Chapter 19: Torment

A guard knocks on the door and walks in, "Sire, you have got a letter from the Clawthorn's."

Duke Draven, who is sitting in his office, looks up at the guard. "Yes, hand it to me." the guard hands him the letter. He opens the letter and reads it.

"Oh, it is from Ragnar Clawthorn, isn't he a professor in the Royal Academy." Duke Draven states.

The guards nod, "Yes, sir."

Duke Draven reads the letter, and his eyes widen. "What, this can't be."

"Sire, is everything alright?" The guard asks.

"This can't be." He mumbles. "Renzor is alive."

"He is alive, Sire. That's wonderful news." The guard says, surprised. "Shall I call Madam Aya to inform her?"

"No, wait. This letter is saying that Renzor has been enslaved by the Darkfang family, and he has requested Aya to forget about him." Duke Draven explains.

"Is the Darkfang one of the dukes in the Elven Kingdom of Narathel?" the guard asks.

"Yes, they are. And I have some business to take care of." Duke Draven replies, "Guard, call Aya and have her brought to the study."

"Yes, Sire." the guard leaves the room.

Duke Draven stands up and starts pacing around the room. 'Why has he asked to not tell her?' He grabs the letter and burns it. 'Damn it, son. Don't give up.' he prays.

After a few minutes, "Father, you wanted to see me." Aya walks in, looking very tired.

"Aya, come and sit down. There is something important we need to discuss." Duke Draven motions for her to take a seat. His face showed concern.

Aya walks over and sits down.

"Father is everything ok?" She asks, noticing his concerned expression.

"I am about to tell you something important." Duke Draven informs her. "I have got a letter from Ragnar Clawthorn, and it is about Renzor."

Aya is stunned, "Is he alive? Tell me, father."

"Renzor has been enslaved, as we hope he is not dead. But he has told me to not tell you where he is. So please don't be mad at me." Duke Draven explains.

Aya is in shock, her body is shaking. Tears are running down her face.

"Father, please, where is he? Tell me. We can save him, can't we?" She is crying, her voice trembling.

"We can't Aya, he has written his final wishes and he wants you and the children to forget about him." Duke Draven replies.

"No, no, no, no, no." Aya starts to cry uncontrollably. "Why would he say that? Why would he want me to forget him?"

"I am sorry, Aya. But this is his decision. I can't go against it." Duke Draven tries to console her. "We have to respect his decision, Aya."

Aya cries, her face buried in her hands.

"It's going to be alright, Aya. He will find a way to get back. He will fight and overcome whatever is keeping him enslaved. You will see, you will." Duke Draven comforts her.

"Renzor, why?" Aya whimpers. "Why would you do this to us? I love you. I can't forget about you. Why are you doing this to me?" Aya looks up, her eyes red from crying. "Father, I can't forget him. Please, help me save him. I will do anything, please." She begs him.

Duke Draven feels helpless. He has never seen his daughter like this. The strong proud woman he raised is begging him for help for the first time in her life. Draven looks at his daughter's face, and his heart is breaking. He knows he can't deny her.

"Aya, I will do everything I can to help you, but you must promise me, that you will stay out of this. I can't have you getting involved. Do you understand?" Duke Draven requests.

"Thank you, father. I promise I will do whatever it takes." Aya replies.

As I left the room, I headed to the bathroom to clean myself. While under the shower, I couldn't help but feel shame and regret. 'Damnit, why did this have to happen?' I punched the wall in anger. 'FUCK, why did it have to turn out like this. How can I be so powerless.'

My thoughts were interrupted when a voice spoke to me, 'You have no one to blame but yourself. You brought this on yourself. If you hadn't left before the war, this would not have happened. You left your family behind, and now you are being used by the young miss. What is worse is that you are actually enjoying it. You have no honor, and you are nothing but a dog. How can you face your wife and children, knowing what you have done?'

'No, you're wrong. It was not my fault, it was not my choice. You don't know anything, so shut the fuck up.' I yelled in my head.

'You know it is true. If you had just stayed, you would be with your wife, and your kids would have a father. You chose to leave them behind, and now you are suffering the consequences.' The voice mocked me.

I covered my ears, trying to block out the voice. 'No, I didn't choose this. I never wanted any of this. I just want to go home and be with my family. Please, stop.'

'You are a disgrace, and you will never see your family again. You are nothing, and you will always be nothing.' The voice continued to taunt me.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" I screamed. I bang my head on the wall, trying to stop the voice, but it just keeps getting louder.

'Your father and mother sold you into slavery because they saw how weak and useless you were. How can you live with yourself? Your brothers and sisters hate you, and they are ashamed of you. They know that you are a worthless piece of trash, and they want nothing to do with you. That's why they never thought of getting you back. Why would they waste their time on a piece of trash like you? You are a joke, and everyone is laughing at you. You are pathetic, and you deserve everything that happens to you. You are nothing, and you will always be nothing.'

The voice is mocking me, and it won't stop. I keep banging my head on the wall, but the voice is still there. Blood dripping from my forehead, and my ears are ringing. My vision starts to blur, and I fall to my knees, screaming in agony.

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...'

"Renzor is that you in there, are you okay?" A voice says from the other side of the door.

"Please leave me alone," I manage to say.

"Renzor, it is me Gorrack, please open the door." The voice says again.

I wipe the blood from my face, and stand up, "Gorrack, please"

"Renzor, come on man, open the door," Gorrack says, a hint of worry in his voice.

I started crying, unable to hold back anymore. I sunk to the floor and curled up into a ball. 'Aya, please forgive me...'

Gorrack kicks the door open and sees me on the floor naked and covered in blood. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Gorrack, leave me alone, please," I begged him.

He turns off the shower kneels down and puts his hand on my shoulder, "Come on, man. Talk to me."

"It's nothing, I am fine," I say, not wanting to burden him with my problems.

"Bullshit, you're not fine. Look at yourself, you are a mess. Come on, let's get you cleaned up." He helps me stand up and walks me over to the sink.

"Here, sit down." He grabs a towel and covers me with it.

He wets a rag and cleans the blood off my face. I sit there quietly, staring at the ground.

"Look at me, Kid. I am over 120 years old. You can talk to me, I promise I won't tell anyone. Hell, I won't even judge you." He says.

I look up at him and see the concern in his eyes. "It's nothing Gorrack, I am fine. Please I can deal with this myself" I ask.

He sighs, "Look, I know something is bothering you. If you won't talk to me, then who? Do you have any friends here?"

"I have been alone since I was 5 years old. It is just another day, that is all." I reply.

He sighs again, "Well, I know it's not easy, but you are not alone anymore. You have Me, Nell, and the others."

'He is lying, no one cares about you. You are a slave, and no one will ever care about you. They are all laughing at you behind your back. They all know how pathetic you are. You are worthless, and they know it.' The voice taunts me.

"You are wrong, no one cares about me. I have no one, and I am better off alone. Just have to deal with it and let go of my emotions." I reply.

He grabs my shoulders and shakes me, "Stop it! Don't you get it? You are not alone anymore, so stop pushing people away."

"Yes, I am pushing people away. I can't even look at myself in the mirror. So don't act like you care, when you don't." I say, standing up as I walk away stumbling.

"Wait, Renzor, don't do anything stupid." He runs after me and grabs my arm.

I flinch, "Get the fuck off of me!" I yell as I push him away. "Don't touch me, please don't touch me."

"Did the young miss force you to... I mean..." He asks, concerned.

I turn to face him, "Yeah, she did. It's fine though, it is my job, and I am the one who has to do it." I smile weakly.

"Renzor, this is not right. You can't let her do this to you." He says.

"I have no choice. She is the young miss, and I am her slave. That is all." I start wearing my clothes, as I prepare to leave.

'Left alone by everyone, and forced to endure the pain. Your parents, siblings, Aya, and children, all left you behind. You have no one, and you will be used like when you were a child. It is what you are good at. A whore, a slave, a tool to be used and thrown away when the time comes. Nothing more, nothing less. Your life is worthless, and you should just give up.'

"Shut up!" I yell.

"Renzor, what's wrong?" Gorrack asks, worried.

'You should just kill them all, become what you once were. Become the Bloodhound. Show them how ruthless you can be, show them the true you. Show them how you killed your family and loved ones. Show them how you are a monster.'

"SHUT UP!" I yell again.

"Renzor, calm down, please." Gorrack tries to calm me down.

'Kill them, kill them all. Kill, Kill, KILL!'

"NO!" I scream, Gorrack grabs my shirt and I turn to look at him, his eyes filled with fear.

He steps back, "Renzor, are you okay?"

'He is looking at you, with disgust. He is thinking, how can someone like you have so much power? You are an insignificant human, and he is a Dwarf. How can you compare to him?'

I ball my fist up and hit myself in the face. I stagger a bit but remain standing. "I will never be the same again."

'You think you can escape, but you can't. You are just buying time, but eventually, you will go back to being your former self. It is inevitable. Just accept your fate, and embrace it.' The voice starts to fade away.

"I won't become that again. I won't let it happen." I say as the last remnants of the voice disappear.

I fall to the floor, my knees shaking. I look up at Gorrack and see his eyes are filled with fear and confusion.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

"I am fine. I am sorry, Gorrack. I lost control. Please forgive me." I beg him. "I will be leaving now, Goodnight."

"Wait, you are going back to the young miss?" He asks, confused.

"Yes, I have endured for 14 years, what is another 5-10 years," I say with a smile.

Garrick looks at me with pity, and shakes his head, "Just take care of yourself, Kid."

"I will, and thank you, Gorrack."

'I won't give in, I won't become a monster again. I will get out of this mess, and reunite with Aya and the kids.'

I walked out of the bathroom and went back to the young miss's room.

When I enter, the young miss is sitting on the bed, reading a book. She looks up at me and smiles.

"Oh, Renzor, come lay down with me." She pats the bed, beckoning me to join her.

"Yes, Young Miss." I go over to the bed and lie down.

"Looks like you have accepted me. You are becoming the perfect servant, aren't you?" She says as she starts running her fingers through my hair.

"Yes, Young Miss," I reply, closing my eyes.

"Good, then let us have some fun."

That night, I lay there and endured the torture. As she violated me, all I could do was think of Aya and the kids. Asking for forgiveness.

The next few months were a blur, the young miss using me and tormenting me until I was numb. But, I endured, I couldn't afford to let her know of my pain. I was ordered to sleep with her in the bed, and she would sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night to satisfy her lust. She would often tell me, "As long as you are with me, you will be happy."

The days dragged on, the young miss had been getting better at her magic, and her abilities were starting to improve. Her close combat skills are also improving, and she is able to fend for herself in a fight.

The only good things about my day are the classes, and listening to the professors talking about the history of the world, magic, and the like. During that time I was able to forget about my current situation and relax.

As the first term came to an end, the young miss decided to take the summer to travel to her family estate, as Master Jirin had sent word that the young miss was needed at the estate. I was to accompany the young miss on her journey.

I packed the young miss's belongings and got ready to depart.