"Owwww! What in the--"

Damien hit his back against a small collection of jagged rocks and exhaled on impact. He laid still, slightly disoriented from being knocked out cold earlier; how much earlier? He couldn't tell, but the sun's rays peaked through the mountains that stood before him. Rubbing the back of his head, he felt a large bump that throbbed at the slightest touch and made him wince.

"Erin, I told you to hold on to his shoulders tighter!" Tara yelled, clearly agitated.

"I tried! Sorry."

The stinging sensation that pulsed throughout the entirety of Damien's back made him cringe as he attempted to roll over. Tara walked over and bent down to look him eye to eye.Through his blurring sight, Damien only made out the darkness of Tara's eyes and loose strands of hair that wrapped around her lean face. He swayed back and forth as he tried his best to sit up, then placed a hand over his stomach.

"Is he going to be alright?" Erin asked still standing and watching the exchange.

"No idea, but it looks like he's about to lose his ale."

Damien spun away from Tara, still sitting against the rocky terrain and dropped to the ground coughing up a mixture of ale and some sort of solid. Tara sighed at the sight while Erin put a hand over her mouth in disgust and concern.

"He'll be alright," Tara said, averting her eyes from the sickly Damien.

Spitting up the last of his stomach Damien turned back towards Tara, "where am I?" He asked.

He investigated his surroundings to see nothing more than rocks upon rocks with very little vegetation. When he rose, with much difficulty, he peered below the mountain, spotting smoke rising from separate buildings in Lethra. Damien watched the individual clouds make their way into the sky where they mingled and swirled together.

     "You're on your way to the home of the furies," Erin spoke up softly. Damien turned to look at the cause of his current problem but spotted nothing more than a sweet looking girl who couldn't have been a year older than himself. She removed her hood to present him with long golden locks that could have compared the sun rising up behind her in the distance.

     "The home of the furies?" Damien asked.

     "That's right kid, home of the furies," Tara rose from her knees and brushed herself off,"now do I have to knock you again or do you think you can manage?"

     Damien frantically shook his head back and forth with wide eyes.

     "Good. We're almost there anyway."

"Can I ask a question?" Damien stood and stared at Tara, his vision finally coming back into place," what are furies?"

Erin's jaw dropped and Tara simply kept her gaze attached to the disheveled Damien: dark hair askew, dirtied and bare upper torso, and ripped light trousers.

"See Tara? He doesn't even know what we are! Why did we have to take him?" Erin wandered closer to Damien and Tara, sadness in her blue eyes.

     "It's the rules, remember? Anyone who sees us must go into fury servitude," Tara replied.

     "What?!" Damien's voice cracked. He looked back and forth between Erin and Tara clearly distraught,"what do you mean fury servitude?!"

     Erin cleared her throat and walked over to stand in front of Damien, "since you saw us, we are required to take you back with us."

     "And then what?" Damien, especially frightened started shaking at the thought.

"What's it sound like?" Tara tapped her foot.

     Erin watched Damien closely, admiring his perfect skin and dark eyes, but she noticed his sadness and fear most of all. Perspiration took over his brow, and the color in his face vanished as he processed the situation. Panic eventually took over and judging from his shaking she could sense an attempt at him running off.

     "What's your name?" Erin walked over and placed a hand gently on his shoulder.

     "D--Damien," he stuttered.

     "I'm Erin, she gestured to herself,"and this is Tara."

     "Now that we have the formalities out of the way can we please get on with it?" Tara said.

Erin leaned in close to Damien and whispered,"don't worry and don't try to run, ok? She'll either knock you out again or use her sword and I promise you can't outrun her."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

     Damien held his head down and trailed behind Erin with a watchful Tara close behind. He thought about his bed in Dockside, the fresh bread at breakfast every morning, and the view from his window in the center of the town. He partially closed his eyes and navigated the mountainside as best he could trying like hell to remember the feeling of clean clothes and a full stomach.

                         ~*~
Knock knock knock

     "Come in," Dia yelled from her changing room.

     Gwen walked in to find a freshly lit stick of sandalwood that made her nostrils burn. The room held two separate embroidered arm chairs as well as three matching couches covered in overly abundant threading and gemstones. Dia always liked having options, but Gwen believed that someone could definitely have too many.

     "I'll be right out!"

Gwen sighed, staring longingly at the cushioned seats surrounding Dia's sitting room. She was never allowed to sit down during the day, and when she was, all that was offered was a hard wood bench to eat her meals at.

     "Gwen," Dia walked out from behind her changing curtain covered in a deep purple gown accented with silver buttons. Her bangle bracelets jingled against her smooth wrist as she walked over to her favorite armchair and sat down.

"Ma'am," Gwen bowed.

"What do you have for me tonight?" Dia asked reaching for a goblet of wine on the table beside her.

"Nones from the boneyard spotted Tara and Erin heading back."

Gwen remained standing tall, hands held behind her back. She watched Dia take a small sip of wine and place the goblet back down on the table with a small thud.

"And?" Dia asked. The annoyance on her face showed through her body movements, mainly the one hand that continually waved through the air awaiting an answer.

"They aren't alone, ma'am." Gwen stated.

Dia rose quickly up from her chair, her gown swaying softly behind her with every step she took to her balcony. Gwen watched Dia place a hand on top of the steel railing and tap a finger against it slowly and gracefully.

"That will be all," Dia yelled towards Gwen who still stood awaiting orders.

Dia looked out into the distance to spot the two cloaked figures gradually making their way up the mountain. Between them was another figure, hard to make out but clearly male judging from the hair and exposed skin.

"What have you girls gotten yourselves into now?" Dia asked herself quietly.