Reaper - Fault Lines

2. Save me

While she and Attie chased one another, Azraela's foot caught on an unruly root that was emerging from the ground. She pitched forward, hitting the ground hard.

"Are you alright?" Attie rushed to her side, helping her gingerly to her feet. She nodded, but the scrapes on her hands stung like crazy and her face twitched in discomfort. Attie's regarded her with a sorrowful expression. His mouth opened and closed a few times while he tried to figure out how to comfort the girl, then he settled for throwing his arms around her.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Azraela mumbled, squirming in his grasp. Was he trying to restrain her? He chuckled at her confusion. "It's called a hug, idiot. Haven't you ever heard of one?" He teased.

No... No she hadn't.

Azraela's forlorn expression alarmed him and he hugged her tightly to him once more. Just as she was beginning to think she could get used to the feeling of being held, his hands slid down her back and she winced.

"What is that?" He questioned as he felt the raised marks through her shirt. She attempted to detangle herself from his grasp, promising that it was nothing, but he gripped her arm. He lifted her shirt at the back and his delicate features twisted into an expression of horror. "Did your dad do this?" He demanded once he'd recovered enough to speak. Azraela simply nodded, her eyes brimming with tears. She'd never told anyone about the way her father treated her.

Attie tilted her chin up with his fingers.. He was furious at himself for not realising sooner. Every time she'd told him her father would kill her if she was caught with him, or that she was too exhausted to hang out from being in the mines all day he'd brushed it off thinking that the Beltane chief was simply an overbearing parent. "We need to get you out of here." He whispered.

"Where would I go, Attie?" Azraela murmured gloomily. "It's not like I can beg your father for sanctuary, the Beltane clan and the Wolf Pack are enemies!"

Attie chewed his lower lip while he pondered. "Then we'll both run." He finally decided. "I have some money saved from working in the town. We'll take a boat and start a new life somewhere far away from here." His eyes lit up with excitement at the idea. A big adventure, just the two of them against the world! He took her hands in his, vowing that he would protect her. "In two nights time, when the moon is at it's highest I want you to meet me here. Bring only what you need." He told her. "Can you do that?"

Azraela steeled herself and nodded once. Attie's excitement was contagious.

When they reached the edge of the woods, Attie stopped in the treeline. He usually insisted on following her back to the encampment but realised that he could endanger her further if her father saw him. His heart ached while he watched her leave and he prayed that she'd be okay alone there.

For the next two days, Azraela bided her time. She kept her head down and worked hard both in the mines and above ground. There was a shipment due, so they had to have everything ready. She avoided upsetting her father, and heaven forbid her uncle Baroth. Baroth was Memphis' older brother. He wasn't quite as strong as his younger sibling, but he made up for it with his raging temper. Luckily, he wasn't around much. He lived outside of the encampment and spent all of his time alone on a patch of land the other side of the volcano.

Of course, the hard work didn't keep Azraela completely safe. In fact her eagerness to avoid trouble seemed to make her father all the more keen to target her, but at least she managed to avoid the whip. She still received a few good blows to the head along with the usual put downs from her parents.

You should never have been born.

You're a thorn in our side.

I should kill you.