Page 11 of Xeda

Without a word, she slipped over to the storage room. There, Dane was already collecting his supplies, slamming things down and whispering to himself. Clearly, he wasn't going to be able to sneak away with his guard buddies this time.

He glanced over at her by the door and scoffed. He picked up his supplies and nearly shouldered her as he passed. No small talk then, and that was just fine with her.

She started for the unit next to the one Dane entered. It was the grex who had lost his fight to Zeckta. He was still on the ground, but she could see him breathing. He looked to be sleeping. Quickly, she cleaned around him, mopping up the shit and piss that had accumulated in one corner, then scrubbing at the venomous drool on the walls. The smell was rancid, and she could tell the cell hadn't been cleaned in a day or two. As she cleaned the last bit of stained wall, she took out a few pieces of jerky and laid them out close enough for the grex to get to. She’d noticed the sacks of dried meat in a food cabinet to one side of the storage room and took what she could stuff in her pockets. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to feed them or not, but she made sure not to be seen just in case.

She moved on to the next unit as Dane moved to another. This time, a corax bared its teeth at her, and she was forced to tightened the chains to move him back.

"Sorry, I wish I didn't have to, but at least your cell will be nice and clean," she said, smiling.

The corax snapped his teeth in response.

When she’d gone through every other cell, she finally came to the last.

Dane came out from the unit beside the vrisha's, his bucket with supplies in hand. Instead of coming to meet her, he turned for the storage room.

"Hey, we have the last one here," she called out to him.

He turned to her, walking backward. "He's all yours."

"I can't do this one by myself. Someone will need to—"

"I'm not going in there. Good luck." And that was that. He walked into the storage room and slammed the door shut.

She stared at the door, heat burning up her neck. "Fine, didn't want your help, anyway," she murmured. Her heart raced as she stood by the door. She suddenly felt a sinking feeling, something like dread but a little more subtle. She pressed on the keypad by the door to unlock it, then let it slowly rise.

She nearly dropped her bucket in the sand. She stood there for a long moment just staring. She felt sick. Her hands clenched again into fists, and she felt her throat tighten.

She finally entered the cell, trying not to step in the thin puddles of blood. It smelled heavily of burnt coffee and metal, stinging her nose and making her eyes water.

She stopped in the middle of the room and carefully put the remote in her pocket. She wouldn't be needing it.

The vrisha was still as he hung by the chains tightened up to the ceiling, his arms above him, his body swinging slightly. She didn't know how they managed to do it, but they had slashed away several portions of scales along his legs and the sides of his chest, showing dark purple skin underneath. His skin had been shredded by a blade strong enough to do so. He had fought hard not to be branded by them, enduring pain she couldn't even imagine. And still, she saw it had done nothing for him in the end, for the mark of Salimar could be seen burned into the side of his ribs.

She tried not to stare. Quickly, she took to mopping up the blood, focusing solely on the ground and nothing else. She wiped the floor clean, rinsed, then repeated until there wasn't a speck of blood left.

Until she noticed more dripping off him and pooling at his feet. She gripped the mop so hard she heard the wood crack. That evil bastard.

She dared to look at the vrisha now, studying his wounds. Most seemed to have already stopped bleeding. Only one in particular, on his lower backside, still had a fresh flow that trickled down his leg.

She inched closer to get a better look and saw why it hadn't stopped bleeding. There was a piece of metal sticking out of the skin where a blade had broken.

She cursed loudly and then jumped when the chains clinked together above. She looked up, but the vrisha remained still, swinging softly, his eyes glazed over with some kind of inner white lid.

She chewed her lip. Her heart hammered in her chest. He couldn't hurt her, especially not in the state he was in. And to hell with Hendrik anyway.

She dropped her mop and marched back to the storage room. Dane was already gone as she went searching for a medical kit. She found one tucked away. With it, she grabbed bathing soap, a cleaning brush, and a dry cloth, then filled a bucket of water before heading back to the unit.

Stopping close to his side, she put down her bucket and put on a pair of latex gloves from the medical kit now at her feet. Trying to work past her uncertainty, she didn't let herself think as she reached up and placed a hand on his ribs.

The vrisha jerked so quickly she yelped in surprise. Heart now in her throat, she reminded herself again he couldn't hurt her, and she placed her hand on him again and this time ignored when he jerked harder and even hissed low.

Even as hurt as he was, he tried to fight. He was a tough one at least.

"Sorry, but I have to get this out," she said as she cupped the side of the wound with one hand and gently gripped the broken blade with the other.

The vrisha growled and began to move, making it harder for her to keep her grip on the blade. He writhed against her touch, and she almost released him, worried she might make it worse. But if she didn't take it out now, she might never get a hold on it if he didn't remain still. Quickly, she got a better grip on the blade and then pulled.

The vrisha kicked out his leg, knocking her back. She recovered quickly, rummaging through the medikit until she found a sealant pen. Avoiding another kick, she turned the pen on and tried her best to seal the wound.

---