A lesson learned...a lesson taught
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WARNING!
Below might be disturbing…............
_He rolled over slowly, his body hurting in a hundred places and instantly knew something wasn't right. With strength and speed surprising for one his age and size he sprung to his feet a low growl issuing from his throat. What he saw took him off guard. He seemed to be in a cell of some sort, seemingly 20 feet across either way deprived of any sort of accommodation, not even some straw to lie on which was probably best as a 5x 5 area in the middle of the floor seemed to be a grate of sorts issuing a warm red glow. Brushing his graying hair off his brow he strode bare foot….and only then realized he was stark naked. No bother,he had other problems at the moment.
He approached the gate of the cell and peered as much as he could down the corridor to either side. It didn't yield much but he didn't expect it to. Something skittered down a corridor somewhere near, was quiet loud so must be close and sounded like an insect of some sort. Maybe dinner if it got close enough, already his stomach was rumbling. It was then he noticed the smell of rotten eggs. Peltrach he thought...only they could ruin eggs. Thoughts raced thru his head...what had he done...had he been drinking? His head did hurt something awful. Least the smell settled his stomach's rumblings some. He then turned to get a better look at his cell. The gate was well made, some sort of blackened steel. But if he was going to escape, he needed a weapon.
The room was bare, stone floor, ceiling and walls and the room seemed illuminated by the grate. Approaching the gate he was taken back. The grate seemed bolted to the floor and below it the floor dropped some 20 feet straight down and ended in what looked like lava. Oscura then...must be Oscura...he thought. He still couldn't remember what he had done, offended Peltarch of Oscura? He didn't remember doing anything. Seeing little point in trying to remove the grate so he went to pay more attention to the walls. A dwarf once told him a few tricks to stone, how to see weakness, how to take advantage of a bad fit of the stone. Putting his face close to the black stone he almost gently ran his fingertips across the stone, feeling for imperfections, maybe a hollowness. By now his lungs burned from the air, it reminded him of somewhere he had been before, where was it....He absently rubbed his chest with his right hand. The stones were of no help, they were well fitted, almost perfect. Turning back to face the center of the room he had to admit, not much to do but wait. So wait he did.
What seemed like days he sat though likely only a few hours when a figure appeared cloaked in black from toe to fingertip with a skull mask covering his face. A coward he thought, hiding behind a mask.
Next he knew he was laying on a stone table unable to move. The figure had said something about 'seeing yourself' then the gate raised. He had tried to take advantage by rushing the unarmed figure, next he knew he was here. Magic, damnable coward wizards, that had to be it.
He tried to struggle against whatever was holding him but his muscles refused to even twitch. He couldn't even move his head, only his eye seemed to be working. That is when he heard the voice...'Awake I see. Then we can begin.' He tried to shout a retort, to curse the voice but his voicelessness betrayed him. Suddenly a skull mask appeared over him looking down on him.
The voice seemed to issue from the mask 'You must learn to see yourself, only then will you see'. The head disappeared from view and was replaced by sudden pain in his fingers starting at his left pinky. It felt as if his fingers were being cut off one by one. Each pain was followed by a metallic clanking sound. He wanted to scream, to jump up and break the figures neck but his body remained unresponsive. Agonizing minutes passed and each finger in turn was subjected to the pain. Oscura...Peltarch...he didn't care...when he got out of this...and he would get out... he was burning it to the ground and spitting on it's ashes. Then the pain began in his toes.....He didn't remember much after that, just when the figure was done with his toes he began working all over his body...he would black out here and there only to awaken to some horrendous pain only to black out again. Throughout the whole affair the figure was disturbingly quiet. The last image he remembered was of the figure holding a bloody hooked knife over his eyes and him thinking...'not my eyes...
He awoke in more pain then he ever felt before. He immediately looked to his hands....his fingers were there....kind of....the flesh of his fingers was removed...even the finger nails...the damage didn't end there....He rolled in pain...everywhere hurt...he couldn't imagine what the rest of him looked like.
Then he looked up and saw the figure standing beyond the bars. It was him down to the hair and nails........then he blacked out again_
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_Day, night…time no longer had any meaning for him. The lights in the cell never changed and there was no way to stop the red glow from the grate and he wasn't the type to commit suicide by removing the grate and jumping down in the lava below. So his stay in the cell was broken up by only three things, the awful boredom waiting around always hungry and always thirsty with nothing to do but pace the cell. The long and agonizing torture he endured at the masked ones hands. Always something different, always something that brought a new pain he had never felt before. The whole time the masked man was always silent, didn't seem to show remorse or pleasure at the pain he methodically caused. He seemed almost clinical in his applications of his art, taking great care to cause the most pain with the least waste of effort. And oddly he always got the sense the masked man was testing him, trying to find something.
And lastly, the visits of the lady. He never saw her come and go. She would just be there in her silver robe with a golden symbol of Tyr on her neck. She would ease his pains with a calm demeanor but would speak little. He tried on many times to learn more, where was Tyr, anything at all. She would just smile and put a finger to his lips and say:
"Hush, all will be revealed in time. You must be strong."
Her presence would make everything bearable, the heat not so bad and though he was first embarrassed by his nudity, she never seemed to notice or take exception. Seemingly oblivious he paid it no mind. Periodically he would give him small bits of food or a sip of water.
"Enough to keep your strength up but not enough to arouse suspicion."
Hungry, he was always hungry. Maybe it was the heat, lack of sustenance, even the torture that threatened to empty his stomach when he thought of it but he began to tell the lady things, things he never spoke of even to others. She would never ask questions just smile and nod as he spoke about his work, his friends, his dreams and past. But these times were always too brief, fleeting moments of peace, then he would come again and take him to that room only to awaken sometime later and the process would repeat.
One other thing kept him going.....a silent mantra in his head.
"I am Grag.....I will survive........."
The the day came. The lady was there tending to his latest injuries when the door opened. She was never there when the door opened, always she was gone long before. Quickly he jumped to his feet trying to block the view to the lady. There he stood, the man in black with the skull mask. He curled his fists into balls and prepared to defend her. Gritting his teeth he could imagine what would happen next, but he had to try.
But he just stood there, not reacting, a glance behind him confirmed she was still kneeled behind him just now rising. His mind was a blur of thoughts, did he not see her? Then she meekly walked by toward the man, still no reaction from him. He stepped away as she passed and resumed his position blocking the doorway.
"And that is your last lesson half orc. You would be wise to learn them."_
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_He awoke to a cool tingling feeling in the middle of his back that slowly spread between his shoulder blades and across his spine. It was comforting, a soothing elixir to his pain almost like….
He pushed himself up from the prone position in a show of strength ignoring the ripping pain coursing thru his body. Landing in a crouched position he had already grabbed the hand that was touching him with his left hand and with a low growl was in mid swing with his right to deliver a powerful blow when he saw.
And saw was the only way to describe it. Before him was a young lady kneeling in a long silver robe her face delicately framed by a tight cowl letting just a whisper of black hair to be seen at the edges. Her crystal blue eyes glistened wetly as she stared up at him. Her gentle pink lips seemed to quiver slightly and gave definition to her delicate features and played as a brilliant contrast to her pale and almost luminescent skin.
"You are hurting me......."
Never before had four words hurt him so and he wasn't quite sure why. He felt as if he betrayed everything he held most dear, that no other betrayal or foul deed he could do would feel worse yet her eyes seemed to beckon to him, calling. He didn't even know her name, yet somehow he felt this lady needed his protection.
"You are hurting me....."
He wasn't even sure if she had said it again, it just seemed to encompass his thoughts. Only then did he realize he still had he still held her hand which he quickly let go. With the briefest modest smile she slowly lowered
her hands to be folded in her lap. Looking down he could still see the red and blue marks on her hand."I am so sorry..."
The words seemed hollow even on his lips.
"It is no matter sir. I am here to aid you."
She rose in a seemingly single smooth motion holding her hands out to him to help him rise which he took.
"Time is short, he approaches" She continued.
"Who sent you? Tyr?" Even as he asked he knew it had to be true. Tyr would not abandon him here in this pit.
"Yes, he bides you wait and endure, all things will come clearer." A faint smile crossed her face when she finished.
Footsteps in sounding outside the cell drew his eyes to the gate for just a moment and when he turned back the lady was gone leaving naught but a hint of lemon and daisies on the air neutralizing the stench of the sulfur for just a few moments before fading.
Turning towards the gate again he only then realized his skin was whole once more seemingly new as baby skin with a soft pink hue. He clenched his fists and waited for what he knew must come but this time his heart was now steeled._