NANOWRIMO Day 5: Now with more torture

Chapter 6 – This Will Only Hurt A Little

Taliel had no concept of time down in the dungeons, minutes seemed like hours and hours seemed like days. None of the creatures had ever returned since locking him in this minuscule cell. There had been no food, no water, no contact with anything other than the constant screams of agony that permeated the prison incessantly. With no chamber pots or any waste receptacles, he was forced to spend his waking hours gagging on the smell and the nights laying in it.

Hope was fading fast as it didn't seem like anything good could possibly come of the situation. Voices started popping up in his head, telling him that life wasn't worth living anymore. Most of the time these were easily ignored, but as time continued to pass, it got worse. Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, the doors to his cell squeaked open.

Surprised by the sudden intrusion, Taliel stood staring as two of the monstrosities entered the room and pulled him out of the cell. He was lead forcibly through the same corridors that they had brought him through not that long ago. He was unsure what was going to happen, was he going to be executed or interrogated? Did they even speak his language?

They finally reached an end to a corridor, ending with a large set of double doors. One of the beasts that had been following them, walked around and swung the massive doors open inward. Taliel was scared from his first sight of the room, it was filled with all manner of hanging cages and diabolical looking instruments that were pretty much all covered in what looked to be blood.

With the doors open, they forced him into the room. He looked in terror at what appeared to be a dark elf standing in the middle of the room, cloaked in floor length black robes. The elf was a woman, but lacked a gentle face, instead wearing a look of pure spite and anger. He was led to a table stationed next to the woman, laid down on top of it and strapped into place by manacles attached to the floor.

“Ah, our newest prisoner,” she said with a voice of pure venom.

“What are you doing with me?”

“You will have a role to play in the events unfolding. The question is whether you will cooperate peacefully or if we will have to do things the hard way.”

“I will never do what you ask, you foul creature. You will suffer the full wrath of the Empire for this.”

“Looks like it will be the hard way. Let us begin then,” she said, walking over to table covered in odd, smoking potions and sharp instruments.

Examining the objects on the table, she first selected a small crystal vial filled with a pure black liquid. She turned around and while giving a strange smile to Taliel motioned for one of the beasts to hold his head back and mouth open. She slowly uncapped the vial and poured the contents down the back of his throat. He tried to scream, but the ice cold liquid produced a strange feeling. Almost as if everything was shutting down, he couldn't speak and noticed that he no longer had control over his limbs. He had been paralyzed and there was nothing he could do about it.

She walked back over to the table and picked up another vial. This was a slightly larger and bulbous one filled with a thick, orange syrup. With her prisoner unable to resist, she slowly poured the concoction down his throat, laughing ever so slightly as she did. Seconds passed as Taliel wondered what was going on, he didn't feel anything happening. It suddenly hit him though, it felt as though tiny insects were crawling around on the inside of his skin. As it progressed it felt as though they were constantly biting on his organs, causing him immense pain.

The urge to scream and start scratching at his skin was overwhelming and even though his mouth was open, not a sound was coming out. The pain continued to intensify, driving him mad. Soon it felt as though the insects were crawling around in his throat, making their way up to his brain. As the sensation of biting on his brain began, the pain became too much and everything went white with him losing consciousness.

Taliel was unsure of how long he had been out, but as he came to he heard a voice screaming bloody murder. The realization that it was his own voice came shortly thereafter. “So, have you changed your mind about helping us,” her voice came from behind him.

“I will never help you. You can do whatever you want to me, but my mind will never change.”

“We will see about that.”

She walked slowly back to her cart of horrors and picked up another vial of potion. This one did not have a stopper in it, and was spewing black smoke non-stop. The liquid was reddish-orange in coloration, and seemed hot to the touch by her reaction. With a flick of her hand, the beast's hands were back at his head, forcing it back and his mouth open.

“This may hurt a bit,” she laughed, pouring the vial down his throat. The second the liquid hit skin, Taliel was hit with the worst burning sensation he had ever felt. He could feel the pain as it slowly traveled throughout his body. It felt as though some had covered his entire body in flames, but rather than being damaged, he solely felt the pain. The pain was even worse than the previous potion and he wasn't paralyzed this time.

He kicked and thrashed with his arms and legs, bloodying himself where the manacles were attached. The entire time, a blood curdling scream was leaving his lips. It was an odd sensation, but it almost felt as though the sounds of screaming were coming from someone else, like he was detached from the sound.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her approaching with another vial. As she poured it down his throat, everything changed. The burning sensation was replaced with the feeling of ice. His entire body was slowing down and he could see his breath coming out in puffs of white mist. He looked down and watched as his skin tuned blue. He started to shiver uncontrollably, as his body temperature continued to drop. His thoughts began to cloud as he was unable to even put a coherent sentence together anymore.

Almost as soon as the sensation came, it was gone. “Have you given my offer anymore thought?”

“I will never help. You will have to kill me first.”

“Oh the thought has crossed my mind. Let's try one more thing.”

As she said this, she placed her cold hand on his forward. A few unintelligible words were spoken, then everything went black for Taliel. When he woke, he was back in his room at home. The smell of breakfast wafted through the air and the sounds of cattle rustling outside calmed him down.

“That must have been a really bad dream.”

He curled back under the covers of the bed and tried to squeeze a few more hours of sleep in. He opened his eyes to the sight of his mother entering the room.
“Honey, if you don't get up, you are going to miss breakfast.”
“Okay, mother, I'll be down shortly.”

As soon as his mother had left the room, he climbed from the bed and found some clothes to put on. He quickly bounded down the stairs towards the kitchen. The smell of bacon was wafting through the air and he realized he was absolutely starving. As soon as he entered the room, he saw his father sitting at the table helping himself to the food. Happy to see him, he bounded over and clapped his hand on his father's shoulder, saying, “Mornin' pops.”

But the second his hand touched, his father burst into flames. His father's screams of agony quickly grabbed his mother's attention. She came running over, crying hysterically. She turned to him asking, “What have you done?”

“I don't know, I just touched him and he went up in flames.” He grabbed hold of his mother to comfort her, but the same thing happened to her too. Taliel stood in shock, tears streaming down his face as he watched his parents writhe in agony. The thought of throwing water on them quickly entered his mind. Running outside, he grabbed a pail that was sitting next to the door. Hurriedly he went back inside and tried dousing his parents. The problem was that the water never reached them, it evaporated in mid-air forcing him to watch his parents die.

He turned to start running, but everything suddenly went black. He opened his eyes minutes later to find that he was laying back in his bed again. The same smells of breakfast wafted through the air. Cautiously, he stood up and began dressing. He made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. The scene was much the same as he had seen it last, his dad helping himself to food and mother finishing the cooking. Rather than going to his father at the start, he decided to sit down at the table.
He grabbed a piece of bacon to satisfy his hunger but watched in horror as he brought it to his mouth it vanished. He tried again with another piece and the same thing happened. Just then his mother walked up behind him.

“Have a good sleep?” she asked, placing her hand on his shoulder. She quickly recoiled as she was suddenly engulfed in flames.

Looking up from his meal, his father saw what was happening. He ran over and took a rough hold of Taliel, having to let go shortly afterward when he caught fire too. Taliel stood up and began running from the house. “Why me? Why?” he screamed at the top of his lungs. Everything went dark and he opened his eyes to find himself in his bed with the smell of bacon in the air.