The Forsaken Hero
I closed my eyes and let out a shuddering breath. My fingers were numb and cold, my arm aching where the needle pierced the vein. Something clattered onto the pavement, and I looked down to see the needle. It had slipped out of my hand. Nothingness swirled around me, bringing the first sense of peace I'd felt in my short, miserable life. There was no one to miss me, and no one I would miss. There's always someone else to beat or rape. The regulars would move on quickly. I died. Only...wasn't death supposed to be dark? And since when did 'nothingness' have so many gods? Discord: https://discord.gg/PX3xqJdZMY
Stars that Vanish in the Dawn
Three months passed. What had once seemed to be light and easy servitude, with food and rest aplenty, was laden with darkness. After that fateful day, Aurle was returned to us, and I learned such occurrences were common. Every few days, Lord Byron personally visited the Slave Chambers and selected a girl to accompany him for the day. They were returned early the next morning, covered in bruises and weeping.
But after I refused him, the pattern changed. Instead of carefully selecting his slave, he came straightway to my cage and asked politely for me to offer myself to him. And each time when I refused, he would simply smile and nod, choosing instead whatever slave had recently treated me well, or even just spoken to me. They would taken away, and I would receive my beating, leaving me bloody and sobbing, unable to perform my duties for the rest of the day.
"Hey, Starlight," Aurle said, looking at me through the bars, "Want to partner with me today?"