MossyMorel
Merchant
{I'm sorry this is so long. Once I start writing I find it hard to stop. Even so, this is a vastly shortened version of what happened. This all happened in RP, between Michcat, LilyFlorin, Valisa and I. I hope you enjoy, PM me any improvements or mistakes so I can correct them, and thanks for reading 
}
A chilly gust of wind greeted Ced as the airship docked at Kavdam, and he shivered, snowflakes stinging his pale skin. He paid and thanked the shipmaster for the journey and strode to the small town gate, gathering his cloak tightly about him. Upon reaching the gate and seeing the post guard-less, he whistled, the sound carrying far on the mountain air, but the only response was the scream of the wind. He listened for a moment longer, but still no sound.
Frowning, he took a step back. It was unusual for Kavdam to be so quiet. Perhaps Akela could not hear him from her tannery, or Baz’neh was too focussed on her medical work to notice.
“The Rangers, at least... Eh, no matter.”
Giving himself a sprint start, he jumped, and kicked off the wall running perpendicular to the gate. Spinning in the air, he caught the edge of the stone lip hanging over the entrance, the rough bricks grazing his palms. He hauled himself up, and looked into the town from the guard house roof. Empty.
His head tilted slightly, waiting for his heightened senses to pick something up. His ears twitched, and his eyes flickered from place to place. He even sniffed. Nothing.
Shrugging off the feeling of unease, he dropped from the roof, and made his way around the large pool just past the gate towards Baz’neh’s infirmary. Padding past one of the large windows, he failed to notice the three figures huddled inside. He carried on, behind the infirmary now, moving onto a brick patio on the way to the Guild Hall, and that’s when he heard it.
He stiffened, his head jerking up, eyes searching for the source of the noise.
A muffled shout? A cry for help? Ced’s eyes narrowed.
Trailing back, to the centre of the patio, he crouched, stock still. It was several seconds before he heard the noise again. Feminine. Coming from... Behind the wall?
He stared at the bricks. Against one of the two walls on the patio leant a bench, old and weathered. He tilted his head, and moved closer, almost tripping over something lying in his path. Blinking, he looked down at a short metal rod, with a twist at one end. A key of sorts.
Five minutes later, Ced was still pouring over the wall, his fingertips searching for a hole. It took him ten minutes, but eventually he found it, and slotted the lever inside. A dull clunk thudded from behind the wall. Ced twisted the rod experimentally, and a grating sound emanated as a series of bricks shifted slowly aside, creating a plume of rock dust. Ced peered into the darkness beyond the hole. Cautiously, he stepped inside.
Silence in the shadows... Ced’s eyes took a few moments to grow accustomed to the dimly lit chamber. He was in a corridor, a room at the far end, and another passage to the left, where the sounds were coming from. Leaving the hole behind him open, he padded down the passage to find two large cells. The smell of fresh blood hung on the air.
“H-Hey! Get me out of here!” Ced turned to peer through the iron bars of one of the cells, and made out the form of a woman, robed in white. His eyes widened as he recognized Lady Valisa Hawklight, sister of Lord Axex Hawklight, and partner to Lord Draco Lonmar. Not two weeks ago he woke up to find her healing a hunting accident he collected in the Frontier. She clearly didn’t recognize him, though, and stared at him through the bars.
“Who are you? Are you hear to help?” Ced remained silent, caught up in his thoughts; what is this place? Why is she here? He forced himself to focus.
“Who put you here?” He asked in a low voice.
“Get me out you idiot!” She winced, and it’s then that Ced noticed the bloody bandage around her leg.
“You’re injured?” His eyes flicked to the entrance of the chamber, then back to Valisa.
“Shot,” she grimaces. Ced frowned, before glancing to the cell door.
“I’ll have you out of here in a moment.” He said, starting for the door.
He didn't make it two steps before a cloth was clamped down hard over his mouth and nose. Valisa screamed a warning but it was too late, he had already inhaled the home-made narcotics. He struggled briefly, but the drugs took their hold on him, and he drifted out of consciousness. The last thing he heard before darkness took him was Valisa screaming, “Don’t you dare hurt him!”
It was just under an hour before Ced woke, his head throbbing. His eyes opened and he blinked at the long netherrack bar, inches from his face. A jangling hurt his groggy ears and he frowned, trying to turn and see what it was, but that only made the noise increase in volume. The entrance had been shut, shrouding the room in darkness. Shaking his head, regaining some awareness, he realized the clinks were coming from his wrists, strung high above his head to the bar by heavy metal chains. Alarmed, he turned, straining against his bonds to look about him. He was in the other cell, opposite Valisa’s, and looking through the two sets of bars, he saw that she was not alone. A shadowy figure loomed over her, the glint of a knife in its hand.
“Such pretty hair...”
The hiss of his voice made Ced shiver. His chains clinked above his head, and the figure turned.
“Oh, you’re awake! Good...”
The figure bent, and cut a lock of blonde hair from Valisa’s head. She flinched and spat at him. Laughing, he left the cell, bolting the door, and crossed to Ced.
“Don’t you think our Lady Hawklight is such a... Pretty capture? A beautiful sight, no?” Close up, the man was dressed in full black, with a mask of the same colour covering his face. No skin was visible, he looked to be around 5’8. He spoke again.
“Valisa is a beautiful thing, don’t you agree?”
“... I suppose.”
This was obviously not the right thing to say. The figure instantly flew into a fit of anger, raging and cursing and shouting.
“You suppose?!”
Ced smiled despite his situation.
“Priestesses aren’t really my type.”
The man snarled, and moved as if to strike the Ranger, but stopped, suddenly calm. His mask moved, as if he was smiling underneath it, and he tucked the lock of Valisa’s hair into Ced collar.
“Doesn’t it smell nice?” He giggled and left the cell, stalking into Valisa’s. She regarded him with a disgusted expression.
“With me now, my love, with me.” He bent, and hoisted her up by her hair, causing her to cry out in pain. The man dragged her from the cell, and down the corridor, to the room at the far end, out of sight from Ced’s cell. The sound of chains and manacles being locked into place were heard, with the occasional giggle from the shadowed man. Ced fought against the bindings, to no avail.
“Hurt her and I’ll kill you!” He shouted, gritting his teeth as the chains cut into his wrists. He looked up at them. Sturdy iron links, bound in an eight-knot around his hands. Impossible to worm out of, unless... He grimaced. This was going to hurt. But it was this or have the woman tortured, or worse.
He planted his feet on the wall either side of the netherrack bar, and transfered all of his weight to his wrists. Taking a moment, he breathed deeply, and then pulled. The links of the chain ground against each other as his hands became crushed in the metal. Wincing, he applied more force, yanking at his wrists. There was a second of silence, and then, pop. Grunting in pain, Ced gritted his teeth and carried on. Slowly, a series of sharp cracks came from one of his hands, and blood started lazily trailing down his forearm as shards of bone slowly splintered through his skin. All his effort focussed on staying silent, Ced slowly slid his shattered right hand out of the binds. His left one, loosened in the chains by the lack of his right, came out easily. Ced sunk to his knees, cradling the broken bones, tears welling in the corner of his eyes. Quickly, he tore a long strip of fabric from the bottom of his cloak, carefully wrapping it around his hand, biting down hard to stop the pain from being heard.
“What do we have here?” The figure is in the doorway of the cell. A long curved knife in his hand, he approaches Ced. “Oh, no no no, we can’t be having this can we?” The slithery voice sounded frustrated and amused at the same time, close to hysteria. “Perhaps I should have started with you...” The man’s mask shifted again, and points with his dagger. “Up. And no quick moves, Ranger.”
How had he appeared so silently? Staring at the man with cold eyes, Ced slowly stood, and left the cell. He felt the point of the man’s dagger pressed against the small of his back.
“ To the rooooom...”
The “room” was a torture chamber. Implements of pain hung from one wall, axes, shears, scalpels and tongs. The floor was spattered with blood, some dry, some fresh. Smoke oozed slowly from a pit of lava in one corner, and a stone table stood squat and ugly against one of the walls. The unconscious form of Valisa lay, her back to them, on that table. Ced growled, and turned to confront the man, but the dagger flew to his neck.
“Now now, over there, by the wall.”
The Ranger allowed himself to be prodded to another netherrack bar that stretched from floor to ceiling. The man turned him round, and bound him yet again, chuckling as he saw the newly bandaged hand. Once Ced’s arms were tightly secured, the man scuttled to a chest, and drew out several- What were they? Oh Gods...
The decapicated heads were strewn around the floor at Ced’s feet. The stink was otherworldly. Placing them so they were all staring at the Ranger, the shadowed man hummed as he worked.
A young girl with blonde hair seemed to be his favorite. He positioned her at the forefront, and her blue, lifeless eyes stared into his. Ced recognized her. He had seen her around the capital often, talking quietly, seemingly timid. Now she gazed at him, her mouth gaping, blood matting her previously silky hair.
“These are your friends now.” The man looked at the assorted heads, clasping his hands happily. “I knew all of these people... All gone! Gone gone gone!”
He tried to look away, but Ced felt his confidence slowly dropping. This person was clearly beyond insanity. Reasoning was out of the question. If he could only-
From the end of the corridor came a large grating sound, and sunlight spilled in from outside. A small figure, framed by the light, stepped through.
“Lady Hawklight? Are you in here...?” A gentle female voice.
The torturer whipped around, and was on the person before they knew what happening.
“My, another pretty one! You can join us, my sweet, right this way!” The woman’s scream was muffled as he clamped his hand down on her mouth, and dragged her swiftly to a cell. Cackling quietly, he came into the main room, and hauled the unconscious Valisa through to the same cell, locking the door, he turned back to Ced.
“Hohoho... I am going to have lots of fun with you three...”
Hours later:
Ced sat, staring at the two women in the cell opposite him. His hand was numb, his back ached, his mind felt stretched. All three had undergone horrific psychological torture in those long hours. The man who held them prisoners seemed to know all of their weak spots, knew personal information and used that information, as well as drugs, to twist their minds, and hurt them in ways a blade could not.
Lillian, the woman who had found the torture chamber earlier, had tears streaming down her face. Valisa was unconscious. Both looked exhausted. As it turned out, Ced knew Lillian, and she knew him. She was a mystic, a fortune teller, and had read the cards for Ced a week or so ago. She hadn’t predicted this. Ced was fond of her. She was slim, with long dark hair, and wore a simple but attractive blue dress. Even under the circumstances, Ced thought she looked beautiful. Glancing at him, she spoke in a wavering voice,
“Ced, what do we do?”
He looked away.
“I’ll get us out of here.”
He had been saying that for the past four hours. Helplessness consumed him, self hatred sparked from his impotence to save the two women. The man had burnt all of his weapons, and had locked him in a cell with a heavy duty, self-contained latch. Even if he had any picks, it would be impossible to crack the lock. Nothing in the cell would help him escape. Even the bed was nailed to the floor.
Shing!
Lillian glanced up, apprehension flooding her face.
Shing!
The noise came from the main chamber. Ced didn’t bother moving.
Shing!
A quiet humming joined the noise.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
...
“Are we READY?!”
The voice resonated throughout the room. Lillian flinched, Ced grimaced.
“I’ve grown tired of the mind pains... Time for something more... Feely.”
Shing!
“But who, who to choose, I wonder?”
Ced stood up. If he couldn’t save them, he would at least give them time enough to save themselves.
“Choose me.”
The man rounded the corner, sliding two curved blades against each other.
“A volunteer? How boring... No... The pretty one... I shall take her... Such lovely hair... Such a lovely face... I shall make her even prettier!”
Unlocking the door to the women’s cell, the man stepped inside and threw a handful of water from the basin at Valisa. She awoke with a start, sputtering.
“Leave her alone!” Lillian’s voice wavered, but she stood between the two of them, defiant. The man laughed and roughly shoved her aside, then grasped Valisa’s arm and jerked her to her feet. He pulled her from the cell, slamming the door behind him, and took her to the torture room. Ced leapt to his feet, slamming against his cell door frantically.
“Harm her and I’ll kill you! I’ll stick you full of arrows you slime! You pit-bellied mongrel!”
Laughter echoed from the room.
Shing!
Ced began to panic at the noise.
“Look, take me instead! You can do anything! Anything you want to me, just let the others go!”
Lillian looked alarmed.
“No, Ced!” She said angrily, “don’t you dare!”
The laughter stopped.
“... Anything?”
Ced closed his eyes.
“Anything.”
The scene.
Ced, tied to the stone table by his ankles. Valisa nearby, chained to a netherrack post. Lillian, on the other side of the room, chained to a similar post. The man, barring the entrance.
“You said I could do anything... So here it is. We’re going to play a little game. A game!”
The man’s voice was filled with glee.
“Each of you will be able to walk free, yes! Free, my loves, free as you like. But but but, you must first give me something that I, I want. Yes?”
Nods around the room.
“Good! You will take something from each other. Something I choose. Hmm, yes, I choose. And then, you give it to me. Yes, ahaahaa. And there is to be NO CHEATING!” The last words were a scream.
“Just... Just get on with it. What will you have us do?” Said Valisa, glaring at the man.
“Oho my loves, first... First... I want...” The man thinks for a moment, and then his mask shifts as he grins. “Hawklights hair. I want it. I want its NOW. You.” Pointing to Lillian, “give me the pretty’s hair.”
The man unchained Lillian’s hands, and handed her a pair of large shears. Lillian looked at them, eyes wide, and glanced at Valisa, who had her chin held high. She stuttered, “I-I’m sorry, Valisa...”
Lady Valisa smiled at the Teller, and turned, to make it easier for her hair to be cut.
“It’s alright.” She said calmly, her voice devoid of fear. Lillian shuffled across the room, her ankle chains clinking, and began to chop at Valisa’s blonde locks. The man scurried about catching the snippings and cuts, bringing them to his mask and smelling them, sighing with pleasure. Lady Hawklight looked on, disgusted.
Lillian finished, and drops the shears. “I’m done.”
“And done well, well. Ahahahaaa, not so pretty anymore, are you my Lady? I wonder what Draco will think... Mayhap he will no longer want this ugly lover? Who would want something that looks like you eh? Eh? EH?!”
Valisa remained proud, emotionless. “Draco is not a shallow man.”
“Ahahaha, we shall see, we shall see. Indeed. Next! I want the Ranger... The Ranger. I want him to give me... The witch’s ring finger.” Lillian grew pale, and looked to Ced. He returned the look, and smiled reassuringly; "Don't worry, it won't hurt as much as you think.” She sighed, and nodded.
“I have no use for my ring finger anyway...” Her gaze fell to the floor dejectedly, and she shuffled across the room for the second time.
“Too right you won't! Who would want to marry you, eh?!" Lillian flinched. "Ranger! Catch!” The man took down a heavy golden hand-axe from the wall, and threw it to Ced. He caught it in his unbroken hand, and turned to Lillian. “Are you ready?” She nodded.
He grasped her wrist with his left hand, and squeezed down on the veins as tightly as he could. When she winced, he said, “It’ll stop the blood flow, lessen the pain.” She nodded and looked away, saying in a quiet voice, “Just do it...”
Ced brought the axe down on Lillian’s finger, and the sharp blade sheared through the flesh and bone with ease. A clean cut. Lillian sobbed and tugged her hand back, hugging it close to her body, her face screwed up tight with pain. Ced moved to help her stem the blood flow, and the torturer screamed.
“Are you CHEATING?! Get away from her, Ranger, or you’ll all be here forever.” The Ranger backed away with a glare at the man, and sat on the stone table, his chains jingling slightly. It was his turn to give something to the man now. And Valisa was going to take it. He glanced at Lillian. She was crying silently, droplets tumbling down her pale cheeks, but she gave him a small nod, and a teary smile. He looked to Valisa. She frowned slightly, her hair cropped unevenly, but her stance proud. He looked to the man.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want your voice, Ced.”
Ced blinked. His voice? How was he to give up his-
The man produced a small scalpel, and pressed it into Valisa’s hands.
“Give me his voice, Sister.” Valisa stared at the implement in her hands, and then at Ced, her eyes wide.
“I- I don’t know if I can do this.” Her voice shook.
Ced’s shoulder slumped. His voice? His speech... If this was what he had to do, so be it.
“Valisa, I know you can. Just one simple slice and we’re free.”
“But Ced-”
“Just get it over with.”
Oh Gods, thought Ced. This is the last time I’m going to be able to speak...
As if reading his mind, the man cackled.
“Your last words, Ranger. What will they be?” Ced stood up, facing the man, he stared into his eyes behind the mask.
“Burn in nether, pig.”
Valisa approached Ced, and embraced him. A little shocked, Ced returned the gesture. She whispered in his ear;
“Behind the esophagus?” Ced nodded slightly. She whispered again;
“I will fix you Ced, I promise.”
Disentangling from her, Ced sat on the edge of the stone table, and proffered his throat towards Valisa. She stands close to him, one hand cupping the back of his neck, the other raising the scalpel aloft.
“Hold it... I want to hear Ced scream... One last time.”
Valisa turned to the man and spat, before focussing on Ced, and quickly driving the blade into his neck. The Ranger’s eyes bulged, and the priestess pulled the scalpel out swiftly. Ced doubled over, a coughing fit jerking his body. He spat out globules of gore, and little rivulets of blood ran down his chin and out of the hole in his neck. Valisa frantically started healing him, stopping the blood flow as best she could, cleaning the wound with magic. As his coughs subsided, Ced slowly straightened, his whole body shaking. Valisa’s magic had sealed the wound, leaving a small oval scar, and the women were staring at him with horrified expressions.
He wiped blood off his face, and opened his mouth. The lips formed words, but no sound came out. He tried again, and the same thing happened. He stared at the ground with a blank expression for a few moments, then sat back onto the stone bench quietly, his head in his hands.
“Time to go, my loves... You’ve earn’t your freedom, yes?” The man led the thoroughly disheartened trio through a series of dark tunnel systems, eventually leading them to the forest of Arduin, at the foot of the cliff Kavdam was built upon. It was there that they ran into a very angry Draco Lonmar, and his comrades, all armed to the teeth. But that is another story.
}A chilly gust of wind greeted Ced as the airship docked at Kavdam, and he shivered, snowflakes stinging his pale skin. He paid and thanked the shipmaster for the journey and strode to the small town gate, gathering his cloak tightly about him. Upon reaching the gate and seeing the post guard-less, he whistled, the sound carrying far on the mountain air, but the only response was the scream of the wind. He listened for a moment longer, but still no sound.
Frowning, he took a step back. It was unusual for Kavdam to be so quiet. Perhaps Akela could not hear him from her tannery, or Baz’neh was too focussed on her medical work to notice.
“The Rangers, at least... Eh, no matter.”
Giving himself a sprint start, he jumped, and kicked off the wall running perpendicular to the gate. Spinning in the air, he caught the edge of the stone lip hanging over the entrance, the rough bricks grazing his palms. He hauled himself up, and looked into the town from the guard house roof. Empty.
His head tilted slightly, waiting for his heightened senses to pick something up. His ears twitched, and his eyes flickered from place to place. He even sniffed. Nothing.
Shrugging off the feeling of unease, he dropped from the roof, and made his way around the large pool just past the gate towards Baz’neh’s infirmary. Padding past one of the large windows, he failed to notice the three figures huddled inside. He carried on, behind the infirmary now, moving onto a brick patio on the way to the Guild Hall, and that’s when he heard it.
He stiffened, his head jerking up, eyes searching for the source of the noise.
A muffled shout? A cry for help? Ced’s eyes narrowed.
Trailing back, to the centre of the patio, he crouched, stock still. It was several seconds before he heard the noise again. Feminine. Coming from... Behind the wall?
He stared at the bricks. Against one of the two walls on the patio leant a bench, old and weathered. He tilted his head, and moved closer, almost tripping over something lying in his path. Blinking, he looked down at a short metal rod, with a twist at one end. A key of sorts.
Five minutes later, Ced was still pouring over the wall, his fingertips searching for a hole. It took him ten minutes, but eventually he found it, and slotted the lever inside. A dull clunk thudded from behind the wall. Ced twisted the rod experimentally, and a grating sound emanated as a series of bricks shifted slowly aside, creating a plume of rock dust. Ced peered into the darkness beyond the hole. Cautiously, he stepped inside.
Silence in the shadows... Ced’s eyes took a few moments to grow accustomed to the dimly lit chamber. He was in a corridor, a room at the far end, and another passage to the left, where the sounds were coming from. Leaving the hole behind him open, he padded down the passage to find two large cells. The smell of fresh blood hung on the air.
“H-Hey! Get me out of here!” Ced turned to peer through the iron bars of one of the cells, and made out the form of a woman, robed in white. His eyes widened as he recognized Lady Valisa Hawklight, sister of Lord Axex Hawklight, and partner to Lord Draco Lonmar. Not two weeks ago he woke up to find her healing a hunting accident he collected in the Frontier. She clearly didn’t recognize him, though, and stared at him through the bars.
“Who are you? Are you hear to help?” Ced remained silent, caught up in his thoughts; what is this place? Why is she here? He forced himself to focus.
“Who put you here?” He asked in a low voice.
“Get me out you idiot!” She winced, and it’s then that Ced noticed the bloody bandage around her leg.
“You’re injured?” His eyes flicked to the entrance of the chamber, then back to Valisa.
“Shot,” she grimaces. Ced frowned, before glancing to the cell door.
“I’ll have you out of here in a moment.” He said, starting for the door.
He didn't make it two steps before a cloth was clamped down hard over his mouth and nose. Valisa screamed a warning but it was too late, he had already inhaled the home-made narcotics. He struggled briefly, but the drugs took their hold on him, and he drifted out of consciousness. The last thing he heard before darkness took him was Valisa screaming, “Don’t you dare hurt him!”
It was just under an hour before Ced woke, his head throbbing. His eyes opened and he blinked at the long netherrack bar, inches from his face. A jangling hurt his groggy ears and he frowned, trying to turn and see what it was, but that only made the noise increase in volume. The entrance had been shut, shrouding the room in darkness. Shaking his head, regaining some awareness, he realized the clinks were coming from his wrists, strung high above his head to the bar by heavy metal chains. Alarmed, he turned, straining against his bonds to look about him. He was in the other cell, opposite Valisa’s, and looking through the two sets of bars, he saw that she was not alone. A shadowy figure loomed over her, the glint of a knife in its hand.
“Such pretty hair...”
The hiss of his voice made Ced shiver. His chains clinked above his head, and the figure turned.
“Oh, you’re awake! Good...”
The figure bent, and cut a lock of blonde hair from Valisa’s head. She flinched and spat at him. Laughing, he left the cell, bolting the door, and crossed to Ced.
“Don’t you think our Lady Hawklight is such a... Pretty capture? A beautiful sight, no?” Close up, the man was dressed in full black, with a mask of the same colour covering his face. No skin was visible, he looked to be around 5’8. He spoke again.
“Valisa is a beautiful thing, don’t you agree?”
“... I suppose.”
This was obviously not the right thing to say. The figure instantly flew into a fit of anger, raging and cursing and shouting.
“You suppose?!”
Ced smiled despite his situation.
“Priestesses aren’t really my type.”
The man snarled, and moved as if to strike the Ranger, but stopped, suddenly calm. His mask moved, as if he was smiling underneath it, and he tucked the lock of Valisa’s hair into Ced collar.
“Doesn’t it smell nice?” He giggled and left the cell, stalking into Valisa’s. She regarded him with a disgusted expression.
“With me now, my love, with me.” He bent, and hoisted her up by her hair, causing her to cry out in pain. The man dragged her from the cell, and down the corridor, to the room at the far end, out of sight from Ced’s cell. The sound of chains and manacles being locked into place were heard, with the occasional giggle from the shadowed man. Ced fought against the bindings, to no avail.
“Hurt her and I’ll kill you!” He shouted, gritting his teeth as the chains cut into his wrists. He looked up at them. Sturdy iron links, bound in an eight-knot around his hands. Impossible to worm out of, unless... He grimaced. This was going to hurt. But it was this or have the woman tortured, or worse.
He planted his feet on the wall either side of the netherrack bar, and transfered all of his weight to his wrists. Taking a moment, he breathed deeply, and then pulled. The links of the chain ground against each other as his hands became crushed in the metal. Wincing, he applied more force, yanking at his wrists. There was a second of silence, and then, pop. Grunting in pain, Ced gritted his teeth and carried on. Slowly, a series of sharp cracks came from one of his hands, and blood started lazily trailing down his forearm as shards of bone slowly splintered through his skin. All his effort focussed on staying silent, Ced slowly slid his shattered right hand out of the binds. His left one, loosened in the chains by the lack of his right, came out easily. Ced sunk to his knees, cradling the broken bones, tears welling in the corner of his eyes. Quickly, he tore a long strip of fabric from the bottom of his cloak, carefully wrapping it around his hand, biting down hard to stop the pain from being heard.
“What do we have here?” The figure is in the doorway of the cell. A long curved knife in his hand, he approaches Ced. “Oh, no no no, we can’t be having this can we?” The slithery voice sounded frustrated and amused at the same time, close to hysteria. “Perhaps I should have started with you...” The man’s mask shifted again, and points with his dagger. “Up. And no quick moves, Ranger.”
How had he appeared so silently? Staring at the man with cold eyes, Ced slowly stood, and left the cell. He felt the point of the man’s dagger pressed against the small of his back.
“ To the rooooom...”
The “room” was a torture chamber. Implements of pain hung from one wall, axes, shears, scalpels and tongs. The floor was spattered with blood, some dry, some fresh. Smoke oozed slowly from a pit of lava in one corner, and a stone table stood squat and ugly against one of the walls. The unconscious form of Valisa lay, her back to them, on that table. Ced growled, and turned to confront the man, but the dagger flew to his neck.
“Now now, over there, by the wall.”
The Ranger allowed himself to be prodded to another netherrack bar that stretched from floor to ceiling. The man turned him round, and bound him yet again, chuckling as he saw the newly bandaged hand. Once Ced’s arms were tightly secured, the man scuttled to a chest, and drew out several- What were they? Oh Gods...
The decapicated heads were strewn around the floor at Ced’s feet. The stink was otherworldly. Placing them so they were all staring at the Ranger, the shadowed man hummed as he worked.
A young girl with blonde hair seemed to be his favorite. He positioned her at the forefront, and her blue, lifeless eyes stared into his. Ced recognized her. He had seen her around the capital often, talking quietly, seemingly timid. Now she gazed at him, her mouth gaping, blood matting her previously silky hair.
“These are your friends now.” The man looked at the assorted heads, clasping his hands happily. “I knew all of these people... All gone! Gone gone gone!”
He tried to look away, but Ced felt his confidence slowly dropping. This person was clearly beyond insanity. Reasoning was out of the question. If he could only-
From the end of the corridor came a large grating sound, and sunlight spilled in from outside. A small figure, framed by the light, stepped through.
“Lady Hawklight? Are you in here...?” A gentle female voice.
The torturer whipped around, and was on the person before they knew what happening.
“My, another pretty one! You can join us, my sweet, right this way!” The woman’s scream was muffled as he clamped his hand down on her mouth, and dragged her swiftly to a cell. Cackling quietly, he came into the main room, and hauled the unconscious Valisa through to the same cell, locking the door, he turned back to Ced.
“Hohoho... I am going to have lots of fun with you three...”
Hours later:
Ced sat, staring at the two women in the cell opposite him. His hand was numb, his back ached, his mind felt stretched. All three had undergone horrific psychological torture in those long hours. The man who held them prisoners seemed to know all of their weak spots, knew personal information and used that information, as well as drugs, to twist their minds, and hurt them in ways a blade could not.
Lillian, the woman who had found the torture chamber earlier, had tears streaming down her face. Valisa was unconscious. Both looked exhausted. As it turned out, Ced knew Lillian, and she knew him. She was a mystic, a fortune teller, and had read the cards for Ced a week or so ago. She hadn’t predicted this. Ced was fond of her. She was slim, with long dark hair, and wore a simple but attractive blue dress. Even under the circumstances, Ced thought she looked beautiful. Glancing at him, she spoke in a wavering voice,
“Ced, what do we do?”
He looked away.
“I’ll get us out of here.”
He had been saying that for the past four hours. Helplessness consumed him, self hatred sparked from his impotence to save the two women. The man had burnt all of his weapons, and had locked him in a cell with a heavy duty, self-contained latch. Even if he had any picks, it would be impossible to crack the lock. Nothing in the cell would help him escape. Even the bed was nailed to the floor.
Shing!
Lillian glanced up, apprehension flooding her face.
Shing!
The noise came from the main chamber. Ced didn’t bother moving.
Shing!
A quiet humming joined the noise.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
...
“Are we READY?!”
The voice resonated throughout the room. Lillian flinched, Ced grimaced.
“I’ve grown tired of the mind pains... Time for something more... Feely.”
Shing!
“But who, who to choose, I wonder?”
Ced stood up. If he couldn’t save them, he would at least give them time enough to save themselves.
“Choose me.”
The man rounded the corner, sliding two curved blades against each other.
“A volunteer? How boring... No... The pretty one... I shall take her... Such lovely hair... Such a lovely face... I shall make her even prettier!”
Unlocking the door to the women’s cell, the man stepped inside and threw a handful of water from the basin at Valisa. She awoke with a start, sputtering.
“Leave her alone!” Lillian’s voice wavered, but she stood between the two of them, defiant. The man laughed and roughly shoved her aside, then grasped Valisa’s arm and jerked her to her feet. He pulled her from the cell, slamming the door behind him, and took her to the torture room. Ced leapt to his feet, slamming against his cell door frantically.
“Harm her and I’ll kill you! I’ll stick you full of arrows you slime! You pit-bellied mongrel!”
Laughter echoed from the room.
Shing!
Ced began to panic at the noise.
“Look, take me instead! You can do anything! Anything you want to me, just let the others go!”
Lillian looked alarmed.
“No, Ced!” She said angrily, “don’t you dare!”
The laughter stopped.
“... Anything?”
Ced closed his eyes.
“Anything.”
--------------
The scene.
Ced, tied to the stone table by his ankles. Valisa nearby, chained to a netherrack post. Lillian, on the other side of the room, chained to a similar post. The man, barring the entrance.
“You said I could do anything... So here it is. We’re going to play a little game. A game!”
The man’s voice was filled with glee.
“Each of you will be able to walk free, yes! Free, my loves, free as you like. But but but, you must first give me something that I, I want. Yes?”
Nods around the room.
“Good! You will take something from each other. Something I choose. Hmm, yes, I choose. And then, you give it to me. Yes, ahaahaa. And there is to be NO CHEATING!” The last words were a scream.
“Just... Just get on with it. What will you have us do?” Said Valisa, glaring at the man.
“Oho my loves, first... First... I want...” The man thinks for a moment, and then his mask shifts as he grins. “Hawklights hair. I want it. I want its NOW. You.” Pointing to Lillian, “give me the pretty’s hair.”
The man unchained Lillian’s hands, and handed her a pair of large shears. Lillian looked at them, eyes wide, and glanced at Valisa, who had her chin held high. She stuttered, “I-I’m sorry, Valisa...”
Lady Valisa smiled at the Teller, and turned, to make it easier for her hair to be cut.
“It’s alright.” She said calmly, her voice devoid of fear. Lillian shuffled across the room, her ankle chains clinking, and began to chop at Valisa’s blonde locks. The man scurried about catching the snippings and cuts, bringing them to his mask and smelling them, sighing with pleasure. Lady Hawklight looked on, disgusted.
Lillian finished, and drops the shears. “I’m done.”
“And done well, well. Ahahahaaa, not so pretty anymore, are you my Lady? I wonder what Draco will think... Mayhap he will no longer want this ugly lover? Who would want something that looks like you eh? Eh? EH?!”
Valisa remained proud, emotionless. “Draco is not a shallow man.”
“Ahahaha, we shall see, we shall see. Indeed. Next! I want the Ranger... The Ranger. I want him to give me... The witch’s ring finger.” Lillian grew pale, and looked to Ced. He returned the look, and smiled reassuringly; "Don't worry, it won't hurt as much as you think.” She sighed, and nodded.
“I have no use for my ring finger anyway...” Her gaze fell to the floor dejectedly, and she shuffled across the room for the second time.
“Too right you won't! Who would want to marry you, eh?!" Lillian flinched. "Ranger! Catch!” The man took down a heavy golden hand-axe from the wall, and threw it to Ced. He caught it in his unbroken hand, and turned to Lillian. “Are you ready?” She nodded.
He grasped her wrist with his left hand, and squeezed down on the veins as tightly as he could. When she winced, he said, “It’ll stop the blood flow, lessen the pain.” She nodded and looked away, saying in a quiet voice, “Just do it...”
Ced brought the axe down on Lillian’s finger, and the sharp blade sheared through the flesh and bone with ease. A clean cut. Lillian sobbed and tugged her hand back, hugging it close to her body, her face screwed up tight with pain. Ced moved to help her stem the blood flow, and the torturer screamed.
“Are you CHEATING?! Get away from her, Ranger, or you’ll all be here forever.” The Ranger backed away with a glare at the man, and sat on the stone table, his chains jingling slightly. It was his turn to give something to the man now. And Valisa was going to take it. He glanced at Lillian. She was crying silently, droplets tumbling down her pale cheeks, but she gave him a small nod, and a teary smile. He looked to Valisa. She frowned slightly, her hair cropped unevenly, but her stance proud. He looked to the man.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want your voice, Ced.”
Ced blinked. His voice? How was he to give up his-
The man produced a small scalpel, and pressed it into Valisa’s hands.
“Give me his voice, Sister.” Valisa stared at the implement in her hands, and then at Ced, her eyes wide.
“I- I don’t know if I can do this.” Her voice shook.
Ced’s shoulder slumped. His voice? His speech... If this was what he had to do, so be it.
“Valisa, I know you can. Just one simple slice and we’re free.”
“But Ced-”
“Just get it over with.”
Oh Gods, thought Ced. This is the last time I’m going to be able to speak...
As if reading his mind, the man cackled.
“Your last words, Ranger. What will they be?” Ced stood up, facing the man, he stared into his eyes behind the mask.
“Burn in nether, pig.”
Valisa approached Ced, and embraced him. A little shocked, Ced returned the gesture. She whispered in his ear;
“Behind the esophagus?” Ced nodded slightly. She whispered again;
“I will fix you Ced, I promise.”
Disentangling from her, Ced sat on the edge of the stone table, and proffered his throat towards Valisa. She stands close to him, one hand cupping the back of his neck, the other raising the scalpel aloft.
“Hold it... I want to hear Ced scream... One last time.”
Valisa turned to the man and spat, before focussing on Ced, and quickly driving the blade into his neck. The Ranger’s eyes bulged, and the priestess pulled the scalpel out swiftly. Ced doubled over, a coughing fit jerking his body. He spat out globules of gore, and little rivulets of blood ran down his chin and out of the hole in his neck. Valisa frantically started healing him, stopping the blood flow as best she could, cleaning the wound with magic. As his coughs subsided, Ced slowly straightened, his whole body shaking. Valisa’s magic had sealed the wound, leaving a small oval scar, and the women were staring at him with horrified expressions.
He wiped blood off his face, and opened his mouth. The lips formed words, but no sound came out. He tried again, and the same thing happened. He stared at the ground with a blank expression for a few moments, then sat back onto the stone bench quietly, his head in his hands.
“Time to go, my loves... You’ve earn’t your freedom, yes?” The man led the thoroughly disheartened trio through a series of dark tunnel systems, eventually leading them to the forest of Arduin, at the foot of the cliff Kavdam was built upon. It was there that they ran into a very angry Draco Lonmar, and his comrades, all armed to the teeth. But that is another story.
scary... but good.
