Only the Beginning

The blows of the whip were unlike anything I had ever felt before. They were a high, insistent pain that could not be ignored—drowning the duller, deeper pain of the wounds in my side and ears to a low throb. I don’t know how long it went on. I was long past the point of crying out or even moving by the time I heard the whip coiled, the leather making a slick, wet, slithering sound as it moved against itself. There was blood everywhere—my blood—on my face, streaking down my sides to pool and dry around my numb knees, choking me in the back of my parched throat. Careless hands seized me and dragged me some distance, then cast me down onto something that must have once been straw. Now it was all mold and damp, mixed with things I couldn’t even begin to think about.

I prayed for death, my hoarse voice the only sound in that dreadful little room—but if anyone in all the heavens heard me, they didn’t deign to answer...


EDIT: Added a bit of story. A lot of people have wanted to know about Aminas and what he experienced in the Scarlet Monastery, so--here's a snatch.
Working again on my illustrative style. For the first time i look at this and say "I see no manga and no anime and no video games." Pretty big step for me.

Story: This is Aminas Dawnspeaker, and I think all of you have met him already. This is he at the very beginning of his torment--perhaps when he is just realizing what he's going to be in for over the next few months.

There are some personal parallels I could draw, but I'm too tired to write them out. Suffice to say that I survived my torment, and Aminas will survive his too.