Someone shakes me awake. 

I must have dozed off.

"We have to go. Elysia!"

"Hmm." Sleepy, I get up and feel the ground, looking for my sword. My fingers close around the cold handle and I stand up yawning.

Slowly I run a hand through my hair and frown when I come across tangles. I was already counting down the days until I could crawl into my bed and sink into a sweet, long sleep.

That prospect helps me get my feet moving and keep walking.

Finally we arrive in Vale. The empire is known for its rocky mountains and dark sides.

Fewer than 2,000 people lived there, due to the barren land and the local inhabitants.

Everyone knew that an enemy you can see is always better than one you can't see at all. That's why only the dark elves live here. I was born here.

The only thing I know about my parents comes from my brother. They were high-ranking elves loyal to Julius Maddox. They were feared in many realms. They could kill without blinking an eye and laughed when entire villages and their inhabitants were burned to the ground. I believed my sample came from them.

I am therefore not surprised that their first encounter was at the time when they did what they loved so much: torture.

My father was Maddox's general. He commanded his army during the Black War and fought side by side with them. My brother told me that my father had caught a Vedronia spy just as my mother had found him.

She had been Maddox's mistress and was eager to take credit for turning the spy over to him. My father, however, refused and dragged him to his tent to tie the spy to a wooden stake.

My mother followed him and watched for days as my father cut the life out of the spy to get even a little bit of information. He must have realized halfway through that she was spying on him, for he called her in and handed her the knife with which she finished his work. But Adarlyn and Vedronia kept fighting.

Drahzan claims that was when father fell in love with my mother. Apparently she gave birth to my brother on the battlefield, with the corpses around her. I was born five centuries later in exactly the same way. Two centuries later, my mother was captured along with my father by General Nox of Vedronia. The next day their bodies hung on the gallows.

Drahzan was already in training with Maddox to take my father's place one day, and now he got it sooner than he could have dreamed.

We pass shabby houses on the verge of collapse, dodge the spear-bound dwellings, and look away as we pass the temples. The warmblood dares to glance at a monk who is blessing outside the building. His face turns ashen when he sees the man's head and he throws up a little way away.

Monks were nasty elves. They cut off their skins and burn out their eyes, leaving black holes in a skeletal body. Nobody knows why they do it. Some say it has to do with sacrifice and their willingness to remember the dead. Others again say that they are the Watchers of this world, sent by the Gods whom no one has ever seen.

Personally, I just think they're insane lunatics.

Maddox's castle stands in front of a mountain that disappears between the clouds. It is surrounded by a gigantic stone gate guarded by two giants. They let us through without asking and a goat girl approaches us. Her hooves tapped on the wooden drawbridge.

"The master is waiting for you. Please follow me." She moves so fast that we have to step briskly to keep up with her. The hall to which she leads us is lined with black stones and silver pillars. Approximately in the center is a throne on which an old man sits. His white beard is neatly groomed and a red scar runs from the corner of his left eye to his nose, which always makes him look angry. Gillian waves to his daughter, who stands there like a statue.

Vixra is tall and slender and could be called pretty if she didn't have a crooked nose and piercing little eyes. Her dress was made of spun wool and was embroidered with mustard yellow thread. Her white hand rests lightly on the throne and her gaze is fixed on the warmblood.

We all stop and bow. Maddox grunts and fixes his eyes on the wounded man. The walls of the room vibrate, causing stones to fall to the left and right.

"The Warmblood is wounded. How did that happen?"

Gillian leans toward me. "He was a little clumsy." He thumps his leg and ignores Julius's squinted eyes.

"Gillian. Can I thank you for this?"

Gillian starts to nod but I get in ahead of him.

"No, Great Ocul. I have done that." My breathing catches, but I make sure to speak loud and clear.

Julius rubs his lips and his gold rings sparkle on each finger. Each for his victims who had turned against him. He doesn't seem surprised.

"Really? And why, Miss Delcour, would you injure my precious source of information?"

"He dropped me." I hate myself for stopping at the last word. The Warmblood chuckles at my mistake and I give him a deadly glare.

"He dropped you? Oh dear. But you know I want my informants undamaged. You know that right?"

"Yes sir." I bow my head. The epitome of submission. Just how he prefers me. I think he'd start purring if I fell to my knees, but I don't wish him that.

Gillian clears his throat, but Julius raises his hand.

'I'm talking to the girl, Gillian. Elysia, you know what this means. You made a mistake.' Julius sits up straighter and beckons a servant.

"Punishment."

'Indeed. And because you've beaten up the warmblood so much, he can decide when you've had enough.'

Gillian and Felix protest but then keep their mouths shut. "Get

Drahzan." The servant runs out of the room.

Two guards grab my arms and drag me forward. I drop to my knees, take a deep breath and keep my eyes fixed on Julius as my dress is pulled off. I only wear shorts and an undershirt underneath. I see Felix and Gillian through my hair. Both their arms are twisted behind their backs in a tight hold.

Julius stands up and gives his daughter his arm. He shakes hands with the warmblood and welcomes him to his realm before escorting his daughter to the door. Over his shoulder, he orders someone in the room to take the warmblood to his room after the spectacle.

Two long legs appear in my field of vision. It seems like I see myself. His eyes are as green as moss and the corners of his eyes turn up a little. His straight nose is covered with light freckles that run down to his sharp itchy bones and his full lips fold into a disapproving line. Yet he radiates pure happiness.

I knew he would enjoy every shot.

The warmblood stands next to my brother and smiles.

"Thirty. I want her to have thirty." The number floats before my eyes. Thirty lashes. No one could endure thirty lashes.

"You dirty dog!" Gillian yanks his arms wildly to free himself and spits at the warmblood. "She'll never survive!" 

"I know. I do not want that either." 

Drahzan shakes his head and pushes the warmblood aside. "Come on, let's not argue now. I am very sensitive to that."

Gillian stops moving. My brother looks at him with satisfaction and then at Felix, who watches him just as closely.

"Hello, Umbra," Drahzan says to Felix, "I see you still degrade yourself to the rabble."

"Not yet, I have yet to accept your invitation."

Drahzan twists the black rod on his hand. "It's a pity, if my sister were a bit stronger and your brother a bit smarter, I could still understand. But now you're just at the bottom of the ladder."

Felix's eyes tighten and a muscle throbs in his jaw.

"Then we'll have to break the ladder and get you down." My brother growls low and loud. Felix does the same. 

"You will pay for every word you say."

"You can hurt me all you want, I want to show you even the most painful places." 

Drahzan bursts into laughter. "Oh no, I know there's no point in physically hurting you, Umbra. That's why I have to do it through these two here."

He points at me and crouches in front of me. His hand grabs my hair and pulls my head back with a hard tug. A sharp pain shoots through my scalp and I hiss.

My brother traces the artery in my neck with his finger. His touch wanders further up and rests on my lower lip. "Still so weak. You let this happen all by yourself. I don't want you to be hurt, but rules are rules and I have to follow them. How much it hurts me to see you like this."

My hands shake and I clench them in my lap. He stands back and rolls the rod from his hand.

"Twenty."

"Twenty lashes. As you wish." Drahzan nods approvingly to the warmblood being taken along. The warmblood walks off with a guard after giving Drahzan a nod. He still has the satisfied grin on his face as he walks into the hall.

Drahzan signals to the guards next to me. They push my nose against the cold ground. His gaze burns all over my body as he comes up behind me and slowly studies my spine. The older scars start to itch, but I keep my hands still. 

Weak. So, so, so weak. My monster stirs.

Completely ready for the blood that will flow.

With tightly closed lips I focus on the lines on the floor. The whistling of the whip sounds a few seconds earlier before the fierce pain splits my body in half. I collapse from the shock. I am corrected immediately.

The second hits just as hard. I bite my teeth to hold back the moans. With the third, I feel the blood run down my back and almost pass out.

I force myself to think of the most hateful moments of my life. Anything just to make sure they wouldn't sniff out fear from me. 

Callian's voice rises above the roar in my head. Just as it sounded a few centuries ago.

"I hate the foul, sticky smell of fear, like a musty mushroom you can't rinse out of your mouth. But I think your fear is even worse." 

I widen my eyes. "Why? Am I so different then?" 

Bam!

Callian sits down on the wooden chair in my little house. He grabs my arm and pulls me onto his lap, burying his face in my hair. "Your fear goes deeper," his voice is muffled, "like a dagger twisting in an open wound."

I am retreating. Callian's azure eyes are dark. I run my finger over his jaw and press my forehead against his. "Does everyone feel that?"

Bam!

Callian shakes his head without breaking contact. "No, only I feel that way. Because your fear hurts me."

Tears well up in my eyes and a sob rolls down my throat and comes out. Callian backs off. The corners of his mouth point down. He wipes away my tears with his callous thumb.

"I'm sorry."

Bam!

I nestle my face against his palm and close my eyes to hold back the tears. Callian's warm mouth kisses my eyelids. I open them and see that he has a faint smile on his lips. Your pain is my pain. I always want to know when you're scared, Elysia. But," Callian's smile fades and his eyes bore into mine, "don't let anyone else see your pain or fear. Don't let them know if they break you.'"

"Drahzan-"

"Drahzan certainly not. He's not good for you, Elysia."

"He's my brother, and that deal with Maddox..."

Callian hugs me. "I'm going to find a way to free you. You'll be free, I promise you."

I return his hug and stare at the castle in the distance. The purple tower sparkles in the sun.

"I will show no fear or pain. No one will break me, I promise you Callian." Callian sighs and his breath caresses my neck. "You and me, Elysia. Now, tomorrow and forever." The familiar words relax me. "Now, tomorrow and forever."

The wounds burn so hard that I don't realize the punishment is over until Drahzan chuckles aloud. "Believe me, I'm in as much pain as you are right now."

To my own surprise, I can stand on stable legs. I pull my dress from the guard's hands and raise my chin. In my eyes, I'll let whatever words I can't say out loud pass to my brother, then I'll pull Gillian and Felix out of their grasp and walk them out the door.