“Ya know, for a moment I almost thought you were going to be harder on us,” Ditan said. “I’m so glad I was mistaken. So let me guess. You sent her away to spare her womanly feelings. I never knew the Eluvan Vigil could be so charitable.”

“For a man who just had his ear cut off and balls crushed, you keep going. False bravado may be an appropriate course of action for you, Ditan. Is it your goal to get killed? I would find that most thrilling, you know.” Eilic slugged him. Ditan gasped.

“It’s deflection mostly. Noble sacrifice and all that. Keep yer eyes fixed on me and not on her,” he wheezed. “The longer we’re apart, the less likely you’ll harm us.”

Eilic laughed a deep, genuine laugh. Ditan wondered if he over-estimated his captor. The craze in the man’s gray eyes focused on him as Eilic wiped his dagger clean with a rag.

“You are an optimistic fool, gobbo. Tell me. Is it the elements that make you so free with your tongue, or are you just stupid?

That’s a really good question. I’d like it if you gave me a nudge in the right direction, ya know.

-It is hard.-

Well, it’s that or I die. Ya know, it’s not a big deal I guess in the larger scheme of things. I am kinda partial to living, though.

-Life abides.-

What does that mean? Will I abide? Or will others go on without me? I’d really like to know.

“Ma assures me that if stupid had a mouth, it would be mine.” Ditan couldn’t see where they’d taken Trynneia; her two captors had disappeared with her into the trees. A few others lingered where he could see them, but he knew the rest hid elsewhere.

“Indeed.” Eilic flexed his hand. “The Warden wants you alive. He said nothing about whole. Now that she’s gone, shall I take another piece? Every breath you waste urges me on.” The Sentinel grasped his hair and yanked his head back. “I should do to you what I did to her, but it would mean less. Men don’t care about their hair or their appearance like women do. You’re fine to be mucked up.”

Ditan’s vulnerability did little to coax his mouth to remain silent. Keep him focused on me, he thought. Maybe she can find a way to escape while he’s occupied here. “It certainly wouldn’t be worth the effort. It wouldn’t take but a minute to shave me.”

“I wouldn’t be as delicate with you. Besides, there is something sexy about a bald woman. You know how it is, don’t you gobbo?”

He’d never felt a moment of attraction for Trynneia, but the Sentinel’s glib suggestiveness made his stomach turn. Okay, I definitely need to keep him away from her. I don’t know what he’ll do to her.

-You need sleep.-

Yeah? Well, I can’t do that if she’s gonna be in danger, so help me out or shut up.

-Apologies.-

Doing it the hard way, I suppose. When you feel like helping, I might still be alive. Thank you very much.

He worked at the bonds between his hand and feet, only succeeding in bloodying himself as Eilic watched, amused. No hues surrounded the man, almost as if the Sentinel managed to banish them. Ditan understood what it meant: The Vigil had some means to subdue or obscure his connection to the elements. The fuzzing in his head accompanied it, as well as their short, faint replies. All of those things together could not be coincidence.

“I’ve nearly a full Cadre here and a few more on the way. What hope do you have to escape? Would that keep her safe? Would you survive?” Eilic caressed the ear he’d recently removed. “She did a good job. Can she do so again, I wonder?” Ditan flinched involuntarily. “She has no understanding of her limits. I think that’s why he wanted to keep you. Experimentation.”

“You kill shamans.” He didn’t know why he blurted that out. It seemed the most logical conclusion to the random ideas flitting through his mind.

“Yes,” Eilic said, twisting Ditan’s head from side to side as if searching for something. The goblin stopped struggling, afraid of what the man would do. “Most of us do it quickly. You are too dangerous to keep alive, of course. Fast and efficient. Keep things to a minimum of fuss. Not me. I’m a cat. I like to play with my food.”

“It will go sour, I promise you.” The way the man had savored their blood struck Ditan as odd. Perhaps he genuinely meant they were food to him. Do men eat other men? Can that be a thing?

-Men are perverse.-

Tell me about it.

-No.-

Fine, have it your way.

“Oh, I want you to play back. It makes things more exciting for me. Resistance breeds a lust in me that I enjoy sating.” Eilic grinned, but his eyes did not match the expression. They lacked morality and soul.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

He is disturbing me on so many levels, Ditan thought. This is a sick game to him. I’m just a toy. Eilic threw him down, and he slammed his head on the ground. The Sentinel began to circle him like a wild animal. Somewhere nearby, the Red let loose a manic giggle. She’d been silent since they had taken Trynneia away, and he’d forgotten her entirely.

I don’t even know what game he plays. He’s not some falx to sniff out a bundy. He’d catch the bundy, snap its neck, then thrash it around for hours until he got bored, then abandon it. I’m nothing to him.

Eilic kicked dirt in his face. Ditan gagged and spat, trying to get it out of his mouth, but unable to do much more than blink it from his eyes. It irritated him.

“Just word games, Eilic? You sent her away for this? I thought you were going to do something more drastic.” Light, why do I taunt him? Stupid mouth indeed. Mother would be proud.

“Around and around we go like a mill. I will enjoy the pulp you make, gob. You are a foul, disgusting, loathsome creature, Ditan. Yes, I want your death. I will have your death in due time. Once Modius is done with you, you’ll wish you were anywhere but near me.”

“I hope he decides what to do soon because I hate the way you smell, Eilic.”

“You haven’t bathed in days, gobbo. Let me help with that.” Eilic undid his trousers and began to urinate on the helpless goblin. “I hope you’re thirsty. Don’t let that go to waste. I won’t have my men giving you their water. They’ve at least earned it.”

Ditan spluttered and squinted, the urea burning his eyes. At least it rinsed the dirt out, he thought. Light that’s disgusting. And he thinks I am degenerate. Don’t say anything about…

“I see now, and I wish I hadn’t. You sent her away to save yourself the embarrassment. Probably for the best,” Ditan said. He tried shrugging his way free of the muddy puddle that surrounded his head but only succeeded in smearing it all over his face and body.

I need to figure out how to stop this dampening field they have. It’s the only advantage they have, but boy it’s a massive one. Well, that and they know how to fight. And they have an insane priestess. This whole group must be amoral.

“You two are so alike, and yet so different. But I see you too, gobbo. A warren-less wretch who has never been part of a clan. They raised you like a human. Have you ever thought why your parents left their warren? Hrm.” Eilic circled him again, passing in and out of sight as Ditan struggled to watch him. “I will learn this for you, Ditan.”

“Because yer merciful,” Ditan mocked. “This is the part where I say thank ya, right? Well, I appreciate the mercy. But with respect, go fuck yerself.”

“I appreciate your attempt at sincerity, but you are a liar.” Eilic grasped Ditan’s forearms and lifted him with ease. He spun several times and released him. The goblin’s lighter weight carried him through the air into nearby bushes.

Ditan braced for the impact but his tied limbs only allowed him to tense up. Nettles and thorns tore his naked body, several of them embedding deep in his muscles. Sariam began chanting nearby, and he watched aghast as the blood leaking from his wounds began to peel away from his skin, floating in midair as the woman gestured.

She muttered as she moved, her lips moving in terse bursts. Ditan thought he’d never seen her so intent on her actions. Trails of blood snaked around, draping him and the underbrush with an eerie garland that sprouted flower-like geysers. They began to constrict around him, chill to the touch. Eilic watched with his soul-less gray eyes.

Are my eyes playing tricks, or are there symbols there? He traced the looping swirls his blood made, recognizing the same ones that had been present in his jail cell. Is that how they do it? Where the blood now touched his skin, it burned away, leaving marks charred into his flesh. He screamed loud and incoherent.

“That will do, mother. Thank you.” Eilic approached him. “See? Civility works wonders if you can bring yourself to be kind.”

Ditan laughed through his delirium. “I’m so glad you know how to show kindness, Sentinel.”

“Oh, so now we’re deferring to titles again. I thought we were on a first-name basis, shaman,” he sneered. “Perhaps our kindness was misplaced.”

“You just pushed your name right out of my head. I’d rather call you that than ‘monster’ or ‘fucking bastard.’”

“Maybe I’ve been too merciful. What do you think, mother?”

“Too nice. Too kind,” she said in a sing-song voice.

“My thoughts exactly,” Ditan agreed.

“Just as you are a glutton for food, you seem to be a glutton for punitive measures. You think in some sad, demented way that your attention-seeking helps her, don’t you?”

Yes.

“Yes.”

“No one has ever humbled you, I think. Your weak Magistrate let you go too often. I excel at those. I know how ill-at-ease you were in that jail cell. Your father’s bribes kept you free when you needed to learn from your failures. Shall I humble him, mother?”

“He must be humbled in the Light. Yes,” she said, rocking forward and backward where she sat. “Humble.”

“Your mother is just a brain-dead puppet, Eilic. Surely you don’t listen to her,” Ditan said. What a pair they make. I can’t tell which one has the more vile soul.

“Oh, I take everything she says into proper consideration. It was my suggestion anyway. It is time to humble you.”

Eilic’s dagger began to cut into Ditan’s skin. He showed no restraint as he carved symbols on every limb. Deep cuts and shallow wounds criss-crossed Ditan’s skin. He screamed, unable to help himself.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you the rules. This is the part where you are silent. The more you scream, the worse it is for you,” Eilic said matter-of-factly. “Keep him awake, mother.”

“Yesss, awake!” Sariam hissed.

Awake, not alive. Just let me bleed out. There’s only so much I can have left in me. He whimpered as the fresh wounds leaked blood that joined his bonds, pulling him deeper into the bushes. Wood splintered and broke off inside him.

“Remember, young friend. Frame this in your mind, you impetuous little anomaly. This is me being merciful.”

Ditan shuddered. The bushes bore his weight, and that same weight forced him down onto hundreds of jagged twigs and branches. “Thank you, Eilic,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

“At last, a genuine response. It is noted. I’ll let you dwell on how you will deal with me in the future. We’ll get you when the rest are ready to depart.”

The Sentinel and the Red left, and Ditan began to scream.