Chapter 8: Part 1

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Waking from her slumber, Aislyn could feel an icy cold sensation biting through her shoulder. Groaning she tried to lift her hand to rub away some of the pain but found a vice of hands holding her down.

Her throat closed up and white lights flashed behind her eyelids.

She began to frantically thrash around, shrieking, trying to tell the person to let go. 

To not touch her. 

To not touch her skin.

Amidst her panic, she heard a voice. 

A man's voice. 

Galen's voice.

"Aislyn, a few more seconds!"

As the pressure holding her down suddenly vanished, Aislyn could finally draw in a deep breath. Spluttering, she placed a hand against her chest and began to dry heave over what she could now feel was a wooden table.

Finally, after managing to get in a few deep breaths, she was able to open her eyes and blink away the tears that lingered after her coughing fit. She swung her legs over the table and pushed the tendrils of hair, damp with her sweat from her forehead, out of her face.

Looking around she could see that she was in a cave, its walls lined with hundreds of candles and rich coloured pillows littering the floor. Sensing a presence behind her, she looked over her shoulder to see a young girl, no older than twelve, with brutal scars marring her young face. 

Strawberry blond locks jutted out in odd angles from her scalp, bald patches littering her whole head. The scars running down her face touched every part of skin on her face save her beautiful, grey eyes.  She was shorter than the average child and had a pronounced limp. Galen stood behind her, an arrow dripping blood in his left hand.

"Kaighen," croaked Aislyn, giving her a weak smile.

Sucking in air through her teeth, she looked down to see her wound. All that was left there was a white scar, one to join her ongoing collection. She lifted her finger to it and slowly rubbed it. An icy feeling ran through her fingertips and looking closely she could see a faint glimmer as it caught the light.

She looked up at the young girl and said, "thank you."

She looked back down at herself to see her suit had been unbuckled at it lay hunched at her hips and a tight strip of leather cover her breasts

"Would you look at that," she said, " my tits are out."

Kaighen erupted into a fit giggles and covered her mouth with her hand. Aislyn winked at her and began to pull up her suit as Galen scooped the little girl up and span her around the room.

Aislyn buckled up the last of her straps and rolled her shoulder, trying to work out some of the stiffness. She reached up and lay her hand against her new scar and sent a wave of heat through her shoulder.

"Here."

She snapped out of her daydreaming to see Galen crouching before her holding out her gloves. Aislyn quickly grabbed them, careful not to touch Galen's hand, and shoved her hands through them, trying to suppress the tremors. She looked up to see Galen looking very serious, with his mouth drawn into a straight line and his eyes filled with worry.

"I'm sorry," he said, "Kaighen needed a few more seconds to finish off."

Aislyn just bit down on her lip and nodded.

Standing up, she stretched and walked over to a corner where she could see her bag. She opened it and pulled out a little package wrapped in silk and tied with a bow. She walked over to Kaighen and bent down to her shorter height.

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