King of the Tempest

Chapter 10

The angel awakes

Laying in the maws of Sin

Unknown and alone

The first thing Tenshi noticed was the gritty earth beneath him. The second thing he noticed was the heat of the sun against his burnt back. He opened his eyes. He appeared to be laying on a beach of some sort. His body felt empty, which it likely was, given he hadn't been awake in God knows how long. Somehow, he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

His throat was dry, and his eyes already sore from being open. He rubbed his eyes, rubbing away the crust. He managed to stand, swaying. His pants were tattered, and his shoes had fallen off sometime. His shirt had been torn off or burned off. He began to stagger away, heading inland. He managed to walk a few hundred yards before he collapsed into the dirt.

He crawled forward, rising to his feet again. He stumbled up a hill, collapsing on his hands and knees at the top. Looking down, there was a small town in the distance, and a road at the foot of the hill. Thank god, I may survive! He rose to his feet and tried jogging down the hill. His strength wasn't back yet, and he collapsed, rolling down the hill and bouncing across the ground.

He lay beside the road, unable to move. He groaned in pain as he rolled onto his back, looking towards the city. It's so close...

When he woke, he was in a warm building, with cloth blankets draped over him. He looked around. He was in a small, one room wooden hut. A table stood in the corner, and cabinets lined the opposite wall. A black haired woman sat at the table, but what she was doing, he couldn't tell. He propped himself up, and he noticed a cup with water on the table beside him. He took a slow drink of water, the liquid soothing the dryness in his mouth. He leaned over and knocked on the table.

The woman nearly leapt out of her chair. She turned and started talking to him in some language he couldn't understand. Tenshi shook his head, still not trusting himself to speak. "Do you understand Common?"

He nodded, looking up to her. Ailla? The woman had black hair, and even from where he lay he could see her green eyes. Her skin was pale and lightly freckled. No, Ailla would be almost forty by now, she would look much different. He wiped his eyes. Ailla is dead, Tenshi... Remember that.

She looked at him oddly for a moment. "I found you outside the town three days ago. You were badly burnt and had wounds all over you, not to mention you were covered in sand. What on earth happened to you?" He shook his head and pointed to his throat. She nodded understanding. "I see. I understand, there will be time for that later. My name is Liarra. We're in a town on the coast of Arainat."

She put her hand on his forehead. "You should be okay. Possibly a little weak. And hungry, I bet." She turned away, fiddling with a pot in the fireplace. When she came back to him, she gave him a thin slice of an unknown meat.

Tenshi bowed his head in thanks, tentatively taking a bite. He threw his legs off the bed, and he sat up. He drank another quick sip from the cup of water. "Thank you," he managed. His voice was raspy and faint, and he could barely use it. He became aware of a soreness all over his body. He looked down, and he had mostly healed burns all over him.

"You should probably go for a walk around town. For the most part, everyone knows you're here, but you might still get a few stares. But you do need to start rebuilding your strength. I don't know how long you've been out of commission, but it's a good idea." She smiled a little.