Mariel woke with a gasp. All around her was shrouded in darkness. As she got her bearings, she found herself blinded by the moonlight coming through the broken doorway. She put her hand forward, and with great effort, managed to pull herself forward, towards the door. A feeling inside her told her to escape.

Though still hazy, she could make out the lifeless bodies of the guards and the strange attackers. Over by the stockades, she saw more bodies. Some were stuck on the stockades, while yet others were bound to poles in a kneeling position, their throats gushing blood. The silence was total. Hope began to leave her, and with one last defiant sigh, she succumbed.

A strange sensation pulled her out from the darkness. It was a cool breeze on her exposed skin. She felt strangely comfortable, lying on a soft, almost cloud-like surface. She opened her eyes to see, but was immediately blinded by the sunlight.

Regaining her focus, she found herself in a strange room. Around her were a great many females of her own kin, whispering in hushed tones, their hands filled with bloody bandages or bowls with water.

“Sister, see to it that she does not move.”

“It seems the infection has abated; her leg will be fine.”

“Sisters, she’s awake.”

Immediately, they all gathered around her. Eight females all dressed in a strangely familiar blue garb, leaned in to look at her with frank curiosity.

“W… Who are you?” Mariel asked, trying to move.

“Please my lady, remain still, you’re safe, but if you move your wounds will reopen…”

“… Where am I?”

“Bleirenvasten, inside Vysanneh’s temple on Reverence hill. You are still weak and only now beginning to mend.” An elder sister appeared through a nearby door, carrying a pot in her hands. She sat down next to Mariel. One of the other sisters have her a roll of bandages and she put the whole roll into the pot. When she retrieved it, it was soaking wet from a green, slightly slimy mucus.

“What’s that…?” Mariel’s mind recoiled looking at the sloppy bandage.

“A mending salve my child; it will speed along your recovery.”

The bandages felt cold and slimy on her skin, and she felt goose bumps appearing on her skin. With a sting, her thigh was raised slightly and promptly wrapped gently with the bandage. The next was readied promptly, and the next roll was wrapped over her chest and shoulders. A few patches followed, on a myriad of cuts and scrapes on her body she did not remember having received. The procedure soon finished, leaving Mariel in the appearance of some half-finished mummy.

“Now please, if you’d like anything let one of these sisters know… Your survival is… Miraculous to say the least.” The elder stood up to leave, but Mariel managed to raise her strangely heavy right hand.

“Where, are my friends?” To her question, the elder merely smiled reassuringly and provided no further answers.

“Where are they?” She tried to press her answer, but was firmly held in place by the other sisters standing around her.

“Please remain calm… You might really die if you struggle now…” One of the younger sisters begged.

“Where… Are my friends!?” Mariel let out a shriek of desperation. The elder stopped, sighed and waved her hand.

“Preserve her dignity. He can visit her, briefly. For her own good, sedate her if she turns hysterical.”

The sisters brought out a simple gown from the nearby closet. They hurriedly ran the securing strips under her back and tied them together along her side before placing a blanket over her. One of the sisters were dispatched, and soon she returned.

“Please… Her spirit is strong, but her body is barely holding up. Try not to excite her too much…”

Tizare limped through the doorway assisted by another sister. His eyes were covered by bandages, and he appeared to be in considerable pain. The sister lead him over to a small stool and with a groan of pain, sat him down.

“Tizare! Is that you? What’s happened to you?”

“Mariel… What a relief… We really thought you were going to die on us…” He flashed her a pained smile.

“We? Who else!? Tell me!” Once more she was restrained.

“Casindire… Is on the mend, I’m… Slowly pulling myself together…” He paused.

“And Saya? Siravin? Don’t… They didn’t…”

“No… But…”

“… What happened to them… How?” She could feel her eyes overflow, and her salty tears immediately began to sting her face.

“Siravin’s… Gone. They clapped a collar on him… He’s still… Moving, and powerful wards have been placed on him to suppress his new master’s wishes… Saya has…” She could hear his voice shatter. “She’s in constant pain… Alive but… She has to be constantly anaesthetised.”

Something deep within Mariel snapped. Her body began to shake violently. The sisters immediately grabbed her, trying to keep her from moving to no avail. With a brutal ripping sound, the threads that held her thigh closed began snapping. One of the sisters tore off the blanket, and immediately pushed a handful of salve into her open thigh. Mariel immediately seized moving as darkness took her.

She stirred once more, all around her was shrouded in darkness, broken only by a dim stripe of moonlight shining through a small window above. Immediately she was struck by a jolt of pain and groaned.

Her limbs were firmly restrained, the many leather belts unwavering in their fastness.

“Mariel, I’m happy to find that you survived…” Siah’s familiar voice echoed in her mind.

“Where have you been?” She asked out loud.

“I… Was weakened a lot when I tried to fight off the enemy… And I spent a little too much of my spirit keeping you alive. You slipped in and out of consciousness for three whole weeks…”

“But, what happened to us back then… I was bleeding, and passed out…”

Siah began to relate to her what had happened after she fainted. The battle was an astounding victory to their attackers. Every guard who had not been immediately slain in combat or by the human kilden users had been rounded up. The humans had used an ornate dagger to carve the crystals out of any demonkin still alive. To spiteful remarks and threats, Siravin had a collar clapped on him. On the order of one of the humans, Siravin had then proceeded to slash open a young guard’s gut and finally slit his throat when his handler had become bored of the screams. Meanwhile, their other livegnar had bound Saya and Tizare to wooden poles taken from the stockades and thoroughly tortured them both by inflicting burns, deep cuts and beatings, leaving them barely hanging on.

“But, how did… We make it?”

“A military force arrived by air, riding dragons. They scorched the area and after some brief fighting, overpowered the humans by sheer weight of numbers… After securing the area, they treated the more serious wounds and loaded us onto a dragon’s back… I managed to get them to spare Siravin.”

“They were too late…”

“Yes, but everyone is okay…”

“They’re not okay! Siravin is… lost now… Tizare’s messed up, Saya is messed up, Casindire’s messed up… Even you are messed up!” She roared in bitter frustration.

There was a long pause from Siah. The shouting caused Mariel’s body to sting, and she found herself heaving for breath.

“Calm… You’ll find a way forward. Heal up, and the others will do the same, then you can find the way to help Siravin.”

“Impossible, there’s no way to get those off, short of finding the one who put it on him. He’s lost…”

“He isn’t… But I won’t say anything else until you calm down, get some rest and recover.”

“… Are you being spiteful?”

“Yes… First time I’ve tried it… Did it work?”

“Ah… Practice it from time to time…”

“Okay, now promise you won’t do something rash… If you begin moving now you’ll die, and then your friends will die.”

“No they…” Her argument was immediately countered.

“They will. You are the glue in this box Mariel… You put it together, now maintain it You can’t help your friends… If you can’t help yourself first.”