Saeyssa - Whispers in the Wind

[simini]

Strangely enough Saeyssa was unable to feel any kind of relief now that He had left the Coast. In fact it unsettled her that she could no longer see him seeing her.
Angrily she set out to behead the orc chieftain by herself, as if to prove that she had not subconsciously become dependent on her employer's quite imposing presence.
As she stood there by the cave entrance and went over the orders she had given herself for this task, the headless chickens approached. She hated the kind of adventuring party that charged into battle without the slightest plan or display of intelligence, yet she walked after the tallest of them into the stinking pit.
Having fallen back into her habit of following a leader figure and thus defying the original purpose of her trip, she soon paused to reflect on her mindless run with the headless ones.
It was then that the perfumed prick whispered to her from the shadows:
"Bored?"
Saeyssa turned around, trying to spot the source of the warm breeze that had touched her right ear.
"You are wasting your time."
Her eyes moved quickly about the cave. There was nobody.
“What do you want?”, she hissed into the darkness. “Are you one of His people?”
“Perhaps.”
The chickens had moved on and were filling the caves with the familiar sound of steel cutting flesh.
“I'm doing as he asks, leave me alone.”
Another pause. Her hair wavered slightly and emitted a single spark as the breeze moved to whisper to her other side.
“What if he has new orders?”
So he really was still watching her. She felt her heart pound loudly inside her chest.
“Go on...”

[simini]

He had fooled her. She should have guessed so when another emissary approached her only a day later, and yet she had continued to follow the instructions of the invisible figure from the cave.
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. The winds didn't turn and not a ray of light reached her cell. Had it been hours? Days?

“How do you do today?” The now familiar silhouette appeared on the other side of the bars.
“Like you care.”
Her voice was hoarse from the lack of water. Maybe she shouldn't have wasted her energy on shredding that skeleton, but its stench and the endless chanting of dogmas had strained her nerves to an unbearable extend.
“Of course I care. Would you like some company?”
She gathered what strength she had left to drag herself over to the door, holding tightly onto her kukris.
“Why don't you come in?”
“Is that an offer? I am married.”
“People like you cannot love.”
“What do you know about me? You know nothing. You are nothing.”
He was right, what did she know? One thing was certain, she had to somehow get out before He saw that she was gone.
“How about a deal?”
She pulled herself to the little window, letting him see the wicked grin that was distorting her face as she explained the idea.
The perfumed prick looked disappointed. “No, no, the time is not right. I have a counter-offer.”
“Go fetch a knife.” Somebody moved down the hallway.
Saeyssa's eyes glowed. “Oh I have enough of those.”
With a terrible screeching sound she drew her blade across the metal reinforcements of the door.
He remained unimpressed. “Here is my offer. You carve your arm, and I won't hurt you.”
“I would much rather carve your face, Sir.” The wind now echoed in her voice as she spoke through clenched teeth.
“Of course you would. But you can't.”
“Sure?!” That was enough. In her fury she darted an arm through the bars and swung the knife at his face.
The prick yelled out and touched his cheek to see blood on his fingers.
“Well, how do they say? You never stop to learn.” He smiled. “And you will learn your lesson soon enough.”

Laughter was what she heard last before being violently pushed to the ground by what looked to be an oversized hand. A storm of pained cries escaped her lips, then no more than her light breeze could be felt in the dark cell.

[simini]

“I will promise you months and months of pain. I will rip the flesh off your body. You know how to stop it...”
The memories were still obscuring her mind and her arm throbbing with pain as she stepped out to feel the wind take some of the weight off her back.
“You will be of great use, once properly tame.”

Had she just exchanged one misery for another? She was unsure which deal was worse, but it seemed the latest turn of events at least left a spark of hope for a future of more freedom.
Reminding herself that the decision had never really been in her own hands, Saeyssa staggered aimlessly along the trade way. Was He seeing her? Perhaps it was already too late. One concerned looking eye and a smile interrupted her thoughts:
“Where tha hell have ya been, lass?!”
She was unable to hide how surprised she was that he had even noticed. The smile on her scarred face looked strangely out of place as she felt her tired muscles finally relax in relief. He looked her over and spotted the blood that had soaked her left sleeve and dried in a deep crimson on both her hands.
“And what happened to yer arm?”
Her expression grew cold.
“I have a new employer.”

[simini]

“Seriously? Again?” Saeyssa openly showed her annoyance as she was approached by yet another hidden figure. A few days ago she would have felt her quickening heartbeat, but with the latest events cold callousness had taken its place.
“You hear voices often? Never a good sign.”
Her fingers tapped impatiently on the hilt of her blade. “I have learned that much. What do you want now?”
“'Now'? My dear, you seem quite confused.”
She was confused, but did it really matter? Take orders, perform, live. Things always worked out that way.
“Just get to the point.”

When the Shadow was gone, Saeyssa barely knew more than she did before the encounter. There was someone dancing in the darkness who seemingly did not intend to harm her. While it was a welcome change, it didn't occupy her mind for long enough to forget about the pain in her arm.
The gash had swollen, was pulsating and itching.
He would always heal her wounds once she stopped trying to fight his brutal blows and did as he asked. Now she helplessly pulled her sleeve back over the infected cut and, for just a split second, wished that He was still there to let her cower in his lap and tell her what to do.

[simini]

“I can't go shaggin' wenches that hate ya. That'd just be uncomfortable fer everyone.”
Her friend's odd choice of conversational topics barely bothered her. So long as there were drinks to be had that enabled her to join his musings, she usually enjoyed these moments away from work.
“I choose friendships over a quickie in the back room.”
She looked at the man who didn't shy away from courting toothless orcs and quirked a brow.
“True friends are hard ta find. Unless that quickie is with a friend, aye?”
He burst out into loud laughter and poked her arm teasingly.
He was hopeless. And it bothered her more than she wanted to admit.
“Right. Do you even believe in such a thing as love?”
“Love? I dunno mate, that's a tough one... I mean I love ale. And I love wenches.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I guess I do.”
How he could see past her appearance and non-expressiveness and yet be so shallow was inexplicable to her. With a cool breeze she turned to face the wall and remained quiet.
“Didja ever find anyone ya loved?”
Had she loved Him?
Disgusting. She quickly cast the thought aside. “No.”
The one-eyed looked amused. “Ha! Really? That's unbelievable! It's no wonder ya hardly ever show emotion.”
Her fingers tapped restlessly on the bar as she refused to let him see the shame she felt.
“That's it, we gotta find ya a man.” He glanced about the tavern and eventually pointed to someone sitting at the other end of the counter. “What about him?”
Saeyssa didn't bother to even throw a glance at the stranger. “I barely get to choose. Give me a human suit and we can try again.”
“Ya think no one would wanna bed ya because of yer looks?” The grin was still stuck on his face, it fueled her annoyance and let the words escape her mouth in an irritated hiss.
“I am not looking to be 'bedded'.”
His smile faded. “Bit feisty, ain't ya.”
“Sometimes your view on things is just so narrow. Perhaps I want someone to see more than my skills, or my 'exotic' windbag appearance. There are things beyond that.” Her speech trailed off into an almost inaudible whisper as she immediately regretted inconsiderately blurting out with her feelings like that.
“I've asked, yanno. But ya don't like tellin' me a whole lot.”

If he had any idea what there was to be told, perhaps he wouldn't ask to hear it. As much as she felt the need to share her story in order to attain what she believed to be true friendship, there was no way she could picture herself opening up to anyone, let alone risking to give away such an amount information.
Defeated by her own rationality, Saeyssa stared at the mug in front of her. “I don't expect you to understand.” She replied quietly.

[simini]

“I bring bad news.” Most things he said were bad news for Saeyssa, but that he chose to announce it beforehand did unsettle her. Only a moment later the prick shrunk to a microscopic particle in significance, compared to the truth that now unraveled before her. He had betrayed her in ways that let all remnants of humanity shatter, and the storm rule in the Windsoul for hours. Letting out a nerve-racking scream she made her way through the halls, causing banners to swirl and doors to fly shut behind her in a strong gust of wind.

She almost welcomed the masked fool who decided to open his air hole too wide in an insult soon after. The onlookers made no attempt to interfere when Saeyssa flung her blades at the man and sprayed the cave walls with his blood. With a practiced stroke she soon severed the deceased's tongue, grasped the still warm muscle in a fist and turned to walk past her silent audience.

“The Genasi will come with us.”
“The Genasi has a name. I want her to do this of her own free will.”
With a satisfying gargle her second victim's throat was cut, before the body fell limply into her arms. The beauty of bringing her own cool face dangerously close to his, only to feel that last sharply inhaled breath, had her experience the moment with an intensity as if in slow motion, seemingly taking minutes to neatly pull her blade across his neck. Even though she had again luckily obtained this opportunity to quench her bloodthirst further, reality literally knocked her back off her feet when the victim's guards charged to beat Saeyssa to the ground.

Her inner frenzy first ceased with the sweet numbness of strong intoxication, many hours after the fight.
She would have His life, and her peace eventually...