51. Rohak
Chapter 51
Rohak
T he cells beneath the Academy were dark and small, the smell of mold, blood, and bodily fluids permeated the air, infusing into the prisoners’ very psyche. Even if they were released, which most weren’t, the smell of the cells would stick with them for the rest of their lives. We designed it that way, Alois and I. The more you remembered about your stay in the cells, the less likely you would be to commit another crime.
At least that was our psychology behind it.
Alois, Lex, Sasori, Ilyas, and I were accompanied by two Air Mages as we made our way deep into the tunnels beneath the Academy. The steps and hallways were wet—again, a purposeful design—and our boots splashed in random puddles of water. Inevitably, the Earth Mage currently kept in the cells would have to avoid large puddles of noxious water and dry patches filled with maggots and other creatures just to find a semi-comfortable spot to sit. The cells weren’t tall enough to stand in, and they weren’t quite long enough to allow a prisoner to lie down, both designs which caused muscle cramping and pain if kept in one position for too long.
A big man like the Earth Mage would have even more trouble finding a comfortable position while down here.
As we approached the door that led directly to the row of cells, one of the Air Mages cast a cloud of fresh air around the five of us, ultimately filtering the smells that permeated the air. It was generally a waste of magic, but not one I was willing to sacrifice at the moment.
Lex and his Vessels had met us at the Academy, all smelling and looking like sex. Alois had simply regarded him with a slight edge of disdain before disappearing through the door that led to the tunnels. I had tried to make eye contact with Lex, but he avoided me completely. Neither Ilyas nor Sasori were willing to spill Lex’s secrets, but I could see the worry for him etched on their faces as well.
What would tonight do for his already abused psyche?
I worried about Lex, and his role tonight would inevitably set him back even further. I just hoped it didn’t permanently destroy his normally happy-go-lucky demeanor.
I shook myself from my thoughts as we opened the door into the tunnel. There were a few other prisoners down here, both Mages and Vessels, for a variety of crimes. Separated from their crystals or Vessels, we weren’t worried about their ability to channel against us or the guards. As we walked past the cells, they shrank back from the bars as far as they could, hoping that we weren’t here for them.
The Earth Mage was kept in the farthest cell from the door, isolated from the rest of the prisoners. The cell was blanketed in darkness, the scuttling of rats and other vermin echoed off the walls as we passed a cluster of empty cells. As we approached, I noticed that his knees were partially drawn to his chest, his head ducked into the crook he created. There was nowhere for him to move in his cell, and, consequently, half of his ass was in the middle of a puddle while the other half was situated on some moldy, maggot-ridden straw. I squinted against the darkness and could just make out a few of the creatures that had crawled onto the seat of his pants.
I wrinkled my nose in disgust, thankful no one could see my expression in the dark.
I hated maggots. And the way they were crawling over him looked like they just might eat his manhood at some point.
The thought nearly had me retching and grabbing my own appendage. I refrained, however, the mask of the General well in place.
“Hello, traitor,” Alois crooned as he squatted in front of the cage. The Earth Mage’s head lifted from his knees, the back of his skull connected with the bars on top, and he let out a small curse .
“I’m no more a traitor than you are, Truthsayer,” he rasped.
Alois chuckled, low and dangerous. “I know you truly believe that. But we have time to help you find the truth before your death.”
The Earth Mage simply shrugged his shoulders at the threat. “Kill me, or don’t. Torture me, or don’t. Let me be eaten by maggots, or don’t. It really doesn’t matter to me. I know that when I die, I’ll be rewarded handsomely by Solace for what we’ve done and what we will do.”
Alois’ knuckles turned white as he gripped them into fists. “We’ll see about that.” He stood up and motioned for the Air Mages to bind the Earth Mage and for a guard to unlock the cell.
“General, prepare a room.” I nodded to Alois before striding farther down the hall to a cluster of three doors. Each led to a room outfitted with a variety of tools and implements we used for extracting information.
I opened the first door on my right, not truly caring which room was used. They all contained the same items and blood stains from previous occupants. While we had servants sanitize the rooms for us when we used it next, we kept the stains. There was a certain macabre beauty to it. Plus, it was simply intimidating.
The room was small and dark, lit only by a few torches attached to the walls. I opened the leather buckles on the wooden table, stained nearly black from years of use, and they fell to each side, the metal of the buckles clinking in the otherwise silent space.
As I stepped back from the table, the Earth Mage was led in, his arms bound tightly behind his back and his legs dragging uselessly behind as Lex and Ilyas hauled him through the door and onto the table. They quickly secured the straps—one across his forehead, one across his chest and upper arms, and one across his thighs—before the Air Mages released their hold on their magic, the white mist in their palms dying. The Earth Mage’s arms went slack with the lack of magical bindings, and he instantly tried to break free of the straps.
Alois let out a low chuckle as he entered the room with Sasori on his heels. Alois held his arms behind his back and leisurely strode to where the Mage was tied, stopping just inside his peripheral viewpoint. Sasori quickly crossed the remainder of the room to stand by Lex, her hand lightly resting on his arm.
The tension in the normally carefree triad was palpable. Lex’s jaw was clenched, and he kept his eyes trained on the back wall. Ilyas and Sasori kept fiddling with their hands, each reaching out to touch their Mage every so often, and Lex eventually took a giant step forward out of their grasps. Their hands fell from his arms, and they shot a look to each other behind his back.
I wonder what that is all about . This is Lex’s job. Quite literally what he was bought and bred for here at the Academy. Surely they know that?
I absently scratched at my jaw, resolving to puzzle through that situation when I had more brain space, which was decidedly not tonight. I turned my attention back on the Mage as he ceased his struggle, finally realizing the bands wouldn’t give.
“So, here’s the deal, traitor. It’s quite simple, really,” Alois’ smooth voice echoed through the space. “You’re going to tell me what I want to know.”
The Earth Mage looked at him incredulously. “That’s it? I’m going to tell you what I know? You’ve lost your touch, Truthsayer.”
Alois chuckled humorously. “You mistake me. You will tell us what you know, how that happens is . . . up to you.”
The Mage turned his gaze away from Alois, choosing to focus on the ceiling instead, a sure sign of disrespect. “Do what you must.” He sounded almost bored.
Alois stepped away and shrugged his shoulders. He began searching the racks of tools. “You know, there are a variety of types of pain, as I’m sure you know. We can’t really exist here without knowing at least some type of pain. Physical, mental, emotional. Different techniques yield results at different times but make no mistake.” He turned back toward the Mage. “They all yield results.”
Alois came and placed his hand on Sasori’s shoulder, shoving her toward Lex. “Let’s start with the mental pain, shall we? Lex.”
This was the thing about Alois, he told his prisoners exactly what was coming. There was no guess work, no anticipation. And, somehow, I felt like that was worse.
Lex grabbed Sasori’s arm roughly and closed his eyes, a thick tendril of oily purple magic pooling in his hand for a heartbeat before it shot straight to the Mage’s head. It lingered for a moment, like a cloud, before sinking into his brain through his eyes, ears, and nose. It was silent for a moment then the Mage’s screams started.
“Oh gods, no! Please, no! Leave them be . Don’t do that to her! You keep your filthy hands off of her!” What he was seeing was real, at least in his mind, but nothing he said or did in the physical world would stop the images in his head.
Lex’s grip was white-knuckled on Sasori and she had closed her eyes and gritted her teeth against the feeling of Lex drawing his magic from her. Lex’s own eyes were open and unseeing, a look of agony written across his face.
Did Lex experience the images with his victim? Or was he seeing his own demons?
“Please, no, please no, let her go.” The Mage was sobbing and writhing on the table, trying to get to someone he couldn’t see.
Alois held up a hand and the flow of Lex’s magic stopped abruptly. Slowly the Mage’s body stopped shaking and his sobs quieted as Lex’s power withdrew. His eyes opened, revealing bloodshot whites.
“Anything you’d like to tell us about your Matriarch,” Alois spat the name, “or why you were in the village to begin with? Troop movements, attack plans. Anything?”
The Mage was silent, refusing to even respond to Alois’ demands.
“No? Pity. Lex increase the intensity.”
Lex gave a curt nod before drawing on Sasori again, her sharp inhalation was the only sign that he had drawn significantly more power than last time. Once again, the magic pooled in his hand before shooting to the prone Mage and diving for his open orifices.
The Earth Mage’s screams resounded through the room again as he pleaded with phantom beings. Alois lounged against the back wall, looking completely bored with the whole spectacle. I attempted to mirror his posture but couldn’t fully relax. Maybe because I knew, before we were done here tonight, that my power would be called upon.
It always was.
On and on it went for what felt like hours. Lex would zap the Mage with his power, the Mage would scream and cry before coming out of the vision. Alois would question him, the Mage would meet the questions with stony or sobbing silence, and Lex would increase the intensity of his attacks. The cycle continued until blood was dripping from the Mage’s ears, eyes, and nose, small puddles forming under his head .
I snuck a glance at Lex and noticed that his face was turning a shade of white, and his hands were shaking as he channeled.
He’s overdrawing .
“That’s enough,” I snapped, and Lex instantly dropped his hold on his Pain Magic. Alois shot me a look. “He’ll burn himself out. You have other methods of extracting information, and this is clearly not working as you planned.”
Alois simply rolled his eyes as he searched the tool racks once more. “Lex, stay in case you are needed again. Sit in that chair over there”—he gestured to the corner of the room—“until we’re finished. In case you pass out or whatever General d’Alvey is afraid of happening.”
Lex shot me a grateful nod before stumbling to the chair and sitting down hard. His Bonded murmured in hushed voices to him as they swept his hair back from his forehead. His skin was pale and sweaty, and I saw a few tears track down his cheeks before he dashed them away and pushed his Vessels off as well, his stony mask back in place.
Alois pushed away from the wall, a multitude of tools in his hands. I blanched when I saw what he was carrying.
We haven’t use those since . . . I couldn’t even complete the thought. I snuck a quick glance at Lex and was unsurprised to see the stricken look on his face as he rubbed a spot on his sternum, hard.
“So, Earth Mage, do you have a name?” Alois said as he approached the table, laying his tools out in a row on the small table nearby.
The Mage said nothing.
“Hmm. That’s disappointing. Because calling you ‘traitor’ while I do this just doesn’t feel right, you know?” Alois paused for a moment, and when the Mage didn’t say anything, he simply shrugged his shoulders. “Did you know that the last time I used these tools was almost two decades ago? No, probably not. See, when I used these instruments, I was trying to create something new . A super-Mage, if you will. Someone who could go against the gods themselves and win. And when I did those little experiments, I simply gave each body a number.” He picked up a scalpel and spun it in his hands. “I think I’ll give you the next number in the series. How does 257 sound? Fantastic, I thought you’d like it.”
Alois made quick work of cutting open the Mage’s clothing to reveal bare flesh underneath. “Most people in my position, really any who get off on the sounds of screams and flesh rendering from bone, would opt for the . . . how do I say this? Wow factor, perhaps? They’d bring out the nail pullers.” He tapped the Mage’s fingers and Alois chuckled at the flinch.
“Or the spiked crown.” He touched the Mage’s forehead.
“Or the hammers, to break bones of various sizes.” He tapped the Mage’s foot, calf, and femur in quick succession.
“They’d bring out a dull knife and hot iron to add this to their collection jars.” He tightly grabbed the Mage’s dick, and the prisoner hissed in pain. Alois released him just as quickly. “And you have quite a large trophy, don’t you think, General?”
I startled, not anticipating Alois to address me yet. Generally, when he got like this, he stayed in his own world until the work was completed and we had our answers, or the person was dead.
“Sure, Lord d’Refan. If you’re into that sort of thing.”
Alois smiled at me, and I swore I saw darkness swirling in his eyes, but he blinked, and it was gone.
Trick of the light .
“Luckily for you, 257, I’m not into that sort of thing. Lex, would you like me to make you a real-flesh dildo?” He manically spun to Lex, and the Mage jumped in his chair.
“No, thank you, Lord. I have plenty here.” He gestured shakily to Ilyas and Alois shrugged.
“Guess you get to keep it”—he bopped the Earth Mage’s cock—“not that you’ll really need it anymore.”
Alois spun the scalpel in his hands and leaned on top of the Earth Mage’s body so he could see what he was holding.
“No, I think there’s more pain and torment in the little cuts.” He made a small slice on the prisoner’s sternum and the Mage let out a hiss of pain.
“Oh, come now,” Alois tutted, “that was nothing, 257. We still have so much more to do together! Did you know that I was only ever successful in my experiments a dozen times?”
Alois made a humming noise in the back of his throat.
“So sad, yes, I know. But one of them is sitting in that corner over there. That beautiful pain you felt in your mind?” He tapped the prisoner’s skull again. “That Mage also has command over pleasure. Interesting, right? Somehow, he survived the experiments and grasped two powers. Only a boy, too, his balls hadn’t even dropped yet. Isn’t that right, Lex?” Alois never removed his gaze from the Earth Mage and Lex eked out a strained sound of agreement.
“So, lucky for you, I have had success. Unlucky for you, I no longer possess the ability to experiment with those types of runes. So, it looks like your time here, 257, isn’t going to end with an extra ability. It will, however, end with me getting what I want. And that, 257, is information.”
With that, Alois stopped talking and started cutting. Small, shallow slices to start, across his chest and arms, each cut precise, each location predetermined to elicit a certain level of pain. The Earth Mage panted and gasped, small cries sometimes escaping his lips as sweat poured from his brow.
All the while, Alois never asked a single question.
When there were more than one hundred small cuts on the prisoner’s body, Alois stopped and stepped back, opting for a longer knife.
“Lore says that blood holds magical powers and properties, it’s a well-known fact. Sometimes our blood sings with our power. Acolytes in the temples use their blood to Bond Mages and Vessels or Awaken someone’s power. But we actually confirmed its existence in our experiments. In unAwakened individuals, the magic in their blood was more potent than in Awakened Mages and Vessels. So, I started manipulating the sensory inputs that certain unAwakened Mages received, hoping to stimulate a response in their blood.”
“Lex, for example, got the same treatment you’re getting now—an intense amount of pain that varied from low to high, which actually built his tolerance for it, funny enough. Then, almost immediately after, he received intense doses of pleasure. You enjoyed that part of it, didn’t you, Lex?” I could no longer tell if Alois was simply talking to himself, or if there was a purpose to his monologue.
Alois didn’t wait for Lex’s answer before he turned to me. “I have this all written down, Rohak. Perhaps your new pet would like to look at my notes? If she is who you say she is, I’m sure she’d find them captivating .” He turned back to the Earth Mage before adding, “Perhaps she’ll even help me perfect them.”
I involuntarily shuddered at the thought of Faylinn helping Alois with these experiments, or even being around Alois when he was like this .
“Aren’t . . . aren’t you going to ask me any questions?” the Earth Mage panted.
Alois stilled and cocked his head at him. “No. You wouldn’t answer them even if I did. No, 257, I won’t. Because there’s another way to ascertain the truth from my prisoners. See, not only did we discover that blood held magic, I discovered that I alone can discern the truth from that magic. I’m not just a Truthsayer, I’m the last Truthsayer. Like your precious Matriarch has her own special abilities as the last true descendant of Solace, so I have unique powers as the last true descendant of Kaos.” Alois ran his tongue over the blood beading on a cut on the Mage’s chest. His eyes closed, his eyes flicking against the back of his eyelids.
He moaned slightly. “And your blood is going to tell me all of your secrets, 257.”
The Earth Mage doubled his efforts to escape, writhing in his straps and pleading uselessly with Alois. The darkness was back in my friend’s eyes. Once he had a taste of the truth in someone’s blood, he was crazed until he had the full truth, which often meant spilling all their blood.
Alois reared back his hand that held the knife and plunged it into the prisoner’s arm. A scream rendered from the Earth Mage as Alois wrenched the knife from his arm and pressed his mouth to the cut, sucking the blood out.
On and on this went until the blood dripped continuously onto the floor, creating small puddles over the already stained stone. Alois stopped cutting with precision after the first two or three stabs, and simply started plunging the knife into any and all available flesh. The Earth Mage’s screams mingled with the slurping noise of Alois sucking the blood into his mouth and the sound of the knife piercing the Mage’s flesh, sometimes scraping bone.
Blood cascaded obscenely down Alois’ chin and soaked his black tunic and pants. There was wayward spray on his forehead and in his hair, and it slowly seemed like every inch of his body would be covered in the Earth Mage’s blood.
Eventually, mercifully, the Earth Mage lost consciousness. Alois, drunk off the bloodlust and truths he witnessed, was unaware. At some point, hours later, I dismissed Lex and his Vessels. They didn’t need to see any more of this, and Lex needed to sleep. He, thankfully, had used the Earth Mage’s pain to refill the reserves he expended earlier in the night.
He, Sasori, and Ilyas slipped soundlessly from the room while I stayed with my back against the wall, watching my friend slowly descend into madness.
Once the blood congealed on the floor and the rivulets stopped cascading from the countless wounds, Alois came out of the bloodlust. The Mage was clearly dead, all the truths Alois was going to wring from him were spent.
Alois dropped the knife and it clattered to the ground, covered in blood like everything else in the room. He bent over, hands on his knees and panted.
“Fuck,” he muttered before collapsing to the floor. I moved quickly, my boots making wet splashing sounds as I waded through the pools of blood.
“Did you get what you needed?” I asked as I supported his back so he wouldn’t fall into the gore.
He shook his head. “No, not everything.”
I swore.
“All of that, Alois. All of that and we didn’t even get the information we needed?” I was tense and disappointed—both in the lack of information and that my closest friend had to debase himself so fully to try and gather that information.
“I don’t know what to say, Rohak,” he panted, “she’s got some sort of . . . block on their memories. Like she’s holding them hostage in Solace, the one godsforsaken place I can’t access. The only things I was able to get were snippets of conversations or his personal thoughts, which were obviously skewed. He was a heathen, Rohak. A crazed lunatic. He cut some man’s throat in front of his daughter for fun.”
I gave him a shrewd look, but my back stiffened slightly.
He’s talking about Faylinn and her father .
“No faces, no names, no FUCKING location.” He rested his head back on my shoulder. “Sometimes I wonder what we’re even doing this for anymore, Rohak. We take three steps forward and fifteen back.”
I held my friend close, his breaths evening out. If I didn’t get him up and moving soon, we’d be sleeping here, and that was not acceptable.
“It’s worth it, Alois. It has to be. This is bigger than us, bigger than her. You know that, I know that. We’ll get what we need eventually.” He didn’t say anything else as I hoisted him from the ground, bracing his arm around my shoulders as I walked him from the blood-soaked room.
Before we left, I grasped the crystals in my pocket and called forth my Destruction Magic. I ignored the voice in my head, coaxing me further into its embrace, as the familiar scent of ashes and embers floated through the air. I sent a trickle of my magic to the body on the table, all evidence of what transpired here tonight reduced to a pile of ash.
With that done, I pulled Alois from the Academy dungeons and up the private staircase to the room we used for this exact purpose. I washed us both quickly before tucking Alois into the bed. I slammed my body on the couch, sleep overtaking me before my head even hit the armrest.