A life of losses and gains

I once lived in a nightmare, when I was no more a beast than those roaming the jungles, when I was treated lesser than those who did not have my parts and when I felt as though the dwindling days were nothing more but a mere clock, slowly counting down to the end where I could close my eyes and feel no more.

This had always been the life of a beastkin, born with the tails and ears of beasts that roamed the world. Never had a day gone by where we were treated as nothing more than mere pets by the humans. If not hunted for sport or a false crime, chains wrapped our arms and presented as items on a stage, our bodies fully exposed to the world.

I was no different, I was taken from my home after a night of bloodshed and was sold off to this lord who had the body and face of a frog. Wrinkles and pimples covered his cheeks, his eyes full of never-ending lust and his body was heavy and large that it nearly suffocated me during nights in which I accompanied him. This man, who took my chain from the pen, used me as his toy... he took my purity and innocence.

I was young, I was no woman, my body had yet to fully develop... yet I felt the organ of a man enter me and I was treated to the surge of pain one should receive from their beloved, not a lustful creature.

Those wretched years went by and after many torturous nights, I was freed from his grasp and taken to a village, far away from the humans. There, I lived a peaceful life in the country alongside my kin, laughing, dancing and singing. It was there my new life began, one which I could call my own, one away from all the nightmares which I suffered during my childhood and adolescence.

More years soon passed and I fell in love, married, and had a child we named Elurra. She was my light, alongside my husband. But such freedom and joy could only last for so long for beastkins, and the nightmare I once lived through, once again came to lead me to take away everything I held dear.

Under the fall of snow, I found myself once again witnessing a siege conducted by a couple of bandits in the dead of the night. I watched as the raging flames devoured our homes, I listened to the cries of my friends fade into the night and once again I had to bear the loss of my people at the hands of monsters.

But even with my trauma slowly taking hold of my mind, I could not allow it to cloud my judgement, for I was no longer alone. Beside me, just as afraid as I was, was Elurra.

With her eyes fixated on the scene before her, she trembled in fear while her tiny fingers clutched my sleeve tightly.

It was like looking at a reflection of myself, I too shook when I watched the bodies of my kin pile on top of one another as their blood dripped to the earth. I remembered this very same fear, trapped my legs to where I stood, and the feeling of helplessness caged my pounding heart.

I knew all too well what my daughter felt, and I knew that if I left things as they were, she would fall to the same fate that I had. So, with every ounce of strength I had, I steeled my heart and grabbed Elurra before running into the thickets of the snow-clad forest.

My legs froze beneath the blanket of snow and from afar I could hear the galloping of their horses and their whistling arrows as they echoed through the air. I tried to ignore such noises and continued to sprint down through the thickets of snow, but soon my breath became ragged and I stumbled with every step. Still, despite the pain that surged through my calves, I pushed forth blindly so that I could prevent a nightmarish fate to befall my daughter.

Soon the noises stop and I thought I had found safety, but to my horror, that was nothing more than a mere illusion crafted by my mind. Cold steel and wood dug through my flesh, the sudden surge of pain freezing my leg in place, stopping my stride and causing me to tumble along with Elurra onto a small ravine.