Soul exchange

Twenty seven ~ I answered your questions. Now you answer mine.

Nyx curled into a warm embrace, her body weightless. Painless. The air around her was hot and scorched her skin, but it felt good. Her mind floated between dream and reality in the sweltering space as strange guttural voices mumbled around her. Then, finally, after many delirious thoughts, she heard a familiar voice. 

"Vekyek I oe te oaj." Protect her with your life.

Somehow she knew the meaning of the words, and she wondered who he spoke to, but sleep snatched her away again.

When Nyx woke in the orange-tinted darkness, her throat was desert dry, and her sight blurred. Her throbbing head rolled to the side, and she spotted a tall bottle of water on her bedside, illuminated by a small floating orb. Unable to understand the small light source, she focused on the water and slowly let its coolness coat her parched gullet. The faint remnants of copper clung to her taste buds, and she groaned, allowing her eyes to close again. A heavy weight moved across her legs, and she wiggled her toes against it. A low growl stopped Nyx in her tracks, and she stared at the ceiling, bewildered. 

What the hell was that?

Shifting her elbows beneath her, Nyx sat up and found herself eye to eye with a horse-sized dog. Another shape prowled across the mattress to her side and pushed its snout into her stomach, forcing her to lie down again. 

Two horse-sized dogs. 

They seemed a mixture of Doberman and rottweiler, but their size was otherworldly. Her limited experience with dogs made her wary, but they lay back down on either side of her placing their soft heads in the crook of her elbows. She was effectively pinned under the duvet as their long bodies tucket the fabric against her. 

"Nice, doggies," she croaked, tentatively stroking their velvety ears. The floppy triangles were the size of dinner plates and twitched slightly beneath her touch before relaxing completely. "Where am I? Do you guys know?"

The darker dog with a scar through its brow lifted its head and made a slight grumble in its chest. A chain jangled around the creature's thick neck, and an engraving caught the light. Nyx blinked and craned her neck to see the words. "A'ren? Is that your name, puppy?"

A'ren tilted her head to the side and grumbled before snuggling down again. The other dog pushed his wet nose against Nyx's cheek and lifted its neck, exposing the engraved chain. "Ruz?"

Ruz whined and flopped on his side, exposing his belly, which Nyx scratched. The space Ruz created gave enough freedom for Nyx to pull herself up and check herself over. When she peered down, she noticed her attire had changed from her black dress to a long, emerald nightgown, and she frowned. 

Who changed my clothes? 

Anger bubbled in her belly as she gently poked the area Micah punched, but she hardly felt any tenderness. Maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought. Her head and back were similarly painless.

"Alright, A'ren, Ruz, I'm getting up now."

A'ren growled while Ruz just hopped off the bed and waited patiently. A'ren whined, looking at her companion and appeared to roll her eyes before joining him.

The bed was huge, and Nyx had to scoot a fair way until her feet dangled off the edge, not reaching the floor. Despite the lack of abdominal pain or death from internal bleeding, she still felt groggy as she slid off the bed. Her feet brushed the warm wood before buckling under her. A'ren and Ruz skittered over and offered their backs as leverage. Nyx cautiously obliged, aware of how close she was to the largest sets of teeth she had ever seen. As she stood, the dogs rose to full height and their backs aligned perfectly beneath her armpits like they were made to be at her side.