Lux faces some painful thoughts

Wrapped up in the warmth of the blanket, Lux closes her eyes and holds onto Olan. With her head resting against his chest, she listens to the sound of his breathing, his heartbeat gradually settling down. Neither of them says anything for a while.

Slowly, Lux feels her mind clear a little from the manic rush of earlier. As much as she managed to briefly escape from the reality of her situation, now it threatens to creep back up on her. She feels a shiver run through her, and tries to put those thoughts out of her mind.

“What are you going to do when you get out of here?” she asks quietly, talking to distract herself as much as anything.

It takes a moment before Olan reponds. “What will I do? Go home. Get back to work at the forge. I…” He sighs. “I told you about my daughter, didn’t I? Talia. We haven’t spoken since – since after her mother died. Need to patch things up. Hope she can forgive a stupid old man.”

“I’m sure you can work things out,” Lux murmurs. She wants to keep him talking. His deep voice rumbling through her is oddly comforting.

“Well, it’s another reason I can’t show up with a girl younger than she is on my arm,” Olan points out. “What would she think then?”

“Maybe she’d be impressed?”

Olan laughs. “I’d like to think Mala and I raised her better than that.”

Lux falls silent. There’s a pause. Another shiver goes through her.

Olan gives her a small squeeze, seeming to sense her distress. “What about you, Lux?” he asks. “Where will you go after you leave this stupid place behind you?”

“Oh, you know.” Lux shrugs, awkwardly in this pose. “Back to the adventuring life. S-see the world. Meet – meet all kinds of – ”

The sobs start at the bottom of her lungs, shaking her whole body. She squeezes her eyes shut as tears begin to flow. The real, terrible weight of everything she’s been through in such a short time crashes down out of nowhere like an avalanche. Her **** at the hands of the bandits, letting Radan fuck her, being utterly helpless as Avin dragged her towards her ****, or an even worse fate – in this moment, it’s just too much. Unable to show strength or save face, she lets it all out, crying like a baby in Olan’s arms.

She tucks her legs in and curls up into a ball, leaning against Olan’s chest, wanting the whole rest of the world to just stop existing. Olan’s hand gently strokes her hair as he silently holds her.

How long has it been since she was collared and dragged naked through the hills? A day? Two days? It feels like a lifetime. It feels like she’s been going through a long, dark tunnel for so long, with no end in sight.

For now, though, at least she’s not going through it alone…

Doom decreases to 2