Chapter 9

New Sensations

Liex seemed baffled at the amount of people who had stumbled through the portal before Damon. He was tense and a hand twitched at his side ready to pluck his weapon from the shadows should the need arise. Had he not known the people he may have already drawn it. "My Lord!" He stuttered at Damon, "I thought you were returning alone?"

Damon scowled at Liex as the portal closed behind us. "Change in plans?" I half smiled. Damon growled, and Miles almost timidly removed the chain from around his neck. As soon as it was off Damon slammed him up against the wall and turned to Dilyn who, unlike my brother, was ready for the attack, and ducked without much grace only narrowly avoiding Damon in the process. I teetered a little in the chaos, put off balance by the suddenness of it all and Liex pulled me out of the direct attack path of anyone.

"Ease up, man, alright, we're sorry!" Dilyn shrieked dodging again. Miles had finally stood up and was rubbing the side of his head that had collided with the wall.

"Those two never got along." He winced. Dilyn's cocky and rebellious superiority complex always clashed with Damon's own violent no nonsense one.

"Quit it!" I shot knowing it was almost useless. Damon eyed Dilyn like prey and started to carefully judge the other's movements. Dilyn slowed too and began to plan his moves with more skill and some amount of grace, although his movements could never match the fluidness of Damon's.

Dilyn never knew how to quit, at least not when his pride was at stake. The red head lashed out in a swift roundhouse kick. One Damon easily dodged and then he snatched Dilyn's foot out of the air and swung him around expertly tossing him into perfect collision with my brother. Both boys crumpled on the floor with a heavy thud and pained groans.

"Are you done!" I growled. Taking a final examination of his handy work he nodded.

"My Lord, if you want them to help I don't think they are much use broken." Liex muttered.

Damon snorted and rubbed at his now bare neck. I walked over to my two fallen companions and pulled them to their feet. "They made him bring them here, they had to of seen it coming." I sighed, touching the large bump the was swelling on Miles's head.

"Only from Damon." Dilyn groaned rolling off my brother hurting from the fight. "If Naomi didn't like you you'd be sorry." He mumbled.

"Same to you." Damon growled, seeming to calm just a bit.

"Enough!" I snapped at both of them. "I'm sick of you two already!"

They had a glaring match for thirty seconds more before both replying, "Fine."

"Liex." Damon barked, "Show them to a room, we'll sort this mess out in the morning, right now I need to think."

And with that he disappeared into a shadow portal. "Damon." I mumbled to myself. "Sorry guys." I sighed, "Make yourselves comfortable, I should follow him."

"Whatever you gotta do Naomi." Dilyn groaned, "God my head is killing me."

"See you real soon okay?" I said before disappearing after Damon.

"Yeah, okay." Dilyn mumbled still rubbing the back of his head.

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Saffy

I was dumped unceremoniously into an empty dungeon looking room. It was literally like a cell made completely of stone very medieval like. The only thing out of place was the bare light bulb the swung shakily in some unfelt breeze. The electricity was the only obvious sign that there was any type of modern convenience to be had.

The room had a single heavy looking wooden door, that was framed with steel and had a single shuttered window at eye level. Knowing full well it was going to be locked I still threw myself at it trying to force it open. Other then a solid painful clunk the door moved with the same effectiveness as if I'd just tried to plow through the stone wall. I gave up after one more failed attempt at breaking through and allowed myself to slide, defeated, to the cold stone ground. I took in the rest of what was to be my quarters for a potentially long time and felt tears swell behind my eyes. What had I gotten myself into?

A nearly flat looking mattress was thrown into one corner with a thin looking blanket crumpled on top of it. I thought vaguely to the somewhat brighter side of things and considered myself lucky to even have something to sleep on. Shoved away in another corner of the room was a simple steel pot I assumed was used for another bodily function. It didn't please me at all, and the tears started to choke me as I flushed with humility at the inescapable situation of having to use it. Was indoor plumbing too much to ask for?

"It's not fair!" I chocked slamming my head back into the door as a single frustrated tear flowed down my face. This is how I was rewarded for trying to be brave. Life in hell, fantastic. My stomach twisted in knots as emotions started to rush to me. Sadness, anger, hate, frustration, hopelessness, fear, disgust; too many to keep track of. They were all fighting to come out at once and it was making me dizzy. Panic was forming more clearly in the jungle of feelings, making my breath come short, and tears fall more often. I almost couldn't see, I felt like I was suffocating under it all, like there was no air no matter how hard I tried to suck it into my lungs, it always managed to escape me. I felt my head rush and I tried to stand, thinking, not really, that maybe it would clear away if I started to move. It didn't. "No." I moaned briefly before stumbling forward passing out on the floor.

:~::~::~:

I regained consciousness eventually. I had no way of telling how long I'd been out for, minutes, hours, days? It was all the same to me anyhow. It was just that much less time I'd been aware of my tortuous confinement.

My head was throbbing as I crawled onto the scratchy mattress. It might as well of been the floor, both had the same comfort. I curled up with the blanket, a dusty moldy scent filled my nose as I pulled the thing close to my face. As much as I wanted to toss the ratty thing away from me I couldn't, I just clutched it tighter. Hoping for some kind of comfort. Of course I wouldn't find any with it, but I was in desperate need of something.

I pulled my self tighter into the fetal position, realizing for the first time an odd tension in my back. I didn't think to much about it though, it was probably from the way I had been laying passed out on the floor. Just another pleasant thing to add to my list. I stretched hoping to loosen the muscles. It felt no different, but I wasn't in the mood to care, so I didn't. Instead I wanted to sleep and escape this place in the only way left to me. It was too much pain to be awake right now. I couldn't take the reality of it.

Sleep passed over me in fits, and my back ache grew worse as I couldn't find any position of any small amount of comfort. On top of it all I was feeling sick to my stomach, and I didn't know why. But it only got worse the more time passed.

Soon my structure was aching, inside and out. My stomach still felt twisted and cringing shivers of an unpleasant nature started to race down my spine periodically. Once that started the burning pain between my shoulder blades wasn't far behind. I started to fear moving at all, the slightest twitch made the pain increase. The world hated me, that was the only explanation I could give myself as I tried to track the passage of time in vain.

It was horrible, this feeling and pain. I didn't know what was happening to me, all that I could determine from it is that it was surely killing me, and slowly at that. Was nothing easy? Not even death? I was going to die alone. I stayed there huddled up and in pain until the pain finally seemed to peak.

It was an awful feeling. The skin all along my spine started to burn with a terrible itchy crawling feeling of pins and needles. Inconsistent explosions of pain between my shoulder blades caused me to gasp at times. I was getting dizzy again, and the pain was nearly unbearable. I don't remember when I started screaming, but I must have, at least at some point, because the guards rushed Dublin into the room and as soon as that door opened I noticed the scratchy fire in my throat that came with screaming at the top of your lungs for too loud. And I couldn't stop.

I let another torturous cry escape my lips from my place huddled on the floor. I was clutching my sides tightly, hugging myself in an attempt to keep the pieces of me from falling apart. Dublin walked over briskly and kneeled beside me only wincing in response to my shrieking. My agony muddled mind almost picked out a faint concern on his handsome features.

But regardless of my delusions he stared into my tearing eyes with out emotion. "What is wrong with you?" He demanded, his voice harsh despite its musical tone. I shook my head with gritted teeth trying to convey to him that I didn't know anything more then that it hurt. Bad. He seemed to understand and turned to the guards, "What's wrong with her?" Acid accusation laced his words.

"We don't know sir." The guard shifted nervously. "That's why we got you."

Dublin scowled in obvious disgust and turned his attention back to me. I saw his mouth move again, but I couldn't hear the words, if he was even speaking. My senses were going wild; colors changed and swam within my vision, all sounds silenced except for my own wildly pounding heart and ragged breathing, and my body temperature felt like it was changing drastically between hot and cold without any in between. This phenomenon seemed to go on relentlessly for what to me seemed like minutes before the throbbing pain in my body finally withdrew all at once after one final and very painful convulsion.

All at once the pain hit me with a new intensity and Dublin was thrust away from me as a distinct sensation of my spin being ripped from my body enveloped me. But right after that relief flooded through my tense limbs, the pain dimmed to an almost none existent pulse of an uncomfortable weight and stiffness on my back. Completely exhausted by the whole ordeal, whatever it had been, I fell easily into the awaiting comatose.