I need to get out of this cage… I need to get out of this room. I need to stop these insane people… shit… why’d they have to take my stuff… I can’t pick a lock with nothing… shit… urgh… Smutisha may be completely deranged, but at least if she was here, she’d probably have a hairpin or something that I could use… urgh.
I grabbed the bars and started trying to pry them apart.
Kin’Ayesha: “You lack the strength for that.”
Dwynfel: “Shut up!”
He’s right… I do not have the strength for that. After exhausting the little strength that I had, I sat back in the cage, exasperated. I felt the cold metal sticking to the skin of my arse.
Dwynfel: “Why is it so fucking cold in here?”
Kin’Ayesha: “It comes from the rift.”
Dwynfel: “What?”
I turned to him and saw him gesture towards the huge hole in the ground.
Dwynfel: “What? The fucking hole?”
Kin’Ayesha: “She spoke of the void. She must have created a dimensional rift in order to connect with the void and draw the demon forth.”
Dwynfel: “Yeah, well, I don’t see a demon… all I see is a fucking massive hole. Now, if you aren’t going to help me get out of here… then shut up.”
Kin’Ayesha: “Why should I help you?”
Fucking seriously? Does he not see the situation we are in here?
Dwynfel: “Because if I get free, then I can free you. Also, because you’ve said a thousand times over the years that I shall die by your hand… I’m not going to die by your hand if I’m eaten by some massive demon now, am I?”
Kin’Ayesha: “And how exactly do you expect me to help? I am just as naked and caged as you.”
Dwynfel: “You’re stronger than me… break the bars.”
Kin’Ayesha: “I am not that strong. There is no escape.”
Dwynfel: “You could at least try. We can’t just sit here… we can’t just do nothing… they are going to destroy the world… we can’t just let them do that.”
Kin’Ayesha: “From where I am sitting, we have little choice.”
Dwynfel: “Easy for you to say… you have fur… you can actually sit without your skin sticking to the damn bars.”
I let out a frustrated scream and tried kicking at the bars… that also did not work.
Kin’Ayesha: “We are not getting out of these cages until we either die or your allies arrive.”
I hate this guy… he’s right… but I fucking hate him. Despite his fucking irritatingly cute little bunny face. Seriously… how is it that somebody so adorable can be such an absolute dick.
Dwynfel: “Any idea how long we were unconscious.”
Kin’Ayesha: “No.”
Dwynfel: “Then it could still be hours before they arrive.”
Kin’Ayesha: “You had better hope not… this room is getting colder… you will have to tear your skin off those bars soon enough.”
He reached his hand into my cage and lay it on the ground.
Dwynfel: “What they fuck are you doing?”
Kin’Ayesha: “I suggest that you sit on my hand. Your skin will not stick to my fur and my fur will not stick to the cage.
Dwynfel: “I am not having your hand cupping my arse.”
Kin’Ayesha: “I have no desire to caress you. But should your friends arrive, it will be much easier to remove you from that cage should your arse not be attached to it.”
I reluctantly shuffled myself onto his hand. His hand is tiny and is in no way big enough to protect me in my entirety. At best only my right cheek will be spared.
Dwynfel: “You know… we are only in this mess because of you. If you hadn’t attacked me then I would have cased this place properly and they wouldn’t have known we were here.”
Kin’Ayesha: “Had they not interfered, you would be dead by…”
Dwynfel: “…your hand. Yes, I know. You’ve been saying the same shit for four years… four… fucking… years. Well, right now one of your fingers basically brushing against my arsehole. So, you know what… since we are apparently so intimate now… why don’t you tell me… why don’t you just fucking well tell me… what the absolute fuck is the reason for you?”
Kin’Ayesha: “Excuse me?”
Clearly, I am not speaking with enough clarity.
Dwynfel: “Just… what is the point? What is the reason? Why are you even here?”
Kin’Ayesha: “I was following you.”
Dwynfel: “Obviously… why?”
Kin’Ayesha: “Gustav ordered me to…”
Dwynfel: “Yes… you’ve said that before… I know Gustav sent you… but why? Just tell me why? Why does Gustav want me dead?”
Just fucking say it… just answer the fucking question… for the love of all that is holy… I am so sick of this shit. This has been going on for four years… four fucking years!
Kin’Ayesha: “Gustav wishes for your half-breed friend to join his collection.”
Dwynfel: “Then why not just abduct Kiyui? I mean, obviously, please don’t do that? But… just… the strategy here makes no sense. Why attack me, if what he wants is him?”
Kin’Ayesha: “Gustav likes the members of his collection to agree to be a part of it. He likes them to sign a contract giving him full control over them. He believes that the reason why Kiyui turns this down is because of his relationship with you. He believes that if you were no longer alive, then Kiyui would happily sign the contract.”
Well, Gustav is clearly delusional.
Dwynfel: “Hate to break it to you… but he would say no even if I was long dead. He would never leave the kids.”
Kin’Ayesha: “I am well aware of that. I have been following you for a long time. It would be impossible for that to escape my notice.”
Dwynfel: “Then why not just tell Gustav that… why waste your time on this shit… for four fucking years?”
Kin’Ayesha: “Because then he would request the deaths of the children too. And I will be no part of the murder of children.”
So, he does have some kind of moral compass. Glad to know he draws the line at the murdering of children.
Dwynfel: “So, children are a no go… but murdering me is totally fine?”
Kin’Ayesha: “Murder is not… “totally fine.” This is why I always challenge you face to face. There is no honour in murder.”
Dwynfel: “You are the worst assassin ever… you know that? Why the absolute fuck did he send you?”
Kin’Ayesha: “I am a deniable asset. I have no official affiliation with him… very few even know of my existence. My capture or death will not create a war because it can easily be denied.”
Dwynfel: “Then… why the hell do you work for him? Why are you so honour-bound to follow his orders that you would stalk me and attempt to kill me again and again… for four fucking years?”
Kin’Ayesha took a deep breath. He looked… like he had just had enough… like he was just plain done… with everything.
Kin’Ayesha: “Because… his is the one household that does not instantly kill my kind.”
Dwynfel: “Don’t be so ridiculous… you’ve been seen in this kingdom by loads of people… nobody has tried to hunt you down. Although… to be quite frank… we probably should have done because of the constant bloody assaults.”
Kin’Ayesha: “That is simply because they have forgotten… my kind have been gone from this world for a long time. Were they to remember my kind… what my kind is capable of… then I would be killed without hesitation. I have done the bidding of the Anubis royals for generations. They are the only ones to truly know what I am. And still they allow me to live. For that, I owe them all I have.”
Generations? He has served them for generations? What the fuck?
Dwynfel: “What do you mean, generations? How old are you?”
Kin’Ayesha: “Nine hundred and seventy-six.”
Dwynfel: “Fuck off. That’s even older than the oldest lizardman.”
Kin’Ayesha: “My kind do not degrade through time. As long as our hearts beat, our bodies remain strong and youthful. Only injury or illness may extinguish us.”
Dwynfel: “That doesn’t explain why everybody wanted your kind dead. So, you live a long time… why would that matter? Were you particularly violent or aggressive? Did you multiply exponentially and cause resource problems? What is it about you that meant everybody wanted you dead?”
He glared at me… I think he is trying to decide whether or not to tell me.
Dwynfel: “Look… either we die by this insane demon or we get rescued… and probably die trying to stop the demon. Either way… chances aren’t great for us… so, you may as well just tell me at this point.”
Kin’Ayesha: “My kind. We have a rather specific skill…”
Dwynfel: “Which is?”
Kin’Ayesha: “Necromancy.”
Dwynfel: “That’s illegal… not to mention morally wrong… on so many levels.”
Kin’Ayesha: “Your attitude is not uncommon.”
Dwynfel: “Obviously… the entire concept is disgusting. Raising the dead… its abhorred. The dead should be allowed to rest…”
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Hang on… Agaroth and Keith… he was there… it was him… that sick fuck.
Dwynfel: “You did that to Agaroth and Keith didn’t you? Why the hell would you do that? What the fuck is wrong with you? Because of you, they had to be burned. We had to burn their corpses then and there. People thought it was a disease. Why? Why would you do that to them?”
Kin’Ayesha: “I needed to separate you from the group. So, I used them to put you in my path and make sure that Kiyui would not interfere. I did not bank on the strange little priest showing up.”
Dwynfel: “But how could you do that? How could you use them like that? Have you no respect for the dead?”
Kin’Ayesha: “I have nothing but respect for the dead. But bodies do not house the dead. I do not, as you put it, raise the dead. I wield corpses like puppets. Who they are, what they once were, that is long gone. I simply breathe life into their empty carcasses for a brief period. And I am grateful to those souls for leaving behind the vessels of my strength. Or at least I was… before my kind were killed because of this ability.”
Wielding corpses like puppets does not make it sound better!
Dwynfel: “I still can’t believe that you did that. You used my dead friends against me. You caused Kiyui to have some kind of mental breakdown. It was sick… it was wrong.”
Kin’Ayesha: “I witnessed the genocide of my kind. My wife, my daughter, everyone that I valued… all killed. Because of the misguided superstitions of other races. Do not sit there and condemn me after what your so-called humanity did to my family. Corpses are simply that, corpses. They are not people. And they are on this planet in abundance. You can build an entire city in a fraction of the time using necromancy. Your workforce does not need breaks. They can go out and hunt, farm, and do all manner of task. They could make the lives of everyday people a thousand times easier. But you condemn the art form because people with no true knowledge of it consider it unsavoury. Worse still, various cultures are much more comfortable beating people into submission and making them slaves. What kind of morality considers that more morally acceptable than animating a lifeless corpse? This world is full of hypocrites.”
Nope… nope… don’t like necromancy… never will like necromancy. Don’t like slavery either. Don’t like any of these things. What is wrong with doing the work yourself? Forcing others into slavery to do your work is horrid… but so is abusing some poor person’s corpse… urgh.
Hang on. I looked around the room at all of the corpses hanging from the hooks… then at Flynn on the table. As the thought occurred to me, I vomited. But I knew what needed to be done.
Dwynfel: “If you’re a necromancer… then get us out of here. This room is full of corpses… get them to come over here and free us.”
Kin’Ayesha: “You are mistaken.”
Dwynfel: “What?”
Kin’Ayesha: “There is not a single corpse in this room.”
Dwynfel: “Don’t talk shit… the room is full of them… literally all I can smell is blood and viscera.”
Kin’Ayesha: “And what about decay?”
Dwynfel: “Huh?”
Kin’Ayesha: “Can you smell decay? With this many corpses, at least some of them should be decaying by now… correct?”
I sniffed… I inhaled deeply… and he was right… I couldn’t smell any decay… no rotting flesh. I could smell the congealed blood on the floor… but no necrotic tissue whatsoever.
Dwynfel: “How? This makes no sense… no sense at all. Flynn literally had his heart removed… there is no way he can still be alive.”
He gestured towards the strange urn in the middle of the room.
Kin’Ayesha: “That is an urn of Amelio.”
Dwynfel: “Don’t be ridiculous… they’ve been banned for over a hundred years… being caught with one is punishable by death.”
Kin’Ayesha: “Not in the Anubis Empire. I have seen many over the years.”
Okay… so… quick history lesson. The urns of Amelio were invented by renowned healer August Amelio. The idea being that the urn could be brought to battlefields, on adventures, or simply kept in towns for medical emergencies. They keep you alive, no matter how severe your injuries. I never fully understood how. The only thing that could kill you when one was present was having your brain completely crushed. The idea behind its invention was to keep the badly injured alive until proper medical assistance could be provided.
The reason they were banned was because of the Vardanian Inquisition. Soon after the invention of the urns, there was a rather substantial war… on both sides of Vardan. The Anubis Empire pushed north; the Equine Kingdom pushed south. The Uddin Empire had not allied itself with Vardan yet. They defended their own boarders and were not aiding anybody in the conflicts.
The war raged for years. The Equines and the Anubis Empire made significant advances and ended up warring with each other on Vardanian soil. When a stalemate was eventually reached and the war eventually ended, the rulers of Vardan became very paranoid about traitors within their ranks. They were desperate to root out these so-called informants as quickly as possible. So, they started offering rewards for turning people in. Which naturally caused countless innocent people to be turned in simply because others wanted to be rewarded.
Naturally, people did not confess upon being arrested. But the paranoia was strong, so they started torturing confessions out of people. We all know that torturing people does not get you a true confession, most people will say anything if you torture them enough. But even so… there were still some who refused to confess to something that they didn’t do. So, a torturer named Vacette came up with a way of torturing people so horrendously that even the most stoic of individuals would relent.
This technique involved the urns. Instead of using them to save lives. He used them to do unimaginable damage to his victims… things that should have killed them many times over. He would continue this… again and again until they begged for death… and would only let them die once he had their confessions.
When Amelio heard of this, he petitioned the royal family to outlaw the use of his urns in this way. But they were still paranoid from the war. They refused his petition and he committed suicide soon after. It was many years before the royals relented and the inquisition ended. They had hundreds of confessions from now dead men… but it became clear to them that the vast majority of these confessions made no sense and were just a desperate attempt from a horribly tortured soul to obtain the sweet release of death.
So, they at long last followed Amelio’s suggestion and outlawed the use of the urns for torture purposes. But that didn’t stop people… the urns were already out there. Fortunately, Amelio was the only one who knew how to make them. So, the royal family ordered their destruction and anyone who was caught with one was to be executed. Vacette was executed after he was discovered to be stockpiling the things. And so, the Urns of Amelio ceased to be… or at least… that’s what everybody thought. Clearly some survived.
I looked around the room at all of the bodies hanging from the hooks. I looked in particular at the body of a boy who hung only a few metres from my cage… he was about the size of Tadwick… his entire body had been flayed and he was just there… hanging from a hook… still alive. He must be in so much pain.
I looked back to the alter… at Flynn… his skinless body and the gaping hole in his chest. But the worst thing… the worst thing was the eyes… they looked at me... he’s still alive… he’s still alive and looking at me… he’s probably praying for death… gods… I need to get out of this cage… I need to get out of this cage.
I started kicking the cage again… harder and harder. The skin on the bottom of my foot stuck the iron bars… I ripped my foot from the bars each time… tearing my skin and bleeding everywhere… but still I kept kicking.
Kin’Ayesha: “Stop. You’re just hurting yourself.”
Dwynfel: “They’re alive… they’re alive… we need to get out of here… we need to smash that fucking urn… why the fuck would they do this? What is the point in this? Why keep them alive? I thought the point of this was to sacrifice them? Why make them suffer so needlessly.”
Kin’Ayesha: “She said the demon is drawn to suffering. She will be crossing the void as we speak. Drawn to the torment of a hundred souls.”
Dwynfel: “All the more reason to smash that fucking thing. We end their suffering and we stop this bullshit ritual.”
Kin’Ayesha: “I fear we are far too late for that. The temperature continues to drop. She must be close.”
Why the absolute fuck is he so calm?
Dwynfel: “I don’t care how close she is… why are you so okay with this? She’ll destroy the Anubis Empire too… she’ll destroy everything. Why don’t you care?”
Kin’Ayesha: “Maybe the world needs to be cleansed… it is full of nothing but hypocrites, warmongers, and power-hungry psychopaths.”
Dwynfel: “Oh, shut the fuck up. Tell that to that boy up there…”
I gestured to the flayed boy.
Dwynfel: “You think he deserved that? You think that boy was so evil that he deserved to have his skin removed? You think he deserved to be hung up there for fuck knows how long? If this bitch is drawn to suffering, then do you think she’s just going to kill everyone and be done with it? She will make everybody’s lives hell. I get that your race was killed… that’s horrible… it sucks. But the Anubis Empire is not a good place for you to get a balanced view of sentient races. They only keep you alive to use you. Sure… the necromancy thing is a bit creepy… but I can guarantee you that you wouldn’t be murdered on sight in Kataravonia. Not after the shit that they have got used to in the last few years. They have accepted goblins and lizardmen… if they can accept my kind, then they can accept you. All humanity doesn’t deserve to die because of the shit choices that their ancestors made. So, get up off your arse and help me fix this!”
Kin’Ayesha: “I told you… I do not have the strength to break these bars… nor do you… your feet are bleeding… badly. Stop hurting yourself in this pathetic and futile attempt to break our bonds.”
Dwynfel: “No! I finally get it… I finally understand! The magic sword… the huge event that I am supposed to save Kataravonia from. It wasn’t the Incubus… it wasn’t that goblin nest… it was this… this is what this entire thing has been about. I am going to get out of here… I’m going to hunt that old bitch down… I’m going to get my sword back. And if that demon so much as pokes its head out of that fucking hole, I am going to burn the bitch to the ground!”
