Sixty-two

" Wake up," A shriek pierces through the haze of unconsciousness, followed by a very sharp, resounding and painful slap.

The lancing pain in my cheek knocks some sense into me but not enough to open my heavy-lidded eyes.

Another slap comes, the bruising force of the impact, splits my cheek, blood pools in my mouth and somehow I manage to open my eyes ever so slightly.

Blinding light pierces through, burning my eyes and I find myself desperate to get away from it.

" Lady," I hear the urgency in the voice, as my body begins to shake violently. The heat searing my skin, tells me I'm somewhere hot. Helej.

With great effort, I lift a shaky hand trying to avoid getting slapped again, and I hear a collective sigh of relief. There is a crowd. That's nice. At least they won't try to kill me. Maybe. Possibly. Hard to tell when my sluggish mind refuses to focus on survival.

Something damp touches my lips, and I slightly open my mouth to receive a drink.

But instead, I feel the harsh press of something moist on my lips and I realise that they are only moistening my lips not giving me a drink.

Water is precious in a torrid place like Helej and they wouldn't waste it on a dying person.

Groaning, I find the wrist hovering over my chest and wrap my hand with all the strength I can wrangle and force her hand until I can wrap my lips around the cloth, and suck on it like my life depends on it. And it does.

" Visset," The woman says and I don't recognise the dialect. Shay didn't bring into the Monite colony.

The woman pries her wrist out of my hand, taking the cloth along with her hand and replacing it with what feels like the mouth of a container. I latch onto it like a baby latches to its mother's breast and chug down as much water my throat can take. Which is not a lot.

After a few gulps, I choke on it and begin spitting back out. The woman says something I don't catch and takes the flask away.

Hands wrap around my shoulders and they pull me up in a sitting position. The woman says something else that I don't understand, and then the hands are gone. I fall back on the ground with a muffled thud. At the sound of footsteps receding, I make one last effort to open my eyes and manage only to keep them open long enough to see that the caravan they are travelling on is moving away, and I'm in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing for miles and I'm in no condition to walk anywhere.

I can risk calling for Shay again, but who knows where I'll end up next. It's a risk I'll have to take. I know something has changed I just can't pinpoint what that is.

With my last breath, I call for Shay and he appears as commanded, and also takes me away with him to an unknown destination.

He is erratic. The pattern he follows makes no sense. And for some reason the words of the Baron spring to mind as I drift on a muddled haze of incongruent thoughts.

With the right tools, they can be corrupted. Eagan and Lissete succeeded once before. Who is to say that it isn't happening again?

I just wish I'd know who has the capabilities and the information to corrupt a daiō. My windy friend is not here unless the corruption has an everlasting effect.

It takes me a day to regain consciousness. The cool damp ground beneath me has a refreshing effect on me for some reason.

It takes a few tries but eventually and painfully I pry my eyes open and take in my surroundings. The sound of water rushing pervades the air thick with moisture. I look up and I find myself under a clear starry sky, my gaze travels down, and it stops to take in the waterfall and the ledge I'm sitting on suspended a hundred feet or so in the air.

Looking on the bright side, there is water. On the not-so-bright side, the only way out is down.

I'd have to jump off the ledge and land in the expansive pool at the bottom of the cliff. That is quite a dive. The slate grey rugged rocky terrain, has me rethinking my whole escape.

I decide it's better to wait until daylight when I can asses the risks better. I look down on myself and notice that the spray from the waterfall has washed away most of the dried blood, leaving behind the proof of my last adventure.

Sadly, there is no reward to reap since the jar is still in Kush. Most likely. It's a wild guess. He could have freed himself by now, and I'm still just as empty-handed as I was when I started this with a side of bloodied, battered and bruised.

To preserve the little strength I've regained, I lie back down on the ledge and pray it doesn't come off the cliff by morning.

Staring at the sky above me, is all that there to do, until sunrise. It's a moonless night, so the stars shine brighter than usual in its absence.

With the sound of water rushing in my ears, and the rumbling of my stomach demanding food, I drift off into a fitful sleep.

Dawn creeps in slow and steady while I count the seconds until sunrise when I can see more clearly where Shay brought me.

I'm slightly terrified of finding out since he has made a habit of taking me to places that hold the promise of a very painful death.

And once again, I'm left wondering what is going on.

Mason won't look for me, I know he won't. Laira will probably worry about me, but she will think that I'm hiding away licking my wounds. David, probably won't care enough to even wonder about my whereabouts.

A tear slips down my cheek, and I can't help the sob crawling up my throat just as the sun crests the horizon.

New beginnings.A new day where I can fuck up even more than I did the previous day. Hallelujah.