[Solo] When They Sleep In Canvas Houses

[Nidassasyae]

Fall 25

Her bare feet squelched in the wet cobblestone pathway, squeaking as she made her way forwards. The air was frigid, and water soaked stones beneath her feet were frozen in some places, making the street slippery and dangerous. Nida rubbed her hands against her bare arms, trying to warm herself up. Black clouds loomed overhead and cried drops of rain, partially blocked out by the silhouettes of the tall buildings around her. Thunder roared about her, striking the cobblestones beside her feet and blasting them into oblivion. Nida cried out in alarm, dancing away from them. But they kept on hitting the ground behind her and beside her, forcing the Kelvic to run forwards to dodge the fiery strikes. There was no one in the street, no one wanted to brave the lightning streaked night. The Kelvic was alone.

She ran forwards, clutching a saddle blanket around herself. The lightning forced her into a merry jig, and her feet flew about in complicated patterns, avoiding the flashes of light and smoke. She grew exhausted with the dance, her feet slowing and faltering in the rhythm of the sky’s anger. It cried out in fury, sending more spears of light until the Kelvic shook with terror. Where was she? What was happening?

True to her stubborn nature, Nida kept dancing about, gritting her teeth as she shrieked obscenities to the night sky. “What’s this sarden game yer playin?” Her voice cried out to the sky, accented strangely with some strange words that she’d never heard before nor spoken. “Stop yer screamin, you clenche-arsed swine’s get, for you must be for all you scream like one! Throwin’ yer tantrums like some babe, or some arse-licking, bum swiving nobleman whose got yer nose shoved so far up ye-“

Mercifully, the thunder blocked out the rest of her tirade. Yet she continued to curse, her face reddening as she found herself out of breath. Still, Nida’d never had such skill with colourful language before, but she never noticed her sudden leap in skill level as she swore steadily, not repeating a single word.

The thunder didn’t seem to like that, and it increased the number of its strikes. It blasted the cobblestones all around Nida, until she stood in the middle of a circle of charred and blackened stone. She shook her fist and made a rude gesture towards the heavens. Seemingly, that was the last straw. It sent a bolt shrieking down to her, splitting the air in two as it launched towards her like a spear.

Carelessly, Nida threw her arms wide and laughed, opening her mouth to taste the thunder on her tongue.

[Nidassasyae]

Suddenly she was leaning against an alley wall. The dark city was still the same, plunged in the midst of a downpour. The thunder still rolled in the distance, but no longer trapped her in a deadly dance. The alleyway was dark and forbidding, the kind of place where murders and muggings occurred. Seemingly indifferent to this, Nida tucked her hands into her long sleeves. Was she waiting for something? She wasn’t sure what she was doing here. The Kelvic couldn’t remember how she got here, or why she was waiting. Was she waiting for someone?

“And all that’s left of me now,” sang a merry voice from somewhere beneath Nida’s feet. She jumped away from the wall in fright. Who was there? She couldn’t see anyone else in the alley. Her hobnailed boots met the ground with an odd metallic clang, and the Kelvic spun to find herself looking down into a storm drain or sewer grating. She wasn’t too sure of what the metal bars were doing in the middle of the alley’s floor, but that didn’t seem as odd as the man who was sitting down there.

He held a bottle of some brown drink in his hands and his face was flushed from alcohol and singing. He appeared to be treading water in the rapidly filling drain tunnel, keeping his head just above the surface. “All that’s left of me now, is waiting to drown,” his rough voice cackled, and he stopped to take a swig from the bottle. “Over the waterfall!” The Kelvic peered at him curiously, struck by how odd this was. There was something strange here, something that was slightly off. What was going on? It never occurred to her that it might be just a dream.

“The water folk drown pretty girls like you, this I know!” The man looked up, smiling jovially at the shocked Nida. “Oh yes, I know!”

A hand gripped her shoulder and spun her around, and its partner clamped itself over her mouth, stifling her scream. They were rough hands, calloused by work or weapon. They threw her to the ground, and she skidded for a few meters, her exposed skin scrapping off as the cobblestones hungrily claimed it.

The hands grabbed at her again, and their owner’s face and features were shrouded in shadow. She couldn’t make out who this stranger was, and that only made the terror more intense. “Here kitty kitty! Come here kitty! Come here pretty little kitty!”

Her voice was gone from her lips, though no hand impeded her screams now. Nida just simply could not cry for help. She felt the collar of her coat being tugged at, pulling her to her feet once more. Gravity seemed to work differently all of a sudden, for she felt herself careening towards an alley wall. The impact made her give a choking gasp of pain. She could see stars beneath her eyelids and warm wet blood trickle down from a wound in her head.

Then again. The hands pulled her and swung her into the opposite wall. She crashed into it, knocking her skull against it with a dull thud. “P-please” she forced out of her throat, spitting out a tooth in the process. Cold and cruel laughter met her ears, merciless and unwavering. The Kelvic closed her eyes, trying to find a place to retreat to within her mind before the next impact sent excruciating pain through her body.

Thud. She was too late. The Kelvic could feel her body begin to break as the walls crushed against her. And again. Thud.

Then she was thrown to the floor. A boot hit her in the stomach, driving what little breath remained out of her lungs. Winded, the young woman lay there on the wet stones, curled up, and waiting for the next hit. The shoes came at her again. They kicked at her head, at her stomach, at her back. She felt each bone shatter as if in slow motion, her attention directed to each splintering impact and how it affected her body. Nida writhed and screamed on the ground, trying to escape the pain.

The hands pulled her up higher than the Kelvic could stand, her feet dangling inches off the ground. Again it threw her down, and again she skidded.

But this time, it was not against wet cobblestones.

[Nidassasyae]

The prickling sensation of grass was beneath her now. She tumbled through it uncontrollably, her skin coloring with green streaks. There was laughter behind her, low and rumbling. It sounded familiar, as if out of a memory. The Kelvic stood shakily, her eyes seeking out the source of the mirth. Several tall men were guffawing at the edge of a clearing, a clearing in which Nida now stood.

The night was hot and humid and filled with the smell of exotic flowers and the fallen, rotting leaves of the canopy. She felt as though she was moving through molasses, so thick was the air in this place. It was beautiful and dangerous all at once, the thick foliage could hide any number of threats. But the only threats that Nida had on her mind were the humans standing before her, all laughing and smiling at something she hadn’t seen.

Nida slowly turned, half wanting to see what this spectacle was, and half dreading it. The atmosphere suddenly reeked of blood and death, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what was going on.

There was a cage in the clearing. A cold and cruel thing of iron and human progress. It smiled at her, as if welcoming her back, beckoning with its cold metal bars. The Kelvic wanted to turn her gaze away, terrified by the man-made device. No, it seemed to say, smiling indulgently. You don’t want to look away. You want to see what’s trapped within me. You want to grin in glee that it was these unfortunate creatures, not you, not your siblings, that rest within.

Nida’s eyes were pulled towards the floor of the cage, though she tried to shut them, they remained open to witness the horrific mess. Two serpentine shapes lay there, distorted and mutilated, their bodies pierced countless times by spears. Their captors had not even removed their weapons, leaving them within the two young Dhani though they had long since died. Still jubilant with the great entertainment the snakes had given them, the men smiled and laughed at the edge of the clearing. There seemed to be no end to the pleasure that looking upon this scene gave them.

Her face white with shock and rage, the Kelvic dove forwards, her hands around the bars of the cage as she frantically tried to analyse the facial features of the Dhani. Each was male, and had something distinctly familiar about them, but neither were Seliarus. Though Nida wanted to sigh with relief, the horror and the feeling she was missing something prevented her from doing so.

Hadn’t Seliarus told her the story of why he hated humans? Hadn’t he told her that his brothers were placed in a cage and mercilessly stabbed again and again by spears until they died? That his sister had been slaughtered as well? The Kelvic cast about, seeing another broken corpse a few meters away. This one was female, and just as dead. Her lips pressed together in a thin line as the Kelvic slowly stood and crossed the clearing. Only once she’d stepped right in front of the human who seemed to be the leader, did her expression change to a snarl of hatred. Her hand flew forwards, preparing to punch him in the face. Would he still laugh then?

Nida gave a gasp of surprise as her fist passed right through him and her momentum carried her forwards. She barely kept herself from falling flat on her face. What was happening? She punched and slapped and bit, trying to cause these men pain, or at least to notice her. They just kept laughing infuriatingly, not paying the least bit of attention as her hands and teeth passed through their bodies. Screaming her anger, Nida finally halted, looking down at her hands as she struggled to understand why she had no more effect on them than the wind. No, that wasn’t right. They’d notice the wind, while she stood among them and garnered no strange looks or yelps at her attack.

They deserved to die! To perish in the most painful way possible! Nida had no grudge against these men, but she knew that Seliarus wished them ill. Therefore, so did she. Her steps were wooden and stomping as she made her way back through the clearing, as a child would after a tantrum.

Nida sank down to her knees beside the broken corpse of her Bondmate’s sister. Carefully she brushed her fingertips down the Dhani’s face, closing the blank eyes that stared sightlessly forwards. These humans were so wasteful, so arrogant, that they took needless lives. They did not hunt for food now, but killed for the simple pleasure of seeing a defenceless creature cry out. Nida wanted to claw at them, to slice them to ribbons with her claws, to beat and stab them with their own spears until they cried out for the mercy she wouldn’t give. She wanted to kill those who killed for pleasure, because it would make her feel better. The Kelvic sighed, slowly moving away from the female corpse as she was beset by the ironies of her life.

A hand on her shoulder dragged her down, making her gasp in surprise. Had the humans finally noticed her? The Kelvic turned, her hands coming up to defend herself, but dropping quickly as she scrutinized the face before her. A young Dhani was coiled behind her, a finger to his lips in an effort to silence her. His features were too familiar, but softer. His brow was not pulled down into a scowl, his body not as starved and hungry. Seliarus? It was her Bondmate, but a far younger version of him. Someone who had existed a century before Nida had been born.

“Sel!” Her voice squeaked in an astonished whisper.

[Nidassasyae]

“Ssssh! Be quiet Nida, they’ll hear you,” he hissed, grabbing her by both shoulders and forcing her to look him in the eyes. She couldn’t understand how he recognized her; he wouldn’t meet her for years yet! But he did, and there was something frightening within his black eyes. A stern resolve that couldn’t bode well. “I’ll dissssstract them, you need to get out of here.” His voice was strained and full with pain and anger as he gazed upon the broken corpses of his siblings.

“Sel, please no. I’ll distrac-“the Kelvic tried to reason with him, to plead with him. She couldn’t let him possibly go out there alone, especially since he younger now, not as experienced.

“You can’t,” the Dhani said firmly. “You were never here. You were never meant to be here.”

“Will I see you again? A long time from now?”

“Maybe. Only if thissss playssss out assss it sssshould.” He pressed his lips against hers in a quick kiss, and rose up. Though she sat at his feet, Nida could barely hear him whisper, “Go!” before the Dhani slithered forwards. “Die, humansssss!” His sibilant voice was a roar of pure fury and anger now as he darted towards the men. They reacted, scrambling for their weapons as he came towards them. Nida took her chance and darted out of the clearing. But she couldn’t help it. She had to see what would happen, though it would take all her will to keep her from returning to aid Seliarus. Her hands and feet found footholds in a tree just at the edge of the clearing, and the Kelvic settled down on a branch. Her knuckles were white as they gripped the bark, trying to keep herself from coming back down.

As she had climbed, the humans had grabbed their weapons, charged towards Seliarus, and attacked. One slumped to the side, poison no doubt coursing through his veins as Seliarus had got a lucky bite in. But that was all he seemed to have done, as the Dhani now lay on the ground before the men. They kicked at him with their boots and pummelled him with their fists, revelling in the pain they could inflict.

And still she sat up in the tree, her inaction feeling horribly wrong. She winced and gasped as though she could feel the impact of their kicks and punches, trying to hide her face from the cruelty. Then the skirl of steel on scales, a wet thud, and a gasp seemed to echo throughout the forest. It replayed over and over until Nida finally opened her eyes and saw the scene before her. She saw him lying there on the grass, a long spear driven into his belly. The men were gone.

She slipped down from the tree faster than her frail human form should have let her. And she was running, and kneeling, and crying out at the wound in the small Dhani. Her vision was blurred with confusion and tears and hate.

The Dhani turned his head slightly, and smiled a bloody smile. His hand was clasped gently in the both of hers. “Thissss isssn’t how it’sss sssupossed to go.” And then his hand was no longer supported by the remaining strength in his arms, and fell limply at his side.

The clearing was now motionless. Four broken corpses lay about, bleeding and feeding the grass with their blood. A cage stood, uncompromising, in the midst of it all. And beside a corpse knelt a young woman. She didn’t move, and she didn’t cry. There was no meaning to this picture, if someone were to happen upon it, they would not understand the carnage. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound. It seemed as if nothing lived either, in this strange jungle, until a small rabbit hopped by, shattering the frozen moment. It hopped forwards, nibbled a bit of grass, and disappeared back into the undergrowth.

[Nidassasyae]

The scene darkened. The grass became cobblestones once more. The clearing was an alleyway, as if the jungle had never existed. The smell of night flowers and mist was replaced by the stench of garbage, lighting, humanity.

The corpse beside her was a large human, smelling of alcohol and leather. Its throat was torn out and its body lay twisted and broken. She recoiled, the heels of her hobnailed boots finding purchase in the cobblestones and pushed her away from the body. Who was this?

“Hey, what’re ye doin- Oh petch! Guys, c’mere! The bitch killt ‘im! Poxy whore slit his throat!”

Nida never saw the speaker behind her, or the others that he summoned to his side. They each beat her bloody, throwing her against the walls, against the ground. They sliced her with daggers and drowned her in the gutter. But through it all, she never died. Nida was forced to relive her death again and again, countless times. Each time was different, as if it would be an insult to the men if they couldn’t come up with a unique method of doing away with her. They used rusted nails, they pushed her face into the sewer drain, and they beat her until she saw nothing but blackness. They threw her against the walls until her head cracked, and stomped upon her until her ribs broke.

There was a cage there too. A lonely iron cage, calling out for her at the end of the alley. It called to her, said it missed her. It had missed her for so long, and now she was coming back to it. Why hadn’t she come back to it?

Her mangled body was thrust into the cage. Pale fingers groped weakly for the door of the prison, trying to free herself. They were promptly squashed under the heel of a boot. Her hand withdrew, her broken fingers dangling weakly. They tossed more insults at her, which hurt her none at all. They stabbed at her with daggers and eating knives, which hurt much more.

Then the crowd of faceless men paused and parted, making way for some shady figure to step forwards. In the dim flashes of lightning, she could make out familiar features. The leader of the men in the clearing, who she had directed her first punch towards, knelt beside her and smiled a delighted smile.

Nida smiled back, as if challenging him.

The spear seemed to come out of nowhere, striking her in the belly. It opened up, and her lifeblood spilled forth. Her eyes met the leader’s in shock and disgust. Was this how he killed? The man simply smiled and nodded calmly, using the bars of the cage to hoist himself back up. With another nod, he signalled his exit to the men, who followed behind their leader. The alleyway was filled with the noise of their boots clacking softly, and they disappeared around the corner, melting back into the thunder-streaked night.

The Kelvic coughed violently, blood leaking from her lips. She couldn’t move her arms to wipe it away, so she slumped back against the railings of the cage. The spear swayed back and forth slightly with her movement, but she was past the pain. The darkness of the alleyway seemed to embrace her, welcoming her where was she was only a stranger before.

Only then did she notice the two scaly bodies heaped around her, sharing her small space within the cage. A rattling sigh came from deep her throat, and the Kelvic allowed herself to close her eyes.

---

Nida gasped as she sat up, woken by the gentle hand resting on her shoulder. She looked up into the kindly eyes of one of the Drykas healers who had recognized her from when he was seeing to her Bondmate. She was curled up just outside the tent, shivering as she dreamed her nightmares, before the man had thought to wake her up.

Nida gave him a wary but thankful smile, nodding as he continued on his way back to his own tent. Her body protested as she slowly sat up, hugging her knees against her chest. She could hear the gentle breathing of her Bondmate as he slept within the canvas tent. The sound reassured her, calming her rapidly beating heart.

But she couldn’t shake the fear that had settled over her body like a cloak.

[FIN]