Risen

Crippled and Unfeeling

A fire burns and screaming comes from the ancient tree home. I watch quietly from my hiding place with tears streaking my face. My home, my family and my future burning to the ground. I held back the building scream, my right side burned badly, I had to escape. I used the trees, leaning onto the trees to stay upright and moving. I moved deeper into the forest as the counts soldiers were ordered to search the woods for me, I had to make my parents sacrifice worth something.

I climbed up a tree when I stopped hearing crunching of leaves around me. I was exhausted and wasn't going to make it much longer. Wincing as my ruined arm and leg dragged my weight as I climbed, I soon watched as the soldiers pass beneath me. I struggled to stay silent, my wounds aggravated and dirty.

I didn't dare move until long past nightfall the next day. I finally falling out of the tree and walked deeper into the woods, stumbling and falling as I went, stiff and in unbelievable amounts of pain. Finally, I fell, and didn't get back up. I didn't really want to give up necessarily, I just didn't want to fight either. I was exhausted.

My eyes struggled to focus as I lost consciousness, but I saw the figure of a man. My barely living, fried brain tried to grasp how and why they started glowing. "Come child." The man that shone silver said as my vision blurred further. I didn't want to go anywhere anymore, why didn't he understand that?

"Your strong and we have much more in store for your life." A woman that appeared out of nowhere said and touched my forehead before everything faded out of existence. Sorry mom and dad, I tried.

...

I woke up without feeling in my right leg, arm, neck, and side. I tried to speak and only managed to have the air burn my throat. "You shouldn't do that puer Lunam." Someone said and I opened my eyes, squinting when the light was to harsh. Moon child? I thought and tried to sit up. The world spun until a almost tingling feeling spread from my chest to the rest of my body, excluding the earlier parts that still held no feeling. I frowned and looked down and tried to move the blanket with my left hand. I succeeded in uncovering down to my hips. My arm and breasts were covered in white linen that was mostly dyed red. The man next to me shook his head.

"I did what I could. You won't feel that arm, but you will at least be able to move it and your leg. You're young and will probably heal more over the years." He said as he gave me a cup of water. "Be careful, your throat was badly burned as well. I don't think you can speak, but there's a possibility." I nodded carefully and drank the water. "You were found by a daywalker almost a week ago. This is the first time you've been aware of your surroundings." I nodded again and my stomach growled loudly. But what I really wanted was more water. I looked from the cup to the the man and back.

"More water?" I nodded. "Let's see if we can get you walking first." I tried moving my arm first and found that I could move it, I just didn't feel anything touching it. More blood dyed the rest of the linen as the healing injury cracked open. "We definitely need to redress your injuries first." He said and got a jar of something or another.

"Hold out your arm as well as you can. Look away if you must." He said and untied the linen by my shoulder first. Unwrapping my arm slowly. I knew it was going to be bad, but not this bad. After the first few seconds, I had to look away. My arm looked like it was skinned and left to rot. I was only thirteen, not even old enough to walk the streets freely, but that didn't matter to the tyrant who did this. I knew my leg was probably even worse. I was glad I didn't feel anything.

"Just a few more minutes." The man said and I nodded. After a few minutes had passed he tapped my collarbone. I tried moving my arm again, confused on how it could still function. "I'm good at what I do. Think you can handle your leg?" I going to have to handle it at some point, so I nodded. I needed to be able to handle this.