Chapter 8: Repercussions of material manipulation

"Where did you get that?" one of them demanded.

'Oh, here we go.' I thought.

"Answer him now!" threatened the second guard.

Not being very creative or intelligent, the man holding the chunk of half-eaten bread replied, "I was...given it."

"Given it by whom?" the first guard asked.

When he didn't answer right away, the second guard gave him a shake.

"L...Lord Cyrus Tredecim." the man answered quietly.

"Ha!" snorted the first man, "Lord Cyrus..." he chuckled. "He is far from being a lord, he is a lowly piece of demonic scum, not fit to be stepped on by most men's boots."

The second guard laughed boisterously at this statement. They let go of the man and walked towards me. I took a few steps towards the four guards that now approached me.

"Acting like you are important around here?" asked one guard.

"Ha! You should know your place by now!" said another.

"By conjuring bread and giving it to these men, you undermine and insult the Emperor." accused the third.

"Which, of course, is treasonous and completely punishable." stated the fourth guard with a smug satisfaction.

When the four sets of hands grabbed and restrained me, I only put up a minimum struggle as I soon found out the hard way that all four of them had a piece of silver dipped in Holy water.

'Crap, this is going to be Hell.' I thought.

As they dragged me away, towards the door leading to the adjoining torture chamber, I growled angerly and glanced towards Hin. He looked afraid.

"Let's go!" shouted a guard as he gave me an extra shove through the entrance way.

Currently, I was the only prisioner in the torture chamber. My shirt was ripped off my body and I was shackled by the wrists and ankles to the wall again.

'Great, since they shredded that one, I will have to create a new one now.' I thought.

"It will give me great pleasure to report your actions as well as your severe beating to the Emperor." a guard hissed at me, pushing on my shoulder and pressing the side of my face against the cold, hard stone. "Your extreme disfavor will bring me into favor."

"The Devil take you all, as well as the Emperor!" I hissed back just as coldly.

He angerly slammed me against the wall before calling to another guard to bring him a cat-o'-nine tails.

I didn't have long to ponder why he asked for so specific a type of whip, before he retrieved a pouch from inside his robe that contained several small pieces of Holy water dipped silver. The pieces of silver were oblong and worked to points at the ends. He attached one of those silver pieces to each of the long, thin strands of the cat-o'-nine tails.

'One piece of Holy water dipped silver burned enough.' I thought, 'Nine of them will be worse.'

The 'crack' of the cat-o'-nine tails in the air wrenched me out of my thoughts and into the present moment.

The malevolent guard had tested it in the air, to ensure that the silver pieces were secured adequately. The next crack the whip let out was the sound of it landing across the bare flesh and muscle of my back.

"Argh!" I bit back the cry, as the pain flared up white hot and blinding. Not only did the silver burn where it connected with my skin, the sharp ends bit into the skin.

Over the next unknown amount of time, I was struck again and again with the whip. It may not have been one hundred lashes, but it sure felt like it. My back and shoulders held an unyielding duller pain as each new lash brought a sharp, more acute pain. In the end, I think I lost consciousness.

The next thing I remember was some small ray of light coming in through the slit of a window high in the wall. The beam of light fell onto the face of Hin. 'He looks like a handsome angel.' I thought groggily.

A few seconds later, I realized I was lying on my stomach on the stone floor of the main chamber again. My back still hurt like I was trampled by an entire herd of angry cattle.

"My Lord?" A voice inquired.

'Whose voice is that?' I wondered.

"My Lord?" asked the voice again.

'Ah!' I thought, 'The voice belongs to Cadmus Brutus.'

"Yes?" I answered him.

"We have made and implemented some new rules, my Lord..." Cadmus Brutus began.

"WE?" I demanded to know, interrupting him suddenly.

"Y...Yes," Cadmus Brutus replied, "Sir Hin consulted with me."

"Ah, and what exactly did the two of you decide?"

"The decision was that no one is to allow a guard to see any food you give us. Doing so will cause punishment to follow for the rulebreaker. Also, disloyalty to our Lord will not go unpunished."

"Hmm." I made a sound of approval. "Have you enacted it at all?"

"Yes, Cyrus." stated Hin quietly. "It was decided and carried out earlier today."

I nodded. I didn't need to ask who had gotten the punishment.

I noticed the stiffness throughout all the muscles in my body. With a sigh, I inquired, "How long have I lain here?"

"Most of the day, my Lord." Cadmus Brutus answered. "We were hoping you would awaken long before the sun rose tomorrow, as that is when the guards said that they would return for you. They threatened to burn you awake if necessary."

I uttered a sound of disapproval and made an attempt to get up from the stone floor. "Urgh!" Damn!" I cursed, as the level of pain intensified. I had only made it to my hands and knees.

"Cyrus," Hin knelt closer to me. "Cyrus, don't try and get up yet." He cupped my cheek with a hand. "Your back still looks really bad. The extent of the damage...I mean, your body has only healed itself a quarter of the way..." his voice trailed off.

"I'll live." I muttered darkly. "After all I am still in existence currently."

Hin continued to insist I lay down and rest, while I worked on healing the damage. Hin sat on the floor and he and Cadmus Brutus carefully eased my body, so that I lay from the pectorals up on Hin's lap. As I lay with my head resting on my hands, I couldn't keep a small smile of satisfaction from crossing my lips as Hin gently massaged my scalp in a soothing way.

'I ought to get myself beat up more often.' I silently mused.