Dragoncrest Cliffs the city in the sea

it's hard to parse the woman's accent; she understands the words, but not together, and only belies her listening with a sideways cant of her ear. she's much more focused, anyway, on taking one halting step at a time, leaning hard against her rescuer, each breath a little burst of agony.

finally, they are settled, and Avicus folds herself down in a way that's least painful to the myriad wounds across her body. at the question, she nods, a little fervently. her mouth is suddenly quite dry.

wha'. . .ih'. . . what is this place? too many forbidden sounds. try again.

who ah' you? that's better.

she looks up at the woman with an uncustomary guilelessness, feeling all of the sudden like she is a child again, wholly dependent on the care of others.