The Wielder of Death Magic

“Keep an eye on Darwin,” said a worried comment.

“Inspector’s doing his job,” returned Igna, “-well, by the look he has towards Laia, I do wonder if the man’s thinking with his head or all the blood has rushed downstairs.”

“Should we not stop him?” whispered Julius.

“No, let them be,” he said nonchalantly, “-look at Laia, she’s got her manipulating face on. Did you ever think about why the children shared no commonality? I’d guess they’re from different fathers. Why did she not have family pictures of her husband? Let me tell you, don’t trust appearances. She smells of lies and deceit.”

Igna’s cynical approach; based on observation and intel from Elixia – painted a damning picture. Laia, or so she’d had them believe to be a helpless housewife plagued by the seed of misfortune, was nothing more than an opportunist. Said trait, albeit a good feature when used accordingly, could turn the simplest of deeds into an ambiguous hassle.

Scott’s body was placed at the morgue after the autopsy. Darwin helped compiled the finer details of the case, the death certificate was issued, and the will would be read later on by a lawyer from Apexi’s legal team. The lines formed, respects paid, few words exchanged and last farewells given. Igna and Julius waited ominously in a separate room.

.....

“Brother, are you not going to visit?”

“No, what’s the point?” he shrugged, “-I’ve already seen the dead body and paid my respects. Go ahead, I’ll be here.”

“As you wish,” Julius rose with a slightly annoyed frown; the door pushed just as he were to grab the handle. Dark brown hair, fairly tanned skin, and golden jewelry murmured a soft, “-I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for,” said Julius, continuing his way. The new personage remained at the doorway, her feline gaze wrapped itself around Igna, who simply kept an unexpressive mien.

“Terribly sorry,” said the lady, “-but is this where I may find Igna Haggard?”

“You’re looking at him,” he thundered, she took a few steps inside – a flick of the wrist by Igna closed the door immediately. The brown hair, caught by surprise at the sudden closure, had her face away from Igna, “-look at tha-” wind escaped her chest violently, and her whole body crashed against the door; a thud echoed along the tranquil hallway.

“You think I wouldn’t notice?” Igna had his right arm pushed against the lady’s neck, whilst the other held both of her hands above her head. A pool of tentacles rose arms which firmly locked her legs in place – a dense, suffocating aura escaped. Tiny decorative plants eroded, the light dimmed – bicolored pupils glared a crimson shine, “-e-e-e-enough,” he eased on the strangulation, “-Cleopatra, how nice to see you again,” the facial features altered, the canines sharpened, pure rage burnt within his eyelashes, “-oh it’s very nice to see you again.”

It was then, that a lump locked her throat, ‘-I was foolish,’ reality came to fruition, ‘-Igna Haggard is the reincarnation of Staxius... I’m dead,’ countless pricks stole her tongue, her breathing lessened only to greatened the look of sadism within Igna’s eyes.

“Bow,” he ordered and forcibly bit her neck, slicing an artery in the process. Loss of vision, inability to think, the fading of the world, and numbness dropped her voluptuous frame. *Ancient Magic: Teleportation.*

“Brother?” Julius returned, “-no one’s here?” he pushed his head inside, scanned the room, and pulled back, “-not here,” he echoed. Syhton tilted her head and crossed her arms, ‘-I swear I sensed his presence.’

“My lady, they’re ready to move the body,” said Ester.

“Understood, let’s carry on then.”

A puff of smoke imploded inside the castle’s dungeon. “-Who’s there?” ambled a man holding a lantern. A shadow cast two figures against Theon’s master torture chamber, a tall, handsome figure side-glanced with emotionless eyes. Light from Theon’s cage softly distinguished features not common, the sunken cheeks and long claws, a pair of softly incandescent wings, “-Theon,” he spoke deeply, “-I bring a present,” *snap,* the inner anger eased.

“Majesty,” widened Theon, “-I barely recognized you.”

“Well, things happened,” he dusted his shoulder and pants, “-I’m calm now,” evidenced by the reversion, “-here’s today’s prize. A fine specimen – she’s under my influence, might have nicked one artery when mauling, accidents happen. Nothing a little healing scroll can’t fix.”

Theon skipped inside, stood onto a slab of rock, and hooked the lantern. Many other lights followed, brightening the view of macabre and painful-looking instruments. He reached for a knapsack and pulled a scroll, “-using scrolls in this day and age feels overpowered,” he whispered and unrolled the item over her stomach.

“Why so?”

“Knowhow on its manufacture’s been lost. Most high-valued scrolls have been bought by collectors. As for us, we know how to craft the scrolls. GateSix’s stingy on rationing.”

“I’ll put in an order,” returned Igna, “-you do burn through quite a lot.”

“Well, I have to,” he painstakingly readied his tools, “-else they die easily. We can’t have that happen.”

“I’m here, don’t worry, you can go overboard, she won’t die, that much I promise.”

Theon’s face gleamed, “-well, enough chitchat. Our guest, will she wake up anytime soon?”

A rusty tray laid beside her head. Theon jovially skipped to another cupboard. The latter rolled until it rested at the foot of a stone slab. “-Master, will you be assisting?”

“Yeah, I’m here to watch her suffer,” he narrowed, “-she deserves everything you have to offer. I won’t leave until I’m satisfied. Trust me, I won’t allow her death either.”

“Won’t allow her death?”

“No,” he smirked, “-Theon, you were right at a time. Being soft sows’ trouble – the short-live kindness only benefits a very few.”

Two sharp claps readied the room, “-majesty, my expertise ranges from physical to sexual torture. Which do we start first?”

“Sexual torture?”

“Yes,” he nodded, “-many captives are most sensitives to said places. It’s entertaining when one forcibly takes what little dignity is left and crumbles it. Breaking their spirit is also not a viable option, the more they resist the better it is. Simple reason, once they give up, the screams and painful expressions stop.”

“Go on,” he smiled, “-show me your way.”

Cleopatra regained vision in a strange room, ‘-dark,’ she pulled to be stopped by chains, ‘-I’m chained?’ she blinked, a strange aura rose throughout the room, “-Hello,” a chipper smile leaped into her field of vision, “-my name’s Theon,” he smiled, “-and you’re Cleopatra, I know everything there is to know. Don’t bother speaking,” a ball-gag tightened, “-we’ll start with getting to know one another,” a cold knife went down her chest to her thighs, her body instinctively curled, “-aha, you’re very sensitive,” he licked his lips, “-or is that something to do with this?” as if a magician, Theon opened his palm and displayed a small vile, “-a special concoction that makes women feel like ten-thousand bucks. “-Don’t bother escaping either,” the vile disappeared, “-mana’s limited, things can get pretty rough,” a moment’s inspiration hit, Theon energetically turned towards Igna, “-master,” he took out his phone and displayed a rather disturbing video, “-is this possible?”

“You’re into some weird stuff,” blinked Igna, “-I’m not here to kink shame... but seriously, tentacles?”

“A dessert is best enjoyed first and eaten later once the sugar becomes tiresome.”

“Fine,” a pool of tentacles summoned as if poles around the rectangular stone-slab, “-here,” a smaller critter of purple hue, bearing big pupils, landed on Theon’s shoulder, “-remote for the limbs. Have at it.” The clothes ripped one at a time, the slimy, squishy, and disturbing texture of the limbs flopped throughout her body, she cried and moaned, only for it to be muffled, her eyes widened suddenly as the limbs approached her inner thigh. She screamed and spat the ball-gag, “-LET ME GO!” she fought, throwing kicks and wailed, “-don’t come near me, freak-” Theon was no man of patience, a limp dove into her mouth, she gagged, the other tentacles locked her thighs open.

Igna grabbed a seat and ordered popcorn. Sathanas casually took the bucket to the dungeon. ‘-What’s this?’ near constant moans and gags resounded. She followed the sound and arrived at a rather disturbing sight – purple limbs stuffed countless orifices of Theon’s new guest.

“Over here,” hailed Igna in the corner, “-come, Sathanas, why not enjoy the show?” he smiled and shared the snack.

“My god,” she ate, “-pops, you have some derange fetish.”

“No, I don’t. I’m pleased to have the mundane type of carnal pleasure. Look at Theon, haven’t seen him have this much fun.”

She took a handful and ate one at a time, “-father’s torturers would be thrilled to see such a display. Torture there doesn’t come close to what Theon has in store. He’s weirdly intriguing.”

“Rather not invest much thought into his head. You’ll be surprised,” father and daughter watched for the following hours as Theon slowly chipped at Cleopatra’s body and mind. The humiliation, the mind games, the pauses, and the fake sense of safety.

“I can escape,” sweat and fear slipped down her face and body, she barely stood, ‘-he’s not here. What an idiot,’ a sharp pull shattered the chains, ‘-the main door, I can escape.’

Alas, the trio waited in the same room, hidden by Igna’s concealment spell, “-a false sense of security. Rising her hope and morale,” Igna clapped, “-my, I’m very impressed.”

“I endeavor to do my best.”

“Hush,” added Sathanas, “-here’s the good part. Cleopatra sneakily opened the door, she tiptoed to the stairway and smiled, “-once, over door, I’ll use magic and get out.” She reached for the handle, an impulse barged – Cleopatra flew and fell a few meters, the lock clicked behind a fiend. The footsteps resounded, it grabbed and threw her over its massively hairy and broad shoulder.

“Isn’t that Yelp?”

“It’s Yelp,” giggled Theon, “-my prodigy and member of the demon-clan.”

“Master,” the voice thundered, “-I bring the toy,” he threw her onto the slab – the fall cracked bones, dislocated her shoulder, and scraped part of her skin. The concealment spell undid, and the trio laughed and mocked the pathetic attempts.

“We had enough fun playing with tentacles, how about a real beast,” Theon snapped, the stone-slab summoned a layer of finely-grained sand-paper. “-Have at it, Yelp, take two hours and have fun.” The half-goat and half-man entity rose her legs above his shoulder and rocked, every motion scraped her back – the cries amplified.

“We should leave,” added Theon, “-Yelp works best when he’s alone. We’ll begin the real torture once he’s done. Let’s have a break.”

Dinner was thus served upstairs meanwhile Cleopatra experienced excruciating pain. Yelp didn’t once stop, he forced her into many positions and continued to ravage her body, tearing her orifices and dislocating her jaw at one point.

“Majesty,” the golden-colored dining hall brought a sense of ease, “-might I ask why my liege has taken such interest in that woman?” aside from the king, the maids and servants also shared a meal. His table or another, it didn’t matter – only the king’s seat was reserved, anywhere else was subject to ‘-first come first serve.’ Known to be a friendly man, the king expressly ordered the retainers to feel at home – many of the drinking sessions birthed from dinners were home to various fantastical tales. Thus, as good food and drinks warmed the retainers, Theon’s curiosity sparked.

“She betrayed my uncle a long time ago. You know, the Hero King Staxius,” how could he not, a massive portrait hung on one of the walls, “-guess it’s vengeance?”

“You called?”