Gail lay trembling on the stone slab, lost in a world of pain. Several hours had passed since the creature had attacked her. Her chest and arms were lacerated, but it was elsewhere that the pain was much worse. Thankfully she had passed out not long after her ordeal had started, but the brutality of it still shocked her to her core. Her legs trembled as she stared up at the jagged rock ceiling and she could feel thick blood congealing between her legs. The pain was too much to bear. She would have cried if she could work out how, but there was a numbness inside her that overrode everything around her. Someone screamed beside her but they were alone now.
The creatures had flown back to their cages, leaving a dozen ruined women on the stone slabs around her. Gail turned to look at the woman beside her. Her ribs rose with the steady rhythm of her breathing as she lay on her back with her eyes closed. Blood trickled from a deep cut on her shoulder, pooling beneath her arm.
Gail had no idea what had just happened, and still less understanding of why. All she knew was that her life would never be the same again.
She didn't struggle when the clerics returned several hours later to untie her. She lay perfectly still as they grabbed her with rough hands and dragged her onto the floor.
The black creatures had long since gone, their screeching falling silent, but she could never forget what had happened to her. Its touch had appalled her on every level, and she felt sure it had detested her too, but still it had abused her, driven on by the clerics with their strange white staffs. She didn't want to understand it. She just wanted to curl up and die.
The clerics threw her robe at her and she slipped it over her head without comment. When they wrapped a rope around her neck again she sat on her knees, rocking back and forth on the hard ground. The clerics barked, kicking at her broken ribs until she staggered to her feet and gasped for breath. They barked again, dragging her towards an opening at the back of the cave. Gail followed with numb steps. All thoughts of escape had gone.
The tunnel continued for several hundred metres. Gail put one foot in front of the other, not thinking about anything as the light of burning torches flickered along the walls around her. A few minutes later they stepped into another cave. A roaring fire popped and cracked in the middle of the floor. Gail stared at the flames and considered walking into them to see if it would wash away her pain.
In time she became aware of other women in the cave. They were lost in their own worlds too - just like she was. A dozen strangers sat around the fire, naked beneath their robes. Some had blood on their legs. Some trembled while others mumbled in quiet voices that only they could hear.
Gail stared down at her ruined hand, feeling lost and forlorn. Thoughts escaped her, but what difference did it make? What was done was done.