Awakening

She was warm; she must still be dreaming. She was laying on the softest material she had ever felt, covered by a heavy blanket that felt to be of a young animals fur. The heaviness had a comfort all its own. Reluctantly she opened her eyes. Surveying the room she found it to be fairly sparse, but cozy, early morning sun streaming in through the blinds. A drinking horn and a pitcher sat on the little table near the bed. There appeared to be 3 sets of clothing folded on another table toward the foot of the bed, next to a full length mirror. The wooden floor was littered with rugs and furs and there were 2 doors; one assuming leading to another room, one to a bathroom.

As she lay there, her brain began to piece together the previous days events, assuring her she was not sleeping. She still could not believe what had happened, and yet here she was, in a warm bed with access to real food and clothes.. though realizing the softness of the fur was felt all along her body, she appeared to be lacking them at the moment. Now that she had rested she allowed herself to think deeper on why the demon had saved her. She was grateful to be sure, and she had sensed a connection, but she could not explain what it was.

Knowing she would not get an answer by laying in bed any longer, she begrudgingly got out of the bed. Finding the pitcher was heilock so took poured herself a cup, releshing the bitter taste. Now fully awake she moved to the clothes that had been set out, curious at how quickly they had been produced and that she had slept through them being delivered. The breeches were all basically the same; soft tanned leather dyed grey with corset ties along the side. They only differed in cut near the ankles. She chose a pair that, in human terms would be boot cut. Next she examined the tops, relieved to find an undershirt included in the mix.

The first of the tops was a mix of dark blues and browns, sleeveless and hung to her knees in a way that suggested it was designed to be worn as a single piece. The second one was shorter, a mix of black and red, coming down to her hips, with slits up the side and clearly designed for better movement; to her delight it was also long sleeved. The final top was very obviously cut for a woman, was a mix of bright blue and light browns and showed far more skin the Aryna was comfortable with.

Selections made, she dropped them on the bed, turned to the mirror and gawked at the reflection. It had been a few months since she had seen herself. She barely recognized the woman looking back at her. Sure she had showered twice since being set free but she had scrubbed with the soap stone so much she hadn't really taken the time to notice her body.

She knew the scars would be bad, but she was not prepared regardless. Her face somehow was mostly spared, with only a single scar on the one side, running from her temple down to the corner of her mouth. Moving down she noticed the damage the collar had done to her neck. It looked like she had been hung and gotten rope burn, matching the damage on her ankles and wrists. Her collar bone jutted out so far if she broke it you wouldn't need an xray to discover where the break was. She traced a few of the scars down her chest, noticing one of her nipples had been sliced in two.

Continuing down her stomach she was saddened by how far her hip bones jutted out. She had trained hard to achieve her muscular build; she was not a fan of looking like a skeleton. Following the scars further she couldn't help but wonder how permanent the damage could be. Not that she was in any rush to be with a man, but she did wonder if she could even feel pleasure from it physically, assuming she could get past it mentally. Her brain recalled the previous months and she involuntarily shuddered.

Refusing to dwell on it she turned to see how bad her back was. She was not surprised to find her tattoo was almost non-existent, the scars being from the top of her shoulders all the way to her calves. Even her butt was scarred, between being chained to the wall and the.. other activities. Most disturbingly, she could count every vertebrae with ease. Her hair barely touched her shoulder, and she cursed The General for cutting it. Before he got his greasy hands on her it was beautiful, flowing almost to her knees.

Shaking her head and refusing to feel sorry for herself, she dressed. She was surprised to find the clothes were not only supremely soft, but fit perfectly. Using a comb she found near the mirror, she worked the knots out of her hair, which was admittedly easier at this length. Grabbing the boots that sat next to the mirror she was surprised to find another article of clothing; they had made her gloves. She was impressed and relieved. Pulling the ankle high boots on and lacing them tightly she was, at this point, not surprised to find they fit perfectly. Glancing in the mirror one more time, she took a deep breath and walked toward the door.

Entering into a hallway, she narrowly missed tripping over a slumbering watcher. Yhgand, she vaguely remembered someone calling him. She was amused by how ridiculously adorable he looked, all 6 foot 5 of him curled up into a ball, grey blue wings tucked around him like a blanket; for the first time she noticed a scar across his left wing, from the middle down to the lower tip. His dark blue tail twitched ever so slightly and she wondered what he was dreaming about. Unlike Baharsh and many others, his horns were always no more than two inches long, dark grey against his white hair; he also kept his hair shorter than the others; rather than the mid back braid many of them sported, his was cut about 2 inches all around, shaggy without being boyish.

She could only see part of his face, the other part hidden due to resting on his forearm. She studied the grey skin, noticing he was far older than she had originally thought. His eyes had definite creases and his skin in general appeared more leathery than the others. A dark grey scar ran from behind his ear down to his shoulder, likely a battle scar but potentially from a scuff as a younger demon. His ear twitched as his eyes fluttered open; she wondered if he had felt her looking at him?

Shaking the sleep from his head he quickly unfolded himself and stood up. Peering down at her she could tell by the look in his pale brown eyes he was relieved to see her. He studied her intently, taking in the clothing and with a nod and a smile deciding he liked what he saw.

"Ah, little sorceress, at last you are awake. I was getting worried." The look of confusion on her face prompted him on. "It has been 3 days since we arrived." She could only stare in disbelief. "I would have thought you dead, if you had not heard you tossing and turning. Every now and then you would mumble or give a little scream."

Aryna was suddenly very happy she could not remember dreaming. "I wondered how clothes had been made for me so quickly. Why are you sleeping in the hall?"

He suddenly looked very embarrassed. "I have been posted up to ensure none entered your room without cause. I was not sure how you would be feeling after the attack on you and wanted to be sure if you woke up while anything was being delivered by someone you did not know I could be there to put you at ease. I had not planned to sleep here, but I could not risk you waking up and disappearing. Meikosh relieved me a few times, but they are discussing our next mission and I guess sleep overtook me."

She could not argue that there was an attachment between them, and the fact that he still called her by the nickname now that he knew her true name proved it. She found she rather liked him too. He was good-natured, considering the kick she had given him back in the cave, and had taken his role to keep an eye on her seriously, whereas others might have taken it as a punishment or insult.

"I see they took my advice and provided you gloves. That is good. Now you are almost fully protected from feeling anothers skin against your own. I am pleased to see this."

"Thank you my dear watcher. You have thought of everything, and I am grateful to you."

Though he still was clearly worried about her, his face lit up at the sentiment. "Come then, let us get you some food and let the others know you live."

Following him down the stairs toward the common room, she recognized the voices of Baharsh and Meikosh, but the third voice was unknown to her. As the room came into view she recognized the other two of the assembled demons from the cave. They appeared to be relatives, both having the same blue and black coloring and four 6 inch spiral horns peaking out of long black hair. The only real difference she could see at first was that one was taller than the other. As they both looked at her she noticed the taller one had black eyes, while the others were light blue.

Baharsh and the other had their back to them but Meikosh had a clear line of sight. Nodding to Yhgand he started to speak, until the watcher moved far enough to the side to expose Aryna behind him. True to his nature, he let out a great laugh.

"Well little one, you finally rejoin us."

The demon she did not recognize stood still as stone, but Bahrash spun so quickly his tail caught a table in the room, tossing it aside and breaking the pitcher that had sat on it. By instinct Aryna crouched into fighting stance, and he cursed his brash reaction. Putting his hands up in an 'I meant no harm' gesture, he approached slowly. As she relaxed and straightened, he eyed the clothing that had been provided, and like the watcher seemed pleased when he noticed she was gloved.

"We were beginning to think you would never come back to us. I am pleased to see you have rested though. Myrika and Tornica did a fine job fashioning clothing for you, I think."

"I am received to just have clothing, but yes, they did a miraculous job. The gloves are an especially nice touch." She wanted to ask about Tornica, but was not sure she could trust the other demon. Sensing her unease, Baharsh turned to him.

"Skinoss, we should let the High Commander know she has awakened. He will want to speak with her."

Skinoss turned slowly, looking first at Baharsh and then settling his gaze on Aryna. She realized then why he had not turned when she entered; he was scared of her and trying like hell to hide it. His red eyes looked at her with awe and distrust, getting wider as she looked into them. She knew many got the impression she was staring into their soul; his problem was he didn't know how to hide it. Images of the demon brothers raced through his brain and she watched him replay the parts of the whole thing that truly stuck with him.

Even if she couldn't read his thoughts so easily, his body language gave him away. He was the same height as Baharsh, though not quite as muscular. His skin was a greenish color, rather than the two-tone you often see with demons. Hair was long and a dull brown. His wings, tail and 6 3 inch horns however, were bright emerald. Every inch of him was tensed up, ready to run or jump or fight; whatever he had to do to get away from her. She cocked her head to the side as she studied him, intrigued by this obvious reaction to her.

"Yes, I will let Reihnash know." His voice was deceptively deep. Turning back to Baharsh he added, "I will have some food sent up as well." Then he walked out of the room, but it seemed to all watching him he was trying too hard to walk at a normal pace.

Righting the table and picking up the bigger pieces of the broken pitcher, Meikosh looked very happy when Yhgand and the others came in with a new pitcher and cups for all of them. Pulling the taller of the two to the side, Meikosh whispered something that seemed to excite the other and he hurried out of the room as they both giggled. Aryna suddenly wished she had demon hearing. The twinkle in Meikosh's eye reminded her too much of the old Norse tales of Loki.