Thread: The Warrior's Claim (Rivine & darkangel76)

Tiernans body already ached and she knew full well that her ribs were bruised. The way shed been handled when taken from her people ensured that shed have marks that would last for days. Marks that would remind her of the bloody events that took place when shed been taken against her will. Abducted from her family, the only life shed ever known. Standing in a dark and damp holding area located somewhere on a ship shed never seen before, Tiernan had access to a small view port. It was at just the right height that she could peer out of it and see her coastal village getting more and more distant. Her heart sank as she watched the smoke billowing up into the overcast sky. So much destruction. So much death. Liam Tears began to form in Tiernans pale eyes, threatening to spill down her dirty pale cheeks. Instinctually, she went to wipe at them. But as she moved her hand to reach for her face, she met resistance. And with that resistance came the clanking sound of chains. She gasped just then, remembering that shed been shackled and had already walked a fair distance away from where theyd been secured to the ship itself. Hanging her head a bit, her dark hair falling in her face, she felt those tears begin to fall. Moving a bit closer to where her shackles were secured, the chains began to get some slack and she was able to wipe at her now dampened eyes. Just then, there was a rumble of thunder causing Tiernan to look up and over toward the view port. Quickly, she made her way back over to it and peered out once again. A storm was coming. The thick, black clouds easily visible from where she stood, a prisoner of the barbarian men who murdered her brother and destroyed her home. Despite her own dire circumstances, she couldnt help but feel a tiny sense of elation wash over her at the sound of the impending storm. With the rains, the fires would be smoldered, putting them out so that her village would burn no more. Given the state of things, it was all she had to hold onto, that hope that the storm would help those who survived the raid. Ease their pain. Cleanse the dark memory. Tiernan didnt know how long she stood there looking through the small opening. However, her village was no longer in sight and the light of day was turning dusky, the darkness pronounced even more given the storm that surrounded them. Thoughts of her family suddenly filled her mind, her nerves nearly numb from all that had occurred so far. She thought about her parents and the loss they had to bear in losing Liam, her brother. And then there were her other brothers Sean, Connor and Arthur. From what she could remember, theyd all been all right just before everything had gone black and the burlap bag placed over her head. However, the blackness of the bag didnt tamp out the memory of Liams death. No. She could still vividly see that horrific event playing over and over again in her head. Liam. What those barbaric men had done to him had been beyond brutal. Sadistic. Hed been trying to protect her, his little sister, from the men raiding the village. And Tiernan knew why. Shed heard the screams of the other women, heard their pleas as they murdered their children, spouses. As those men raped them. The terror that had coursed through her as those strange men stomped over everything she loved, taking anything and everything they wanted, had been so great in those short moments before her abduction. For some reason, one of the strange men had targeted her making Liam go on the defensive. Hed tried so hard to protect her, but those men were warriors, trained in arts foreign to her simple people. Theyd speared him alive, gutting him like the fish shed seen her father and brothers clean several times over. The sight of it had made her sick, had caused her to vomit. But the sight was nothing compared to his screams. Just then, Tiernans mind snapped out of the nightmarish memory trying to poke at her mind. Shivering, she wrapped her arms about her slim middle and sat down on the dirty floor. Hugging her knees to her chest she began to weep. What was to become of her? Her family had wanted her to be safe, married. Collin. Oh what shed give to be with Collin at that moment. She didnt love him the way he wished, but a life with him would be bliss compared to where she currently found herself. Sitting there, sobbing, she wondered if shed taken the man for granted. After all, hed been Liams best friend Liam. Again, Tiernan began to shake with sobs. As she buried her face in her hands, her body sore and cold and bruised, she heard the sound of hard footsteps approaching. Those strange warrior men. Those barbarians. Murderers. Looking up, she brushed her dark tresses out of her eyes and glanced in the direction of the footfalls. Across the way she saw the silhouettes of large men approaching her. They were laughing and guffawing, obviously drunk with power they felt at having destroyed her home, killing her loved ones, raping the women. As she watched them get closer, the looks on their faces making her blood run cold, she began to wonder what her fate would be. Trembling, silent tears streaking her face, she began to fear the worst.