(My apologizes to all of you readers. It has been a long time since I last updated and I´m really sorry but I have been very busy and had almost forgotten about this. But now I´m back and I hope I can keep updating more often. Here goes...

Chapter Eight.

They were almost taken my skin away. I looked around but it was all dark. I couldn´t seen the man who was punishing me but I could feel his strong hands hiting my body over and over, was I dead and it was my punishment in the Underworld? Had I been condemned as Prometeus to an endless torture? There was no vulture eating my body but as Marsyas they seemed to be flaying me alive.

The worst thing was that the punishment had no end and I could hear the people laughing at me.

I looked to the place where the laughs came from and I could see the faces of my troyan brothers and sisters. They pointed at me and laughed.

I didn´t cry, as they had asked me, but not because of that but ´cause I couldn´t. The teardrops didn´t come out from my eyes although the pain was unbearable.

But there was one thing even worse and it was that Odysseus and Achilles didn´t look at me, nor even when I went near them and asked them to help me. They didn´t move. They ignored me.

To know that I couldn´t die almost made me go crazy.

I shouted but no sound came out from my throat. I tried to move but I couldn´t. My body didn´t answered to any order from my brain though the pain was still there and the blood was running down all over my body.

And then I saw my family, they were there, some steps away from me, my father, my mother, and my little brother, they smiled at me and were coming to meet me, their arms opened, they were happy but something was wrong. Somebody was running after them, tall naked men with weapons. I tried to advise my parents but I couldn´t speak.

The men took them and killed my family. I saw my father´s head again falling onto the ground and the sword going through my mother´s chest. There was only my brother left. When I managed to go near him somebody threw him away over the walls of the city.

"NO!" I shouted "don´t you do it! Please!"

I felt somebody grabbing my shoulder. I tried to hold on him but the pain was terrible and stopped me.

Then I felt the soft touch of the water over my face and over my back and it took the pain away for a moment.

When I woke up I desired not to. I was laying over some blankets inside Odysseus´ tent, over my chest, my back burnt like fire because of the pain,

I moaned and a hand touched my shoulder and made me to stop moving.

"Don´t move or it will be worse" I recognized Achilles´voice, what was he doing inside Odysseus´ tent?

"How long...?"

"Almost two days, you had fever.

"My parents...my brother...I couldn´t help them."

"It was only a nightmare, Arish, calm down"

I turned my head and looked at him. "Are they alive?" I asked.

Achilles looked at me. "You know they aren´t. Don´t you think about it now"

I closed my eyes for a moment trying to remember what had really happened and what had I imagined.

"Did they kill me?" He laughed at the question.

"I hope they don´t because in that case I would be dead too" he whispered with a smile, the sweetest smile I thought I had ever seen.

"My back hurts"

"I know, it would be strange if it doesn´t" he answered as he came at my side and threw a bit of water with a rag over my back. "Feels better?"

I nodded. "Yes, thanks"

For a moment no os us knew what more to say, I didn´t like being that way in front of him, almost naked.

He sank the rag into the water and repeated the same thing again over my back. I closed my eyes trying to forget about everything but it was not that easy.

"Where´s Odysseus?" I asked suddenly taking notice of the fact that I hadn´t seen him.

"I made him to go to my tent and have some rest. He has been taking care of you since you were unconscious. I told him I could take care of you but he didn´t want to let me. I think he was getting so tired he couldn´t endure it anymore and since you were getting better I got him to obbey me and left." He explained.

I kept silent. So two powerful greek warriors had been taking care of me, taking care of a troyan slave, I could hardly believe it.

I looked at Achilles as he got another wet rag. I looked at his face forgetting for a moment who he really was. It was truth he was very handsome. His long blond hair and his brown skin with those pale eyes, and his strong arms...

It was funny that man born to kill was taking care of the life of another person.

I looked away when he put his eyes on me.

"This is going to hurt" he said. But before I could make any question he threw the water over the wounds of my back again, this time it was no pleasure but pain. I had to bit my lip in order not to scream as I felt the teardrops running down over my cheeks.

"Stop it!" I shouted in pain. "What are you doing!"

"Shut up, it´s only water"

"That´s no..."

"It´s sea water" he answered. "It will make your wounds to heal faster"

I shouted in pain again as he cleaned the wounds with the rag but he didn´t pay any attention to my complaints.

"Now you have to eat"

"Stop giving me orders"

"As you were a slave?" he mocked.

"I´m not YOUR slave"

He laughed.

"Luckily because you would make me into too many troubles. Although maybe that way your plans would be better."

"Would you help me with plans? I thought they only told you fight´and you just made it leaving the thinking things to the others." I answered.

Achilles sank the rag into the sea water once more time and threw it over my back.

(Well that have been all for now, how did it go? I´m sorry again for the mistakes but as I said english isn´t my first language and...now it´s 12:25 am and I´m a bit sleepy, lol.

Thanks to everyone that reviewed me! I will write the next chapter very soon if you want to keep reading ;)