Ok so this is a part of Fayelin's back story. This takes place before he became a Fire demon; when he was still "alive"

NEXT>>>

---

The smell of deception and decay was thick in my nose. The dirty stone floor was cold beneath me as i lay on the ground in puddles of more than just sweat and blood. I searched for any strength left in my body to move, to retreat from the cruel hands that continued my agony. My fur was raggedy and stank to high heaven. To think at one point it was a healthy glossy black and tan that any jackal would be proud to bear. Im not sure how long he kept beating me, i wasn't even sure how long i had been in his "care".

When i no longer flinched from his blows he stepped away, calling to the guards. When i still had strength to bear i would have jumped him at this moment, knowing he was unguarded, but i couldn't even move to piss in the corner anymore. The guards didn't even worry when bringing me meals, they left the door open and threw the food into my cell. The meals generally consisted of not but a piece of rotted meat and what i could assume was water at one time. Many times i went hungry, for i couldn't muster up the energy to drag myself to the food to eat.

All i could do was lay there and hope that i would get a day of rest. Some days i was sure i had fallen asleep, but i drifted in and out so much i couldn't tell the difference between the nightmares and reality. I often dreamt of the beatings, which made it even harder to differentiate between them. I rarely opened my eyes anymore. I didn't need to, except.... It was always dark here, no way to tell between day and night, and i hardly needed to know who was coming to my cell.

I heard the soft patter of feet, one thing i hadn't lost... my ears were not untouched by the beatings, but far less than the rest of my body. I could hear all the going ons of this place. The sounds of pots and pans above, the shuffle of many feet, the scurrying of the mice and rats taking their fill of my abandoned meal, and all to often the sound of children playing somewhere in the distance. But the sound of those feet i knew. I listened longer, wondering if i truly was going crazy. I wasn't sure if her visits were real, and if they were why she would visit me.

I heard the guards before i heard her soft voice. I layed as still as i could, acting asleep or worse dead. The last time i tried to rise to meet her she disappeared before i was able to even ask her name. I heard the grinding of the metal lock of my cell and the sqeal as the metal door protested from many years of use in the damp without being greased. The guards use to protest her being alone in my cell, but it dwindled as quickly as my strength. The door squealed shut and the sound of the guards footsteps died away.

“Oh Faye…what have they done to you…” I heard her whisper into the dark. Her voice was like soft velvet that flowed like water over my ears. Her gentle hands brushed the top of my head, and I whined before I could stop myself. I cringed out of habit, so use to the lashings following any noise I made.

“don’t…don’t touch me…im filthy….don’t dirty your…..hands….princess..” The awful grinding wheeze of my own voice was like broken glass in my ears. It was such a foreign sound, my own voice. The pain seared through my lungs and throat as I tried to speak. Half from the beatings, and half from the dehydration. My mouth was dry and swollen, my tongue felt like a wool blanket sticking to the roof of my mouth.

“Don’t you worry about my cleanliness.” I could hear her open a bag, she rooted through it for a few moments before I felt her press against one of many cuts that were seeping blood. If I could have yelped in pain I would have, Instead my body began to tremble. I could smell the bitterness of some antibiotic as she patted my wounds with a rag, each one more painful than the one before. I finally opened my eyes enough to look around. A small lantern sat by my side. She sat on her hip, her legs sitting beside my head. A large leather bag laid on her other side. The bag reminded me of the one I had seen as a child when the doctor came to our home to take away my father.

I could make out much more than im sure she could in the dim light. Her sundress was white with lavender colored flowers patterned throughout the fabric. The edge of her dress brushed the floor, smearing it with my blood and filth. I looked up at her face, her golden fur was so clean and unmarred; that of one knowing fair and pleasant treatment. The fur on her ears was wavy and fell to her shoulders. Her eyes were focused on one of many of my wounds. Her eyes were like liquid pools of chocolate and shimmered with life in the dark. She was everything I envied and loved…and everything I hated.

“just…Just leave me….hopefully.. I’ll die soon…” She sighed and continued to dab at my wounds. She pulled a small pouch from her bag and opened it to reveal many small needles and a spool of thread. I winced knowing what was coming next. This was the third time she had come to me, but the first time she had tried to heal me. The first time she brought bread and cheese and s small cup of water. She always smelled of freshly baked bread, so I assumed she worked in the kitchens. The second time she brought me a blanket, which had long ago been taken from me by the guards.

The needle bit into my skin and I whined again, closing my eyes. I had never felt so helpless in my life. I had always been kind to those around me, and had felt the gratitude following it. I had never known pain and suffering like this. I wasn’t sure if I had passed out, or fallen asleep, but I awoke slowly sighing heavily. The pain in my body seemed less than it had been before.

I was laid on my stomach and the feeling of a soft mattress beneath me made me open my eyes. I looked around a new cell, where the daylight poured in from a small hole covered by bars. There was a small hunk of bread and cheese sitting on a plate on the ground beside me, a large jug of water lay beside that. I wondered if perhaps I were hallucinating, if maybe I were seeing what I wanted to see. I laid completely still, taking in everything I could see.

Someone had removed the remains of my tattered garments and had even taken the time to bathe me, though I still smelled of death and decay. They had pulled a pair of clean, if not ratty looking, shorts over my legs to retain some of my modesty. Thankfully, that was one of the things they hadn’t taken from me when I came here. There were bandages around my arms and legs, some even circled my ribs, where I could feel many of them cracked and broken. I wasn’t sure how much strength I had, but i felt brave enough to try to sit up.

I pulled my arms beneath me and tried to lift, yelping loudly as every muscle and bone in my body protested. I let my arms fall limp beside me as my heart beat quickly and stars circled my vision. I gritted my teeth trying to will the pain to dull. The sound of many footsteps echoed outside my new cell. I closed my eyes and laid as still as possible, hoping they would not stop at my cell. The footsteps got louder, boots; probably 3 soldiers, and the shoes of one smaller person, probably a woman. They indeed stopped in front of my cell.

I could hear their whispering outside my cell before the grinding of the lock opening my cell door. The door did not sound again; they had left the cell door open. Only one entered my cell. I felt the bed shift a little as she sat on the edge of my bed. Her hand stroked my head and her velvet like voice flowed through my ears.

“Faye…?” she whispered, almost as if she did not want the soldiers knowing I was alive. “Faye if you are alive…” she was talking so quiet, I could barely even hear her. “if you are awake, flick your ear”. I sat still for a few moments, I contemplated whether I should or not. She had taken care of me as much as she could while I laid broken on the floor. I couldn’t see a reason not to trust her. Just as she was about to stand and walk away I flicked my ear