Beautiful Shadow of Manara

By: Arlent Posted on: November 09, 2010

Her words were muffled

With sobs as she watched in horror.

She watched the cool steel of

The shackles encircle her wrists.

Bind her in more than just body.

Bind her soul.

I watch quietly from the shadows.

I see his cruel looks.

The visual rape of her lithe form.

I can see the beauty beneath her scars.

I can see what remains of one

Long,

Slender,

Pointed ear tucked beneath her long auburn hair.

She looked lost even in the faded light of the caverns.

Her home, the Aalen forest, where once she was strong.

Proud.

Beautiful.

I hide in the shadows for fear of being seen.

Helplessly, all I can do is witness his paws upon her flesh.

Rough and wild.

Every now and again you can hear the

Vicious crack of a whip.

The cries from deep within the dark expanse.

I draw my sword and, from behind,

I impale deep into his sternum.

I twist silently and all that can be heard now

In the empty caverns

Is the soft gurgle of blood escaping his lungs.

She looks at me with fear.

She watches me through black and bruised eyes.

Her pale skin pockmarked

And caked in blood and dirt.

Her long robes - once white -

Cling to her delicate frame.

I reach a hand toward her.

She shies away, afraid.

"Do not fear me, I am here to save you."

Her eyes do not see me.

They see the warped and disgusting reality

She now exists within.

Bruises resembling fingers mar her arms.

She looks at me to the crumpled body of her captor.

"Please," she whispers.

I come in close to hear her plea

Through cracked and bloody lips.

"Kill me."

I stumble back.

I was here to save her.

The shackles around her wrists dig and rub the bones.

I search the body of her fallen captor.

About his waist a single key hands from a ring.

Quickly, I insert the key into the lock and it snaps open.

She looks at me with fear in her eyes.

So much fear.

So much pain.

"You are free now."

I say, my heart aching for hers.

She stumbles forward, falling to her knees at my feet.

"Please," she repeats.

I do not understand.

I set her free.

I unlocked her chains.

I removed her bindings.

She stood before me nothing but a mess of blood and cloth.

I turned to leave, my deed complete.

"You are free." I say over my shoulder.

Then, I feel it.

I feel the heavy weight against my back.

I turn, slowly, fearing what I will find.

Gurgle.

The blood pours from her once soft pink lips.

She smiles sweetly, a small resemblance of the beauty

She once was.

As I watched her clutch at the gaping wound in her stomach;

Watch as she revelled in being a sheath to my sword.

She falls before me, brilliant green eyes locked with mine.

Then, her heart ceased it's beating.

With a sigh, the last of her breath escapes in two simple words.

"I'm free."

Months passed and I did not return to Manara.

So distraught by the scene.

Is this how they all were treated?

The beautiful Atavian, his eyes rimmed with black.

The comely Human slave, her willowy limbs still strong.

I returned one day, the save the rest.

I wandered the halls, travelling the same path as before.

The sound of a cracking whip.

The echo of steel chains.

There she was.

The beautiful Tsol'aan pleasure slave.

Her body still wracked with bruises.

Her skin purple and speckled with mud and blood.

Standing before her, the Gnoll I had once brought to my feet.

There are some who should never return from the Halls of Maya.