Ravien

Prologue

I was awoken on the morning of my 301st birthday by the faint creaking of my home and soft sunlight streaming in through the woven amber curtains. As I opened my eyes, stretching, I suddenly froze as I realized that I wasn't alone.

Instead, I was surrounded by elves, dark masks hiding their identities and glowing eyes just inches from my face. Before I could let loose the scream in my throat I was grabbed and bound. Terror mounting, the last thing I saw was the bow en route to smash into my skull.

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As I stirred I found myself bound to Ytrian, our mother tree, her roots magicked into cuffs surrounding my wrists, ankles, and neck. Head pounding my heart quickened and my pulse raced as I realized I was naked. 'What in the name of all Elsinore is happening? Why're all these elves surrounding me and why am I NAKED? If I could make a blade... or conjure a small amount of energy?'

I tried to flick my wrist, coaxed, begged for a small blade of magic to come to my aid but the restraints were too tight to move. Resigned to my fate I craned my neck as best as I could and saw them, the elves I thought were my family, impassively watching my terror. Seemingly waiting for something to happen.

In my panic, I didn't see the priest nearing, his form hidden by a hooded, golden robe with silver runes embroidered onto the hem. I only registered his existence when my skin began to burn as a fresh wave of fear and pain introduced themselves to my still pounding mind.

The priest had taken his finger, aglow with his own navy blue magic, and was carving runes, so many runes, excruciatingly slowly into my skin. The curve of my breasts, the planes of my hips, each and every finger was methodically covered. Each stroke felt like fire, each new rune an eternity filled with pain and suffering. I screamed and screamed until the very air was laden with agony.

A few faces grimaced in disgust but all the priest did was conjure a gag so tight it choked me. Then he continued, on and on and on until my entire front was covered. My emotions, initially so intense, slowly faded into oblivion. With the terror and anger dissipated all I felt was an indifferent calm. When they removed my restraints and flipped me, almost blind with pain onto my stomach my mind was still. A serene landscape before it is ravaged by a violent storm. After I was flipped, they remade the restraints and continued, my brain an exhausted mess.

As his glowing finger neared the completion of its long journey across my body, blood welling and flames trailing in its wake, the entirety of my being glowed its own unique shade. Too inundated with pain and fire and bubbling skin to take note my vision had begun to cloud and then to darken.

Blessedly, as the last rune was carved into the soft skin of my ankle, I had fallen into unconsciousness, blackness the only companion to the inferno that still raged across my skin.

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Welcome to Ravien's world.

As always, let me know what you think.

Thank you so so much to Thebeautifularchive for creating such a stunning cover!

Till next time. :)