She took a breath, feeling pain in her strained wrists. Her arms were strapped to something and pushed behind her body, almost to the point of snapping. She tried to move her arms and felt a metal ring on each of her wrists, biting deeply into her skin. She could feel the metal pole behind herself, her neck was pressed to the cold metal by a steel ring. Her legs were tied together and pressed to the metal pole by something that felt like a metal net. Her body hurt; stiffness from being unable to move for who knows how many hours, as well as the side effects of being beaten, electrocuted, and possibly drugged, kicked in.
Annie smiled, enjoying the pain, and opened her eyes. She was in a small cell, with bright light shining directly into her eyes. She heard the angry breath of the Virginia somewhere to her left and the whining sounds of Ron to her right. The accursed metal around her neck made it impossible to turn her head, the edges of the metal were slicing through her skin each time she tried to break through. She felt her own blood run down her neck and felt calm. She was alive. Her allies were alive.
A figure stepped from the light, covering almost the entire view of the wolfkin. Clad in oversized power armor, the person was built of a golem. The figure's metal pauldrons rose higher than the head, and each finger, covered in reinforced gleaming steel, was thicker than Annie's fingers. Even with Annie’s legs not touching the ground, the figure was towering over her. A single pistol could be seen on the hip of the figure, the vambrace on its left arm had a built-in terminal. The figure's helmet had been made in a square shape, and rows of cables ran from underneath the helmet to the back of the figure and to its shoulders. Two crimson lenses of the helmet burrowed into Annie’s eyes, trying to gauge something. With a soft hissing sound, the helmet of the figure splits into three parts, sliding onto the shoulders and onto the back. The rough woman’s face looked at the Annie, she looked as if someone had cut her from the slab of stone. A metallic breather device, fashioned after a jaw, replaced the lower part of the woman, her each breath was accompanied by a loud hiss.
"Greetings, cripple." Annie smiled at this strange woman.
The woman's gray eyes didn't betray a hint of emotion. Still sizing up prisoners, the woman spoke in a hoarse voice: "They don’t look strong to me."
"Then surely you won’t be against the idea of betting a lot of tokens against them, right?" Ultis asked in a sweet tone, coming from the lights. She was still dressed in the same black cloak and power armor without a helmet. A sturdy looking man with short black hair and a few scars on his face accompanied Ultis. On his combat gear, he bore the marks of the Rift Talons.
"Hello there, poppet," Annie said, her smile widening and revealing her fangs, "Pray come closer, I wish to sing you a tune."
"Please, spare us," Ron whined, loudly crying, "The command will pay a ransom for us."
"I will cleave you from head to chisel and feed your remains to your dogs!" Virginia growled and the mercenary looked at her with a smile on his face.
The woman was silent, continuing to look at the prisoners from head to toes. She stood just outside the reach of Annie’s jaws. The wolf hag tried her best to try and bite her but could not even move an inch. Finally, she tried to spit at the woman. The right hand of the woman moved to the vambrace with the terminal. She pressed a single button, and Ron’s screams filled the room.
Annie felt how her very neck was on fire. A metal collar underneath the metal ring on her neck went hot, taking away control over her body and spearing her with pain over and over again. A searing heat was spreading from this blasted thing, flowing through the veins and the muscles like a torrent of lava. Annie deduced from the growling sound coming from Virginia that the stupid idiot was suffering from the same effects. She tried to breath and found that she couldn’t. Molten metal now filled her lungs, each attempt to inhale air was met with a surge of pain.
"Don’t ruin my goods, please," Ultis said with an annoyance in her voice, looking at the trashed bodies before her. She frowned at her pretty nose and took a handkerchief soaked with perfume out of her cloak and pressed it to her nose when Ron released his bowels, "The male is already at his limit. Turn off the slave collars, if you would."
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Oh, so you know what these are?" The woman pressed a button, and Annie hungrily gasped for air, feeling how the searing heat let go of her lungs.
"Wore one for five years," Ultis tapped at her neck, "Along with a tiny weeny bomby thingy that was placed into my womb. Kept me disciplined until I clawed all this away from myself," She smiled innocently, "And then I clawed away the eyes of the one who did this to me."
"This is why you need these tubes each time you leave for a leak," The woman asked, and Ultis raised her brow in surprise, "Don’t be surprised. You are my dear guest, how could I leave you out of my vision even for a second?"
"Show some respect to the commander." The mercenary snapped angrily, putting his hand over a pistol on his belt, and the woman glanced at him.
"I will show respect to whoever I want, Roll," She locked her gaze on the mercenary, and he held it. Whoever this person was, he was no coward, "I am surprised that you lot chose to follow another wolfkin, after the last one led your group to ruin."
"You are kidding, right?" Roll calmly asked, "Ultis was the one who helped us to take over the Tinkov facility. She was the one who helped us escape from the prison and ensured that we landed back on our feet."
"I was quite a busy birdy," Ultis smiled upon seeing how Annie's face turned into a stone mask. The mercenary leader shrugged her shoulders, wiping out the blood from the corner of her mouth, "Not my fault that you were all so stupid."
"Ultis," Virginia had managed to say, her every word filled with pain, "Would you like me to devour both your eyes at once, or should I leave one to you, so you could see how your life will expire for your treachery?" The wolf hag groaned from pain once more when the woman pressed something on her terminal once again.
The towering woman looked down on the snout of Annie. Another figure came from the lights, a bald man with an impressive mustache that curled all the way back to his left ear. The left side of the man’s face was normal, even somewhat handsome. And the right side of his face was a thing of horror. The flesh lay in folds on his face, shape of his skull on the right resembled that of a guard dog, and instead of teeth he had rows of sharp looking fangs on the right side of his mouth. He was dressed in a brown vest, a simple white shirt underneath, and black trousers.
"Hilda," The man beast said, pointing at Annie, "I saw this one on TV once."
"Indeed, mister Hecktricktsen," Ultis responded to the man. Her voice changed from calm and assured to a slightly more worried tone. She also started speaking a bit more quickly. Whoever this man was, Ultis was wary of him, "She was from the group that received a reward from Iterna. Also, she has a sister in the Core Lands, heir to some rich daddies. I plan to see if her little sis carries enough for her to pay some tokens. Of course, Ultis will be welcome to 20% of this money as a token of my appreciation for providing us with a safe haven," Ultis said to Hilda, when the massive woman turned to look at the mercenary leader. The mercenary leader boldly smiled into Annie’s face, "Don’t ya worry, dear scout. You will bring me quite a catch either way. Die on the arena and I will milk your sis. Live on long enough and I will still milk your sis. Isn’t this fun?"
"Ultis," Annie smiled through the pain, "How about you free me instead? I can show you such wonders, my dear, and all for free. Just come a little bit closer…"
"Why, it is a wonderful idea," Ultis smiled and stepped back into light, "Hilda, would it be okay to free them? They do have a match scheduled to earn their keep."
"We are going to have to fight?" Ron asked in horror.
"Not you, weakling." Ultis responded, while restraints fell from Annie’s body, allowing her to land on the floor. She stood up and prepared to jump at the woman before her. Hilda slapped Annie out of the air with contemptuous ease, the impact from the slap caused Annie to loudly crash into the floor, leaving a small dent on a metal surface. Virginia growled in an anger and Hilda pressed a finger to the terminal, looking with bored eyes at the wolfkins before her and waiting for heavy-breathing Annie to stand up, "You will have another job and you will play it well, or I'll sell your hide to mister Hecktricktsen," The light went out, revealing a single exit from the cell, surrounded by several guards, all of whom were pointing weapons at Annie and her fellows, "You belong to me now, scout. Work your ass for me."
"I think I will take your bet. One thousand twenty credits are on them dying. For your sake, Ultis, I hope they will entertain the guests somewhat before dying." Hilda smiled, walking out of the cell. Virginia moved at the guards, but one of their number reached for a terminal in his hand, and the wolfkin fell on one knee, growling from pain.
Annie took a deep breath to calm herself, listening to the whining sounds of Ron, who was being dragged away by the guards. Still pointing their weapons at the wolfkins, the soldiers forced Annie and Virginia to move into the corridor.