Young Writers Society

Ky crossed the distance separating them in an instant. Aleth turned towards her slightly, looking up from where he squatted next to the fire. She drove her fist into his jaw so hard they both went tumbling to the ground. She landed on top of him and quickly pinned his arms with her knees, driving her fist into his face again and again.

A moment later she felt herself being yanked off him backwards. She twisted in Tadaaki’s arms before he could get a solid grasp on her. She grabbed his arm and pushed him forward as hard as she could, sticking out her leg to trip him. He went tumbling to the ground heavily. Ky stepped over him, making a run for it, away from Aleth.

Tadaaki’s hand shot out and grabbed her ankle, pulling her backwards. The motion yanked her feet from under her, sending her tumbling face-first into the hardpacked dirt of the road. She twisted again, clawing at his hand, scrambling backward away from him. Suddenly Aleth was standing over them both, a murderous rage filling his eyes.

He grabbed her shoulder and drove his fist into her face, sending them both to the ground once more, this time Ky on the bottom. He hit her again and again and again. She struggled, trying to push him off her, but no matter which way she twisted his fist seemed to land in the same spot.

Soon, she didn’t have the strength to fight back anymore, the pain overwhelming her. The blows kept coming for a long while after she stopped struggling. Eventually the blows slowed, and then he stopped, sitting back to rest his weight on her abdomen. He looked down at her breathlessly.

His brow was covered in sweat, body heaving from the effort he’d expended to beat her. Her entire head throbbed. This beating was far worse than the one she’d received from Borrond. Her mouth felt like it filled with blood faster than she could spit it out, and a tendril of blood snaked from her nose down her cheek to pool on the thirsty dust beneath them. Aleth grinned. “Well, let’s finish this little training session, shall we?”

Ky looked up as Tadaaki came back into view carrying a rope and a knife. A weight settled in the pit of her stomach, and she channeled the little energy she had left into thrashing, trying to get away.

“Tadaaki,” Aleth said, gesturing at Ky.

Tadaaki knelt behind her, grabbing her arms as Aleth climbed off of her. Tadaaki placed each of his knees in her hands, pinning them to the ground, then grabbed her arms right next to the shoulders. His hands were so large his fingers wrapped all the way around her upper arms, securing her firmly in place.

“Don’t do this,” Ky pleaded, looking up at Tadaaki.

He met her gaze for the briefest moment, and she almost thought she saw a trace of sympathy, before he set his jaw and looked back towards Aleth. Aleth had unsheathed the knife and was straddling her once more. He yanked her tunic up and slid the knife under the fabric binding her chest, easily slicing through it, and letting it fall to the ground on either side of her as she twisted in a futile attempt to escape.

Tadaaki’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Oh yes,” Aleth said, smirking at Tadaaki. “Our young friend has many surprises.”

Ky’s face burned with embarrassment at yet another man looking upon her nakedness. She yanked on her arms, desperately trying to free herself. Aleth pushed himself up to his knees and knelt directly on her thighs, pinning her to the ground, and leaned over her.

He dug the tip of his knife into the soft flesh on the right side of her abdomen just below the ribcage. He dragged it down in an angle towards her left hip, creating a ribbon of crimson blood that ran the length of her abdomen. Ky howled in agony, arching her back as she twisted once more in an attempt to get free.

Aleth grinned viciously as he dug the knife into her abdomen again, making small cuts that branched off the first one. Tears sprung from her eyes, mixing with the blood dribbling down her cheek. She stopped struggling as she realized that yanking against Tadaaki was only resulting in tearing the cuts in her abdomen open wider.

It felt like Aleth carved her abdomen for hours before he finally climbed off of her. In reality it was probably no more than twenty minutes, but it was hard to say. Her body was so weak she couldn’t find the energy to move, even after Tadaaki released her. Aleth looked down at her for a long moment. “Tie the little rat up.”

“Yes, sir.”

Aleth tossed his knife down on the ground and turned and started back towards the carriage. Tadaaki took the length of rope and wrapped it around Ky’s wrists tightly. She couldn’t be bothered to fight him. Her entire abdomen felt like it was on fire.

Tadaaki bent and gently slid one arm under her shoulders and his other under her legs, then picked her up. Ky groaned. Tadaaki walked slowly and evenly, a lumbering gentle giant, as he whispered to her. “I told you not to provoke him, Little One.”

Tadaaki lay her gently under a tree just off the road. She groaned again.

“I can’t help you if you won’t help yourself,” Tadaaki chastised. He took the other end of the rope and tied it around the base of the tree. He moved back to her and picked up the remains of the cloth that had former bound her chest. He knelt and quickly made a make-shift bandage for her abdomen. “You need to behave. Heal well.”

Tadaaki stood and strode away.

The night passed slower than any other Ky had experienced in her entire life. Ky passed freely back and froth from a biting cold consciousness to a warm darkness. The exhaustion hanging over her doubled each time she woke. She wished that the nightmare would simply carry her into oblivion.

To her dismay, she was still alive when the morning sun began peeking over the hill.

Aleth suddenly appeared over to her. She was still lying in the exact position that Tadaaki had left her in the night before, too sore to bother moving. A change of positions wasn’t worth the stab of pain it sent through her entire body.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked smugly.

Ky clenched her jaw, doing her best to glare up at him. She didn’t have the energy left to fight him anymore, but she hated him with every bit of the fiery rage as she had before. He bent and sliced the rope around her wrists, then roughly hauled her to her feet.

It was agonizing.

The wave of pain that washed across her at the sudden change in position stole away every speck of her breath. Her stomach churned. Her chest clenched as her lungs screamed for air that wouldn’t come. She stumbled forward, too weak to stand by herself.

Aleth caught her and pulled her close, breath tickling her neck as he whispered in her ear. “You don’t want to trifle with me, girl. This was just a warning.”

Suddenly he jerked her around and pushed her towards the carriage that Tadaaki had already hitched to the horses. Aleth tersely ordered him to go retrieve the rope still tied to the tree, and then focused his own attention on tying Ky to the back of the carriage.

Her heart sank.

She wasn’t sure what it was that she’d been hoping for – she certainly didn’t want to be trapped in the carriage with Aleth again – but it definitely wasn’t this. She stood swaying, barely able to stay upright on her own power, as she wondered how she was possibly meant to keep pace with the carriage in this condition.

Aleth sloppily tied her ankles together with the other end of the rope that was still tied to the back of the carriage. Her abdomen still felt like it was on fire. The entire front of her tunic was stained with dried blood, despite the bandages. Aleth climbed back inside the carriage.

“Tell him what he wants to know,” Tadaaki hissed under his breath as he walked past her. He threw the length of rope onto the luggage area of the carriage and sent her a warning glare, then turned and walked to the front of the carriage to take his spot at the front.

The carriage lurched into motion.

Ky gasped as the rope jerked on her legs, forcing her to take a step forward. The movement was agonizing. She whimpered, head throbbing, a shooting pain running from her hips to her ribcage. She could barely take a step, much less keep pace with the brisk gait of the horses. She stumbled along several steps, but quickly lost her balance.

She yelped as the rope yanked her behind the carriage. Rocks dug into her back once more, but they were nothing compared to the strain that being dragged placed on her mutilated abdomen. The pain was overwhelming. Ky’s vision went splotchy and she felt like she was going to vomit from the excruciating pain.

Aleth stuck his head out the window as he watched her screaming. “Do you have something you’d like to say?”

The pain was stronger than her pride. She drew a shaky breath and tried to nod, then realized the motion looked no different from her simply being dragged along. Her voice was weak when she tried to speak. “Yes.”

“Tadaaki!” The carriage came to a stop almost instantly. Ky coughed, tenderly lying an arm across her abdomen in an attempt to soothe the throbbing pain. Aleth looked at her expectantly. “Well?”

Ky breathed heavily, trying to work up the energy to answer his question. She knew what he wanted. As much as she hated herself for being weak, she knew she had no choice but to answer him. Aleth was cruel enough to continue dragging her, and she doubted she’d survive that.

“It’s not too late to continue…” Aleth said warningly. “Tadaaki?”

“Petrir,” Ky answered quickly, breathless.

“What’s that?” Aleth raised an eyebrow.

“Petrir Ruirac,” Ky said, trying to make her voice louder. “My father.”

Aleth disappeared within the carriage once again. A moment later he emerged and strode over to where Ky still laid on the ground. He stood over her, looming, arms crossed. “Does this mean that you’re ready to talk to me, Ky?”

Ky took a deep breath, then sighed slowly and closed her eyes, defeated. She nodded reluctantly. Aleth turned and slit the rope around her ankles, then grabbed Ky’s arm and hauled her to her feet. She whimpered, but didn’t fight him as he pushed her up into the carriage.

Ky collapsed on the bench seat opposite Aleth and looked at him weakly, feeling much smaller than she had the day before. He shouted at Tadaaki to continue. The jostling of the carriage still hurt her abdomen, but it didn’t come close to the pain of being dragged on the road.

“What sector are you from?”

Ky hesitated for a moment. It felt like she was betraying everyone she’d ever known. She’d been with him less than a day, and already she was giving him everything he needed to hurt her childhood friends – all the people who had ever helped her in her life. All ratted out, due to a little bit of pain.

“It’s not too late to toss you out of the carriage,” Aleth threatened. “I already have it narrowed down to nine or twelve. Think carefully about which battles you want to pick.”