Chapter One – The reality of this nightmare Part Two

I woke up due to the light that was shining in my eyes. When I opened them I saw two figures standing in the doorway, a male and female. I soon realized that it was the Magister and I shot up. Still tired, but alert I watched their movement as they walked towards me.

"Come with me, slave. We must see if you're strong enough to endure what we plan to do with you." He said as he waited until I stood up.

"The girl is slow, Danarius." The woman said. I frowned and stood up while I looked the woman in her eyes. She noticed it and slapped me in the face.

"Don't look at me like that. Walk." She demanded. I did as they asked and soon we arrived in the dungeons. I remembered what the other slave told me how he had to endure the woman's torture methods and I tried to hide my fear.

"You see. While we are working on getting our previous investment back, we still would like a second investment." The Magister said to me. "But in order to do this, we must see if you're strong and worthy enough to receive this." He said as he started grinning. "In the meantime, you will serve as a test subject for our apprentices." He continued as he tied my feet and hands to the shackles against the wall.

A younger mage walked into the room, assisted by the woman who was with the Magister before. She pointed towards me and the mage focused his eyes on mine. A purple ball slowly formed into the hands of the mage and without a warning he casted it to me. I screamed, mostly out of fear as the spell wasn't very strong yet. I started begging them to let me go, but instead they laughed. They refused to hear a word I said and taped my mouth.

This went on for weeks just to test my strength. Just to test how much I would endure before my body would give in, before my mind would give in. I feinted enough times, but that did not stop them from going on with their tests. When Danarius told me that I had one more week to go I felt relieved. It would be over soon. From there I regained a bit of strength again and on the last day he stood against me. Alone.

"You have done well." He said as he started pacing around. He looked at the torture machines he had collected and for a moment I feared he had lied. Maybe he would go on with this. "Tomorrow we shall start with making you our second investment. You may rest now for you have a long and rough day tomorrow. Make no mistake. After that you will be my slave again." He said as he wanted to leave.

"Why don't you let me go? I never asked for this. I just wanted to see my friend!" He turned around. This time he had a smile on his face.

"It's not like your family would miss you. You ran away from home, to someone you do not even know exactly where he is, or if he is still there. So you see, I can do whatever I want with you."

"Who was your first investment? Did he or she receive it like you're planning to do with me as well?" I asked. He never said anything about the person who was not here anymore. If he could escape, maybe I could as well.

"He was my little wolf." The man turned to me and started laughing. "He fought for them. He killed others to receive them. Unlike you right now. Maybe I should let you fight for it as well. I suppose it would be quite a sight and if you'll fall, well… I guess someone else turned out to be more worthy." He said while he spoke the last words to himself more than to me.

"Why isn't he here anymore?" I softly asked, hoping I would not offend him too much. The Magister closed in on me and grabbed my chin roughly.

"He found a way to escape. That is all I say. Do not think you will have that chance as well." He slammed my head against the wall and I felt the back of my head burning. Damn him. When he left he ordered another slave to free me from my shackles. It felt good to be able to use my hands again the way I wanted. The slave did not walk away, but instead looked at me. It was the same young man I saw before in the kitchen.

"You have to get out. You do not want to let him do this to you! I've seen how it was done with his previous slave. Please, I cannot let you get harmed like that as well."

"I… I have not seen a way out. There is no chance I can escape here without giving up my life." I said. It felt strange. It felt as if someone held a leash in their hand and gave me no space at all to check possibilities.

"I know a tunnel which leads to the forest. It might be dangerous and there will be someone posting in front of the door that leads to the tunnel, but I can distract the guard for you. If you're back in the shackles, I will make sure someone frees you."

"Why don't you go yourself if you know ways to leave?" A woman's voice shouted for her slave and the man in front of me shuddered.

"I'm not brave. I'm not strong! I'm too weak to run for more than five minutes. Just… prepare for tomorrow." The man said as he ran away to serve his Mistress. I sighed while I slowly walked to my room. Would it hurt much? What if he would not come at all and they had started working on their precious 'investment'? Maybe I would be too weak to move. I decided to steel myself as much as possible as I went to sleep. I was sure that one way or another, I wouldn't get to sleep much soon.

The next morning Danarius arrived later than I expected. I was awake for a while even though I was still tired enough to sleep throughout the morning. I was too nervous though and thoughts kept flowing through my mind. When the door opened I slowly turned around to find Danarius. He was alone and he motioned for me to stand up. Without a word we left to the dungeons again and I saw more equipment there than the day before. My eyes fell on the bright light which came out of a chest to the side.

"Undress her." He said to the slaves which did as he commanded. I wanted to protest, but the look on his face told me enough not to. I faced the wall and counted each stone until they were finished. I felt incredible vulnerable like this and I did not like it at all. I saw how the slaves put my clothes down to the side of the room and walked to me again. They tied me up again to the shackles against the wall, this time with my nose to the wall itself.

"Had I checked before if you were a beauty I might have thought differently about your fate." He said as he ran his hand lightly on my back. He stroked it from my neck to the side of my body and finished by putting my long hair over my shoulders so my neck was visible. I was disgusted by him, but was in no position to go against it. I bit on my lip and luckily he backed off soon. I heard noises from the chest and I saw a tougher looking slave coming towards me. I couldn't quite tell what he had in his hand, but it was connected to what was in the chest.

"Start." He commanded the slave. "I will come back in two hours to check the progress you made." The soft sound of his boots left the room and I could hear the slave mutter something.