'It hurts, Gods how it hurts. I don't understand. It's so hard to think. This pain, where is it coming from? I know there's a word for it, there must be, but I can't remember it. That's stupid, that I can't remember the word, but it hurts. I can't see. Everything is so black. I feel like I'm straining something, but I don't know what. I wonder what it is. I don't like it in this dark place. I can hear something, a sound, a hideous sound. Someone is laughing. Another sound, a scream this time, I think. It feels close. Someone is shouting, I don't understand. I'll just stay here, in the dark, and no one will notice.
'I can see. It's dark here, too, but I can see. My eyes must have been closed. I don't want to see. Something ugly is here, it's shouting something. So that's where that sound was coming from. Something is dribbling, it feels warm. It's falling on the ground, it's red, I think. I think that's a color, the color. It's so hard to think. I didn't realize it until now, but I feel cold. It's strange, because this room looks warm. I think I'll go to sleep. I'm so tired. Maybe that's why it's hard to think, I'm tired. I should go to sleep, then it will be better.
'This place reminds me of that. It has lot of the same colors of the tree, I think. I remember falling asleep there too. It was so peaceful there, falling asleep in the summer. It was beautiful. Except for when the trolls came. I was sleeping then too. I think it was night. Trolls.' The young elf's eyes opened wide from their previously closed state. His newfound memory and interrupted line of thought was greeted promptly by a mailed fist. 'Lousy, stupid, slave! Letting you live would be an embarrassment after what you did! I should kill you right now, but torturing you is far more fun' The elf, scarcely older than a human just beyond adolescence, hung face down to the ground from the ceiling. A large tray of vile looking, rusty implements lay on the stone slab next to him. 'Worthless trash. You've gotten blood all over the place!' The troll brought his fist down on the elf again, and yet more blood flew across the room. 'After all we've done for you! We brought you out of that elfin hellhole to serve us, your gracious masters. We gave you clothes, a place to rest, and food to eat, and how to you thank us? You spill the queen's meal, you ingrate!' Another flurry of blows ensued.
'Blood, that's what it is. It's blood. My blood.' 'Well, awake, are we? I guess that means we can keep going.' The troll picked up something sharp from the tray. 'Don't worry little slave, I'll be as precise as I can be. Unlike some of my comrades, I have a sense of symmetry. You'll have the prettiest scars around, if you live' A sharp, dragging pain ensued. Something started to dribble, then flow with the same, familiar, warm sensation as several minutes earlier.
'M-my b-blood' the elf sputtered through sanguine lips as he fell unconscious once again.