Trek Through Pyre Chapter Three Part One

I knew I was dreaming because everything seemed surreal. The colors seemed to bleed into each other; everything was out of focus, except the men closing in on me. With warped faces and horns they leered at me, their claws hands reaching for me. Fear stabbed me sharply in the chest and I ran. I felt my legs moving, I felt my lungs working to supple air, but I was not going anywhere. The men were almost upon me, their fanged mouths opened to eat me.

Suddenly a darker, larger shadow fell over them and they were killed, their heads lopped off to bounce and roll on the ground, sharp blades sticking out of their chests. The darker shadow grinned, sharp white fangs glowing in the growing darkness. I screamed, but nothing came out.

The ominous shadow leaned down and Jester’s face came into view, his eyes glowing neon white as he raised his wicked twisted daggers to kill me. I lifted my hands to shield my face as he plunged them down.

I woke with a jolt, gasping for air. Something moved to my right, a quick flash of something and I flinched away with an alarmed shout only to realize it was Jester.

He was upside down on a smaller branch above me, his hands linked behind his head as he curled back up the branch, his bare chest hitting his knees.

I gaped at the horrible scars that covered his back. The most notable scar was a wide, deep jagged scar starting under his left shoulder blade and going diagonal across his back curving up just above his waistline.

His other scars paled in comparison to that one, but they were still there, thin shallow scars and wide slashing scars crisscrossing his back and sometimes his arms.

“Have a nightmare Kitten?” He asked curling down, his tight abs bunching then relaxing as he hung upside down to regard me with his cool brown eye, the right eye closed tight against the sun. His chest held just as many scars as his back. One over his right pec looked like someone had tried to carve out a piece of his flesh. A scar hovering just above his navel looked like a crescent moon, a twisted jagged crescent moon that turned his navel into an oval.

“Just a little.” I moved up the tree to lean against the trunk, curling my legs against my chest. I didn’t want to remember it, the fact I was alive was amazing. If it hadn’t been for this man I would have been violated and killed. I looked out at the sea of leaves to my left and shuddered when I caught sight of his daggers hanging from a branch.

He resumed his workout the branch’s leaves shaking as he moved. “I’m not surprised; it’s not every day someone like you gets to be in a riot, escape rape and murder, then survive a whole day in the wild.” My mouth twisted in a grimace as I laid my cheek against my knee and watched him.

He twisted and curled touching his elbow to his opposite knee. His back muscles bunching and stretching, the scar pulling into an ugly snarl. He stayed in that position for a few seconds before slowly curling back down. He went up again, twisting the other way, his elbow touching his knee before he went down again. His hair dragged the branches, swishing across the bark. The strands shimmering like diamonds in the sunlight dappling through the leaves.

He was beautiful to look at it, despite the scars. I shook my head to get the thought out of my head; I was just feeling grateful that he saved me. He was a murderer, a criminal. I saw and heard him killing numerous people. I tilted my head to the side as I realized he had done that to protect me. My head tilted the other way as I argued with myself that he was protecting himself I just happened to be there, he was only keeping me safe to collect money.

I am so sorry, please don't hate me, but they will be shorter, which means...more parts.... sorry