until we are safely in Assur, where my cousin with protect us from our enemies." Salgalu replied, taking a tone he only ever used with the boys. It was far too late when he realized he'd given away everything. "Blast!" he said, curbing his cursing for young, female years. Saloria's eyes widened.
"We're being hunted?" She asked. Sallu chuckled from outside the cart.
"Father, I think she has a macabre sense of humor." The heir apparent said. There was a creak of door hinges and the sound of weight being added to a flimsy wooden structure, and Sallu was sitting next to Saloria. The king frowned at his eldest, unseen by the girl child. "Hello, little sister, it is about time you woke!" Sallu said, ignoring his father and ruffling Saloria's hair. The girl squirmed out of his reach, landing on Anlu, who wrapped his arms around her in a protective embrace.
"I do not! And I was poisoned! Of course I did not awaken sooner!" Saloria screeched, hating it when people touched her without her sensing it. She stuck her tongue out in the direction where she thought Sallu sat, and heard him chuckle darkly.
Sallu had always been her least favorite brother. He was greedy and ambitious, and liked to pick on Saloria by sneaking up on her and catching her unawares. In front of people, he was a perfect elder brother, but when it was just the siblings, he was almost cruel. When they were younger, he would move furniture so Saloria would bump into it, and then blame the servants for carelessness. For the longest time, Saloria was afraid to move anywhere on her own, but then discovered it was Sallu, not her. Even at her young age, Saloria knew how to severely dislike someone. Saloria thought that Sallu acted half his age when around her. A petty boy is what he was.
"Well, Father, I am off to patrol." Sallu said, leaping from the cart (AN: btw, the cart is one very much like a carriage, but more simple. One would carry silks, flour, or things that cannot be in the sun, and is not made for comfort, but Salgalu put cushions and stuff so that it was), making the thing wobble precariously. Saloria, always afraid of falling, clutched at Anlu. She heard her father grunt in annoyance.
"Be safe." The king replied to his son. He patted Saloria's cheek, and then he, too, extracted himself from the cart, but far less showily. "Guard her." He ordered the two youngest boys.
"Aiyai!" they shouted, giving their father a salute. Saloria giggled, and waited for her father's footsteps to recede before turning to her brothers.
"Can you take me outside? I want to explore!" she whispered. The boys looked at each other apprehensively.
"Uh, I don't know." Tanlu said, scratching his head. Saloria frowned.
"Please? Just outside. I don't need to go far." She pleaded, making her eyes appear as if they were looking up through her lashes. Anlu groaned.
"How can you know to make that look when you're blind?" he demanded as Tanlu sighed.
"Alright, let's go." Tanlu said, and Saloria, from the sounds being made, deduced he was poking his head outside the door to look for anyone nearby.
"No one near enough to notice." Saloria whispered. Tanlu growled at her.
"Act like a girl." He ordered as he hopped from the cart and helped Anlu get the girl out as well. Saloria rolled her eyes and made a face. These three had previously been the cause of quite a bit of mischief, and now was Tanlu acting his age and gender.
"I will when I want, or when it isn't important for me to be better at sneaking around." She retorted. In retaliation, Tanlu dropped her.
"Fine, I won't treat you nicely." He replied, storming away. He only went around the cart to sulk, which made Saloria want to giggle. Anlu helped Saloria stand up and took her hand.
"I won't leave you." Anlu said proudly. Saloria did giggle.
"My hero!" she said around a grin. The two shared a chuckle and went off. Anlu led her around, stopping every so often for her to sniff or touch or listen. Saloria deduced that there were three carts similar to the one she rode in, making four carts total, and each had a different cargo. The first had fine silks and riches, as she heard from eavesdropping almost 30 feet away, and another had food and water, since they were in the desert-like area of Sumer. The last, other than her cart, had weapons and bunking materials. This one frightened her, since it was apparently necessary. Anlu whispered information into her ear as they spied from a nearby hill, describing the types of weapons and who went in and out. Their father was one of the more frequent visitors to the weapons' cart.
"Uh-oh!" Anlu hissed, pulling Saloria up and taking off at a run. Saloria HATED running,
"What is it?" she asked, clutching his hand for dear life.
"Father is heading toward our cart!" the boy replied, dragging his sister along. "If he found out I took you out of your cart, he'd beat me bloody!" he added. Saloria's breath caught.
"No, he wouldn't!" she hissed. Anlu shuddered.
"Yes, he would. He's done it before, when we lost you in the palace." He said. Saloria frowned.
"But I was the one that snuck away." She said.
"Doesn't matter. We're responsible for you, as princes, men, and your brothers." Anlu panted, and they must have reached the cart, because Anlu was suddenly hauling Saloria into it. Tanlu appeared from thin air and helped boost the small girl up, and he too hopped into the cart. They scrambled around to find places that made it look as if they'd always been there, and eventually the boys gave up and pretended to be wrestling in order to hide their heavy breathing and the mussed up cushions.
"What are you two doing? This is a cart, not a practice ring!" Salgalu roared, tearing the boys apart. Saloria avoided a flailing body that was tossed in her direction.
"Saloria was bored, so we were wrestling." Anlu said between pants.
"She can't see!" Salgalu snapped.
"But I can feel." Saloria said. "They're close enough for me to know what is going on." Salgalu snorted.
"I'm beginning to agree with Sallu; you spend far too much time with your brothers. I think, as soon as everything calms, I will send you to your aunt's palace in Kish." The king said dryly. Saloria wrinkled her nose.
"But she is old and mean and smells like a distillery!" the girl whined. Their father snorted.
"But she knows how to raise a good woman." He retorted.
"But I don't want to be a good woman! I want to be a warrior princess!" Saloria said, the idea, as always, making her excited. She had never revealed her secret desire before, despite having asked in the past to be taught to fight. All the males laughed uproariously. Saloria's mood fell instantly. She HATED being laughed at, especially when she said something from her heart.
"Girls don't fight in wars." Anlu said.
"Girls don't fight in general." Tanlu added.
"Of course not, boys. Silly girl. Why would you ever want to be a boy? Being a woman is a fine thing. And anyway, you're blind, so you would be useless." Salgalu finished. Saloria turned away, crossing her arms over her chest, stung.
"Then you be a girl." She snapped, sticking her nose in the air. Her brothers gasped in horror. There was a sudden chill in the air, as if there was an unwanted presence lurking nearby, but before she could discern the meaning, Saloria was grabbed, turned, and slapped sharply across the face before she could even sense movement from her father. Tears instantly spilled onto her cheeks, and she put her hand to her now stinging face.
"You will not speak to me like that." Salgalu growled. Saloria could only stare blindly toward her father, her tears burning her. She had never been slapped by her father before. Sallu had once, when she bit him for sneaking up on her, but her father had never risen voice nor hand to her, until now. "I am lenient, but I have spoiled you. We are in danger now, so I will not punish you fully, but from now on, girl, you will be treated like the child you are, and not some holy object. I love you dearly; you are precious to me, but you must learn your place." The king said, voice hard.
Saloria was only dimly aware he left moments later, her emotions blocking all her senses. Oh, she was angry. Actually, furious was a word that came to mind. Furious, and hurt. She knew once in a while her father slapped one of the boys for whatever mishap they did, and since the servants were not allowed to harm the royal children the king had to do it. But she had done more harmful things in the past and not been punished for it, other than a toy being taken away, or a mild scolding. By the gods, she'd broken priceless statues on accident, complained about the odors of foreign dignitaries, walked into a council meeting naked once when she was little when she was trying to find her nurse. Saloria had even kicked her father one time when he had snuck up on her, and he only held her more firmly in his arms and confirmed her safety.
Then she remembered that presence. It must have been the work of something else, something that took over the mind of her beloved father.
"You shouldn't have said that." Anlu murmured as he scooted toward her. Saloria snapped back into the present and flinched away.
"Yeah, you're lucky you only got a slap." Tanlu added. Saloria glared as fiercely as she could, still trying to figure out the puzzle she 'saw' in her head. But this topic seemed to pick a nerve with her.
"What was wrong with what I said? I only meant that if he thought being a girl was so wonderful, he should be one." The boys inhaled sharply.
"Don't say such things!" Tanlu hissed.
"Yeah! That is a dire insult to men!" Anlu added. Saloria's face contorted.
"Why?" she demanded.
"Because women are inferior to men." Tanlu said, his voice attempting to sound superior even to Saloria's ears. She growled. That was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. Women may not be physically stronger, but they were just as smart, if given the chance. She was living proof of that. But why was she thinking like this? These thoughts seemed to be for someone older than her…
"Well, that, and you're blind, which automatically makes you far more inferior than other women, since you're useless and will never be married to someone of circumstance." Tanlu added.
"Oh?" she snarled, and she tackled Tanlu in one leap, perfectly measuring the distance and angle by touch and hearing. She was able to give Tanlu at least a black eye before Anlu tackled her.
"I AM NOT INFERIOR!" She screamed, kicking at her brothers. Tanlu was crying and Anlu was trying to calm Saloria, but his young grip was not much stronger than her enraged flailing. Running footsteps were heard, and Saloria was dragged away from the younger boys by her father, since he was the only one allowed to touch her other than her brothers and women. Her rage was so strong that even the king had a hard time subduing his daughter. "I AM NOT INFERIOR! I WILL NOT BE A GIRL! I am NOT USELESS!" Saloria shrieked over and over until Salgalu took firm hold of the back of her neck, bent her over his knee, and delivered three blows to her behind, causing the girl to choke on a scream and grow silent. She'd been hit again!
"What is the meaning of this?" the king roared. Tanlu stopped crying.
"We were explaining why you slapped her, Father, and Tanlu said something, and Saloria attacked him!" Anlu shouted, apparently near tears. Salgalu righted Saloria and held her shoulders at arm's length.
"Is this true?" he asked, his voice so low it almost hurt her ears. Saloria, over the shock of being hit again, glared defiantly but remained silent. He was under the influence of something not himself, she was sure. "Speak, girl." Salgalu said, threat and promise evident in his tone. Saloria was suddenly afraid. This was an aspect of her father she'd never seen before. She knew he punished her brothers, but he'd never even acted like he might punish her similarly. He seemed almost as if he wanted to find reasons to punish her. The presence was what she was really afraid of. She could feel it now, even, hovering around her father and leaching out toward her brothers and the guards. Saloria wanted badly to rip it from her family and destroy it, but she was weak still from the sleeping draft, and she was afraid of what would happen should she fail.
"He said that because I'm blind, I'm useless. That isn't true! I can be useful!" Saloria cried, clutching her father's sleeves. Salgalu made no comment.
"Did he say anything else?" the king asked softly.
"Yes. He said women are inferior to men." She whispered, facing the ground. Her heart was breaking a little. She heard a few chuckles from who must have been the guards, but those were silenced by a glare from their King. Still, the girl cringed slightly. Did they all really think she was useless for anything but an object to look at?
"Of course women are inferior." Salgalu growled, shaking her slightly. "Why else do you think we protect you, why we are the ones that fight wars and build palaces and homes? Women cannot do these things. Especially not you, since you are blind. I would die if anything happened to you."
It's time, Saloria. Things have been set into motion. The change is upon you. Be brave, little one.
No! Things cant change yet! she thought frantically, suddenly feeling heavy. All her limbs seemed numb, her mind was going blank…
"Don't change yet," she whispered, her head dropping. Her eyelids fluttered closed.
It's time, Saloria. The time for change is now…. that voice from the temple and her dream whispered.
"NO!" she screamed, flailing away from anybody that came near her, fighting the lethargy with all her might. "DON'T CHANGE! Please, NOT YET!" Saloria sobbed, falling to her knees and curling into a ball around her father's feet. "Don't change. Not like this." she whispered against Salgalu's legs. Hands reached for her and suddenly, horses screamed in fright or anger and swords clashed after a round of shocked shouting.
"Get her to safety!" Salgalu bellowed, picking the girl up and handing her to someone. It was Renta, the second eldest brother. Renta shouted an affirmative and ran his sister back into her cart.
"Be quiet, Saloria nin." he whispered, tucking her beneath pillows and blankets. She could hardly breathe, but she ignored that sensation. "They're here for you. If they don't find you, we'll be fine." Saloria shook in fear, but nodded her understanding and stayed silent.
Sounds of battle hit her ears with an almost physical blow and she winced at every clash of a sword, every cry of anger or pain. She wanted to scream for them to stop, that she didn't want this. The girl heard Anlu shout in pain, and it took every ounce of her will to keep still. This couldn't be happening!
"Where is she?" a strange man bellowed. Saloria heard a blade cut into flesh, heard her father gasp in pain. "Men never cry out, especially not a king," her father had told her once, long ago. "I asked you, 'where is she!'" the strange man yelled again, and this time, her father did cry out. King or no king, everyone felt pain. Saloria suppressed a groan of frustration and terror.
"Yenla, we want him alive yet." Sallu laughed, and everything seemed to freeze. The shouting stopped, the fighting ceased, the horses calmed… Saloria forgot to breathe. "Honestly, man, I told you to keep your temper. How are we to capture prisoners and proof of our victory if you kill everyone?" her brother continued, and she heard the sound of a hand slapping companionably against leather clad shoulder. There was a grunt of unhappy assent and the sloshing sound of metal leaving flesh. Saloria wanted to be ill, only because it was her father's flesh, but she stayed stone still.
"You traitor!" Salgalu hissed, voice tense with pain.
"Oh, father, you should have seen this coming. After all, you're still well within your prime, and I'm getting older every day. I wanted a chance at the throne while I'm young and not some tottering old man." Sallu laughed, his tone condescending. Saloria's blood chilled. "So I figured I'd take you out of the way by luring you out here with little threats against your beloved daughter," he spit out these last words like they tasted bad, "and slaying you, making it look like a raiding party that killed everyone but me, who had somehow managed to escape, but too bad for his family and King. Guess what that will make me, old man." Sallu chuckled evilly.
"You'd kill us all to be king?" Renta growled. It sounded as if he struggled against someone holding him. Sallu grunted.
"Of course, little brother Renta. With Father out of the way like this, who's to say one of you wouldn't want a try? I'm merely taking out the competition."
"And what about Saloria?" Salgalu asked, voice rasping. He sounded so weak. Sallu snorted contemptuously.
"I'm going to get rid of her, too. She's always been useless, but everyone treats her as if she's some sort of godling. She's cursed, Father, not blessed. That is why her eyes are so strange, why she is blind. But I'm not going to kill her. No, I've been offered quite a high price for her lovely little self, and I plan on doing business with some fine gentlemen from Atlantis. Mark me; the girl will be alive, just not well. We'll break her in here, though, of course."
There was a sound of a rushing body, as if someone had thrown himself at someone else, a pair of loud grunts, and shouts of fury.
"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER WITH YOUR FILTHY HANDS! NONE OF YOU!" Salgalu screamed.
"Detain him!" Sallu bellowed, and more bodies rushed to comply. "Just don't kill him! That is my right!" Saloria heard blow after blow being struck, and finally, silence. The girl was crying by now.
"Where is the girl?" the strange man from before asked again.
"Oh, calm yourself. She is probably in her cart, hiding. We'll worry about her in a moment. Let's tie everyone up over there first, and then go find her. She is, after all, blind and completely helpless without someone there to lead her." Sallu muttered under his breath, but Saloria could somehow hear him through the layers of cushions on top of her, the cart, and the distance between them.
Terrified, she silently unburied herself and searched for the door that led away from the sounds. She listened for sounds of approach, but all she could hear was breathing, curses and protests, crying, groaning, and the dragging of bodies in the opposite direction.
"Sallu! You can't hurt our sister! You can't hurt her! It's our duty to protect her!" Anlu was shouting. A slap rang out and the boy cried out in pain. Saloria's heart went out to him even as she looked, more frantically now, for the door. Her hands met with nothing but rough wood planks. Her breathing started to hitch. A silent mantra began in her head; door, door, must find the door. Must find the…DOOR!!!
She found it and was pushing it open when she realized that footsteps were heading directly for her cart. Saloria repressed a scream of terror and slid silently out of the cart and shut the door. She crawled on her hands and knees so she wouldn't trip over anything. Oh, how she wished she had her walking stick! Her family must have left it in Eridu when they left. Curses! The opposite door creaked open and a man's heavy breathing could be heard from inside it.
"She's not here." the strange man said after the sound of tearing cloth and thrown cushions.
"Look out the other side." Sallu said slowly, as if to a dim child. "She can't have gone far." Footsteps on sand moved closer toward her, and Saloria couldn't take it anymore. She sprang to her feet and took off at a run, hoping beyond hope she didn't run into anything or trip over rocks or fall into holes, or, better yet, she wasn't seen. There was a shout of surprise behind her and the stranger took after her. Saloria screamed when the man all too easily caught up to her, caught her around her waist and slung her over his shoulder.
"NO, no! Let me go!" she screamed, kicking and slamming her tiny fists as hard as she could against the awful smelling man that held her. He only chuckled.
"Feisty little thing." Yenla laughed, stroking her legs with the hand that held them to him. The girl shrieked in revulsion and outrage.
"Yenla, behave yourself for the time being." Sallu sighed as if weary of Yenla's antics. The man beneath Saloria's slim body gave a great sigh and stopped his hand's roaming. Saloria almost cried with relief. She was not used to being touched more than necessary, and never by strangers. All too soon the girl was hauled over Yenla's shoulder, causing her to have a terrifying moment of disorientation, and set on her feet on the ground. Involuntarily, the princess stumbled and clutched at the man's arm so she would not fall. Yenla laughed uproariously.
"I see what you mean when you say she's helpless!" the giant of a man said. Saloria, furious, turned and gave Yenla a sharp kick on the shin. He howled in surprised pain and slapped her, making Saloria tumble to the ground, the blow nearly knocking her out.
"I told you not to hit her." Sallu growled. Yenla muttered a curse and hauled the tiny princess to her feet by her hair. Saloria refused to cry out in pain, which seemed to irk Yenla to no end, but he behaved himself. "Well, little sister, it seems to me I've won." Sallu said, his voice triumphant. Saloria spit at him blindly, and must have aimed well, for he yelped in surprise.
"You've only won when all of us are dead." The girl hissed, a strange maturity taking over her. Oh no! The presence from before has taken over her now! But there was nothing she could do to stop it. Actually, this presence was different from the one that had taken over her father. It was…more a part of her than a separate entity. How could that be? Her mouth continued to work. "You are a bastard, Sallu, and should be sacrificed to Enki for your traitorous ways, you changeling jackal's son!"
A violent tug on her hair made her stop her tirade and cry out. Tears sprung to her eyes in anger and pain. The mature feeling was slowly fading, but it had a few more words to say; "Let us go. We'll not harm you in any way. Just leave us to the desert." She whispered. She could hear her father's labored breathing. His wound must be severe. The girl wondered (rather morbidly) where he was stabbed, and whether or not he would survive it. She prayed to Enki he would.
"You know I cannot and shall not." Sallu sneered. "I need our father and all our brothers to die so I have no competition from them. As for you, it does not matter if you live or die, since you are merely a girl and could never take the throne, so you will remain alive." Sallu said as if contemplating the weather. Saloria growled, and the feeling that had been fading took over completely.
"Do NOT kill them, or Enki and all the gods of Sumer be my witnesses, I will tear your entrails from your body and strangle you with them!" Saloria snarled, her voice altered to that of an adult's. Her eyes seemed, to those around her, to glow with an eerie green and gold light. The tone of her voice was like a god's proclamation; promising and final. Sallu merely laughed.
"Saloria, Saloria, Saloria. Such a foul tongue for such a small girl child." Sallu chuckled, not hearing the change in her voice, nor seeing the strangeness of her eyes. "If tongues were not such a pleasurable commodity, I'd cut it out of you, cook it, and make your father eat it before I gut him." Sallu said cheerfully, confident in his victory.
Saloria spit at him again, but missed. Her head was spinning, disorienting her. There were so many feelings churning in her heart, so many sensations from the outside that she could barely think. Saloria just wanted to cry in her room with her father's arms wrapped around her protectively as her brothers crooned useless comforts. But that was not to be.
"Let them go, NOW!" Saloria commanded, suddenly herself again. She heard her eldest brother take a few long strides toward her, heard the rustling of his clothes as he swung back his arm, and the air rushing over his arm as he slammed his palm down onto her cheek. The motion of the slap seemed to take minutes in which, if she was able, Saloria could have moved out of the way. But Yenla held her tightly and all the girl could do was turn her head so the slap would not break her neck or rattle out her newly grown teeth. Still, the blow stung like nothing before and left a print on her cheek.
"You do not order me around, whore!" Sallu bellowed. Saloria was trying her hardest not to cry, but oh, how she wanted to. Her brother took hold of her robes and hauled her toward him. His face was so near hers she could have turned her head and bit him, but she resisted. "Now you get to feel our beloved father's death rather than just listen to it. You will get to hear all our brothers get tortured to death as you watch helplessly, bound to my horse, where you await the beating of your life." His breath smelled sour and evil, and spittle sprayed out onto her face as he snarled at her.
Saloria trembled, terror overtaking her as tears escaped her lids. She heard her father moan something, but could not make out the words. Sallu snapped a command in a different language, one Saloria guessed was Atlantian [AN: I can never remember how to spell this; so it'll be spelled this way from now on]. There was a rush of movement, and her father began to bellow in rage.
"Let me go! Unhand me, you Atlantian fiends! Rapists! Murderers! May the gods of every land curse you and your families for the rest of time! Release my family this instant! Do not TOUCH my daughter!" Salgalu raged, thrashing his body against the multitudes of bindings that held him captive. It took five men to haul him over to where Sallu and Saloria stood. His body was thrown to their feet, and the king groaned in pain as his wound was jarred violently from the fall. Saloria could only smell his blood, and the smell made her mind go numb for a moment.
"First off, Father Dearest, these are Apollites. Second, you have no control here. You have no right to order me about. I am the new king of Eridu. You and all your sons but I shall die horrible deaths that your daughter will witness." Sallu hissed in his father's ear. "Just imagine how it will traumatize her."
Saloria shocked everyone by jumping on Sallu and tearing at him with all her might, fists pounding, feet kicking, and teeth biting as she screamed curses at him, curses she'd learned from listening. Sallu screamed in shock, pain, and fear. "GET HER OFF ME!" the prince bellowed, and hands were upon the child, tearing her from their liege and holding her still, but she thrashed with what little space given to her.
"DO NOT HURT THEM! I'll kill you!" Saloria shrieked, her voice that of a child's, but her eyes glowed with that eerie light again, and this time Sallu saw. Everyone but Yenla, who held her against his body with sadistic pleasure, and her father, who was too injured to move even a finger, took a step back in terror.
"Demon! She is a demon!" one soldier cried, and the shout was taken up until Sallu bellowed an order in Atlantian.
"She is no such thing; she is just a girl! Be silent, the lot of you, or I'll rethink my opinions of you all being strong men!" Despite his words, Sallu sounded shaken. Saloria smiled. That old and strong something was possessing her again, and she was letting it. She would protect her family with everything she had and everything she could to borrow. But as of yet, she could not utilize that strange power that seemed to be a part of her, and that frustrated the child. "Bring her here, Yenla!" Sallu snapped, and Saloria was hustled over. Sallu's hand wrapped around her thin arm and he tossed her onto her back on the ground. Stunned, she lay frozen, listening as Yenla and Sallu grunted with effort and her father moaned in pain as he was rolled onto her. Saloria panicked.
"Papa?! Papa!" she wheezed, his weight crushing her small body.
"Saloria dumu. Fear not. Enki will guard you and your brothers." Salgalu whispered, spittle and blood dripping into the girl's hair as the man struggled to live. Sallu straddled his back, dagger in hand. He grabbed the king's hair and wrenched his head back.
"Saloria, watch and experience your father's death." The prince murmured as he watched his little sister stare blindly forward, terror obvious in her eyes as she struggled to breathe under the weight of their father, himself, and her fear.
"No…" she moaned, reaching out to her father. With a speed that shocked everyone, Sallu slit Salgalu's throat with one slash, right as Saloria's tiny hands reached his face. Salgalu let out a dying gurgle, his body shuddered, and his life's blood poured onto the girl beneath him, covering her face and upper body.
Saloria froze in horror; holding her father's face between her hands, she felt his face contort with pain, then relax in death. Sallu laughed at the look on her face and proceeded to sever the head of their deceased father. The girl opened her mouth to shriek, but the sound caught in her throat as blood fell into her mouth, and she choked on it. Saloria began to thrash wildly, terror freezing her mind, and all she could think about was getting away from the hot body of that man who had been her protector and only parent.
"Get away! Get away!" the girl screamed over and over, caught beneath his deadweight. Her eyes were opened so wide, she was amazed they didn't just fall out. Saloria sobbed, tasting and smelling the essence of her father's life all over her. After a few minutes, which felt like centuries to the girl, Sallu took a small mercy and dragged the dead man from the girl, who scrambled away as fast as she could, only to bump into the legs of Yenla, who picked her up by her hair and held her captive yet again. She could only hear the blood pumping through her own veins and the screams of mourning and rage from her brothers.
Shock. You're going into shock… that voice that was hers but not whispered, and the girl closed her eyes even as the rest of her screamed and fought with all her strength. She ignored the pain from her captured hair as she struggled with all her childish might against Yenla.
"ENOUGH!" Sallu screamed, and silence prevailed in the desert. "You all make enough noise to raise the dead! Yenla, bind her to my horse immediately!" Yenla jumped into action, dragging the girl to a nearby horse and tying her tightly to the saddle. "Torian, you keep a look out! The rest of you, choose a prince and…"
"Wait!" Saloria cried, once again somewhat sane. Everything paused, even breathing. The men were afraid of her strangeness, but more so of the brutality of their leader. Her brothers were hoping she'd save them. And they thought women were inferior and I was useless. Ha! "Please, King Sallu, wait. Let my brothers live and send them into the desert. Do not kill them like this, please, brother! I will do anything!" Saloria was crying now, eyes wide in terror, shock, and entreaty. Calling her eldest brother a king had wounded her young pride like nothing before, but she did it and was proud of herself for thinking like that.
"Proceed." Sallu said, deliberately loud, and a cacophony of screams of horror and pain assaulted the child's ears as her brothers were killed slowly. They were being cut, bit by bit, and hurt in other ways, ways Saloria didn't recognize at all. They called out to her to save them, since she was the only one not being touched.
"Stop it! Stop it! What do you want? What do you gain from doing this like this?!" she screamed, her soul going out to her tortured brothers. Sallu was suddenly beside her, and he wrenched her head back by her hair. She cried out in shock and pain, feeling guilty for it, since her brothers were going through much worse.
"I want to see you suffer, Saloria. You killed my mother, you captured the hearts of everyone that set eyes upon you, you stole my father's attention. I am the eldest! I was the heir, yet he spent more time with you in your short five years of life than he ever did with me! So I will make you suffer through the deaths of the rest of our brothers, knowing that you could not save them because you are useless! A blind girl child! What could you ever do to save them?" Sallu hissed in her ear, clutching her hair in one hand and her tiny throat in the other. He was holding her throat just firmly enough to make breathing difficult, but not to strangle her.
"I'll do anything, just stop hurting them!" Saloria gasped, the sound of her brothers' screams taking over her mind. That strange echo was returning, the one that gave her the worst type of headache and confused her.
Sallu paused for a long moment, considering. Then he sneered gleefully. "You just gave me a way to prove your uselessness." He released her from his grasp and untied her. "If you can reach them before they die, I will release them, no harm done, but only the ones that you reach. The others will continue until you reach them. You, on the other hand, will be sold as a slave to my Atlantian friends."
One of the elder brothers, maybe Ulno, the fourth eldest, protested. "Don't sell her! You can't sell her! She is a princess of Sumer! To experience such a dishonor!" he was quickly silenced with a blow. He cried out, and Saloria threw herself toward him, but was held back by Yenla. The screaming of her brothers had receded, since Sallu's soldiers had stopped in order to listen to them. All of her captured brothers were crying and moaning in pain and terror, even the older ones. Saloria gritted her newly grown teeth and faced Sallu.
"Accepted." She snarled. Sallu laughed, and suddenly there were hands all over her, shoving, pulling and spinning her so she could barely tell up from down. The sensation of dislocation nauseated her. A shout was taken up, and the overwhelming smell of horse manure was shoved under her nose.
"I know your sense of smell is acute, so this'll make it more of a challenge." Sallu murmured almost softly, then the manure was shoved in her face, and the girl gagged, still being shoved around. The smell of her father's blood, which was still covering her upper body and face, had already been overpowering her smell, but the manure completely killed it as she tried not to pass out from the power of it. To make things worse, the men started bellowing in her ears, deafening her to her brother's screams of help. One last shove sent her to her knees, and then there was no one around her.
The screams echoed in her head, making it impossible to tell which direction they came from. She could smell nothing but manure and blood, and she was completely directionally impaired. Saloria shakily got to her feet and stumbled forward, feeling for her brothers. Her name was being called from every direction.
"Anlu!" she cried, and listened for him. "Tanlu? Leelu! Ulno! Renta!" screams of agony joined with the echoes in her head, her name was being cried… Saloria began to cry again as she rushed in the direction she thought Anlu was. She tripped over a rock, scrambled to her feet, and continued on. Then, there was a pair of hot bodies beside her, and she pounced on the largest one, kicking and punching with all her might. The man howled in shock and tossed her away.
"Saloria!" Anlu sobbed in relief, clutching at her robes. "Tanlu is over…" he started, but he was punched in the gut by his tormentor. Saloria resisted attacking Anlu's assailant, deciding to trust her eldest brother's words, and stumbled in another direction. She was close to another pair of bodies when all sounds of pain, one by one, stopped. The girl froze. Sallu was behind her with a blade against her spine.
"Too late, little girl." The prince, no, king, sneered. Saloria couldn't move, frozen in shock and horror.
"But you said--!" she gasped.
"So sorry. Did I forget to mention there was a time limit? Too bad. Just think, Saloria. Four of your brothers are dead because of you. All but Anlu. Poor boy. At least the others died quickly. I can't say the same for him." Sallu gloated, his voice falsely sad. Saloria's shock broke then, and she screamed in fury and threw herself at her brother, intent on killing him, ignoring the blade that was pressed against her, but of course, she was immediately subdued after a few cruel blows and a twisted arm. Saloria bellowed out her pain, anger, and self loathing.
She wasn't fast enough, wasn't capable of saving her beloved family all because she was blind and a girl. Useless.
"You can do what you want with the boy, just keep him alive." Sallu shouted to his men. Evilly delighted chuckles came from the Appollites, and Anlu's cries for mercy were ignored. Clothes were ripped, and a small body was beaten into submission. A cry of agony from the boy made Saloria hurl herself toward the boy, but she was caught instantly. She could hear grunts of pleasure from a man, and cheering from some of the others as Anlu squealed in pain. Saloria had no idea what was being done to the boy, she could not think. She stood frozen in horror in the arms of Yenla, yet again.
"No, no no!" she whispered over and over as she listened to her brother being…
Raped.
The word tore through her mind and with horrible clarity, Saloria, age five and one day, knew exactly what was happening to her brother. The girl collapsed, unable to bear her own weight.
"Let him go!" she moaned as the sounds intensified. Her favorite brother's screams echoed in her head, shutting out everything but scent, which was the blood of her dead brothers, who'd all had their throats cut, and a sick, musky scent coming from the men. She could smell it even past the manure that was plastered to her face.
Lust. Desire. You smell their sexual wants as they watch Anlu being raped.
"Stop. Stop! I don't want to hear any more! Please, Enki! Hear me! Save him!" Saloria cried to the heavens, but there was no higher power coming to save her brother from his fate. She was alone, and in that moment, she hated the gods with all her soul. If Anlu died like this, if the gods of Sumer ignored her plea for help for THEIR prince, and if she ever got free, she would hunt them down and kill every one of them. "ENKI! Save your prince!" she screamed, but nothing happened, and finally, Anlu's cries stopped as he passed out.
A small mercy for the poor boy. Sadly, not a respite that will help his body.
Saloria understood exactly what the voice meant, and cursed the knowledge even as the animalistic grunting continued. The girl turned to Sallu and glared with all her might.
"I. Hate. You." She said, voice trembling with the force of her emotions, but of course, Sallu only laughed.
"And I you." The new king waved his hand and Yenla cheerfully struck Saloria's head with his dagger, and the girl knew no more.
AN: SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE I'M SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!! Yeah… see, this chapter was harder to write than I expected. It is a really important chapter, one that kind of shows why Saloria turns out the way she does later in the story, so I had to get it right, and my OCDness was coming out full force. I rewrote this chapter at least a dozen times before this came out like this, and even then, it's not perfect, but I guess I should just leave it so I can continue on with the story. *sigh* ah well. So yeah, sorry it wasn't the best thing ever. It came out longer than expected too. Over 8000 words! But yeah…
Just for those of you wondering why Saloria has such a different name from that of her brothers'; Sumerian males usually had the 'lu' at the end of their name (SalgaLU, AnLU, you get the idea; it made them have 'manly' names. lol), but girls (here, probably not for real) did not. Saloria's name comes with her soul, so no matter where she's born or what the parents had previously planned, she will always be named "Saloria." Any culture, any country, anything, she'd be called Saloria. Yes, many people wonder about that.
Btw, Saloria's name is Salo (from Hebrew "Salomé meaning peace), and Ria (from Hebrew "Riah" meaning bitter). So Saloria's name means 'bitter peace.' As the story progresses, it'll come clearer. Her name could also be derived from 'lori,' short for 'laura,' which means "laurel" which is a type of tree that the ancient Romans used for victory, so "Lori" means victory.
Be wonderful readers of fanfiction and Please, please, please, with a chocolate covered cherry on top of mounds of your favorite ice cream and cake and other deserts splashed with more chocolaty goodness and strawberries and caramel and all the other yummy stuff that goes good on desserts, REVIEW!
Thank you for reading! I will update as soon as my muses return from their vacation. Luv to my readers! *bow* until next time
