Death's Priestess

Chapter 6- Sudden Death

I awoke to the stair creak as if they were under immense weight. I sat up and swung my legs to the side of the bed. The moment my bare feet hit the chilly floor I remembered that I had no shoes. I threw on my thin cloak and headed downstairs leaving Alessia sleeping on the pillow. The farther I went down the stairs the louder the voices got.

"Infection does not kill this fast," one man said.

"Well how else could he have died," the tavern keeper fumed. She sounded very frustrated with the current situation. I took another step down grimacing as the stair let out a loud cry beneath me.

"Who's there," a man yelled. I peeked my head out from around the corner and gave them a small nod. The man lying dead on the floor was Daniel, the drunk man from last night. I gasped out in shock, placing my hands over my mouth.

"What on Aurelia's green earth happened?" I asked. I came out to get a closer look at the man. He was pale, not a single mark was placed upon his body. It was as if he just passed on with the wind. His eye was unbandaged and still looked clean, infection could not have killed this man.

"That's what we're trying to figure out, Missy," one man scoffed. I took a few steps backward, the hostility was radiating off this man and he was dangerous. I decided to sit at a table and clean up the wound on my leg. After reading the book the monster that attacked me in the dungeon was a Forest Golem. I ripped open my pants so I could get a better view of the gash. The blood had hardened and the skin around it looked a little yellow. I should have treated this last night when it was torn open by that man. I looked up and saw a bucket of fresh water and a cloth meant for washing. It looked clean enough so I grabbed it and placed it on the floor next to me. The men and the tavern-keeper were still arguing over how the man died. I clenched my teeth as I used my cracked nails to rip off the scab. It started bleeding almost immediately, I grabbed the water-soaked cloth and pressed it on the gash. It wasn't going to heal as well as my face with this patchwork job.

"Miss what are you doing," A boy shouted in shock as he looked in my direction. I lifted my head to meet his eyes, he still looked like a young boy not much younger than me.

"Um, first aid," I shrugged. The boy ran over to me panic filling his eyes, I turned back to my leg and looked at the blood flowing out. The blood looked clean enough to me, I tore off my right sleeve and tied it tightly around the gash. The sleeve only covered half, I sighed and ripped off the left.

"Miss," the boy said, crouching on the floor in front of me. He let out a gasp as he saw my hands and face. I grabbed my hood to pull over my head in shame while I tucked my hands away behind me.

"Sorry," I whimpered. No matter how hard I tried to be brave the memories overpowered and pushed me back down. It felt like there was no escape from Alfred.

"Let me help," he said, grabbing the cloth. He looked up at me and I got a better look at him, his chestnut-colored hair tied back and his soft green eyes. "May I?" I gave him a small nod, I couldn't get to the cuts and scrapes on my feet without tearing the newly wrapped gash open. He gently took my foot and rubbed the cloth softly removing shards of rocks and dirt. He must have said something because he looked at me expecting an answer.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I asked.

"I was just wondering why you are so hurt," he repeated.

"I ran away," I said shortly.

"From what?"

"A monster." This boy talks way too much for his own good, he pestered me with question after question when a tiny white ball zoomed in and wacked his calf.