Warnings: Darc torture, Yaoi, non-con, explicit material ADULT CONTENT!!!!!
Summery: Darc is kept awake by memories of his less-than-pleasant past
Disclaimer: the characters do not belong to me, I make no profit from this
NIGHTMARES
It was his own cry of terror that awoke him. Sitting up abruptly, breath coming in short, harsh gasps, Darc struggled to make sense of where he was, feeling momentarily lost and confused. His body was drenched with sweat. Ambivalent
'Nightmares again, huh?'
Following the direction of the voice, Darc's bewildered red eyes came to rest on the Orcon girl opposite him. She lay on her side watching him, her gaze contemplative.
'Don't be ridiculous,' he growled, attempting to regain control of his breathing and composure. He couldn't help but notice that his other comrades were beginning to stir and he didn't want them to see him like this, didn't want them to think he was weak.
'Oh, I suppose you were making that racket for fun, eh?' Delma raised one eyebrow, pulling herself into a sitting position.
'Shut the hell up!' the half-deimos spat as he rose hurriedly to his feet, uncomfortably aware that the others were watching him now.
'Deep indigo of confusion and bright crimson fear, tinged with the cold blackness of despair,' Bebedora's monotone voice sounded out in the darkness from where she lay, followed by an eerie giggle.
'Stop talking nonsense!' Darc scowled in the monster's general direction, 'I don't need to listen to this, I'm going to find somewhere away from your senseless babbling where I might actually get some sleep!'
Turning his back on the group of deimos scattered around their make-shift camp, Darc stalked off into the night, leaving the others staring after him.
*******
'Couldn't leave it alone, could you,' Volk threw the Orcon girl a disparaging look.
'How is this my fault? That one's more trouble than he's worth,' Delma glared back at the lupine defiantly, though within moments her gaze had softened and become tinged with concern, 'do you think we should go after him?'
'Leave him, he'll be back,' Volk replied before lying down and turning away from the girl.
Reluctantly, the Orcon resumed her position, though she found she was unable to will her magenta eyes to close. Sighing in frustration, she realised she would probably be unable to sleep until the half-deimos returned. She wished she had just kept quiet.
********
Darc kept walking until the dull glow of the embers of their fire had disappeared from view and the temporary anger he had felt towards his comrades began to turn inwards on himself. Sighing heavily, he came to a stop beside a solitary bolder and slumped into a sitting position, his back resting against the cool stone. As usual, Bebedora's eerie words had described the way he was feeling with pin-point accuracy and, much as he was irritated with her for giving voice to his emotions in front of the others, he was more furious with himself for feeling that way at all. He was trying so hard to denounce his human tendencies, but it was proving to be more difficult than he had anticipated.
Delma had of course been right about the nightmares and he felt his face flush with heat at the thought that she realised he wasn't as strong as he attempted to portray himself to be. He had tried telling himself that the past was just that, over and done with, but somehow the memories of the years following his father's death refused to be blocked out. He would still catch himself going over events from his time as Geedo's slave and even though he often pushed these thoughts aside as soon as they surfaced, they usually found him again in his dreams.
Now that he was alone out here in the night he found his mind returning to the content of his nightmares. He contemplated returning to the camp and just acting like nothing had happened in the hope that company would stop him from thinking of things he knew he should just forget, but the idea that they might question his behaviour held him back. He didn't want to have to explain. He tried instead to pull away from his memories and focus on his goal to unite the deimos, his way of redeeming himself and proving that he really was one of them, but found that the insidious dark thoughts kept creeping back. Realising there would be no escape from them tonight, he reluctantly closed his eyes and allowed them to wash over him.
*******
He had been lying in the streets of Orcoth, barely conscious and half-starved, when Geedo had found him. He had lacked the strength to make any protest when she had picked him up and carried him back with her. She provided him with the first food he had had in days before he had fallen into an exhausted sleep. When he next opened his eyes, he was chained to the wall in Geedo's dungeon with the collar he would not be able to remove until her death secured around his neck and Geedo herself towering over him.
'Oh, so you're awake finally. It's about time! You'll get out of the habit of being so lazy pretty quick if you know what's good for you,' she had sneered, 'you're my property now, and I won't have any slave of mine slouching around the place and slacking off!'
'But I...' the young Darc had begun in protest.
'What's this? You're mouthing off to me now, eh? I'm going to make sure you learn to shut up and do as you're told!' the female deimos had shrieked before bringing the whip she held in her right hand down across the half-deimos' exposed chest with enough force to draw blood. Ignoring his cries, she struck him fiercely again and again as he curled up in an attempt to protect himself from the lashes. The last thing he remembered was her harsh laughter as the intensity of the pain caused him to black out.
When he woke up again he found he was cold and aching, his body covered in angry welts and deep lacerations from the beating he had endured. When he realised that he was still chained to the wall of the dungeon with the collar placed immovably around his neck, he was filled with a sinking feeling of intense and unshakable dread. He would wake every day to this same feeling throughout the entire eight years he belonged to Geedo.
*****
He was never entirely sure which he hated more, the punishments he received over the slightest indiscretions at Geedo's hand or the frequent beatings and verbal abuse he was subjected to every time he was forced to visit Orcoth. The evidence of his mixed-heritage was glaringly obvious to the other deimos he encountered, his all-too human looks making him an object of hatred and ridicule. Many of the inhabitants of Orcoth had lost family to the humans, and Darc often found that it was he who ended up bearing the brunt of their anger.
He vividly remembered one occasion in particular, when he had been left with no choice but to return from Orcoth empty-handed after a group of Orcons had beaten him and taken Geedo's money.
'What took you so long?' she had snapped as soon as he limped through the door, 'I didn't raise you to mess around all day and leave me waiting now, did I? Hand over the items I sent you for.'
'I don't have them,' the half-deimos replied, looking down at the floor.
'What did you just say to me?' his owner's voice grew ominously soft.
'I said I don't have them... some Orcons took the money.'
Before he had time to react he was slammed face-first against the wall, Geedo's hand placed firmly in the space between his wings.
'Liar! You pathetic little bastard! Not only do you dare to come back here having clearly spent the money on yourself, but you then pretend it was stolen? Mark my words you useless half-breed, I'm going to give you a beating you won't forget in a hurry!'
With her other hand, she had grabbed him by the hair and dragged him towards the dungeon. One fierce shove sent him crashing down the stairs, his body collapsing in a bruised heap at the bottom. Geedo proceeded to whip him so fiercely that his blood had spattered the walls in violent crimson arcs, the resultant damage meaning he was incapacitated for days.
******
Things had taken a turn for the worse when he had reached physical maturity. Darc had noticed that his owner had been watching him speculatively for some time and, whilst he initially dismissed it as his imagination, his feelings of foreboding where proved to be well founded when she called him up from the dungeon one night.
'Come here and keep still,' Geedo called out, pointing to a spot in front of the chair where she seemed to spend most of her time.
His owner rose to her feet and approached him, making him flinch as she firmly took hold of his chin and tilted his face up towards her.
'Hmm,' she grunted as she examined him intently. Releasing her hold on the half-deimos, she slowly circled around him, running one hand across a wing as she inspected him.
'Take that off,' Geedo commanded, pointing at the skirt around his waist.
'What?' Darc's eyes had widened in surprise.
'You heard me! Now do as you're told, unless you want me to hurt you!'
Darc felt his face grow hot as he moved to untie the sash keeping his skirt in place. He turned his face away as he let the material fall to the ground, not wanting to see Geedo's eyes on him. Even without looking, he could feel the intensity of her gaze.
'Hmm,' she grunted again after a moment's silence, 'you really are disgusting, you know that? Ugly little half-breed! Still, I wouldn't put it past some of those vulgar Orcons to be depraved enough to have such unusual tastes...If I'm going to keep you around the place I may as well make some money out of you. Now get that back on and get downstairs, I'm sick of the sight of you!'
Darc hurriedly did as he was told, his cheeks still burning with humiliation, wondering what exactly had just happened.
******
He had not needed to wait long to find out. It was a few days later when he felt the usual suffocating squeeze on his collar informing him that Geedo expected his hurried return. As he stepped inside the dilapidated building, he was surprised to find a tall Orcon male talking with his owner. Few people ever came near the female deimos' house, knowing full well what an evil temper she had.
'Took your time, didn't you? Now get over here!' She called out to him as he stood in the doorway.
'Are you sure no-one will find out about this?' The Orcon looked somewhat uncomfortable.
'Not from me, and certainly not from him,' Geedo gestured towards the wary half-deimos.
'Ok then...here,' the male passed over a leather bag which made the distinctive sound of coins jangling together as it landed in Geedo's large, outstretched hand.
'Good,' she sighed, hefting the weight of the bag in her palm, 'just have him back to me in an hour,'
'What's going on?' Darc questioned, certain that he was not going to like the answer.
'Just shut up and do exactly as you're told! If I hear that you've caused any trouble, you know what will happen to you!' his owner shrieked before turning to the Orcon, 'if he's any bother just smack him around a bit, that usually shuts him up. Don't do too much damage though or I'll be charging you extra!'
Without another word, the Orcon male moved towards Darc and took a firm hold of his wrist, pulling him back through the door. Still feeling bemused, the half-deimos allowed himself to be dragged along.
'Where are you taking me?' Darc questioned at length as the Orcon began to lead him through Sabnak Forest.
'Didn't that old witch tell you to be quiet?' he snapped in reply.
'Just tell me...'
'I said shut up!,' the other deimos growled, yanking hard on Darc's arm, causing the half-deimos to cry out before falling back into frustrated silence.
Eventually they came into a clearing well away from the track used by deimos when they needed to pass through the forest. The Orcon came to a stop in front of the large trunk of a fallen tree and before Darc could question what was going to happen now, the Orcon male pushed him hard in the small of his back, sending him sprawling forward.
'Hey!' he cried out, pushing himself quickly away from the tree and spinning to face his assailant.
As soon as he had turned around, Darc's head was snapped back by the impact of the Orcon's fist connecting violently with his face. The other deimos grabbed hold of the horn on his shoulder, roughly manoeuvring him so that he faced towards the tree trunk before forcefully bending him over it.
The sound of something being emptied out onto the grass filtered through into Darc's ringing ears just before the other deimos forced a leather pouch into his mouth, effectively gagging him.
'That should shut you up,' The Orcon hissed before hitching the startled half-deimos' skirt up around his hips.
The make-shift gag didn't entirely cut off Darc's cry of pain as with one fierce thrust and no preparation, the other deimos entered him, tearing him open in the process. Darc's wings beat wildly at the air before the Orcon bought his hands smashing down onto them, pinning them to the trunk. The half-Drakyr's breaths were wrenched painfully from his body as the taller deimos ground into him, withdrawing almost completely each time his hips rocked backwards before slamming hard against the half-deimos, causing violent, aching waves to flood through him.
With a low moan of pleasure, the Orcon's hands slid away from Darc's wings. One arm curled around Darc's waist, pulling him sharply into each urgent thrust whilst the razor-edged nails of the unoccupied hand scraped across the soft, human skin of his back.
Finally, the half-deimos slumped forward, his body going limp as the Orcon withdrew. The laboured grunts from behind him let him know that the taller deimos was finishing himself off and a moment later, Darc felt the warm rush of come as it splattered across his back and wings.
When the Orcon had caught his breath and regained his composure, he pulled Darc roughly to his feet by the horns.
'Get out of here, that old bag'll be wondering where you are. You can find your own way back,' the taller deimos grunted as he pulled the make-shift gag from Darc's mouth and gave him a shove in the general direction from which they had come. Battered and bleeding, Darc made his laboured way back through the forest towards Geedo's house.
*****
'Ha! Looks like that wretch got his money's worth!' Geedo had laughed at him as he stumbled back into the house still in shock, his face aching and swollen from the blow he had received.
As he moved in the direction of the staircase leading into the dungeon, Geedo's hand had shot out and wrapped tightly around his arm, dragging him back towards her.
'And where do you think you're going? Lazy waste of space! I still have work for you to do!' she yelled before thrusting money into his hand and barking instructions for him to carry out in Orcoth, not giving the bewildered half-deimos the chance to get his thoughts in order and make sense of what had happened.
Geedo charged others to use him so frequently following that first time that Darc became as accustomed to the feel of hands on his body and the tearing ache of penetration as he was to the constant beatings and the ceaseless ridicule he continued to face every day. Though a small part of him recognised that what was happening was wrong, the disgust and hatred others expressed towards him had become so thoroughly internalised that he believed he deserved nothing less and should feel fortunate that Geedo had been willing to take him in at all. It barely mattered what was done to him when it was clear that his life was not his own; it was something disconnected from him, belonging to someone else.
*****
It was not until Geedo had sold him to the Drakyr, bringing about the mutilation he suffered at their hands and the subsequent betrayal by those he had dared to hope may have actually seen beyond his deformities, that Darc had finally snapped. He had managed to free himself from slavery in a moment of blind rage, causing the death of his owner and tormentor as well as the Drakyr who had torn the wings from his body and Densimo, the leader of the Orcon tribe.
He had sworn that he would never allow himself to be treated as an insignificant object again and would crush the human weakness inside him that had led to the abuse he had suffered. He attempted to portray himself to be as fierce and strong as any of the deimos, more so even, but he could not quench the voice inside him that told him he was nothing more than another's possession and deserved only slavery and scorn. It was this voice, this persistent weakness that he couldn't destroy, that drove him on in his quest to save the deimos, a desperate attempt to prove to himself once and for all that his life had meaning and worth.
*****
Darc was startled out of the black place his thoughts had taken him by the sound of stones crunching underfoot. Turning, his eyes fell on the approaching form of the Orcon girl, an expression of consternation painted across her scarlet face.
'What do you want?' He growled half-heartedly in her direction.
'Oh, Darc!' she jumped, bringing her hands up to her chest, 'there you are...I was just...'
'Just what?'
'I was just wondering...Volk and the others were wondering where you had got to,' she replied, twirling a strand of her jet-black hair around one scarlet finger.
'I thought I made it clear I didn't want to be disturbed,' the half-deimos grunted, trying to keep the emotions he was still struggling with out of his voice.
'Look Darc, I'm...I'm sorry about before,' Delma blurted out before she could stop herself.
'What?' he turned to her, his eyes involuntarily widening in surprise.
'I...you shouldn't be so touchy all the time, jeeze!' she recovered quickly, attempting to hide the darkening of her cheeks by averting her face from him, 'coming out here to sulk like this, it's pathetic! And...and the others, you know they'd feel safer if you just came back.'
'Is that so?' Darc intoned, the ghost of a smile glimmering across his face.
'Yeah. Heh, weaklings, the lot of them. You're gone for a few moments and they start to worry...'
'Well, I guess if the others are worried,' Darc raised one eyebrow before pulling himself to his feet and taking a step towards the Orcon girl.
Yeah, the others,' Delma replied, ignoring the look on the half-deimos' face as she self-consciously reached up to touch her horns.
Without another word, the two of them began to head back in the direction of the camp. Darc knew he wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night, the memories he had just recounted much too close to the surface for him to trust himself not to wake screaming again, but he was hopeful that the company of his comrades would be enough to chase the thoughts far enough away to allow his mind to be still. Right now, that was the best he could hope for.