The heavy breathless touch pressed in on Alexandre's back, thick as the air, choking out any sense of time or place. Darkness stretched endlessly in every direction, swallowing the faintest glimmer of memory his eyes had caught before, challenging him to prove himself right against the ageless darkness, pierced by screams beyond human ability to make.
His hands, trembling, he reached out into the void, searching for something anything solid to grasp really. But his fingers met only the cold emptiness. He couldn't even be sure if he was still in the cage, somehow freed by sorcery and bumping his fingers against the wall. The rattle of distant chains was a reminder of where he was but his legs ached as though they stood on solid ground, but his mind couldn't trust the sensation. It could be nothing more than an illusion, the cruel trick of a body desperate for orientation, seeking the familiar.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears, the only real sound in this vast, talkative silence he found himself in. He remembered being stuck here with other people but could a person cry for so long? Where would they get so much water from?
The boundaries of his body seemed to blur, his own feeling becoming indistinguishable from the void around him. He was unsure where his skin ended and the blackness began. Panic gnawed at the edges of his mind, kept in line only by Claire's memory. Unfortunately, his body needed something more immediate, something to fight against to not succumb but with no tangible terror to fight against his body dragged Alex on a meandering walk accompanied by the relentless, oppressive absence of everything.
He tried to move forward, though he couldn't say where forward was anymore. Maybe the System hid a secret that only he could access and he wasn't that much of a fool. His footstep made no sound, no echo, as though the void swallowed even the smallest proof of his presence.
A hot humid breath touched Alexandre's nape in the darkness and the human didn't even flinch, his senses dulled by the constant eerie feelings one would turn their head to check.
Slow, creaking and painful, that was the feelings accompanying the white blindness which suddenly filled the black void. The feeling of reality returning to his eyes would have caused Alex to jump in jubilation if not for the pain which caused him to dive down and hide from the purging light.
A piercing scream filled the air, so loud and wild that Alexandre was unsure if he was screaming or someone else.
"Are they supposed to behave like Ghouls after only a day in the hole?" The scream suddenly cut off and a calm voice emerged over the newfound silence. "You know that insane merchandise sells for less, even when collared."
"We can assure you that our methods create only the most submissive of slaves." Another voice said.
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Slowly forcing his eyes open, Alexandre saw as a gaggle of shadows moved toward the cages. A metallic choir of chains erupted all around him as the workers climbed on the cages and began to unload the humans inside.
He watched as some people voicelessly tried to fight against their captors but most figures fished out of the metal cages appeared like dolls, limply following the motioned instructions of the workers.
Eventually, it was his turn to leave. First, a worker with heavy chain mail gloves reached into his cell and unlocked the chain keeping his handcuffs shackled to the cell's floor. Before Alexandre could soak in the small freedom the hatch above him opened. He tried to say something but a pink ring manifested itself around his neck, swirling around him like ink in water. The Mute spell didn't work perfectly as he could hear himself yelp at his body unexpectedly feeling weightless. He tried to find the mage casting all these spells in the vain hope of learning something but the Telekinesis locked his muscles still as he ascended through the hatch.
Alexandre in all his downward diving life couldn't have imagined that the feeling of a rock jammed uncomfortably against his thigh could be so comforting but it was a nice thing to feel something else than the even hardness of steel.
He alongside other unfortunates had been sat against a long stone wall in one long row. Having his first proper look at the people around him, he couldn't see any pattern whatsoever. In a way that was a good thing given that meant he had many steps to go through between here and the auction house.
"Unmute," An older man wearing colourful silk garments so popular with Oriri mages waved a hand at a person five spaces to the right of Alexandre. "Kneel and kiss my ring."
The mage extended his hand toward the person below him. The man with a full beard and build like an ox glanced at the aggressively red gem lodged in the electrum ring.
A big fat slug of saliva hit the ground between the two after a particularly long journey as the man rejected the mage's offer, yet he was not brave enough to hit the sorcerer even though he could have easily done it.
Alexandre could feel the collective shock of everyone's gaze as instead of being severely punished the man was left alone and the mage stepped toward the next person. Three others turned their head away from the elderly sorcerer, and for a short moment, it appeared that everyone would remain sitting down. A woman with large wet streaks on her face nervously ran her head on her freshly cut scalp appearing almost catatonic. Whatever her story was. Alexandre could see that getting knocked out was a rather pleasant way to get enslaved if there was such a thing. The mage said the same phrase in the same tone as he did before. Unmuted a soft cry could be heard as the woman sobbed not paying attention to the mage.
The oldest of Senchors didn't like how the mage watched the woman. Somewhere in his mind, he expected the mage to show a hint of lustful emotion or furious anger toward the tattered woman but instead, the mage stared at a fellow human like an inconvenient tool.
Alexandre didn't like this entire theatre. He could see a man dressed in what could only be described as a uniform of middlemen he sometimes had the misfortune of selling to, impatiently tapping his foot while another sharply dressed person whispered into his ear.
This was clearly not a regular procedure and the entire thing smelled of Geni'i trick. There was simply no reason for a mage, an Oriripol mage at that to simply let slaves be so openly rebellious. There had to be a reason for this all and Alexandre didn't like he couldn't see through their tricks.
He did say something about being collared.
A red eye filled the thief's vision. With a single wave of his hand, the Geni'i caused the pink collar to flash into existence and wash away into the aether. The noble could finally see the two mana potions on the mage's hip as the silk-wearing figure stood right in front of his tired feet.
He really does intend to do this to everyone.
Alexandre thought to himself, quickly trying to weigh the pros and cons of this momentous decision. His ankles didn't praise him as the metal dug into his ankle as he forced himself to raise his back away from the wall.
Claire is more important than honour.
Thinking of a way to give a taste of the mana-rich blood to his daggers, Alexandre the last living patriarch of Senchor House coldly kissed the electrum ring.
A part of his mind was shocked that he wasn't engulfed in flames for kissing the Geni'i ring. His mind couldn't dwell on the enigmatic reasons for the lack of burns as he was picked up like a sack of earthfruit and led into another room.