. Hell Hath No Mercy .
She could hear their cries as they were wrestled to the ground, overwhelmed by the mass of enemies around them. Her heart pounded in her chest as taloned fingers tore carelessly at her already bruised flesh, yanking at her carefully made and strengthened armor-like clothing until it tore and left her partially naked. Blood dripped from lines they left on her delicate pale skin, and she screamed in sheer agony when someone slammed a food down upon her leg, snapping the bone like a twig.
There was a shout from not too far away, desperate. A shout of her name. She screeched back, frightened.
A foot slammed her bloodied face into the dirt, a cold laugh filling her ears when she barely managed to scream back, admittedly scared. She could usually handle it, this kind of violence and pain. She'd felt so much worse before. But this…
This wasn't someone trying to rip her throat out, their nasty teeth ripping at her skin like some sort of zombie.
These were humans, who were eager to torture. To see her - and the one she so desperately wanted to get to - suffer. These men and women - some were even close to the age of children, for god's sake! They were eager and excited.
Eager and excited to see her terror and pain.
Smoke filtered past her nose just seconds before an agonizing pain so great that it made her scream and plead for them to stop was placed over the beloved white emblem that rested so proudly over a special place on the soft flesh of her belly. She screamed, and shrieked, screeched and sobbed. She pleaded for them to make it stop, because she didn't think she could handle this branding that they were doing!
Another cry of her name before he went silent, and she thrashed despite her injuries until something slammed into the back of her head. Her vision went away for a moment, pain exploding as they slammed some kind of knife into her back, drove their weapon into the back of her skull again and again until she could barely tell what was what, and then...they kept going.
"Put 'em up!" one cried in excitement.
She barely managed to get a moan out from between her bleeding lips, her face streaked with her own blood, silver hair matted down. Exhausted burgundy eyes blinked blearily as she simply lay there, not able to do anything but let them rip the clothes from her body, leaving her in ragged underwear for the world to see.
Another laughed as they drew a hot piece of iron down her back, leaving scalding pain and the smell of burning flesh in the air.
There was a roar of rage, a blast of recognizable white magic that flashed before it was gone just as quickly, and she whimpered a final time before going entirely silent, her chest heaving harshly for air as she was suddenly yanked from the ground, her broken shoulder twisted painfully behind her.
She couldn't even spare a faint cry.
She barely felt it as they tied her to the posts, crucifying her to a large wooden cross that was then hauled into the air, her head lolling limply and silver strands fluttering around her face as a brisk and nasty cold wind snapped over her bruised and battered body. Snow had begun to fall around her, and she made a last ditch effort at rebellion, a silvery butterfly fluttering above her and rising into the air. Darkness seemed to hide them, telling her that her partner in crime was trying to help, but it disappeared almost immediately after her butterfly reached the destined location.
When it got high enough, it exploded.
Silver emblems filled the darkened sky: Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, more.
And then they and the darkness were gone.
She thought she could hear the mournful shadow dragon slayer calling hoarsely for his beloved cat. She thought she could hear the mentioned cats wailing above them, sobbing for all of them but unable to get too close or risk getting shot out of the air. She thought she heard her partner screaming as similar tortures were rested upon her, the enemy searing the mark of the Alvarez Emperor over their guild marks.
She thought she could hear the agonized cry of a dragon as something plunged into him, his wild eyes seeking the reassurance of those around him, but only finding the gazes of an enemy around him as he, too, was crucified and hauled into the air for people to look at.
She could seem him from where she was forced to hang. He was just as bad as she was, broken sticks sticking out of his chest and gut, blood dripping from a wound in his ear, where his earring had been ripped from. His mark, too, had been hidden by the mark of their torturers.
Blue eyes stared blankly into space as blood dripped from limp blond hair.
His partner was next, the shadow mage groaning with pain as he was lifted, a nasty and ragged wound decorating his face. Not too far behind was the beloved lady of the guild and the celestial mage, a chain clasped to a metal collar around her throat. She sobbed softly, whispering apologies that no one could hear to the Spirits that had undoubtedly given their all to protect her.
Whose keys were now handed around as treasures for the mages to look at and laugh over, to be dropped and stomped into the dirt beneath their feet.
A last struggle came from nearby as the guild's pair of god slayers tried to work together to bring down at least some of them. Lightning crackled across several people, who fell immediately, sucked into the shadows beneath them before it suddenly came to a halt.
Her eyes closed as her partner was finally lifted into the air.
They were fucked.
Completely and utterly fucked.
Rhith Vila knew nothing more than the shifting of their walking and the taste of her own blood after that.
So...the new chapter hit me. Fucking hard. And I thought of doing this. My editor loves my choice though she's currently cussing me out about it. Don't lie, I know you do, my friend.