"Luna…!" Kane exclaimed as he woke up with a start. 

His head and back attempted to lurch forward on instinct but couldn't. He was restrained. Thick metal bands secured his head, wrists, and ankles, keeping him firmly in place. 

But he didn't care. Not now. Not yet. All he saw in front of his eyes were Luna's last moments as that blue-haired elf skewered her body on his staff. Unbridled rage filled his heart. Guilt. Despair. Devastating loneliness. 

"She's dead…" he rasped emotionally. Images of the ever-present catling played through his mind. He remembered her loyalty. Her playfulness. The fact she made any situation better by merely being there. 

Something he realized would never happen again. 

He closed his eyes and balled his fists. His body trembled. Pain and more pain filled his mind. He knew life would never be the same.

He may have only known her for four years, but they had been with each other almost constantly in that time. Doing everything together. She was the only person in the world truly on his side, and his side alone. 

'I— I loved her…' he realized in that moment. Unfortunately, it was too late. 'I should have forced her to stay behind…'

Guilt wrecked his body. 

'What do I have left now…?' he muttered inwardly. 'A life of pain, loneliness, and regret?' 

His mind fell silent. A minute passed. Two. 

But then a spark appeared. 'No…' he mumbled as his breathing quickened. 'I have one more thing to live for…' 

He started seething and opened his eyes again. This time, they were filled with all-consuming fury. 'I have revenge… Those elves will die screaming, and so will their families. Father will die like a rat in a maze. Riftshade will burn…!' 

Before his thoughts could get much farther, his discipline clamped down on his thoughts. 'But first I have to survive and get out of here,' he realized, his enraged mind filling with determination.

Finally, with a new purpose, he tried to get an idea of where he was. 

He struggled against his bonds but was unable to even turn his head. Instead, he moved his eyes, but all he could see was a pure white ceiling and some equally colourful walls. 

He was splayed out on some sort of table at a 45-degree angle. Naked. 

'Is this… am I being dissected or something?!' he exclaimed angrily inside his mind. 'What the fuck is going on here?!' 

Since his eyes were useless, he closed them, and perked up his ears instead. For five minutes, he kept entirely silent as he tried to listen to any nearby sounds. But then he had to give up and open his eyes again. 'I can hear the soft hum of some machinery, but nothing of use…' he cursed inwardly. 

Never before had he truly felt this helpless. 

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It wasn't the first time he'd been restrained like this. Father liked to play his little games, and once or twice that had involved Kane being strapped to a table like this for one thing or another. 

But he always knew that he just had to make it through the game and not give in to his father's madness. But this time, he simply had no idea what was happening, or going to happen. All he knew was that he was being held captive by the people that killed Luna. 

Which meant they were not on his side. Even if they wanted to be, it was far too late for that. 'If I make it through this… I will find a way to tear down their world,' he promised himself, gritting his teeth with determination. 

He struggled against his bonds for a few more minutes, but whatever metal these were made of, it was far too tough for a Core Awakening Mystic like himself. 

So, he stopped and tried to calm down. 'There's no way to get free on my own… all I can do is save my energy, and hope for a chance.' 

Suddenly, he heard a sliding sound, as if a door was opening. 

He quickly closed his eyes and forced his heartbeat to slow down. 'Even if I probably still can't understand them, pretending to still be unconscious might allow me to learn something.' 

So, he stayed quiet. Footsteps entered the room he was in. Melodious voices, both male and female, talked in that same strange language as the elves from before. He felt his fury rising from simply hearing it.

He tried to decipher what they were saying, but quickly gave up. He was never a linguistic genius. His focus was more on engineering and fighting. 

For five minutes, he could hear these people walking around, machines humming, things being moved around, unknown words being exchanged. Unfortunately, Kane learned nothing during all this. 

Suddenly, the light in front of his face darkened, and he realized there was something there. Deciding he wasn't going to learn anything by pretending any longer, he opened his eyes. 

'Beautiful,' was the first word that came to mind, despite the fury in his heart. In front of him hovered the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Vibrant golden hair. Softly glowing, alabaster skin. Light-green, almond eyes. High cheekbones, and a cute nose. She also had long, pointy ears, meaning she was likely the same race as the people that killed Luna. 

For a moment, he was stunned by the sight. But then, wrath overtook him again and he started noticing the face's flaws. Not in its appearance perhaps, but in the greed, cruelty, and inborn arrogance that lay behind those beautiful eyes. 

So, he did the first thing that came to mind: he spat in her face. 

Unfortunately, the spittle never reached her as it simply disintegrated soundlessly before even coming close. 

The face blinked a little in surprise before grinning viciously.

She turned away again and said some words he once again couldn't understand, yet, somehow, made his skin crawl. "/He's got spirit. Take that away, please. And make it hurt. I want my new pet ready by the end of the day./" 

After that, the elven woman disappeared. 

Immediately, the surroundings became even busier, and Kane realized something was happening. 

'Dammit, I need to get out of here,' he snarled inwardly and started struggling against his bonds again. His grunting and roaring echoed through the room, but it went ignored. 

Soon, some new faces moved several machines in place around his body. Some of these had a large number of smaller needles; others had longer, dangerous-looking needles. But everything had needles. 

"What the hell are you people doing?!" he roared, despite knowing they wouldn't answer, or couldn't understand. 

And as expected, he went ignored. 

Finally, an especially large needle was placed in front of his forehead, aligning a small hole left in the metal band restraining his head.

'That's not good…' he thought as concern and urgency rose inside him. He struggled harder, his wrists and ankles burning with pain, but the bonds held firm. 

Machines whirred to life, their low hums growing louder. Smaller needles moved into position around his arms, legs, and torso. Kane's heart pounded in his chest. 

His eyes darted to the large needle hovering ominously above his forehead. The whirring reached a crescendo. His muscles strained against the bonds. He roared and cursed, but it was of no use. 

Without warning, the many needles plunged into his flesh. 

Pain. All-consuming pain. His mouth opened in a silent scream, eyes wide with agony, searching for relief and finding none. 

Then, darkness.