WARNINGS: Language, Non-consensual touching/Rape/Molestation (whatever you know it by)
A/N: Here's the bad chapter, people. Skip to chapter 12 right now if you do not want to read this. I have put a line break warning when the stuff actually starts for anyone who wants to read the first bit.
The grandmaster of Origin gave a thin smile as he watched three of his minions kneeling before him, heads bowed as they awaited his approval. None of them showed any signs of injury, but they were breathing heavily. The prize of their ambush on the heroes lay unconscious on the floor at his feet with dried blood sticking her orange bangs to her face and her hands and ankles tightly bound with rope.
He had sent twenty men to attack the heroes in the Crystal Cavern in an effort to capture the mage, and silently admitted that he was surprised the ambush had succeeded. The number of casualties didn't shock him; he had fully expected all of his minions to be killed or incapacitated in their assault. He had actually sent them there to slow the party down as he prepared an actual plan of capture. It was with no small amount of pleasure that he realized he could now save that surprise for later.
"Excellent work, you three; rest assured that I am very pleased with your success in your mission," the grandmaster said after several long moments of silence. He smiled as their postures relaxed slightly, "I am granting you each the title of High Acolyte and you will be afforded all of the spoils and trappings that come with your new title. Go now and rest, I shall see to the detainment of our guest." With that, the three men rose and bowed before leaving their master in his office with the prisoner.
The man waited until the door clicked shut behind them before he turned his full attention to the woman that lay at his feet. His eyes swept over her tangled, bloodstained hair and passed over her face. The gaze fell lower to linger on the swell of the mage's chest before continuing on down. The grandmaster lustfully admired her body before reigning himself in.
"It is unfortunate that I cannot have my complete way with you," he said to the unaware woman. "The Primordial would be most cross with me if I tainted his gift. Although, I suppose I can have fun in other ways."
Raising his voice for one of the guards posted outside his door, the grandmaster waited until his minion had appeared. He gestured at the prisoner on the floor and commanded that she be brought to the dungeons and restrained. He emphasized that as soon as she was chained, no one was to be allowed in her cell without him present and that he would check in on her later. The man bowed and hefted the woman on the floor up and over his shoulder before turning to do as he had been told. The grandmaster watched with glittering eyes as the mage's limp form bobbed on the man's shoulder until the door shut and she was cut off from his sight.
A cold voice spoke from behind the grandmaster, "Best be careful you don't go too far with your toy. Remember that she is needed pure for optimal results."
The grandmaster turned to the speaker as he seemed to materialize out of the shadows in the corner of the room. "Of course, I have been waiting and preparing for this moment for far too long to risk failure now," the robed man said. He eyed the man cloaked man with a pleased smirk, "You were spot on with your plan, by the way. I must admit I am impressed; the heroes had no idea what hit them until it was far too late."
"Of course," the cloaked man said, a small note of satisfaction coloring his voice. He shook his black hood down to reveal a pale face framed with dark brown hair. Cold red eyes matched the equally cold smirk that twisted his lips. "It was a simple matter of weighing their strengths and weaknesses. I doubt they will be able to subdue their comrade without serious injury and they won't be able to bring themselves to kill him. I am more impressed that the squad survivors returned with such impressive haste. Very well done for a group of grunts," the man said.
The grandmaster chuckled, "I am most sure that you had something to do with that as well. This has been a most valuable partnership thus far. May I finally be given a name to call you? 'General' is just so dull."
The man languidly shrugged, "My name is not important and all that matters to me is that the boy relearns his place."
"You never did tell me which boy and what they did that is so upsetting," the grandmaster mused. He closely watched the general's impassive face for a few seconds before shrugging, "Very well, General. I suppose I shall see you on the new moon."
The General saluted and silently swept from the office.
(STOP HERE IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH NON-CON)
Natalie woke to aching shoulders and wrists and the echoing of water dripping into a puddle. The sound bounced through her throbbing head and she winced before peeling her eyes open. For a brief, panic-filled moment, the mage couldn't see anything and she feared that she was blind. She blinked a few times and realized to her immense relief that she wasn't blind, the area she was in was just really dark.
As Natalie's eyes slowly adjusted to the dim lighting, her heart leapt into her throat. She was being held mostly upright against a wall by her wrists with her ankles chained to the floor in a small stone room. The only visible entrance or exit was a heavy metal door far out of reach of the chained mage. To make matters worse, none of her friends were around and her Adventure Pouch was not hanging from her waist.
"Calm down, Natz," the mage thought to herself, taking a few deep breaths, "This isn't the first time you've been stuck without your gear." After a few more moments of focusing on her breathing, Natalie opened her eyes and stood up. She winced as the ache in her head intensified with the movement, but suffered through it to relieve the pain in her arms. The mage gazed at the shackles holding her arms up. Swallowing heavily, Natalie attempted to focus enough of her mana to melt the chains only to find she was unable to reach her power. Immediately, her heartrate skyrocketed again and she whimpered. She was restrained, alone, weaponless, and siphoned.
"What happened that led to me being here?" Natalie wondered. Suddenly the events at the Crystal Caverns flashed into her mind. She remembered that they had retrieved Equilibrium and Matt had been swinging it around when…
"We were ambushed," Natalie recalled. They had been talking about the weapons and then a blast had happened. In the confusion, something had hit the back of her head. The mage swallowed as she realized that, given her current circumstance, it probably hadn't been a falling rock.
The sudden grating of a key in a heavy lock snapped Natalie's attention to the door of her cell. She squinted as light suddenly flooded in, blinding her. Her eyes adjusted quickly to see a man in a long black robe flanked by two armed guards standing just outside the door. The three figures stared at the captured mage with expressions of cruel amusement. The robed figure stepped inside her cell with a lantern and the door was shut behind him followed by the sound of the lock being reset. Natalie glared at the man defiantly even as she shrank back from him.
The man made a disapproving tutting sound with his tongue and said, "Come now, dear girl, stop giving me that look." The look of amusement in his dark eyes strengthened as the mage instead increased her glare. The man heaved a sigh of mock-disappointment, and slowly shook his head. "And to think I came here to tell you about my plans," he said.
"I don't care what your plans are unless they involve releasing me," Natalie snapped at him. The man tsked as he eyed the bound girl. The mage shivered as a different gleam lit his eyes. Natalie shrank as far back against the wall as she could when the robed man set his lantern down and stepped closer.
"I do simply adore fiery women. Especially beautiful, fiery women," he murmured, reaching a hand out towards the mage's face. She flinched and squeezed her eyes shut as he slid the hand lightly across her cheek and down to her neck. The man grinned maliciously as he felt the girl swallow beneath the palm he had resting on her throat.
Natalie's heart was wildly racing with fear. She wanted to believe this was all just some horrible dream and she'd soon wake up to see Matt's sleeping face near to her own. Her breathing hitched as the hand on her throat drifted even further down, coming to rest just above the swell of her breasts. "No, no, no…" the mage moaned in her mind, tears leaking out from between her closed eyelids.
"Don't. Please don't," Natalie pleaded; her attempt to sidle sideways was thwarted by the chains binding her to the wall and floor.
The man ignored her pleas and pressed against her, his nose brushing the joint of her neck and right shoulder as he inhaled her scent. "Mm, divine," he whispered, delighting in the sob that burst from the girl's throat. He chuckled and licked a trail from her shoulder to just below her ear, pausing to suck on the skin there. He pulled away to stare at the tears running down Natalie's face with a lustful smirk.
The mage shuddered as she felt the man leave a hickey on neck and prayed that he was done. Her eyes snapped open when a pair of lips pressed against her own, demanding entrance. She stared in horror at the unwanted face in front of her and kept her lips firmly shut. The man growled and bit down harshly on her lower lip, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth as soon as she opened it to yell. Natalie snarled in her throat and snapped her teeth down on the invading tongue. The mage felt a small flash of victory as she tasted blood and the man sharply pulled back, a trickle of blood running down his chin. Natalie spat the blood out of her mouth and met the glare being leveled at her with one of her own.
A split second later, and the man brought his hand across her face. Natalie's head snapped to the side. Her cry of pain was cut off with a choking sound as he closed his hand over her neck once more and squeezed. He relished in her wheezes and thrashing as she fought to remove his grip from her throat. The man raised his other hand and roughly palmed the mage's breasts through her clothes. The woman's weak and choked cries of protest and fear served only to increase his sick pleasure.
Natalie began to become lightheaded from lack of oxygen. She still fought against her assaulter, but she knew that it was in vain. Tears streamed down her face and stung the bite mark on her lip. She felt as the man leaned forward to suck on her shoulder again, leaving another dark bruise. The mage almost wished she would just pass out as he held her against the wall and continued groping her chest; not wanting to be conscious for what she knew was coming.
Oblivion began creeping over the edges of her mind when the man suddenly ceased everything he had been doing and stepped back. Chains rattled as the mage fell limp, hanging by her wrists once more, and coughing heavily. Her head hung as she shuddered and sobbed, waiting for the man to finish what he had started, and knowing that she wouldn't be able to stop him.
The man laughed at the mage he had just attacked, "Alas, as much as it pains me, I must quit now. I had merely wanted a taste. The Primordial much prefers virgin sacrifices, after all. That is why you are here. Your blood will be spilled in four nights during the new moon when the magicks of the world are at their weakest. The power held in your veins will serve as the final strike to break the chains holding our glorious god."
He sneered at Natalie, "Your friends will not find you in time. Even now they remain trapped, fighting their own in the caverns and they will never escape in time to search for my citadel to save you. My men might not have been able to remove the final piece of Greenwood before any could translate the ancient text, but your beloved swordsman will take care of that for me. I will savor any survivors' expressions of despair when I present them with your corpse." With that, he spun around, snatched up the lantern he had set on the floor, and pounded against the door to be let out.
With a loud boom, Natalie was left alone to sob in the dark.
The mage hung there limply, having hardly heard the man's reasoning for her being here. For a long time, her mind replayed the assault over and over. Even if he hadn't completely violated her, she felt dirty and weak. "How am I going to look Matt in the eyes now? Or any of them?" she whimpered to herself. She imagined their looks of disgust and disappointment. She had taken down gods and demons, robots and beasts, and yet she had been defiled—even if only slightly—by one man? Natalie sobbed again.
Suddenly, a small part of her mind whispered that she was a fool for even thinking that her friends would blame her for what had transpired. Natalie frantically latched onto that reassurance before it could vanish, holding tightly to the small bit of comfort it brought. She focused on taking calming breaths, wincing as each one stung her bruised throat. Her friends would find her and they would free her. And when they did, she knew these bastards would pay.
And now that she had calmed some, she realized that the man had told her something important and had one thing very wrong. The sniffling mage smile faintly in the shadows of her cell, her friends were still alive and obviously being underestimated. Natalie didn't know what he meant by Matt turning on the other two, but she knew that they would find her. She just hoped it would be in time.
Natalie propped her feet under her, relieving the strain her shoulder and wrists were under as they supported her weight. She leaned back against the cold wall of her cell and stiffened her knees to stay there. The mage fitfully dozed, trying every little while to summon her magic, only to find that whatever was siphoning her worked constantly.
Her stomach began to growl, demanding food as her dry mouth demanded water. Natalie did her best to ignore both complaints and worked on trying to twist her arms free of the manacles. After a while, she gave up as all that happened was the skin on her wrists rubbed raw, stinging as they bled. She resigned herself to having to wait for a rescue.
DDDDDD
It was a long, uncomfortable, and exhausting time later when her cell door opened. Natalie's heart jumped into her throat as the robed man appeared in the door bearing a pitcher and a small cup. The mage could hear the sloshing sound of some kind of liquid in the pitcher. She eyed the man warily as he ordered his guard to set a lantern and a stool down before commanding them to leave.
As soon as the door was shut, Natalie's tormentor settled down on the stool and turned his attention to his captive with a smirk. "And how is the lovely lady today?" he asked mock-cordially. His eyes ran appreciatively over the marks that had darkened on the mage's neck and shoulders, leisurely continuing down to linger on her chest.
Natalie remained stoically silent as she glared at him, doing her best to ignore the wandering gaze.
With a sigh, the man stretched his arms over his head before leaning forward on his knees, "Are you thirsty?" He grinned maliciously as the mage's mask of angry disinterest was betrayed by a brief flash of want in her eyes. He reached down and lifted the pitcher next to him, making sure to slosh the liquid inside some. "I have water here. To get some, you merely need to answer a few simple questions for me," he offered.
A faint snort followed by a quirk of the eyebrow was Natalie's answer.
"Come, come, you don't even know what I'm asking for, yet," the man chided. With a sharp gleam in his eyes, he set the pitcher down again and leaned further forward, "I want to know what skills your friends possess."
Natalie turned her head to the side with another small snort.
With a sigh the man poured himself a small cup of water, aware of the attention his thirsty prisoner had on him, despite her feigned indifference. With exaggerated slurping and gulping, the man finished off his water. The mage remained silent.
"I'm a busy man, so I would like an answer sooner rather than later. We can do this the easy way where you tell me what I want and I give you some water, or the hard way where you remain silent and I get creative," he said and grinned as Natalie shivered, catching his meaning. "Honestly, either way will work for me. And our meeting last night was merely a taste of what I can do to you." A brief flash of triumph flared as the mage swallowed dryly before her mouth cracked open.
"They're really good at kicking asses like yours," Natalie said in a hoarse voice and smirked.
The man's triumph dissolved into fury and he stood up, knocking over the remaining water he had brought with him. Fear glimmered in the mage's eyes as he approached, but she kept the mocking smirk on her face. He stalked right up to Natalie punched her in the gut. The mage lurched forward as far as her bound arms allowed, coughing and groaning. The barely scabbed skin on her wrists broke open and blood trailed down her arms. Still, when she regained the strength to stand upright, the smirk persisted on her face. The man snarled and grasped the neckline of Natalie's dress, tugging on it violently. There was a tearing sound as he pushed the fabric far enough down to slip a hand inside over her left breast.
Natalie cried out and twisted her body sideways, trying to escape the groping hand that roughly fondled her breast. The man had a crazed smile on his face as he watched the mage's panic skyrocket from his treatment. Abruptly, he stopped the squeezing and slowly slid his hand out, fingers brushing over her nipple. Natalie shuddered with disgust and fear as he leaned in to whisper in her ear, lips close enough to brush the shell, "I can do far worse while maintaining your purity, so I suggest you not mock me, girl." He pulled away and banged on the door to be let out.
Shivering, Natalie focused on the 'conversation' she'd just had with her captor and avoided thinking about the assault, "It's been one day so three more before they perform their ritual. He needs information on the other three's skills, but why?" The mage pondered that for a moment before realizing that the other three must have escaped, possibly even undetected. A flare of hope rose within her and she prayed the others would arrive quickly.
Hours passed and Natalie was fitfully dozing in an attempt to ignore her dehydration. She hadn't had anything to drink for almost three days now and she knew she needed water soon. The mage doubted they would let her die of thirst before the sacrifice, but she almost wished they would. On top of her thirst, she couldn't sleep restfully because anytime she fell asleep, she lost her balance and the chains yanking on her wounded wrists woke her again with a flash of pain. The door opened again and the man walked through, this time followed by two guards, one of which was carrying another pitcher of water. Natalie didn't even bother to look up at their presence. Too much energy was required to raise her head, although her heart jumped with fear.
The robed man stopped in front of his prisoner whose head hung low with her exhaustion. He jerked his head at the guards behind him and watched as one man stepped forward to tilt the mage's head back. The second guard pried her Natalie's mouth open and held her tongue out of the way as they poured water into her mouth. Natalie choked and spluttered on the sudden rush of liquid down her throat and over the sides of her mouth. Her throat relished the sensation of water, swallowing greedily, and a cry forced its way out as the flow ended too soon.
With a small clap, the two guards were dismissed. Natalie watched after them desperately, craving more of the water they took with them. One of the guards glanced back at the cry with a look of pity in his eyes, but didn't stop. The door shut behind them, leaving Natalie alone with the robed man once more.
Natalie's eyes were dull with exhaustion and despair as she stared at the man in front of her. The man stared back with a face that betrayed nothing, but amusement at her suffering. Finally, he leaned in and nibbled on her collarbone, ignoring her raspy cry of protest. He felt her shiver as his breath ghosted over her skin. "Two nights until the new moon; cherish your final days of life," he whispered in her ear. With that, he swept around and left the cell.
Natalie gave a dry, rasping sob as she hung there in the dark. "The others won't make it in time," she thought in despair.
The door reopened and she fully expected to see the robed man returning to taunt and abuse her. Instead, she blinked with dull surprise to see the guard who had given her the pitying look. And he was alone. In his hand he held a small canteen. The man threw a furtive look over his shoulder, before pushing his hood down to reveal short, light brown hair, tanned skin, and gray eyes. He approached the bound girl slowly.
Once next to her, he swiftly uncapped the container and held it gently to Natalie's lips. The mage was unwilling to question the sudden kindness as she tilted her head back to drink. She gave a small whine when he pulled the water away from her greedy guzzling.
"Slower, or you'll make yourself sick," the man whispered to her. He brought the canteen back to her mouth when she nodded, holding it there as she sipped until the water was gone.
Natalie licked the remaining drops of the precious liquid from her dry lips as she stared at the guard. "Why are you helping me?" she asked hoarsely.
The man threw another nervous glance over his shoulder before turning back to the prisoner. "Not everyone here believes the grandmaster's insane ideal. His treatment of you and others is disgusting. You aren't the first he's done this to and I wish I could free you, but we'd never make it down the first hall," he whispered. "Don't give up, no matter what. I know for a fact that your friends are on the way. I can't give you details, but they should be here tomorrow, I promise. Just stay strong, and when you get out, head for the village at the base of the mountain range; someone will have a gift for your group."
Before Natalie could question him further, the man twisted around and headed for the door, pausing only briefly when Natalie whispered a soft thank you. He glanced back and gave her a sad smile before stepping out of the cell. The door shut behind him followed by the clicking of the lock, leaving the exhausted mage hanging in the dark with a renewed flame of hope burning in her chest.
She dozed some more throughout the next day. The door opened to allow the robed man to enter once more. Natalie feigned the same exhaustion she had displayed yesterday—which wasn't hard—as she did not want to get the kind guard who had helped her in trouble. She hoped that her captor was just here to torment her with words.
That hope was dashed as he said nothing, but reached out immediately to run his hands over her body. Natalie shivered in disgust and fear at the touch as it ghosted over her breasts, fingers dipping lightly into the valley between them before sliding out. He slid his hands down to grasp the struggling mage's hips, pulling her closer to press against him. She felt the bulge of his arousal pressing against her thigh.
Natalie's fear spiked as he slid his tongue over her cheek and she smelt the alcohol on his breath. Tears prickled in her eyes when she heard him groan as he ground against her. He sucked the skin on her neck into his mouth and harshly bit down before pulling away to run his tongue over the bruise he left there. He pressed the crying mage against the wall and continued grinding against her as he removed his hands from her waist. One rose to grope her chest while the other slid down to trace up the skin of her inner thigh, pushing the hem of her dress up.
Natalie's already rapid heart rate sped up. She let out a keening cry as the hand on her leg slid higher and higher until it stopped—halted by a pounding on the door. With a slurring curse, the man pulled away from his victim to stagger to the door. A few angry words were exchanged and the door slammed shut to leave the mage alone, crying in the dark.
"No more… No more…" Natalie whimpered to herself, her body shuddering and trembling as she cried.
A/N: This actually started as a challenge to myself to see if I can write this sort of thing. Not sure if I should be proud that I can to some degree, or mortified. Anyway, if you read it, leave me a review before moving on to chapter 12.