I open my eyes from the dream I was having with Isaac and Blanch and I can feel the heat of the sun against my bare skin in an overly hot and dry room. The bed I am laying on is rather old fashioned as it is made of a hay mattress covered in a flax or cotton under sheet with a pillow made of the same material stuffed with what feels like feathers and covering my lower body was a grey wool blanket.

I decide it was about time to get up after just lying on the bed for several minutes listening to the creaking of the room made from the breeze passing by the house, I begin to get up by prying myself off the hay mattress with my right arm, but as soon as I get about a foot off the bed my entire left side flares up in pain and I drop right back on to the bed as I wither in pain.

I began squirming like a worm trying to lessen the pain but I only make it worse. Getting a grip on the edge of the bedding I bite down on my lower lip to the point that I can taste my own blood as it streams in my mouth and down my chin and on to the white flax sheets, staining it red. The pain in my side slowly faded enough so that I am able to crawl off the bed and on to the cool wood floorboards.

I slowly crawl my to the side of the room and with the support of the wall I somehow manage to get the stability that I need to stand on my feet. I know that I won’t be able to support my own weight without the help of an object like a crutch, cane or staff, and as luck would have it, in the corner of my eye I spot a rather large piece of straightish wood that is about four feet long and an inch thick all the way through which I could just barely use as a cane.

My progress is so slow it could rival that of a sea snail that fell asleep halfway to its destination, but the cause for this is that I really don’t want to do anything that may put me through the pain of irritating my side again, but on the bright side my slowness allows me to process what is going on around me. I mean I am obviously not in my “empty” house, full of people who hate me and who make it crystal clear that it should have been me who died instead of Lily.

But instead I’m in a house that has a comforting, cottage feeling to it, there is also the issue that I am covered from head to toe on my left side in dark blue bruises that hide my tattoos on my arm. I also notice new scars in my left hip, shoulder and on my right shoulder right above my bicep tattoo and on top of all that I am stark naked. So I’m trying to figure out what the hell happened last night.

By the way the only tattoo’s that are visible to me right now is the ones on my right arm, which is an ace of spades on my backhand with a skull in the center that has a ribbon on the top and bottom of the spade with the latin words ‘Ultimus Iactus Morti’ which translate to “Death has the last throw”. On my forearm is two barbed briar vines that wrap around the top and bottom of my forearm with black thorns and 13 black roses sprouting and covering my arm until it ends at the base of my bicep, just over top of my elbow. On my bicep there is another tattoo which is a black wolf shrouded in black flames and burning chains.

I finally arrive at the cane which was next to the door so I rested on the frame as I huff and puff and got a moments rest, with the cane in my right hand I slowly take my weight off the door frame and on to the cane. With my weight on the cane I took my fist step away from the wall, now that I can walk away from that wall.

I take my first look around the cottage to notice that it is maybe sixteen feet long by sixteen feet wide and in the corner of room was the bed that I was sleeping on, a table set with three chairs, a chimney and large stone oven on the other side of the room and a two of tables on either side of the room on the one closest to the stove is a medical grinding stone, tin cups and countless herbs, on the other was a knife and spices as well as things you associate with cooking like a ladle, mixing spoons est.

On the centre table I can see a couple rolls of linen wrap and my pants which were basically punked out black army pants, so I make my way to the centre of the room and the table. The bandage wrap that was on the table had a bottle next to it with a note that said something that I didn’t understand but since it is with the bandages and has a wash bowl next to it I open the cork on the bottle and carefully poured the solution on the bandages and let them soak in as much as possible

After a few moments I apply the now dampened bandages to my dry, warm, bare skin from my left ankle all the way up to my pelvis. I carefully wrap it around both hips trying my best to avoid wrapping my junk and ass in the wet bandage and then tied that roll off using a couple of pins with locking tips.

After I got my lower half bandaged I put on my pants with as much care as possible then when it was around my waist I locked them in place with my belt, but I couldn’t find any underwear so I didn’t push myself to find them as I still had my upper body to do. The upper body was actually easier to do then I thought as I only needed to wrap my entire torso in bandage and my left arm.

It didn’t occur to me that my face was affected till I saw my reflection in the bottle on the table. I instantly realize why everything on that side was hazy and why I couldn’t see clearly out of my left eye.

I mean I know some stuff was hazy on the left side but I thought it was because of the pain or I was tired, I didn’t think it was because that the eye itself was damaged. The general left side of my face especially over my eye, is covered in what looks like a compass cross rose pattern of scars and my normally hazel eye is, what looks to be, white or a really vivid yellow.

Letting reality sink in I notice a crude leather eye patch next to the medical supplies and I put it on covering my injured left eye and then I noticed I wasn’t in pain anymore, in fact I can’t feel anything that the bandages are covering.

I look around the room for one last time when I saw my torn and bloodied long sleeve shirt, everything about the day before, what happened on the bridge, how I hiked for hours in back country, how I fell and how I should be dead, everything hit me like a train wreck. Grabbing the sides of my head with both hands I mumble under my breath “How the hell am I still alive?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It took me a couple of minutes to recover from the shock/disbelief of what had happened back then, but after the recovery stage all that is left in me is mixed between relief, sorrow and rage, but what can I do way out here in the middle of god-knows-where?

I don’t even know how much time has passed between then and now. It could have been a day or two, a week or even a month since then and I don’t even know how long the drug will last for before I’m back in pain.

So with very limited options I took the cane with me just in case I need it and I head outside the hut, when I step outside I am welcomed by the cool moist breeze filled with the acidic tang of pine trees and the sweet smell of birch and ash trees. The cool air was refreshing against my skin as all I had felt against my dried skin was hot, dry air so the moisture in the breeze was a welcomed feeling, to the parts of me that could still feel that is.

I was in a daze enjoying the cool air when I saw my sleeveless black hoodie hanging on a line with my underwear. I drop my pants and put on the comforting cotton trunks that hold everything in its proper place and not swaying loosely in commando style, and with my hoodie I feel a lot less naked even though I leave the hoodie open.

Thinking for a moment I begin to wonder where my boots, gloves and satchel are. I head back into the hut and take a good look around and spot my satchel and glove on the medical work bench so I retrieve them and put them on so I know where they are. On my way back to the door I spot my boots in a cubby beside the place I found the cane.

With my now dry boots on, I take a walk in the clearing around the hut looking for signs of other people which I may get some answers from. From the top of the trees I can see a stream of smoke rising in the distance, smoke means fire. Fire means people, people that may have answers. A bit of a stretch I know, but it’s good enough for right now and if something happens, I’ll just deal with it when the time comes.

The hike towards the fire wasn’t that long, maybe taking about ten minutes in a direct line from the cottage but there probably is a dirt path or something leading in the same direction, when I could smell the smoke I increase my pace in anticipation, somehow clearing the forest and finding myself in a large open plain of grass.

About a hundred meters in front of me is the source of the fire, it is on first glance an encampment, but on closer inspection I can see people tied to large stakes surrounded with bundles of branches and I can make out cages the size of a police holding cell filled to the brim with people.

Normal people turn around about here but I need answers and dealing with “little” insolvencies like this happens from time to time which makes the world all the more interesting. With my back straight I walked forward and into the encampment. The people tied to the stalks and in the cages were all women between the ages of 6 and 80, and...All of them are naked.

I take a look around but I can’t see anyone that seems likely to help me so I was about to walk further into the camp. That is until I notice a guard in black leather armour rounding the corner of one of the cages with a young girl about eight. “Dude please, you’re an adult, that’s just sick” I comment to myself as I watch him walk away. I turn my back on the pair and head on my way just as I heard a shout behind me which made me turn around again. The girl had gotten free from the guards grasp and currently running to me while screaming something I don’t understand either cause of the screaming or because it is simply another language.

The young girl was running with all her might away from the guard that she didn’t realizes where she is running and I really didn’t feel like moving so I let her run into me, she collided with my legs with a thud and fell on her bare ass. I didn’t feel anything like pity for this child nor do I see a point in helping her. If this can get me some answers, I am capable of doing a lot worse.

The girl had white skin, blue eyes, red hair and a small rounded face, this girl is probably of Irish or scottish descent, to me it meant that she looks like one of my friends did when she was that age. She even had a mole under her right eye like Rie.

The guard that was chasing her saw me standing over top of his “Toy” and drew his sword yelling stuff at me, but I didn’t hear anything he said, hell I didn’t even acknowledge anything at that point I just stare down at this girl at my knees whom was now trying to beg me for help, which made me remember the last moments I spent together with Rie.

With my left hand I drew the top of my hoodie over my short coal black hair and I simply look at this man who was about five nine with a blank one eye stare as a tear fell down my cheek. He steps forward while raising his blade above his head so that it can come down in a helm splitter strike. I see flaws all over his form, and I mean what the hell is he a beginner?

I grab the girl at my feet by the arm and swing her under my left arm and side step the attack with ease, since he put all his weight behind the strike and didn’t have any feedback, his strike left him unbalanced. In that moment I twist the cane I’m carrying in line with his throat and with a single step thrust forward. My simple attack was backed by my weight and with that precise strike to his throat pierced the jugular and windpipe but since it is a blunt wood object it bounced off the spine but I had given it enough force to shatter the spine when hit head on.

In that moment the “fight” had began and ended with a single move from each of us but the difference in skills was so overwhelming that it is almost laughable. The body of the guard fell to the ground and I pulled my cane from his throat. The girl silently studied my blank face as I gently put her on the ground; the guard’s body somehow brought me back from the trance I fell into when I saw the girl that looks like Rie.