Halfling (editing in process)

Chapter Fifteen

Aria woke early that morning to a strange sight. Javen was close to her, leaned against a tree close by, his bow in his lap, slumbering away. Payne was closer still, snoring ever so softly, the wicked dagger used to carve the patterns and runes in Aria's arm clutched between the demoness' fingers. She gently pulled the blanket back and saw the dress that had been put on her, thankful that someone, she hoped Payne, had dressed her. The thought of Javen having to dress her while she was unconscious was mortifying. She rose to her feet after a moment, her footsteps silent as she left the camp. She felt a strange sense of numbness that she was both grateful and weary of, her mind blank as she traveled to the deep river nearby. She didn't quite know how she knew it was there; but shed the dress the moment she reached the shore and plunged her body into the icy water. She chose a spot where she could sit and the water came to her neck, sitting there for a few moments before starting to scrub at her skin with her hands. The longer this occurred the more forceful it became, her fingernails clawing into her skin as she tried to feel clean again. Every little thought focused on her father's hands upon her, the whispered promises making her want to scream. She knew what would have happened if Payne and Javen hadn't stopped him and the thought was more than horrifying. She remembered the vision that had given to her and Javen when she had first gotten the bracelet; the woman, her mother, had been raped by Azael. She remembered it in crystalline clarity, even if the vision had been hazy. She remembered the woman's screams, could almost feel the pain, feel the knowledge that she would never escape, that her fate, her previous life, was over.

Slow tears began to flow down Aria's face as she furiously scrubbed at her skin. She didn't stop until her skin was pink, bleeding in some places. Her legs moved to her chest and she cried. She felt the bracelet pulse softly and could feel arms around her, panicked she looked up to find no one there. A sense of safety flowed over her and she cried for the way her life had been going, cried for the others that had spent Gods knew how many years under the reign of her father, and cried for the mother she had never known; all the while hearing a soft whispering in a language she couldn't understand, the same voice she had heard call her name in the vision.

She got back to the camp, dressed and feeling a little better to stumble upon the second strange sight of the day. Javen was tied up, gagged and Payne was sitting next to him, tending to the fire and every so often poking the elf with a stick. Aria found herself watching this for a few moments before Javen locked eyes with her, his eyes narrowing. Payne looked up a moment later and smiled, patting the space by the fire.

"Have yourself a nice bath?" The demoness inquired with a smile. "And I know you are wondering why I have your brother like that, but sit, I fetched some food and I'll tell you."

Aria paused for a moment before moving over and sitting beside her. She was offered a cooked bird, which she began to pick the meat from, nibbling on it lightly and looking to Payne with an inquiring look.

"Now then, your brother was being quite foolish. He was about to go after you, but I told him you needed your own space. He was hell bent on going to find you, and tried to force his way around me. So I took care of him." She said with a small grin. "Some 'demon slayer' he is." She teased, poking the elf again, the promise of death in his eyes making Aria shiver.

"I leave for twenty minutes and you two are at each other's throats." Aria said with a soft sigh. She rose to her feet, still nibbling on the little bird, and untied Javen, stepping between them before he could leap at Payne. "No violence today." Aria pleaded. "Please."

Javen paused for a moment before groaning and moving to the other end of the fire, muttering darkly in elvish, which Aria recognized as the same language the woman's voice had been speaking in at the river. Payne grinned in victory and Aria rolled her eyes, lightly bumping the woman. "Behave." Aria mumbled, and the demoness laughed.