Paralyzed

She turned her head when she heard someone whistle. A frown appeared on her face when she saw a couple of men staring at her, with a big grin on their faces. After she let her eyes rest on them for a second, she turned away and continued her walk along the ships that were docked in the harbour of Isla de Juegas. The tropical island was a common place for foreign ships to dock. There were ships from all over Fallen Skies here, but probably most from the region of Rhoynar. She remembered the day she came here very well. It had been the first time in months since she had seen sunlight, the first time she had the chance to breathe in some fresh air that wasn’t ruined by the musty smell of the ship and its people.

Now she was here, walking in prettier and more expensive clothes she had ever owned. She had gained some weight which made her look more like a normal human and overall she looked a lot healthier. It was all because of him. If he hadn’t been there at that very moment, she had been sold to someone far worse. He protected her, he cared for her, he accepted her as a human being with feelings and emotions. It was more than she ever expected to have. And perhaps there was this one thing he gave her too, that one thing she wasn’t ready of admitting on.

She squeezed her eyes for a bit when she noticed someone was following her. Not one person, not two, but multiple men that had been grinning at her earlier. Asher wasn’t here, and she didn’t know where he was either. She slowed down her pass and turned around when someone grabbed her by the arm. In a reflex, she lifted her arm and hit him right in his face. The man growled and stepped back, only for some of his friends to step forward. “You shouldn’t have done that, pretty girl.” For a moment she felt a certain panic overcome her, but she wasn’t planning on giving up that easy. She had been through worse. “I give you one chance to back off,” she threatened them. If Asher found out about them touching her, she knew it wouldn’t end well for them. After all he was the Lord of this island. He murdered people before for her. “The Lord isn’t here to save you know, is he?” They knew who she was. Ofcourse they knew. Everybody in the island knew about the slave girl their Lord bought that one day, and how the next day one of his captains went missing. One of the captains that tried to buy her too.

Hell broke lose. Skaði had always been a fighter and she was not going to be intimidated by some men whose system was already downed in alcohol – the smell was not something to be missed. The group of men certainly were not going to let themselves be humiliated by a woman, something they did all but respect. Multiple punches, screams and kicks were fired from both sides. After a while one of them managed to threw her to the side, into the crowd that had gathered in the harbour to see what was going on. A painful expression appeared on her face while she got on her knees and looked at the person she accidentally knocked down in her fall. Somewhere she felt like she had to apologize, but before she could do that someone pulled her back on her brown hairs, leaving her to let out a painful scream, while trying to do the other person any kind of damage so she could break free again. It wasn’t fair, something like six men against one woman, but it wasn’t something rare on this island dominated by men.

He raised his hand and she knew the men was about to hit her, but he stopped his action when there was this sudden sound of hands clapping, in a painfully slow way that obviously irritated the group of men. A stranger made his way to hem, still clapping while he walked through the other audience. Some stepped away from him, others fell quiet and just looked. All eyes were pointed at the individual that stepped into the circle that the crowd made while watching the whole scene. While sitting on the ground it was easy for her to follow the unknown men with her eyes, not knowing who he was or what he was doing. There wasn’t much of an expression on his face to make sense from. He started to insult the men, not in a way that pleased her very much. Was he trying to give them some ideas to make this whole thing more interesting? The men didn’t seem to understand it in that way, they only felt threatened by the stranger. “Are you saying you can do it better?” growled one of the men while narrowing his eyes and looking at the stranger that interrupted their little fight.

In the meantime, the men that pulled her back by her brown hairs forced her to stand up. A little bit uncomfortable she managed to get her legs to work properly again, but she wasn’t able to straighten her back. The men were still holding her by her brown locks, forcing her to bend her back for a little. Her eyes were on fire while she looked at every other person in and around the circle, not really knowing what was going on. She heard a loud sigh come from the stranger's mouth, as if he was bored looking at all of this pathetic fighting.

They were distracted by the stranger and she saw it as a new opportunity to hand out some force. Swift as she was, she managed to get her leg between those of the men that was still holding onto her hair, kicking him into his private zone. The men let out a scream, pulled his hand back from her hair and took a step back, groaning while falling on his knees. Weakling. Just when she straightened her back, she felt someone kick into her knee cavity, what made her go down again. It was just this circle she couldn’t break, there were just too many of them. It seemed like they lost their interest in the men again. “See, you heard him, let’s make it a bit more interesting.” She felt how her arms were moved behind her back, and she was forced to stand on her legs again. A few seconds after that she heard the – unfortunately too familiar – sound of clothes that were being ripped. She tried to stop it, but it was hopeless. She felt the back of her dress loosen a bit, a sign they ripped it open there.

A few seconds after the man ripped the back of her dress open, the stranger moved. In the corner of her eye she saw him standing behind the man that was still holding her. What was he going to do? The other men must have had the same question pop up in their heads, because they all looked at the stranger with their eyebrows raised. Something was about to happen. Suddenly she felt how the man tightened his grip around her wrists a little more, which made her bite softly on her lip. He was hurting her. Suddenly he let go. The young woman stepped away, bumped into one of the other men, who grabbed her arm. Nothing else happened. Her amber eyes were locked on the stranger. A sound of snapping bones made her shiver. Some of the men backed off when they heard the broken screams of their friends. It was terrifying, really. And it seemed it was never going to stop, the snapping and screaming.


When the stranger asked if they wanted him to continue, the man that had taken her arm pushed her forward. She tripped and fell on the ground. When she looked over her shoulder, they saw how the crowd was thinning for a bit and how some the men disappeared, leaving their broken friend behind. “Cowards..” she hissed as she tried to keep her ruined dress together. A couple stayed of them stayed, not taking it from a stranger. “Shut up, whore.” One of them pulled out his sword, pointing it at the brunette on the ground. “Let him go, or I’ll put her on the end of my sword.” He was drunk, you could hear it in his voice. Skadi looked up at the stranger, not liking the situation at all. Who was he and why was he going through all this effort? Perhaps it was just for his own pleasure.

The man pointed the sword at her and she felt the edge of it pinning in her neck. Her breath was a bit shaky and she looked to the stranger, who still was holding the leader of the group. The man was crying and probably in more pain then she was at this very moment. But the sword that was pointed at her neck didn’t feel comfortable at all. And then he started talking. A little frown appeared on her face while she was still on her knees, listening to whatever the stranger had to say. She felt how the sword was lifted a bit, it wasn’t pushing in her flesh any longer, and she took a deep breath. She just had to wait this one out, something she hated.

The one moment those men had been out to hurt her, to bully her knowing she was no match for a whole group of them. And right now one was crying from pain, some others fled and the ones left behind were standing around them. One of them, the one with his sword pointed at her, dropped his weapon. The young woman looked over her shoulder and saw the tears in his eyes. She didn’t understand how that happened. Her eyes gazed back to the stranger, trying to figure out why his words had such an impact on a man that was willing to kill her a few seconds ago. “You coward!” Another man that stayed raised his own weapon and stepped forward. “Are you going to let him intimidate you? Crying baby that you are!” The new man raised his sword, aiming at her neck. This was it, this was the end. She had been through so much and now she would end in the middle of this circle, beheaded by some drunk. The woman tried to pull her head away but knew she would never be able to get up fast enough. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact of the sword on her neck.

She smell of blood reminded her of that one night in Falkreath. The moon had been full and the stars were faded away by the clouds. It had been a stupid idea to go into the forest that night. She had been warned that there were creatures lurking in the shadows at night, waiting for their preys to come by. Skaði had always been the stubborn kind of girl, thinking there was nothing that could scare her. That night there had been something that scared her. It had chased her around the woods, almost letting it seem like it was playing with her. It had been a ca tand mouse game, and she remembered every little detail. The smell of her own blood, the growling sounds from the beast. Terrifying to say the least. Now it all came back. She was tossed around by the men at one moment, the other a stranger had come in and changed the rules of the game. It seemed like she was not the mouse anymore.

She heard the men talk, but she was sitting on the ground and waiting for the impact of the sword. There was no way out now, this must have been it. A short, miserable life. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and looked up. At that moment the stranger stood in front of her, he had taken the sword and seemed to have surprised the other man. He grabbed her by her arm and pulled her away, after that he ended it all. Before she even knew it, his hand had disappeared in the stomach of the other, while pulling out the insides of the man. It must have been a slow, painful death. She saw the man coughing up his own blood, almost choking in it. The sadistic words of the other reached her ears, but she did nothing. This man got what he deserved. She watched in silence as the insides dropped on the floor and the man collapsed next to them. Nobody spoke, nobody made a sound. All they did was watch. After a few seconds of complete silence, the people started to move again. They left, went on with their life. The other men disappeared into the crowd and left the body for where it was. Perhaps someone would clean up the mess, maybe some birds would have their dinner on this corpse. “Thank you..” she softly whispered while staring at what was left of the dead man.