The Scars Of Burden

The pain radiated from the new scars along Vallum's torso. He dragged his feet along the long corridor, following two grim-faced guards. Vallum was shirtless, and there were scars running vertically from the nape of his neck down to his waist: eighteen scars in total. He had gotten a scar for each of the men he killed during his attempted escape.

"These scars are retribution for those you killed," the oily voice had said, "The mighty minotaur was caught and put in his place. This will be a crucifixion worth watching."

Vallum eyed the wooden structure in the middle of the arena and shuffled toward it. His eyes were downcast, and his shoulders were slumped. He was broken. His mind flashed back to the long day of torture.

The knife pulled through the skin on his torso. At first he only grunted in pain, but as the dull knife was jerkily brought through his skin, his grunts turned to screams. He struggled against the restraints with everything that he had, but it wasn't enough.

Now he was climbing up into position on a cross in front of an arena of people. Short on blood, his movements were slow and lethargic. There was no tremble because he had lost the will to even be scared. He was resigned to death, so what would he be scared of? He stood on a step and his arms were raised. A man wearing the outfit of an executioner stood in front of him with a large hammer and nails that were almost the length from his elbow to his fingertips. The man turned to the large crowd that was almost silent and said some words that Vallum didn't care about. Then the man turned to Vallum. He rose his hammer and placed the end of a huge nail on Vallum's wrist. His executioner rose the hammer and prepared to strike.

Plop.

The head of the executioner rolled. Vallum went wide eyed as a figure cloaked in black suddenly appeared. The sword that was used to behead the man had moved so fast and cut so cleanly that it didn't have a drop of blood on it. It took the crowd almost a minute to realize what had happened, and once they did, they broke out into an uproar. The whole arena was infused with the noise made by the crowd, and people were scrambling everywhere in panic.

"Val," The cloaked figure's voice started off soft and warm, "What did they do to you?" Her voice turned frigid and almost caused Vallum to shiver.

"K- Kenra?" Vallum was devoid of hope, and couldn't bring himself to believe that the girl had come for him unless he saw her beautiful face himself.

The figure threw back its hood to reveal the amazing blonde hair and familiar facial features of the girl that he loved.

"Val, I am here." She looked at the scars running along his chest and tears welled up in her eyes. They spoke quietly, yet over the roar of the crowd. It was as if they were the only two there, and nothing else mattered to them at all. Not even the guards that poured out into the arena gave them any pause.

"Kenra," Vallum said in disbelief. His voice shook as he spoke, "You are really here?" He stumbled down from the step he was on and halfway fell on the girl.

"Of course, I am here, Val. Forget waiting a year. I am here now. I am here to protect you, and I am here to love you." A tear trickled down her face, "If I had been here with you then this never would have happened." She held his body with one arm and the other hand traced along his scars. She looked around her at the guards pouring in.

"Val, hold on to me. Hold on to me and do not let go." She felt his grip tighten around her, but she could tell that he was weak. Then, with her sword in one hand and the other around Vallum, she took to the sky.

Vallum felt the air rushing past him and opened his eyes. He stared in wonder as the ground grew further away and the people all grew small and insignificant. Suddenly they were attacked by a swathe of birds. Kenra cut them all down easily with lightning fast strokes of her blade.

"They have a court mage that can control animals," Vallum said.

"Oh, interesting. Don't worry, Val, he shouldn't be a problem." Kenra said and then they jetted off, away from the encampment. "We'll go back to the city and find a doctor for you. After that we can go back to the village."

A sense of awe filled Vallum, at how safe he felt. Kenra had become so powerful and capable in such a short time.

"You are so strong now. So much stronger."

"A month is a long time in the court of night, Val. At night, they dream. And these aren't any normal dreams. They are able to train in their dreams. So, when you become an apprentice to the court of night, you are training for almost twenty-four hours a day. The nonstop training engrains the training into your body incredibly fast."

"Woah, you have been through a lot, haven't you, Kay? That really is incredible."

"What happened to you, Val?"

"I... got sold into slavery... and then had to fight a bunch. I got a contract with a gheji bull too, but I am not sure where he is right now."

"I don't know exactly how it works, but I think that you can locate things that you have formed a contract with." Kenra said.

"Really? Then I can find Raef and Sari! Oh, that's great, Kay."

The two of them talked and caught up with each other, until they arrived at the city that Vallum had met Sari in. Kenra took the both of them straight to an inn and went out to find a doctor. Vallum lay on the inn's bed, staring at the ceiling.

'I almost feel as if this is a dream...' Vallum thought before dozing off while waiting for Kenra to return.