Behind the Sun

Chapter 1

A/N: WOW. It has been such a long time since I updated a story/chapter. But so many things have happened. Anyway, this is a new story. Believe me when I say that this is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from Thorn Rose. This is going to be way too brutal and steamy. There's no holy woman to protect your innocent eyes. So if you are not into that, leave before you even begin. Hopefully you will like what I wrote. For any new readers, I would like to warn that English is not my language. I speak Portuguese. Having said that, happy reading!
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The rings of metal round their ankles kept the line in order. They were exhausted, famished...weak. You could see it in their faces, in the way their desiccated, pallid lips trembled but never quite closed. Few were the ones who succumbed to madness, talking to their made-up acquaintances. Every once in awhile, the young woman would become the lost daughter of one of these poor souls and lowering her eyes was the only thing she could do. She too had a family. And the idea of acknowledging their possible deaths was something she chose to push behind her mind.

The spark the women once had had long faded. Their dirty garments swallowed their frames and the sickly, prominent collarbones and sunken cheekbones indicated how undernourished their bodies were. Not all had made it through.

A small hiss made way past her lips. The blisters that had formed on the bottom and along the sides of her feet made her want to cry. Yet, she refused to let a single tear slide down her face. Weeping about her condition when she still had a pair of sandals while many others had been walking barefooted all the time seemed thoughtless.

All of a sudden, someone collided roughly against her. She reeled forward; unintentionally kicking pebbles on her way down the old bridge. Crying out, Ternary quickly regained her balance and hugged her torso just as a gust of dust-filled air ascended, sending small particles of earth all around them. Her nostrils flared, eyes widening with terror when the violent waters crashed against the rocks below them. A new found fear of heights took over her body.

The marauder behind the group showed them no mercy as the hilt of his sword kept striking the back of the last on line, urging them to go faster. In order to shield her face, the young woman pulled the lower part of the dirty swathe made of wool tightly around and quickly began walking. Her legs were becoming weaker and black spots began appearing in her vision.

She blinked several times. Chancing a glance upwards, her left eye -not obstructed from the cloth- fixed onto the colossal portal ahead of them. Men with strange attire protected the entrance, their eyes fixed ahead of them. Identical scars ran down their cheeks. It was some sort of tribal symbol.

Too soon, they were being hurried inside, quickly taking in on their surroundings.

People stopped to stare at them, some even reaching to touch them.

"I want your blood," an old man with yellow teeth hissed in her face, his putrid smell assaulting her nostrils. "Just a little taste..." he waved his tongue. Ternary grimaced and turned her head away.

"So young, so beautiful, Arkhan will be pleased," someone cried out from the crowd.

Stiffly, she shook off whoever tried touching her.

A group of women watched from a distance. Their eyebrows had been shaved and they had strange earrings in their ears. Fine jewelry adorned almost every inch of them and they were fanning themselves with big, bright fans made with feathers. The young woman lowered her head when they began laughing, the sound quickly becoming revolting to her ears. She had a bad feeling about these people.

Her stomach churned as a memory resurfaced from the depths of her mind. It was of her father. He was leading an army towards the West to fight the Qhormen people. He gave them hope. But unfortunately, he never returned.