There were no words to describe the pain she was in. All she knew was agony. She even found herself hallucinating about torture. At first she had screamed and yelled, cried and wept, mumbled and laughed. Now she just waited to die. It was morbidly funny to her that just over a day ago she had been in the same situation, wishing to die from the venom. How petty she had been. She thought she knew pain...hah.

She awoke to find herself naked with blood dripping down her everywhere, suspended at her wrists by a sinewy cord. Kass had no idea how long she hung there. It was amazing she hadn’t bled out. She had passed out more than a few times though, and she desperately wanted to again. It was the only thing she was allowed the luxury of.

“Should be dead...now by here soon…” she mumbled incoherently, and then chuckled slightly. She began rolling her head from side to side, which gave her a funny feeling that drowned out the pain a bit. She kicked her legs too, unable to feel them at all. She was surprised when they still worked and so she kicked again. Her foot smacked into something solid and she pushed off of it, swinging a bit. Her shoulders cried out at her to stop but she didn’t listen. She kicked again and again until she rammed into the wall in front of her. Old wounds reopened and somehow she felt more pain as it rushed through her.

Suddenly angry Kass jerked from side to side, using what little energy she had left to throw a tantrum. The movement pulled down hard on the rope supporting her weight and all of a sudden she found herself falling again. It wasn’t something new to her at this point. She didn’t fall far and quickly hit the floor below. She landed like a sack of potatoes. Bones groaned and her right shoulder popped loudly with the impact but somehow she didn’t seem to break anything. There was a lot of pain though.

Kass groaned as blood rushed back into her arms and legs, the throbbing becoming worse by the second. She blacked out again and when she awoke she was at least able to focus a little. Now more aware, Kass was very careful with how she moved, not wanting to cause any more damage to herself than she already had. She could feel warm blood seeping from a few cuts and was pretty sure if she opened even one more she would die of blood loss. How have I not already bled out? She remembered something about how fast people can die from blood loss and it didn’t make any sense to her that she was still breathing.

She lay there in the silent darkness, freezing and trying not to think too hard about anything. It worked for a time, but she soon became restless. Kass tried to move her arm to inspect some of the cuts on her body, but the arm only barely moved and caused more pain to shoot through her. She slowly tried the other and was relieved when she was able to move it, even though it was stiff.

Worried about her arm she ran through a quick process of elimination. I was hanging there for forever. Not paralyzed... Not missing… Dislocated? It made sense, but it didn’t make her feel any better. I have no idea how to fix this… She’d seen a dislocated shoulder before, and had even seen it set, but none of that would help her now. Guess I’ll worry about that later…

After working at it for a few minutes Kass was finally able to move her good arm around enough to check some of the cuts, though it was still bound to the other arm so her movement was limited. She was glad it was her right and dominant arm that wasn’t dislocated, knowing it would have been a disaster if she had to use her derpy left hand to do anything remotely technical.

She was surprised by the amount of cuts she found on her body. She found them everywhere, from her arms and legs to her stomach and chest. Most were sealed at least, delicate scabs forming over them. Those sick freaks really chopped me up…

After inspecting the damage on her body as best she could, Kass tried sitting up. She knew it probably wasn’t the best idea and that she should just lay there for awhile, but she couldn’t do nothing. It was driving her crazy and she needed to get her mind off the pain.

Slowly she engaged her abs and lifted herself from the cold ground. It took a second but she made it to a sitting position. She felt a bit dizzy but otherwise was glad to be upright. Probably going to need water again. Soon. She sighed thinking about her empty stomach and dry throat. It was way too much work trying to stay alive. She really had it easy back home. A pang of homesickness hit her then and she reminisced of a grocery store, a toasted bagel, and a warm bed.

So where am I? She looked around in every direction but couldn’t see anything. She wasn’t surprised at all and after already having freaked out about being alone in the dark a few days ago, it was old news. That didn’t mean she wasn’t still freaked out, but it was easier to calm herself down this time. Okay breathe K… think…what do I do what do I do?! Okay I need a plan...or something… I need to do something…! Okay okay, step one, untie hands and feet. Step two, get some water. Step three, don’t die. Yeah that’ll work.

The rope that secured her hands wasn’t terribly thick, but seemed to be quite strong. She found a longer piece attached to the rope binding her hands and figured it was what was left when the line snapped. So it can be broken… but that was my whole body weight… what is this tiny rope made of? Freaking paracord!?! There was no way she could break it she decided, and after maneuvering her lame arm a bit, she went with her next best option.

Kass gnawed at it, trying to bite through. The taste was terrible, and she gagged at first, but she didn’t give up. The rope had several strands all wrapped together, and by using her teeth she noticed she could separate them slightly. It was enough to allow her to bite through each strand and soon the rope was a frayed, soggy mess.

Kass was exhausted by the time she finally chewed through the rope. Her left arm flopped limply into her lap with a quick jolt of pain when the last strand of the rope snapped, but other than that she was now able to move her right arm around easier.

After a short break she felt at the rope binding her ankles and decided she couldn’t use the same method for that one. Instead she began feeling around the rocky ground, searching for something that might be able to help her. She was surprised when she began to find all sorts of things on the ground. She didn’t know what any of it was, but she did find a few small objects with sharp edges on them. She tried a few of them and began to cry when one began to cut through.

She wiggled her feet once they were free, stretching the ankles to try and reduce the stiffness. With her legs now able to move about as they pleased, Kass became very aware of her nakedness. It felt so wrong to her to be in such a place without any clothing. But there wasn’t any fixing that now so she pushed the thoughts away. Just hope those things didn’t do anything else to me while I was knocked out… what is this place anyway?

It took some effort but Kass began to crawl around in the darkness. She kept her bad arm tucked in close to her stomach and led with the other, doing her best to stay balanced. She continued to find all sorts of small trinkets which confused her a bit. Some sort of...lucky hole? Realization suddenly dawned on her and she froze, now trying to pay more attention to her surroundings. But she didn’t hear anything, and nothing had happened to her yet. What else could she do besides what she was already doing.

With her heart beating a little faster she moved in the direction she thought the closest wall would be. She crawled several feet and didn’t find a wall though, and so she second guessed herself and decided to go another direction. After a few feet her hand bumped into something and she stopped. She carefully moved her hand across the object, feeling something smooth and almost...scaly. She flinched a little but by this point knew that whatever she was touching wasn’t living.

Some sort of animal skin. Whatever it was, there was a lot of it, and it was wrapped around something. Hopefully something I can eat… Using the same sharp trinket she had found earlier she cut through the ties that bound the bundle. It took her awhile to do it one handed but she finally managed to cut the bindings and then unravel the skin. She reached out again and her fingers brushed against cold metal. She hesitantly followed the metal with her fingers, avoiding the sharp edges she felt, until she reached an intersection of metal. The sword! Suddenly realizing what it was she scrambled to find the grip and then hugged the thing close to her bare chest, not cutting herself in the process of course.

Relief flooded through her. She had her lifeline back. The only thing that had been through just as much as she had in the last couple of days. Kass fought back a sob as she held on tightly to the blade, making damn well sure she didn’t lose it again.

“You’re alive. Hmm... I did not expect this at all.”

“What are you?” she croaked, mouth dry.

“Not now, you are unchosen. How you are still alive is beyond me. ”

“Unchosen?” Kass said, confused. “I don’t…---”

“ I know, young one. I saw bits and pieces of your world too, you do not know of what I speak.”

“My world….where am I?”

“You’re on Arkos now, and I believe we are still within the Brightlands, though things may have changed in my...absence.”

“How…—.”

“Wait, no more questions, we haven’t the time, there is much for you to do still. Now listen, I need your help, and the only way you can help me is if you become stronger. I can’t have the only being capable of helping me in over a thousand years die by something as weak as a bunch of Uruns. You need to complete your Coronation so I need you to speak the word ‘status’ aloud.”

“Status?” She gasped as a large glowing book suddenly appeared in front of her, floating through the air. It was unopened and the cover was filled with runes that pulsed with a blue energy. It was the first light Kass had seen for quite some time, but it didn’t seem to bother her eyes. Instead it seemed inviting, a calming sensation washing over her.

“What...is this?” she asked, but the voice did not respond. She carefully set the sword down next to her and opened the book to the first page with her good arm. “What the hell.”