"Fragments of the Past" - Lyara's Past

Foxesz

Hello folks,

I feel like getting this section of the forums more active so I'll be re-posting the short story I'm working on for my roleplaying character, Lyara Aulenne. Seeing as this is "Fiction & Roleplaying" I'm sure that this is the right location for it as well and I hope to see others come up with interesting reads!

Be prepared for a wall of text, currently at almost 7500 words and I'm not done yet.

It was late in the night and only the sound of rustling leaves could be heard in the forest of Glenumbra and somewhere in the distance a small campfire burned. At first sight no one appeared to be near, until a figure in dark leather armour approached the fire and threw a couple of branches on it so that the fire became bigger and made her more noticeable. The woman didn't seem to be very special at first, fully clad in leather and a hood covering her head. On her hip was a long, sharp blade sheathed in a scabbard just as dark as her armour. She sat down by the fire and pulled the hood down, revealing not only her beautiful blonde hair, but something terrible, disgusting to some: a burn scar that completely covered the left side of her face, but luckily preserved the area around her eye and lips.

Lyara let out a sigh, poking the fire with a strong branch to make sure everything was burning well. Her other hand ran over the scarred face, wincing a little as if it still felt like it only happened moments ago. She shook her head and pulled her hand back only to open her bag and take out a leatherskin filled with water which she emptied on her face. Once the skin was empty she tossed it to the side and stared into the fire, reflecting on the many things that had occurred to her...

Chapter one - The Incident

The sun shone bright in the sky, a perfect summer day in Wayrest and the perfect opportunity to head outside to play. The little Lyara pulled on her boots and hurried outside of her room, through the long hall and outside in the garden. She inhaled the fresh air deeply and looked around, time and time again amazed at how beautiful things can look at a day like this. The little miss smirked and ran off through the garden, only to trip over her feet and roll over in it. She froze once she heard a high pitched voice from inside her house screaming at her, "Lyara? Lyara! Don't tell me you've gone outside -again-?! You know you have to study, get back inside or I'll drag you inside if I must!"

Lyara crawled back up on her feet, brushing her now dirty white dress off and slowly returned inside. She kicked her boots off and went up the stairs towards her father's small library, although she was clearly not in the mood to study and you could read it off her face easily! She pushed the door open and immediately saw mister Mackey on the desk, casually minding his own business with a banana. Lyara's frown quickly dissapeared and she ran to meet him, sitting down and stroking the monkey's back. Every time she saw him he cheered her up, she grew very fond of the little guy ever since her father brought him back from one of his business trips. He was the only one she thought understood her and she usually had very long conversations complaining about how she's supposed to do everything from her mother.

After she had spent some time with mister Mackey she shoo'd him off and noticed there was an unusual black book engraved with red letters that read "THE BENEFITS OF FLAME". Her curiousity got the best of her and she flicked through the pages, thinking that the book was some sort of storybook revolving around fire. She eventually stopped at a page and read it out loud, along with doing as was written on it. She held out her hand, not knowing that it was directed at mister Mackey who was finishing his banana, while muttering the incantation written in bold letters. Lyara could feel the warmth generating at her hand and before she actually knew what was going on a little bolt of fire escaped and struck mister Mackey, immediately setting him on fire and causing him to run around the room in panic and screaming for his life.

"Lyara? What did you do?!" The door of the library flew open and a woman in her mid-thirties looked down at her. Her chubby cheeks turning red from anger at the sight of the burning monkey who managed to escape the room by jumping through the window. As soon as only her and Lyara remained in the room she took a firm hold of her wrist and dragged her off the chair and along the floor, "Do you have -any- idea what you just did? Just wait until your father hears of this and punishes you for this... this -crime-!"
Lyara gulped at hearing the word crime and got up on her feet, although still being pulled along by her mother who opened the door of her bedroom. The room was quite big, it had a huge bed, a couple of closets and a desk at which a man sat, hunched over and in deep concentration. He looked over his shoulder at the sound of the opening door and perked a curious brow at his wife and daughter.

The man got up from his chair, he was notably taller than his wife and even quite intimidating at first. Lyara didn't expect anything good so of course he looked intimidating. That was until he relaxed and spoke, his voice making her sound as if it could calm her down in even the most dire of situations, "What happened, wife? Did Lyara hurt herself when playing outside or-"
"No, she didn't hurt herself, Maxwell. She actually -burned- her own monkey, who even left that book there? She needs to be punished and harshly! I don't want her to do this as we're a highly respected family an-..."
"Silence, Lora." he interrupted her just as she interrupted him. His voice sounding more serious as he spoke her name. He let the silence continue for a little while longer before proceeding again, "She set her monkey on fire? - Lyara, did you do that or not? And don't think about lying to me."
The scared little girl shook her head at first trying to show off her innocence, but the look of her father already betrayed that he didn't believe her. Instead, though, he stepped closer to her and knelt down, holding both her hands and pressing them to his chest, "I always thought there was something special about you. I'll make some arrangements."
His wife huffed and stormed out of the room, clearly not enjoying that instead of punishing her he'd possibly even reward her for inflicting the chaos. Maxwell sighed and let go of Lyara before chasing after his angered wife.

A week passed after the incident and Lyara sat down in the same library again, without the book this time, busy practicing her writing as she's expected to not only be able to write perfectly, but beautifully as well. A cough interrupted her and she jumped off her chair to look at the doorway, a man in dark blue robes stood there, looking at her. His long black hair was neatly trimmed and he had a well-kept beard that showed some hints of graying. The man smiled warmly at her and she immediately felt as if she could trust him, "Hello there, Lyara. My name's Amond and I'll be teaching you."

Chapter two - The Mentor

Almost a year had passed and Lyara was now aged ten, the perfect age to start casting spells, thought Amond. He had met the young Lyara when she was studying in the same library she had for the first timed used Destruction magic and, as he was an old friend of her father, agreed to teach her to control her remarkable gift.
The two at first did a lot of reading so that Lyara was fully aware of what was going on, it was usually a really relaxed atmospherics and the two got to know each other rather well. Amond was in his mid-fourties and had been a battlemage in service of the Daggerfall Covenant for over two decades now. He had seen a lot of things and learned just as many over the years, an excellent mentor according to Lyara's father.

The Aulenne home was situated at the edge of Wayrest, and was not exactly the perfect location for Lyara to train her Destruction magic so her father and mother had decided they'd move out to a lone estate at the edge of a small forest in Stormhaven, safe from any potential dangers and far enough to prevent fires to break out and cause panic! Lyara, of course, knew they were going to leave way beforehand as Amond told her about it and she was quite excited, even though sad as well as she wasn't going to see some of her friends anymore.

"Miss Lyara, we're leaving soon. Go get your little sister from her room," Amond said, patting her on the shoulder and collected the few remaining books in the library that they had studied in. Lyara nodded and dashed out the room towards that of her little sister Edrene. She gently pushed the door open and looked at her two years younger sister, she folded her arms over her chest and spoke,

"Come on, Edrene. Take your bag, we have to go to father."

Edrene stared to her for a brief moment before nodding and walked over to her bed to pick up the bag that was in-fact way too big for her. She, however, didn't complain or struggle too much and simply waggled out of her room towards the front door with Lyara tailing her. The two walked out, it was early in the morning and the sun didn't shine that bright yet, a relief for the tired Lyara. They both went to meet the rest of their family: her father, Maxwell, her mother, Lora and her older twin brother and sister, Tristan and Tristelle. Amond stood at the cart, busy talking with the old driver.
As soon as she had said hello to her mother and father both her and Edrene loaded their belongings in the back of the cart before hopping on it. The rest of the family went into another cart, but Amond stayed with them. He was obviously told to stay near Lyara at all times, she thought and offered him a gentle smile which was responded to with a curt nod.

The journey to the new estate took about two hours, although Lyara felt it was much longer. Edrene had fallen asleep against her and Amond was busy reading into one of his tomes. What did she do? She was guessing what the house looked like, what new friends she might make there and above all, what kind of spells she'd be learning and then, only briefly, did she fall asleep as well.
Her rest was only short, though as not even 20 minutes later they had arrived at the estate, an impressive two-story building that could easily house twenty people. Lyara blinked at it, the house itself looked quite old, but beautiful nonetheless and she couldn't wait to explore the inside.

With her belongings left behind in the cart Lyara quickly ran towards the front door, only to be stopped in her tracks by her father. He smiled gently at her and turned her around to face him. "Later," he said with a nod and held her hand before guiding her around the house to the immense garden that eventually stopped far ahead against the forest line. In the middle of the plain there was a small shack surrounded by a circular stone-paved floor.

"That, young one, is where you'll practice with Amond. That's your terrain."

Lyara blinked and ran over to the shack, her father didn't follow. She pushed the door open, surprised it was locked and looked around, the room seemed to have been equipped way before they arrived which occurred as something strange to her. She could see a staff and a sword on a big table in the middle of the shack as well as many books filling the racks already. A thud was heard behind her and she swiftly turned around, but relaxed as soon as she saw Amond in the doorway smiling at her, "Yes, I've made preparation already, miss Lyara. Let us go back to the rest and have lunch."

Lyara nodded at him and the duo returned to the house.

After a rich meal in her new home Lyara went up to her room, exploring every corner in it before unpacking her bag and setting up everything the way she wanted to. An hour or so later she was visited by Amond again who motioned her to follow and she did, all the way back to the shack. She glanced over at a little set-up that was made on the stone floor surrounding the shack. A table with multiple statues of all sizes were placed on one line. "Wait here," Amond said and went inside the shack. The young lady looked around the garden again and inhaled the fresh scent, smiling brightly. Amond soon came out again with a familiar black tome in his hands which he'd opened and held in front of her.

"Now, miss Lyara, you must read the incantation on this page and hold out your hand towards the big statue on the right. I'm sure you recognize it somewhat. Go on." The mentor nodded approvingly to her and she raised her hand, making sure it was aiming at the big statue. She then looked over to the book and muttered the incantation she had used nearly a year ago to burn her pet, Lyara could feel the heat in her palm again and smirked as a bolt of fire sprung out of it and smashed right into the statue, causing it to crumble a bit and fall over on the ground, shattering.

With a big smile she looked at her mentor, who smiled in return and nodded at her. She inhaled again, this time smelling something different. It smelled as if something was burning, but she didn't mind. She knew that she'd get used to it and that this was who she was. This was what she'd become and she was ready for it.

Chapter three - Beginning of an End

"Wake up, miss Lyara. Come on, it's your fifteenth birthday!"

Lyara slowly opened her eyes and smiled brightly at hearing the word "birthday". She quickly got up and took a good look at the person waking her up: Amond. The man inclined his head to her, carrying the same warm smile on his lips that made her trust him the first time they met back in her old home. The teenager looked outside the window and noticed it was still dark and spoke up, "Mento- Amond... why did you wake me up this early?"

"Because," her mentor said calmly, "you are getting a special present from me."

Lyara's eyes flickered with happiness and held out her arms, waiting for her present which Amond carefully unpacked. He placed the long, oaken chest on her hands and sat down on the bed, complaining about his legs feeling odder than usual. Lyara unlocked the chest and grinned, in it lay a beautiful steel sword and in the blade her name was engraved. She reached out to touch it, but was quickly prevented by Amond, "This sword... is enchanted. Anyone who touches it will burn his or her fingers. Except for you and me, of course." He chuckled lightly as to not wake any others up in the house and muttered an incantation while holding her hand firmly. Once the his spell was done he let go of her and she ran her index over the blade. "Do hide this, miss Lyara. You know your parents wouldn't want to know I've been teaching you how to handle a sword."

"...Yes, I'll be quiet. Are we going to practice now?" Her mentor, and friend, nodded.

***

The house was busy and made Lyara feel slightly uncomfortable. She thought that her sixteenth birthday wasn't that important, but clearly there was something bound to happen and it unsettled her, especially since she knew of nothing and the others did. Yet the young lady didn't bother to ask and instead wait for the surprise to come to her, after all it was her birthday. The people in the house continued to arrange everything, set up the table whilst Lyara was looking through the pages of a boring novel because she wasn't allowed to go outside due to "reasons".

Knock knock.

Lyara's mother froze at the knocking on the door and brushed her hands off on her dress to make it all look even and tidy. She hobbled over to the door and opened it, letting a company of two men and one woman inside. Lora curtsied before the group of well dressed people before her father joined her and shook the older man's hand. He beckoned Lyara over and smiled confidently to her, "Lyara, meet Lord and Lady Fanois - oh and young lord Stanley." Stanley looked at her, carefully letting his gaze travel up and down to take up every detail of her. It did make her very nervous, but she smiled at them and inclined her head.

"Come now, let us sit and have something to eat. You three must be starving."

"We sure are, mister Aulenne," the woman said, obviously not that impressed with everything, she radiated boredom and carelessness. Lyara's family and the Fanois' sat down at the dining table and were served an extraordinary buffet. She looked at her father and he shook his head at her, a sign that she'd have to behave with these people. And she did. They had enjoyed their meal and talked a lot, the company was visibly relaxing as time grew by and everything seemed to go well until her father stood up and raised his glass to Lyara.

"My sweet daughter, Robert and myself have come to an agreement and we're glad to announce that you and Stanley will get married! A toast to you two and a stronger bond between our two families!"

"And may Mara bless your marriage!" Lord Fanois proclaimed, standing up with a raised glass as well before taking a long sip from it. Stanley just sat on his chair, smirking at her. Although he was fairly handsome for a nobleman she just had this very odd feeling and to make matters worse, she didn't get any say in the marriage at all. Lyara tried her best to keep her smile up and joined the toast, holding the glass to her lips before throwing her head back and drinking all of it in one go. It was exactly what she needed right now. Or well, that and Amond who was absent from this 'meeting' and the person she had to talk to for counsel.

***

"I hate you, father! How could you?! I'm only sixteen and-"

"Your mother was fifteen when she was engaged with me, stop complaining, Lyara! It'll be atleast a couple of months until the wedding, you-

"I don't want a wedding, I want to decide for -myself- who I wed and bed!"

"LYARA, TAKE THAT BACK!"

"No!"

"Gghhh, fine. When you're seventeen. You'll get a year to know him better and that's my final say in it!"

Lyara stormed out of the room, she had waited to talk to her father about it only a few days after their highly esteemed guests had departed back to their own estate in Wayrest. The two had gotten in a very heated argument about choosing who she wants to marry, but in the end she couldn't do anything and merely received a stay of execution. She talked to Amond about it and he told her that in the end everything turns out good and that would also be the case for her. It helped her somewhat to get over it, but she avoided her parents whenever she could after that and remained with Amond most of the time.

***

Stab left. Stab right. Diagonal slash. Turn around and cast spell.

Lyara nodded to herself, sheathing her sword and wiping the sweat from her forehead. She inhaled the scent of burning straw, she did get used to the smell of things on fire. Playing with fire was what she enjoyed the most, although Amond taught her a few ice and lightning spells as well. Nothing could keep her away from casting fire, Amond said it fit with her personality and that she should be careful with it as she could be quite a hothead!

A year had passed by and Lyara mostly spent that time studying, practicing and attending preparations for the upcoming wedding. And despite her hatred for being forced to marry someone she did her best and got to know Stanley more. He actually wasn't that bad, a tad immature at times, but not bad. He was two years older than she was and still acted like a boy aged fifteen. Then, one night, the two had kissed and it felt really nice to Lyara, since she'd never kissed someone before like that.

The rebel inside Lyara did spring up and she sabotaged some of the things that were supposed to be crucial for the wedding. Stanley was also with her and enjoyed participating in the act. What she didn't expect was that due to her actions she had forced the wedding to be postponed for a month, something she loved to hear and then she began to make even more plans in her head to possibly halt it forever.

***

"Lyara, get out of your room! We want to see your wedding gown!"

Lyara frowned deeply and pushed the door open, her pure white wedding gown seemed out of this world. Her father had saved his money up so he could buy the best and it was the best. Not only did it fit surprisingly well, it also felt light despite being embroidered with what'd seem silver and gold, there were pale blue gems fixed in her collar that matched her eyes. To top it off she also wore a silver diadem on her head with yet another pale blue gem fixed in it. She turned around to show her family the beautiful gown and headed back in her room after an applause. She felt somewhat more confident now that the wedding was only a week off. Her plans to cancel it failed and she learned to live with it.

Kratsch! Zing! A scream was heard.

She looked up, only just managed to get in comfortable clothing. A robbery, she thought, and quickly hid her diadem where she left her sword, under the wooden floor in an iron box. Lyara slowly descended the stairs, carefully listening to the booming voices of men. When she got down she froze in terror as before her stood a group of nine men, all armed to the teeth holding her family in check with a rope. One of the men grinned and walked up to her, grabbing her by the arm and pulled her in the center of the hall.

"Hello there, young lady. Don't worry, you can also join in on the fun, eh. But I think the older *** was first." He reeked of ale and almost made Lyara throw up on the spot, but she kept her cool and searched for her mother within the crowd. Her father was dragged off by two men to places unknown, presumably in the forest, while the rest of her family were moved to the kitchen. Now only Lyara, her mother and three bandits remained in the hall. The men grinned and threw themselves on Lyara's mother, forcefully ripping her clothes off to the point that she was completely naked, fighting for her life. The men subdued her and then, while Lyara was forced to watch, took her one by one. An image that would forever be burned into her memory as she saw her mother being violated by the men and, when they were done with their fun, slit her throat without a care.

"MOTHER!"

Lyara tore herself free from the grasp of the bandit holding her, the man stumbling back in the process. She ran and ran towards the corpse of her mother until one of the bandits stood infront of her and tried to grab her, but she wouldn't let herself be stopped and pressed her hand in his face while screaming an incantation. Her hand warmed up to the point that it burned itself in the man's face and he fell to the side, clutching the wound. The other bandit nearby looked surprised at her abilities and ran off, but she muttered another incantation, a frozen shard being conjured in her hand which she threw in his right thigh and caused him to fall over.
The last bandit in the hall ran up to her from behind and held her hand out, casting another spell, this one forming a ball of electricity in her hands that she flung at the man who caught it in his belly and stumbled to the wall, the magic causing him with severe seizures.

She wanted to go to her mother's corpse, but soon the other four bandits got to the hall and stared at her in disbelief. Lyara ran to the end of the hall, only a large window blocking her way to freedom. It was then that she realized she couldn't leave the others behind and the image of her mother being *** and killed came up again. She took a step forward to confront the bandits and held out both arms, mumbling a long incantation that conjured a bigger and bigger sphere until --

A hand grabbed her left wrist harshly and pulled it towards him. The man seemed new and looked like a rather wise person... as far as bandits could be wise. He smirked and sent a punch to her jaw, completely stopping the incantation mid-sentence. However, Lyara knew the consequences and the ball of fire went small again. Then it grew and consumed everything, Lyara tried to ward the magic off as much as she could in such a short time-span, but to no avail. The explosion ripped the man's arm almost off and sent Lyara flying through the window and right on the grass. She lay there, breathing raggedly and stared at the destruction caused. Her house was on fire and it wouldn't stop... But the pain, the pain in her face and left side of her body was the worst thing she could imagine. She inhaled again, this time she smelled charred flesh. It was hers.

Chapter four - The Aftermath

Lyara groaned in pain as she woke up in a small room only lit by one candle that was placed next to a small table on the other side of the room. She slowly rose up and rubbed her eyes only to notice that her hands were wrapped in a soft linen bandage that went up to cover her entire arms and even her chest she saw. Her body felt odd. Something wasn’t right and she barely felt the cloth touching her skin. The left side of her face also glowed a little, although the feeling itself wasn’t exactly a pleasurable one. She got off the bed, hay sticking to the wrappings around her body and she moved over to slowly push the door open with a creaking sound. Lyara blinked as her eyes adapted to the dark hall, it was small and made her feel uncomfortable, but she moved on as on the other side of it a door was open and there was light.

“H-hello…?” she brought out with a hoarse voice and an aching throat. She was thirsty, that much was certain and it kept her moving towards the end of the hall and push the door open. The room she came in was surprisingly big, but packed with all sorts of furniture so it seemed smaller; an old man was sitting on a dusty old chair and stared right at her. He smiled at her, the wrinkles on his face being clearly visible and hinted at him being in his late sixties.

“Ahh, finally awake it seems,” he nodded and gestured towards the chair opposite of him: “Sit.”

Lyara carefully stepped closer and sat on the chair, now only a table with a mirror resting on it stood between her and the strange old man. She only managed to catch a glimpse of herself on the mirror and the man noticed since he took the mirror away, a worried expression adorning his face, “Perhaps… it’s not the best thing for you to see yourself in your current state.”

She frowned and reached out to snatch away the mirror from his grasp. The man let her and only sighed deeply before looking away, not wanting to see her reaction. Lyara held the mirror out in front of her and simply stared at it, overwhelmed by how much she had changed. Her entire left face had turn into a bright red mash of skin that made her look like a creep, parts of her hair were also gone and what remained was a few strands of blackened hair. She touched the charred skin and barely felt it, only the glow seeming to be fiercer and a tad more painful.

“You see, miss, your… face – and a large part of your body, in fact, has been in contact with fire. I found you lying unconscious on the ground next to the Aulenne estate. My poor old heart simply couldn’t leave you behind there and I did my best to heal the wounds or at least ease the pain. I am a healer, you see. You were also asleep for days… Four, if I’m correct.”

“M-my face… my home… what-…” She tried to blink away the tears swelling up in her eyes, but to no avail as she broke down into tears and threw the mirror against the wall. The young lady refused to believe what the man told her, her home burning, she herself being marked for eternity, her life completely in ruins. This had to be a dream, she thought to herself, this can’t be real.

The man looked back at her, pitying the crying girl and got up from his chair so he could get to her and place his hand on her shoulder in a soothing manner. He didn’t say a word and left her alone in the room with her thoughts, she’d need it.

***

“I should go, I’ve been here for too long already,” Lyara said whilst sipping from her cup of tea. The man shrugged his shoulders, thought in silence for a while and then nodded accompanied with a low mumbling. She stood up and grabbed the old jacket from the man, which was a bit too big for her, and pulled up a pair of dusty trousers and brown leather boots. The scarred lady looked over her shoulder and nodded at the man who could only smile sadly to her as she left his house.

She didn't even need a second to feel the icy wind cut along her face and send a shiver down her spine, after having spent nearly two weeks recovering in the old healer's house and not setting a single step outside has clearly taken its toll on Lyara who couldn't bare with the cold weather. With a soft grunt she stubbornly wandered through a muddy path that lead to the nearest village, although Lyara could only guess that it was Koeglin Village. She dug her hands deep into the jacket's pockets and found a handful of gold coins along with a little note saying "Courtesy of old Arnie", the thought that the old man expected her to leave and gave her something to go around with for some time brought a smile on her lips and a warm feeling inside her.

The trip to Koeglin Village didn't take that long, a solid ten minutes was what it took at her fast pace. As soon as she got there Lyara headed towards one of the few traders who had set up a stall with clothes. Lyara pulled up the jacket to cover the burn mark along her face and approached sideways to make sure the scar wasn't visible and tossed the gold coins on the counter whilst she pointed at a long, black coat with hood. The woman at the stall perked her brows at the girl's strange behaviour, but as soon as the money was put on the counter she smiled brightly and handed her the coat without question, "Thank you, miss! Have a good day!"

"You... too," Lyara mumbled towards the lady and swiftly set out again, this time out of the village and headed west. She discarded the old jacket in a bush and took the coat on which was surprisingly warm and comfortable in the cold weather she was in right now. Daggerfall. She remember what old Arnie, the healer, told her about her house and didn't bother to go there as the place would, by now, be completely abandoned and looted. Instead she focused her on the thought that her cousin lived in Daggerfall. She once again dug her hands into the pockets of her new coat and started the ascend towards Glenumbra and its first village: Crosswych.

Trouble, only trouble. That's what came into Lyara's mind, the cold weather made the otherwise easy trip to Crosswych almost unbearable and before she knew even a small storm erupted just in the area where she was. By the time she actually caught a glimpse of the village in the distance she was cold, hungry and overall feeling miserable. If it wasn't for the sake of staying alive she would've collapsed to the ground and curled herself up in a ball to pity herself. But she didn't, she dragged herself onwards to the village and let out a sigh of relief when she crossed the bridge and was only a minute or two away from the village and the warm inn.

***

She stepped inside the Crosswych Inn, the dark and cold outside exchanged for a warm and lively inside. She felt great, although it was only for a brief moment when the overwhelming hunger took control and almost made her fall onto the ground. Lyara wasn't used to this feeling at all, whenever she felt really hungry there was always something she could find to feast upon, but not this time. It was winter and she needed to pay for food, yet she had no coin left. She slumped to a table in the corner and sat down, folding her arms on the table before resting her head on them and closing her eyes for some time.

"Well look at this 'ere..."

Lyara blinked and rubbed her eyes as she was spoken to, but as soon as she inhaled the heavy smell of alcohol she couldn't help but gag a little at it. She looked up at man, still not getting a proper view of him as she only just woke up. How long was she asleep for? An hour, maybe two? Yet the hunger didn't dissapear and she places her hand on her stomach to cope up with it. The drunk man roared in laughter at the girl and sat down in the chair opposite of her, albeit very clumsily.

"Sooo... are ye one of the tavern wenches? Ye sure look like one... all... pretty 'n stuff."

"No, I'm not. I'm a virgin."

"A VIRGIN?" The man slammed his fist on the table and laughed so hard that half the inn looked at him in silence for a while before carefully minding their own business again. As soon as the man composed himself he lifted up from his seat again and grabbed Lyara by the chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. He looked familiar to her, yet she couldn't place her finger on it... but then she noticed on his face was a hand-mark burned in. Her hand.

The awful memories of what happened at her home came in again. How she hurt the men who killed her mother and then... blew herself and her home up. The man she was looking at was responsible for all her misery until now, yet she felt helpless as he held onto her, oblivious of who she was.

"I'll tell ye what... 'cos ye are a virgin I'll go easy on ye and pay a wonderful sum of gold... Sadly yer face does look a bit eghhh... *** up so that'll make it a bit less... That good? Of course it is!"

The bandit laughed and grabbed her by her shoulders before she could even muster the courage to say no. He lead her upstairs to his room, fiddled with the keys on the lock and pushed her inside. As he followed her in, he closed the door and pulled off her coat. His eyes narrowed as he saw that on her arms there were more burn marks and then tore open her shirt and with it her bra so that she was now half-naked in his presence.

"Ye look even more *** up than I imagined... more price reduc-...redocshion..."

"No! I don't want to--"

The man glared at her and pushed her against the wall of his room, unsheathing his pocket knife and pressing it against her untouched right cheekbone. She could feel the cold blade sting on her cheek as he once again spoke to her, not sounding nearly as 'friendly' as before. "Ye... will *** shut up and do as ye're told. If I want to *** ye, I'll do so. UNDERSTOOD?"

"Y-yes, don't hurt m-me!" she yelped out and he moved the knife down to her trousers to cut those open before tossing the sharp metal away and pulling down his own. He leaned in to kiss her on the lips, but wasn't responded to in the slightest by the scared girl. Annoyed at her reaction the man pushed her down on the bed and pulled down her panties before brutally thrusting inside of her time and time again. He groaned as after a short while he came into her and almost soon after dropped down on the floor, asleep.

Lyara closed her eyes and cried silently as to not wake up the drunken man. She remained on the bed for at least five more minutes before trying to get up, which went alright. The real problem, though, occurred when she had to walk, it really felt weird and painful, especially after the man had so brutally *** her. She took her time around the room, clutching herself tightly as she eyed over every object in the room and... strangely enough she spotted something that she remembered from back in the house. It was her silver diadem she got together with her wedding gown. With trembling hands she reached out to grab the headpiece and put it on, her eyes tearing up now that she found something from her past.

The door creaked as it was pushed open, a red-haired woman of about the same age as hers carefully entered the room and eyed her up and down. She was dressed in a grey woolen over-shirt and looked at her sadly, as if she understood what she was going through, "I'm sorry... but I heard you and... I feel sorry for you. Really."

"W-why would y-you... care?" Lyara asked the woman with suspicion and even a hint of hostility, "I-I've lost my virginity to that man... h-he ruined my li--"

The woman pressed her index finger on her lips and shushed her. She took a firm hold of her hand and then grabbed Lyara's coat and moved out of the bandit's room. The two went down the hall and eventually ended up in another room, presumably that of the red-haired woman. She closed the door and looked at Lyara briefly before hugging her tightly in a way to comfort her. Lyara hesitated, but did hug her back and sobbed softly against her shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry... I sh-shouldn't... I h-have to go-..."

"No you don't, you're staying with me for the night."

***

Lyara woke up with a strange feeling, she could clearly remember what had happened to her last night and it felt quite confusing. She remembered how the woman, Kris, did her best to soothe her and almost immediately felt a strange connection to the woman. It was something unreal and the more she thought about it, the more she felt it was all wrong and it must've happened because of the misery she's been put through.

It didn't take long for the two to caress each other and even go further than that. They kissed and it made Lyara feel safe, at least safer then when the bandit tried to kiss her. At the time she didn't feel that what she was doing was wrong and just enjoyed Kris's company. She taught her a trick or two that Lyara couldn't even think of, she didn't even know it was possible for two women to indulge themselves in a similar thing as man and wife do. It was weird. But she realized... that she liked weird.

The scarred girl gathered some clothing from Kris and ate the left-overs from her breakfast that she oh so coincidentally forgot to clean up. She smiled to herself and collected whatever she had and walked out of the room, most likely never seeing Kris again in her life. And it made her sad.

She walked down the stairs from the inn and sighed in relief at how quiet the place was compared to last night. She sat down on the same spot as last time and blankly stared out in front of her, contemplating on what she should do next. There was nothing much she could do, she realized and sighed deeply. She knew that there wasn't much choice but to stay in the Inn and make a living out of whatever it was... no matter how disgusting and unfitting for someone of her heritage. She had to survive.

***

Many months, perhaps even a year passed by when Lyara first made contact. She returned to Kris and the two made up a plan on how they both could survive the following months, even the rest of their lives. But they would do it together, the couple started to know each other better and slowly, but surely fell in love.

Their luck didn't seem to stop and the two lived on happily with each other, although every now and then being forced to take on certain questionable jobs so that they could keep the room in the inn. Until... one day a 'loyal' costumer of Kris found out that she in fact dated another woman. He took her away and left Lyara clueless and with a broken heart. In order to cope with the loss she shagged with almost every man in the inn, leaving her after months with quite a bit of coin on reserve. Enough to go away from the horrible place.

She went down to speak with innkeeper and paid off the rest of her rent and turned around to walk off. The months have changed her drastically, no longer did she look like an innocent girl, but more of a hardened young woman. Lyara had the guts to backhand people whenever they commented on her scar, although most of the times it still made her feel uncomfortable. She had a plan set up now, how to go on further with her life. The only thing she had to do--

"...Miss Lyara?"

Lyara's eyes widened at the voice, it sounded calm as usual. Familiar. She turned around swiftly to face the person who talked to her, the man stood in a dark blue attire and smiled at her as he took off his hood. The grey hair only seemed to have gotten greyer, but other than that he didn't change much since they last saw. She gathered her strength, but could only get one word out:

"Amond."

One more chapter left! \o/

MIng_ESO

Very nice.

Medic_Droid

Both the story and the sentence structure were well done. Good read.

NytLite

A nice read, I was glad to have it this morning on the bus. Made for a much more enjoyable ride.

Foxesz

Thanks for the kind responses, will try to get working on chapter three ASAP!

Also, did you know I'm featured on the tamriel chronicle?

NytLite

Yeah, I saw that! Congratulations!

Foxesz

Chapter 3 added.

MIng_ESO

I Think I saw your story where you set it up on another website.

Foxesz

Yup.

Also, chapter 4 added!