Endless - A Powerless Fanfic

Story 2, Chapter 1 - Paedyn

Three days.

That's how long it took me to cross the scorches and sneak into the city of Dor. I thought I'd be prepared for the uncomfortable heat after so many training sessions spent in the hot sun before the trials.

Oh, no. The scorches are a battle all their own, and nothing I could have prepared myself for.

After fleeing my burning home back in loot with a knife wound in my thigh, I hobbled into the desert as quickly as I could.

Once I felt I was a safe distance from Azer and his imperials, I stopped to wrap my leg with a scrap of my shirt and some salve I grabbed from my father's stash at home. Azer finding my lifeless body in the middle of the desert due to a wound in my thigh would be both humiliating and far too easy. I will not give him the satisfaction of taking me down like that. Oh, no. He'll have to do far more than that to beat me.

Aside from the fresh wound in my leg, my still healing foot that got torn apart in the maze, and the lovely carvings I now have down the side of my neck and into my collar bone, the journey was annoyingly lonely and quiet, even with the sand whipping past me in the relentless wind. I had to stop often to rest my aching body, with only my thoughts to keep me company.

It was hell being left to those thoughts. Thoughts of Adena, lifeless in my arms. The rage I felt at her senseless murder. The many tears I cried as I walked through the hot sun. Puking my guts up when the sadness and trauma overwhelmed me. Being on the verge of severe dehydration. The revenge I will aim at Blaire. How I have absolutely no one now. The King nearly killing me. Throwing my father's dagger at the king's throat, proving I was the smarter fighter. The sound of Azer's voice after he pieced together what I'd done. The look on his face before he screamed at me to get out. The other words he said to me: I will not falter.

Some head start I've had.

Now I'm in this foreign place, keeping to the shadows and constantly looking over my shoulder, expecting to see The Enforcer and his idiot goons any day now. He knew where I was headed. Where else could an outcast go? This is the one place I can blend in among so many other ordinaries. Nobody cares who I am or what I've done. Every person here has their own secrets and problems to run from.

With the supplies and small amount of coin I was able to salvage from my childhood home, I made it across the scorches mostly unscathed — aside from the wounds I already had, and a painful sunburn and blisters on my feet from the uncomfortable boots. I drank enough water to fill a lake when I arrived in town. I also managed to secure a tiny space for me to hide out until I figure out my next move.

So, here is where I've spent most of my time in the seven days I've been here. The dim corner of the cellar beneath the city's inn is where I call home for now. It's not much different from the fort aside from having a few more layers of blankets on top of some wood crates instead of rocky ground, and it's enclosed. At least I won't be cooked alive as soon as the sun rises every morning.

The only light in the room right now comes from the crack between the doors above and a small window high up at ground level that leads into my home sweet home, letting me know it's morning once again.

I was told this cellar was once used as overflow when the inn was full, but that no one has been down here for quite some time. I have a decent bed, a mirror, a small armoire, and a table with a single chair. All I need is food and a bath, both of which I can get at the inn.

I roll off my pile of blankets and grab my pack before heading up the stairs and out of the cellar. I cover my head in my scarf and walk around the corner to the entrance of the inn.

As soon as I open the doors, the aroma of breakfast food washes over me, making my mouth water. Later.

Instead I walk over to the counter at the front and place a copper coin into a contraption with a jar on top labeled "wash room." It then makes a grinding sound and a key drops out from below. I snatch it up quickly and head for the private wash room down the hall.