Fan Fiction ❯ When Heaven Falls ❯ Chapter 3

They had decided to make him fix the wall that had been destroyed in the fire from the evening before. Nothing too hard for him. He'd suffered more labor, and more pain, than this before. While others who'd been punished before chopped the lumber that would be used, he alone carried the pieces over to the wall, setting them up for later when he would be forced to tie, hammer, and chisel away.

All the while the guard who'd taken him there continued to give him looks, as if he didn't trust him. And the truth was, he shouldn't trust him; ignorant villages, he thought to himself, ignoring the ever steady glare of the guard. He would be sure to take care of it and teach them a lesson for even daring to accuse him of such a crime. So he sneaked inside the village; big deal. They didn't even bother with the girl.

The clothes he'd been giving were itchy and he had come close to working in the nude. At least then he wouldn't be so itchy and he could get a tan; this thought brought a smirk to his face and a light chuckle. The guard shot him an evil look that was ignored as he lifted up a piece of wood onto his shoulder and proceeded to carry it over to join its counterparts. Once reaching the pile, he dropped the piece of lumber, looking down at the pile slowly forming from the work.

"Hey! Get back to work, you bastard!" The guard was becoming irritated with the procrastination slowly rising in the newest worker.

Rolling his eyes, he walked back to repeat the process of carrying the lumber about. Another evil look grafted itself on the guard's face as he watched his prey, and the traveler only shook his head; let the moron have his fun. If making childish looks made him feel big, it wouldn't last very long. No, even this worthless piece of crap would have his day.

With a light 'hm' from behind his pressed lips, he hoisted up what would be his final piece of lumber, a deadly glare rising in his black eyes as he stood only a few feet away from his target.

Tristana never felt so alone, or so scared right now. She had kept herself pressed against the back of the small house that had been made her dungeon, eyeing the three guards outside. All strong, burly, and very dangerous looking men; they talked to one another, laughing, sparing glances over their shoulders at her. Each time they looked, she swiftly turned to avoid their hungry and watchful eyes.

Her long, thin fingers curled into her clothes, pulling them tighter about her. Not that it mattered; soon they would be nothing but a tattered mess on the floor. She quickly stopped her thoughts, trying to shove them in a different direction. She didn't need such things on her mind, for soon, she would be working as well, but they wouldn't give her such a hard task as the traveler. She still hadn't caught his name, though doubting he would actually give it up. He seemed silent, uncaring, and cold, but anyone could see that from first glance.

Her mind decided to focus on him, the image of him anyway. He wasn't here, and even if he was, he wouldn't talk with her. This much she knew. Holding her clothes together with the left hand, the right dipped down to slowly skim along the dirt that was to be the floor. It was cool at the touch of her skin, sending a small shiver along her back. Their eyes fell on her again, and she ignored them. They wouldn't have the pleasure of scaring her now, but she knew they would derive their pleasure from something else.

Suppressing a whimper, her form tightened about itself to create a small upright ball against the wall. Her eyes closed as she attempted to focus her mind on something more pleasant instead of what they could do. Maybe the future, but what hope lie in the future for someone like her. The gods had made sure of this, punishing her to a lifetime of her own Hell on the mortal plane.

She remembered that day, falling in love with a mortal. Laws were made against it; no angel could love a mortal but she did anyway. Her affair obviously didn't stay hidden, they knew and saw everything. Stripped of her wings and damned to the mortal world with her mortal love, but they had made sure to make her life miserable; her lover abandoned her, leaving her to misery. How she despised the gods now, her very own creators. What had caused them to give her such a horrible punishment for one mistake, especially since it was only her first? Did they not have the patience to let her redeem?

Her body twitched forcing her to awake from her thoughts, and she saw what had caused it; her fist had been clenched so much that her nails had pierced her own skin. The mere thought of her punishment could drive her mind into a state of anger. Such a state would be of good use on the battlefield, though she was not a fighter, and she was weak. This made her an easy target for men, being too frightened to defend herself fully, and none would help her.

Those terrible thoughts had again clouded her mind and her senses. Unaware of the sun setting and the men slipping inside; it wasn't until she felt a large hand on her throat that she snapped awake. A grin of missing teeth and foul breath was the first thing she saw, and smelled, followed by a thick nose and hungry eyes. Her body froze right there as she stared into them, mouth agape and unable to speak.

"Y'wanna know what yer puneeshment is, lass? We gets t'do what weh want wit'cha!" He laughed after saying this, the other two joining in.

Whimpers she had tried so hard to keep contained before now broke free from her throat. The noises seemed to trigger the men like a sign; the one holding her throat lifted her up and her hands flew to grab at his wrist to try to break free. It was useless, not even both of her hands could fit about the thick limb, and moving her hands was stupid as it allowed the other two to strip her clothes.

"Such pritty breas, girlie. I bet dey tase good too," her captor said, she trying not to breathe in the scent of his mouth.

With a nod of his head, the other two grabbed her wrists, pulling her arms off to the sides holding them against the wall with one hand while the other would hold her legs down. The ringleader grinned at her, that sadistic grin she had first seen and her breathing jumped into a hyperventilation.

"Aw, quit yer cryin' ya bitch!" He rose his hand, preparing to smack her.

Tristana closed her eyes tightly, her tears falling down her cheeks as she tried breathing and awaited the hit but it never came. Opening her eyes, she looked up at him even in her blurry vision she could see he was turned about. Blinking away the tears and shaking her head, she tried to see around him; when unsuccessful, she turned to look at the two to her sides and they too were stunned by something.

"Oh, don't stop on my account." It was that traveler again.

A spear of pain struck her heart at his words. Though she should have known he wouldn't have helped, it still hurt. Her cries became loud sobs as she began struggling to get away.

"Shut up!" yelled one of them, slamming her arm back. A painful yell rose from her throat after a well-defined snap was heard as the bone shattered from the blow.

"What the hell are you doing back?" the leader spoke now.

"Oh, well, your pal took a break. Quite a few actually and I decided to come back and get my clothes."

They weren't too stunned by the fact that he had failed to mention saving her; the people of the land were selfish and could care less what happened to a whore like Tristana. She was cradling the shattered arm as best she could, ignoring the conversation that was happening between them; a part of her knew that he would most likely join in, but there was still the part that told her he might not be like them entirely. Vigorously she shook her head at this, attempting to think rationally, whichever thought may be.

"Well," began the leader, "it don't matter. He was due back anyway." Turning to his comrades, he nodded with a grin before continuing, "Let's just finish this bitch."

They nodded in agreement and her body began trembling violently, her throat constricting and cutting off her air. One grabbed at her and with a scream, she tugged, trying to get free but unable to do so as another of the lower rank grabbed the broken arm causing another painful scream to rise.

She wasn't sure if that man was watching, and she didn't care now, aware of what the future was going to bring her; she had to block it out and try not to remember it later. With a sob of pain and sorrow, her eyes closed and the pathetic and useless attempts at struggling came to a miserable halt. Tears leaking down her cheeks, she waited for them to finish with her, as the head honcho had said only moments ago. She didn't want to think about what would happen afterwards; would they leave her after having their fun, kill her, or worse? Tristana wasn't sure what could possibly be worse than her own death and being so wrapped up in her thoughts, she was unaware that nothing had happened yet. Blinking open her eyes and the tears away, she saw that all males were gone… but where?

A horse's nicker brought her awake from that search and nursing the shattered arm, she struggled to pull on her clothes; when successful, she managed to make it outside, looking to see a large horse staring down at her. The equestrian was large, hulking, nothing like any of the horses that were kept around here; immediately her eyes flared upwards to look at the rider. It was the traveler, mounted upon that, obvious war horse and she stumbled backwards as he lowered his arm to take her by the hand but she didn't see this. Quickly, she turned and ran off as fast as she could, cradling the arm with no avail as the thundering of hooves trampling the earth before them, a powerful arm snatched her up onto the equestrian with the rider gripping her tightly.

"What are you doing! Let me go!" Screaming at the top of her lungs, struggling with all her might only to cause herself more pain.

He either didn't hear her or had no time to answer as then an ear ringing explosion rocked the world about them, the horse running forward at an immense speed that everything was a blur to her eyes. A sense of nausea began in her stomach but she kept it down, not very use to traveling so hard. He muttered something she lifting her head to look only to be pushed down by his frame as the horse made a powerful leap over the barrier that kept them from freedom.

He had lifted his body up after they were running but it was at a somewhat slower pace. Thank the gods, she thought, slowly sitting but unable to wash away that feeling of nausea from the rush of events. Silence beheld both as the horse soon came to a simple walk, head bobbing and she caught glimpses of burning red fur in the moonlight peeking through trees.

Finally, she did speak.

"Where are we going?"

"We aren't going anywhere; I am on a journey, unfortunately held back because I had to save some whore from a most painful death."

Tristana winced with the insult feeling her heart sink.

"What are you going to do with me?" Softly spoken that she feared he may not have heard and would become angry.

"Probably drop you off at the nearest town…" He trailed off, this puzzling her.

"Why did you save me if you're just going to drop me off?"

"Must you question everything?"

She felt silent, speechless and having no answer; shifting her body, she felt the sharp pain shoot from her arm as a reminder of the near rape. He was silent too before giving her consent to rest against him, perhaps sensing the fatigue that she felt becoming her. Taking without a second though, her head lay to rest comfortably against his chest listening to the rhythmical beating of his seemingly powerful heart. All seemed quiet about them as they marched forward, the simple scene reminding her of a childish fairy tale.

"Why did you save me?" so quietly murmured and dressed in sleepiness. She didn't hear his answer if he did give one as finally that need for rest overcame her, sending her away to the one place where she could seek peace.