Bare the Punishment

"They are tying her to the god's punishment tree in the main square..."

"They... THEY ARE WHAT!!??" Mohsen immediately got off the bed and ran to the door. However he was immediately stopped by the two guards outside, Mohsen had to think of a way to sneak out.

How could they treat a weak female like her to that. It was called a tree but it was only a dead tree trunk, the surface of it got millions of tiny prickles sharp enough to cut through the skin. Many beasts who were punished there usually ended up dead within a few days.

"Brother Mohsen, you should rest for now. There's no need to fear her anymore, she will get what she deserves! " Heifer huffed contently but Mohsen bare her no mind. He was already deep in his thought about the escape plan.

***

Waking up from a slash of cold water, Yilas shivered in the cold. Looking through her wet hair, it was a beast who had been in charge of feeding her the last few days. Yilas finally remembered that she was still tied up to this sharp trunk of tree and left to bleed out. The wound from entering that forest hadn't subsided when the new wounds carved itself mercilessly into her fragile back skin.

"Hey, it's time for your meal, I couldn't wake you so I have to use cold water." The beast brought the vegetable and fruit next to Yilas's mouth but she looked as if she was already dead. Seeing such a beautiful female wasting her life away, made his heart ache a little. "Female, you have to eat something. If you die on my watch they will definitely kill my whole family." The beast sighed.

Yilas still wouldn't open her mouth, her senses of smell had improved significantly after receiving this body. So it wasn't difficult for her to recognize the thing they put in the food and water wasn't simply that.

Seeing her eyes closed shut and so was her mouth, the guard sighed again and walked away with the food, he was starting to feel nervous of his duty. It has been three days since the female came here to receive punishment yet she hadn't drink or eat anything. The bleeding on her back had stopped for a moment but the dark black dried blood still clung onto its owner like an eerie piece of fabric, giving anyone who sees chills down their spine.

"She's tougher than most male beast I have seen" another guard folding his arms on his chest, leaning onto a tree near by talk to the main guard. "But don't worry, she will gave out soon enough". The new guard seemed to be comforting the old one.

Bitting his lips, the main guard felt bitter through his heart. The job he was doing was too cruel, they may say the female was a dangerous beast whose capable of manipulating magic, but she didn't need all that to sway a old's beast heart. Especially when it was such a young female, by the age of his own children.

Yilas came back to half of her senses after passing out due to exhaustion, her body felt cold and wet, the pain in her back was nothing compare to the numbing pain in her knees, as if her legs were already severed from her body. All she could do to sustain blood circulation was occasionally curling and relaxing her toes, making sure her legs were still a part of her. But Yilas knew her limit was up, soon enough she will need to figure something out to save her life from ending a second time.

But even thinking proved great difficulty since Yilas started to hallucinate about her last life in her dreams, this time it was as vivid as it was yesterday.

In the dream, Yilas was laying flat on her back on the thinly cushioned hospital bed like any other day, but that day was particularly beautiful. The sun was shining bright but the heat was not scorching, occasionally there would be wind, roaming with the cloud and and whispering sweet nothing to the cloud. That little girl was incredibly jealous of the wind and cloud, they were freed and she was not.

"How lucky…"

Tied to this death bed till the day she dies was just an unavoidable ending for Yilas, no matter how much they tried or how much they prayed, nothing could fix the current advancement of technology to give her more time.

Knowing that yet Yilas wasn't the pessimistic type, she had accepted her faith long ago and spending days with her mom wasn't bad. She had always smiled through the pain and suffering both mentally and physically. And on that day she had smiled till she fell into her forever sleep.

It was her great release, Yilas was finally free with the nature spirits, she remembered the feeling of warmth and calmness caressed her whole body all for a long time, she didn't know how long but it felt like forever. But that sleep finally came to an end as she was once again awake, in complete darkness of this strange and cruel world.

Finally, Yilas had remembered how she had died in her past life.