Demon's Pit and Void

[Hot Champion_of_justice]

Silenced Nocturne

Lareth clenched harder on Malphas's neck and several snaps could be heard before he pulled him away from the wall, and slammed Malphas several times into it.

"Don't be snark 'Boy'. Who sent you on the assassination? Or is this simply payback because you lost that piece of scum you call master?"

Lareth pulled the dagger away from Malphas's stomach, but he held onto it.

"Don't you dare speak Cynthia's name. You are not even worthy enough to utter her name you piece of s**t.

As for what she knows about me and what I 'like' to do, she's still with me and will be with me until I am gone. So don't think you can play with my mind wretch."

Lareth's eyes lit up in anger as Malphas spoke of what 'urge' he had to do with Cynthia. As Malphas glared at him, Lareth raised the dark blade and slammed it into Malphas's right eye socket and twisted the blade. With a quick flick of his wrist, he pulled the dagger back out and there was a sickening pop as he pulled out Malphas's eye. As it fell to the floor, without even looking, Lareth stomped the eye apart and turned it to ash.

Lareth laughed as the blood from the empty eye socket came out.

He sent flames into the tip of the dagger blade and sealed the empty eye socket shut.

"Now what I did was for fun Malphas.....you irritate the hell out of me and I do not like how you look at me.

What I did to Ilea here, was retribution and punishment for all the wrong she has done. I did not do it for fun, I did it to teach her a lesson. Punishment before her end."

Lareth made the blade vanish and he smiled at Malphas.

"But if you are still confused about the difference of my 'fun' time, and 'punishment' time....I can show you, how I really have 'fun'."

He leaned in and whispered.
"I will do onto you all that you say I would like to do to my beloved....when I am done with you, you will be the broken bloody doll with a broken a**."  

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Okay, I'm editing this so that we can move along a bit.

Hot Champion_of_justice

Ilea gave a small whimper as she 'slept', unable to escape the nightmares she'd been plunged into thanks to the herbs Malphas had given her added to the poisons and potions Lareth had given her.

She began to shift on the cot, pausing each time the pain hit her. At first. As the nightmare continued, though, she began to move more and started speaking a bit.

"No... No, please... No more, Master... Please..."

As she shifted and tossed, she managed to pull a few of the stitches, enhancing the pain she was experiencing in her nightmare that was more of a memory.

"Use me instead... Please... Take your anger out on me instead... Please Master..." she gave a few whimpers of pain after that one then went quiet for a bit.

"No... I can't do it... I can't do it, Master..." after this one, she didn't whimper... she screamed in pain, managing to pull a few more stitches in the process

Those last two bouts proved that she hadn't been a mindless puppet for Goh as Lareth assumed she was. There had been times when she'd defied him, times when she'd tried to redirect his attention onto her instead of someone else.

It proved that she'd truly had no choice in her life under Goh, no choice in anything she'd done while serving him.

She wasn't trying to draw attention to herself, but it would likely be happening anyway. Unfortunately for her, Goh had never bothered to even try to mitigate her nightmares. A few times, he'd even tried to enhance them. Every time she'd had one, he'd been there watching her, enjoying the pain she experienced.

Eventually, she quieted again, going still on the cot once more. But it was an unusual stillness, not as if she were simply sinking deeper into sleep. No, her breathing became shallower and interrupted at times.

Unfortunately, she actually needed the bond with Shale to be stronger through more contact, either physically or through simply being in his presence. The bond was formed, yes, but not completely solid yet. As a result of that, it was threatening to tear and sever on it's own.

She wouldn't die, but she wouldn't heal either.

Especially since Shale couldn't enter the Pit and Lareth wasn't going to allow her to leave it until Shale's spire was finished. That, quite likely, meant resorting to drastic measures.

As he'd tortured her, Ilea had let one thing slip to Lareth. One way she could be healed without Shale simply wanting it to happen while she was in his presence. But it was something Lareth said he would not do because he wouldn't violate his personal vows to Cynthia.

She could be healed through intimate contact. To be more blunt, sex would heal her. Admittedly, she wasn't in much of a condition to enjoy it. But it would heal her if Lareth allowed it and she was brought back to consciousness somehow.

It was either that or take her to Shale. Otherwise, he wouldn't be 'playing' with her for a long while because she would heal human slow at this rate...

Under her blood, her pale skin started to shift to a grayish tint as the ripped stitches started to allow more of her blood to pool under her on the cot where it couldn't be seen until it soaked through the material and started to drip onto the stone underneath.

But no one was really very likely to notice her right now, not with what the two men were currently 'discussing'... Well, aside from the screaming, that is.

The strange thing happened when Lareth simply left the cell and locked it behind him then left the Pit entirely, leaving Malphas sealed inside with Ilea. Was it a test? Was it punishment? Was it simply leaving what he considered his enemies in a place that would contain them?

There was no telling. But Malphas was now trapped in the Pit with Ilea as she settled into small whimpers that seemed to echo in the silence of the room...  

[Hot Champion_of_justice]

(Crap post but it will free people)

Lareth eventually threw a beaten and now broken limbed Malphas into his own cel,l before he chained him to the wall.

Ilea was healed as much as possible and placed into a peaceful rest via spell. He would have her new master come and give her energy. With that all done, lareth left the pit.  

[Silquestnocte]

Malphas wasn't even conscious when he hit the ground.

His mind had slipped off to a red-tinged world where the only sound was his own heart beat, thudding and shuddering, slowing down even further. He was going to let it fall silent, finally be free of everything, but a new noise stopped him. Another heart beat.

It fluttered, like an injured bird, so soft, so delicate, but also sweet. He didn't want to hear it end, or be unable to hear it, so after a few stops and starts, his own resumed it's steady hum.

The red faded to black, and blinding pain. So much pain. Once, once he had felt this much, when he had deserved it, when he had angered his Master. Why did he hurt now? What had he done wrong? All he wanted to do was see Deluge smile, touch those silver locks, be touched in a way that would perhaps say that he was more than a means to an ends, a tool. A cool hand, so harsh, for just to once, bring comfort rather than pain.

But it never came.

In it's place, memories of everything that had transpired flooded back, losing Deluge the second time wasn't as bad as the first. Rather than feeling empty-chested with loss, he settled into bitterness, disgust. He still had work to do.

Opening his eye was one of the hardest things he had ever done. The pain had not abated in the least, actually he was fairly certain something was screwy with his back now (not to mention bruised ribs, a broken leg, and at least one fractured wing). And his eye was gone now. He drew a rattling breath and immediately found it necessary to cough out the black blood that had been holding itself in his mouth.

And then he smiled, because he was still alive, and if he was still alive, that meant he still had a chance.

It was not the smile of a sane man, nor demon for that matter, if anything, his mental state spoke for itself when the first words he spoke was "Ha. The b*****d didn't break my a** at all." He hacked again, a ripping pain crawling up his torso, something was very injured. He'd be fine though, assuming he didn't bleed out internally.

His uniform, once pristine and worn with pride, was now bloodied with the dark fluid currently dripping from his chin.

His thoughts and vision began to grow hazy again, if he wasn't careful he might slip back into unconsciousness. He had to keep himself occupied, somehow. It occurred to him that he had a reason for being down here, the woman.

The mysterious woman, so gravely injured. Not that he was in much better shape right now, but at least he wasn't being held together with stitches and frankly sub-par attempts at healing spells.

"You alright there Doll?" he croaked out. Malphas had no idea if she was awake, or even alive right now, he didn't know if he was going to be left here to rot, didn't know if Lareth was going to come back with even more pointy implements. But if this was going to be the end, (and if he had anything to say about it, it sure as Oblivion wasn't)

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

If you need me to edit it more, just let me know.

Ilea heard the voice but it came to her as if from a large distance, a bit faint, with the words barely understandable. All she knew was the pain, the exhaustion, the desire to simply sleep...

She gave a small groan, a soft sound that indicated that she was still alive but about as weak as she looked. She started to shift but gave a small pained noise when her body protested the movement.

Another sound came to her. One that was very familiar to her, though. The thick sound of blood dripping onto stone. She knew that sound very well. She'd heard it often enough during her time with her creator to know its unique sound now.

Part of her wanted to simply go to sleep and stay that way. She could feel her body reacting to that desire by relaxing where she was, allowing her heartbeat to slow down along with her breathing.

While she knew she should react to the voice that had called out to her, it felt like too much to her right now.

She felt her mind starting to drift, allowing the sounds around her to move further away while her body began to feel like it was floating.

Familiar sensations again. She knew this was what blood loss felt like. She didn't think she could die down here, thanks to her master/servant bond with... What was his name? The name was important. Something she should remember...

But the face that came to her mind wasn't that of her new master, it was of the one who had come to visit her here, the stranger. She couldn't remember his name either but there was something else she knew she was supposed to be noticing but couldn't quite wrap her mind around it yet.

Thanks to the sensations she was experiencing thanks to the blood loss, she was able to move again without consciously feeling it. She wanted to say something but only a weak moan came out.

For some reason, she wanted to assure someone that she wouldn't die but she couldn't form the words. At least, she didn't think she would die...  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Silenced Nocturne

Shale offered his blood to the door of the void as soon as he arrived. The seal on the chamber responded obediently and he was through the door in moments. There was no reason to hesitate. The sensation of being in that room again was still difficult to handle but it did not catch him by surprise this time and he showed no sign of the slowly increasing strain. He moved to Ilea's cell immediately, guided by the suddenly strengthened blood bond to her wretchedly ravaged form.

Shale did notice that there was another person in the room but spared them no notice. His business was Ilea's condition. Her recent memories flowed into his mind along with enormously detailed information about her bodily condition. There were a wide variety of injuries present and also some awakened psychological trauma and a combination of toxins, poisons and medicines. He pushed the psychological factors to the back of his mind for the time being and concentrated on the first priority. So focused on the task at hand was he that Shale did not realize that he was standing outside her cell with his face inches from the bars staring at her broken form with a cold and black stare as he mentally processed what he had to do. The king desired that she recover more quickly. To that end he directed a steady flow of energy through the blood bond. While he efficiently strengthened her and stopped the further progression of her injuries he continued to stand and stare, unmoving.

The process was working but he sensed that the bond would allow a much faster recovery method. Actually, he found that it allowed several faster methods. Some of them truly matched Goh's behaviors. However, there was one that he was willing to use. After all, he could not remain in this chamber long enough to complete the task with the current rate of energy loss to the chamber's materials.

So, Shale used a drop of his blood to open the cell long enough to step inside. His feet were touching the edge of the pool of blood that had formed beneath Ilea. Its scent was different than the scent of his own blood. There was something that the scent reminded him of. He knelt down in her blood and bent over her with a look of cold concentration on his face. Then he kissed her.

The kiss was strangely distant, lacking either affection or erotic energies. However, the sudden rush of energy that flooded through it was far less distant. Its source was Shale's blood, much like his other spells, but this time he was actually destroying the blood in his own veins. It was a painful method, searing and freezing every cell in his body, and it caused his flesh to flush almost enough to look healthy, which took some doing. It also allowed him to release far more power in a short time than he would normally be able to. The energy was both patient and dominant, rushing urgently through her with a more vital and primal feel than anything that would be normally expected of the reserved demon. Under all his control and knowledge, behind masks and chains, this was the feel of the vital energy of his most basic self that filled her, purging her blood of all contaminants and restoring her energies.

He broke the kiss without a sound and stood to observe. The blood no longer flowed and many of the injuries were healing rapidly. However, the pain from them did not seem to have diminished at the same rate. The king's skills in the torture chamber were indeed worthy of legend in their own right. The flush left his flesh slowly while he watched Ilea's recovery. As vile as torture could be in the eyes of many, this particular instance would help immensely in expanding Shale's understanding of the blood bond. He could feel it restoring its strength as he remained standing beside her. The contrast made it obvious exactly how close it had come to simply fraying down to nothing. He would need to strengthen it further before he could leave her alone for any length of time in this place.  

[Silquestnocte]

Malphas strained his ears to hear her response... Well someone clearly couldn't talk. His breathing was starting to even out as he became acclimated to the pain. Not that it really mattered, everything still hurt like a b***h. Another breath, another thought. He had to get out of here. As soon as possible. Who knew when someone would come back, and assuming they did, what were the chances of them administering medical attention to him? Zilch. He didn't want to think about what would happen if Lareth came back, all he knew was that more pain was in store for him is he didn't quickly make himself scarce.

Experimentally he lifted a hand, a heavy chain rattling behind it. Then he lifted the other, receiving a similar response. Heh. The fool didn't think to completely immobilize his hands, or break them. Thank goodness Malphas had managed to rile him up to the point where he forgot that Malphas could do a few magical tricks of his own. A pointed fingernail screeched against the metal of a cuff, a string of runes this time, and then he waited.

The reaction of the enchanted cuff was nothing short of spectacular, is was as if acid ate it away, but it was not without it's consequences. The backlash of him tampering with the supposedly fool-proof restraints caused him to briefly double over in pain, a new burn seared into the skin where the metal once touched his wrist. Malphas paused a moment, to recover enough to do the same to his other hand, but then a sound was heard that made his stomach drop.

The door opened.

His nail furiously scribbled on his remaining cuff, if he was going to die, then he may as well die fighting. But the tread was different from Lareth's... And notably, this person didn't shut the door behind them. A slow grin crept across his face. Freedom was literally a few feet away.

The footsteps didn't stop at his cell, they stopped at the woman's. The beautiful, broken, woman's.
He wondered what face she was making now, was she holding in screams of pain, or had her sleep smoothed over her features? Judging by the sounds she had been making last time he called to her. Despite himself, he could not help but feel more than a simple pang of pity for her. He could not leave her here. Not completely. He had no idea still who she was, but there was something about her that made him want to find out more. Perhaps this curiosity would kill him, perhaps it would be his saving grace.

His final restraint fell to the floor with a heavy thunk, it was now or never. He rose on a pair of shaky legs, it wasn't broken after all... But something was certainly screwed up. He could take care of this later, right now he just had to get out of the castle, get to his little stash of gear, and hole up somewhere until he could move regularly, then make plans to strike again. Words tumbled, hissing, and thick on his tongue as his magic forcefully bent the bars of his cell just long enough for him to step through, almost smoothly, out of his cell. He could see the person now, it was the one Lareth had been speaking to earlier... And the woman.

She was in no condition to be moved, although she certainly looked better. Now, Malphas was going to do something very, very stupid. In the beat of silence while the "Baron" was still processing that a prisoner was escaping, Malpas muttered a short syllable and performed a gesture akin to blowing a kiss. A small tongue of black fire shot through the bars and landed neatly on Illea's chest, burning a rune no larger than a fingertip. It quickly scarred over, another pink mark on her fair skin, although this one wasn't so easily removed with kisses.

She would always be able to find him now, always be able to feel his heart beating faintly next to his own. His hope was that someday, she would. And perhaps... Perhaps something would happen. He had no idea what, just that an event would occur, one that he should not miss.

Then Malphas did as any fugitive would do, and began running. A much larger sprout of black fire briefly rose as a wall behind him, and by the time one could see through to the other side, the demon was already gone, dashing up out of the dungeons, to a main floor, gaining several guards in pursuit. Around twists and turns he led him, his footsteps leaving black fire in their wake. Few knew the castle like a servant, and Malphas had been an excellent servant. Finally he came to his destination, a window. He slammed into it, shattering the glass, and disappearing into the air. In a few moments, he was nothing more than a black silhouette (admittedly flying lopsidedly due to his injuries) against the sky. He had gotten away. He had lost an eye, but who knew what he was going to gain.

Haeo

Sorry about the abrupt departure, I've been waiting to post this for some time.

Red Gypsy

Finally got him to escape!

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Haeo

Ilea couldn't think very well, her mind seem lost and caught in a loop of pain that was both familiarly aching and strangely comforting to her. While pain meant that she'd been worked over to near-perfection, it also meant that she was still alive.

She was so out of it that she didn't hear Malphas escape. She'd been fading in the moments before Shale had appeared. That fading was familiar to her, something she'd been through many times. She could feel her body healing and knew it had to have gotten a jump start on the process from somewhere.

The answer simply came to her as she laid there, that Shale was here, healing her, watching her. Some part of her wanted to explain her process to him, how her body would heal itself at this point, how she managed to survive what Lareth had done to her, about the stranger who'd claimed to be her friend.

That last felt like a pipe-dream to her, something dreamed of but not to be believed. She'd never had a friend before and felt that the likelihood of it actually being true was so far off that it wasn't possible for her to have one. So Malphas' offer of friendship left her off balance and unsure.

The rest, she knew how to handle. She'd been through it all before.

Well, mostly...

Goh would have been considered bad by most, yes. He was a monster in so many ways. She didn't bother to deny any of that in her mind.

Instead, she faced the possibility that Lareth was so much worse than her creator when it came to the torture table...

She finally opened her eyes to blink up at Shale and find him simply staring at her. The pain was still moving through her but she could deal with pain. At this point, she could feel that she was healed enough that she could go through a sparring session or a full necromantic raising session. The pain would move with her, yes, there was no denying how much she was hurting.

But she knew pain, it was familiar to her in ways that made Shale's history look like a fairy story.

She let her eyes meet his for a long moment then blinked and lowered them as she shifted to kneeling beside the cot before he could stop her, her eyes on the floor, ignoring the familiar sensation of her blood on the floor against her skin, "Master..." she whispered the word softly, acknowledging him just as she would have Goh when she was bound to him.

She didn't ask for anything and didn't try to cover herself. She simply moved to her knees in front of him with her head down and her shaking hands resting on her thighs as she waited to hear what he wanted from her.

She was shaking from both pain and cold but did nothing about it. There was nothing she could have done, to tell the truth. Lareth had only stitched her up and left her on the cot as she was. Her stitches still looked raw and angry despite the internal healing Shale had given her.

What should she say in this moment? Should she assure him that she would survive Lareth's next session with her? Should she apologize for not being strong enough to last longer? What had she done wrong that had caused Lareth to send Shale down here?  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Silenced Nocturne

Hot Champion_of_justice

Shale continued to focus most of his attention on the blood bond. Through it he gained fractured glimpses of the other who had been in the chamber. Unfortunately, he only realized that fast enough to witness the fading of the black fire in the wake of the agent's escape. He knew that the King would be displeased at the loss of a prisoner. However, he had other priorities in the King's service. He wove a small spell to carry a whisper message to the King.

"He fled by air, three shadows follow. The bond is weak and must be reinforced for the trap to be completed. Two to dwell in the spire that is not." While Shale could not pursue in time, his ravens were already outside. Through the open door he was able to command three of them to follow Malphas. One followed from high above, one from below on a meandering course, and the third followed in his shadow. The first two mimicked the behavior of real birds. The third made no sound at all and never failed to maintain its distance exactly where instructed.

He knew of Ilea's confusion, worry and fright even as he was impressed at her coherence of thought under these conditions. However, the most important thing was that he would have to change the structure of the shaping spell for the spire. He could not be seperated from Ilea for a significant ammount of time or the bond would weaken too much. He would need her beside him during the entirety of the long casting. That could not happen if it occurred on the palace grounds. He would have to craft the spire from the inside with her contained with him.

"We're moving." His voice was soft and distracted as he spoke.

He moved his staff to stand in the blood exactly half-way between them. Then he began to chant through the blood bond, the magic singing through the pool and Ilea's body as well as his own. They had to move, there was much to do and an impatient King was growing desperately frustrated with the failures of his subordinates. The spell wove a body suit from strands of her blood, as fine as silk to the touch and seamless from top to bottom covering everything from the neck down. It would do for now. There were plans for it already forming in Shale's mind but for this it would do. It's lines were extremely flattering and sensual but it left everything to the imagination. Ironically, that made its appeal far more magnetic than before. It glittered and shimmered with the slightest movement but also kept any of the injuries from opening and kept the wounds still and undisturbed, even from normal movement. Only the internal pains that remained would pose any difficulty during their walk.

Shale was flushed again. His control of the blood bond slipped enough for his own pain and weakness to slip through. His blood replaced itself quickly so its loss was not important, however, the searing of every bloodvessel in his body twice was proving to be a significant drain on his energy and attention. It would take days for that pain to heal. Casting spells quickly required a heavy price from him. The demands of his King's wishes were becoming extremely dangerous for him.

He leaned on his staff for support and opened the cell as he had before. This time, however, he extended his free hand to Ilea. "You have done well. Rise and follow." With her hand in his, his gaunt frame led her at a moderate pace out of the chamber and up the stairs. He ensured that the Void sealed behind them and maintained his best speed, which was not impressive at the moment, to where the spire was to be. There was no time to lose.

((Exit directly to Spire))  

[Wolfe Garm]

Being Courteous, and patient

Red Gypsy

Lady Zosne Shunloh

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Lady Zosne eventually caught up with the Primus and Grinnen with the prisoner by the sealed door, and stepped through them towards the door and shook her head as they watched her press her hand up against the door, the blood seal coming to life as it pierced her hand and drew blood causing her to cringe in pain, the primus slightly uncomfortable as he watched. When the seal was released Zosne looked at the legionnaires holding the prisoner and gestured for them to proceed “go ahead, put her in the first cell I’ll deal with her later once the castle has been cleansed of traitors” Zosne paused as a group of legionnaires came towards them with prisoners in tow a couple of them wearing guard uniforms and growled slightly as they passed by and into the pit to deposit their catches “Primus collect your men and get those blasted devices out of here before they’ve been triggered, I trust Gaelan will keep me updated on any developments from his end” the Primus nodded and looked at Grinnen “of course we’ll let him know when he see him next, for now good luck Lady Zosne” thE primus bowed slightly and gestured for his legionnaires to follow, leaving Lady Zosne shaking her head as they left and just stepped over to the cell that the prisoner was in and grinned in delight in the opportunity to squeeze her of information but decided that now wasn’t the time to hear her scream and decided that she needed to unwind and attend the sparring match that she was going to have with Brim. Glancing over her shoulder as she spoke up “make sure security into this area is tight until that door is closed, I don’t want anyone coming in without my say or leaving” a couple of legionnaires saluted and followed Zosne to the blood sealed door and took position to keep it secured, another group coming through with more prisoners, one legionnaire pausing to hand Zosne a couple of rings and carried on. Zosne looked at the rings and couldn’t help but shake her head “this has to stop I won’t let the castle be so infested by traitors” Zosne changed to her demon form as she moved to leave the area.

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is better than being rude, and no one wants that.