Chapter XX: Torture
Finally Melissa arrived at the fortress, ready to face punishment. She slowly walked towards the Meeting Room. Before she reached the room, Reptile stopped her. "Melissa, you have to get out," he whispered in unease. "Tichondrius is very angry and I'm afraid he will do horrible things to you."
"Reptile, I already know he's angry. I know what I have done and I'm ready to face the punishment," Melissa answered.
"But—" Reptile was about to say but by the look on the dragon's face he wasn't going to convince her to run.
Melissa simply walked past him and added, "Reptile, do not worry about me. If anything happens to me, remain in contact with my friends and work with them. Only they can free you."
She walked without another word. Reptile's heart was filled with dread. He wasn't sure what to do now. He needed to speak with Drake on the progress of the World's Guardians. He headed to his cell, calling to Drake with his mind.
Melissa reached the big double doors to the Meeting Room and pushed them forward at the same time. As always, Tichondrius stood in front of the many screens. It almost looked as if he was oblivious to Melissa. But she knew it would change. Standing several feet away from him, she decided to say something first. "I have returned, Tichondrius. I was not able to get—"
Suddenly, she was grabbed by the neck from Tichondrius. He moved towards her like a viper and was able to grab her even when she was several feet away. He strengthened his grip on her neck, choking her to the point where she thought she would faint or even die. "Don't try to lie to me! Don't think I don't know what happened! How dare you kill Velora!!" Tichondrius roared in rage.
He threw Melissa across the room, smashing her into a wall so hard a part of the stone wall crumbled from the big impact. She groaned in pain while struggling to get up. Tichondrius comes up to her and kicks her hard in the stomach, knocking the air out of her. She gasped for air, struggling hard to breath. Before she can even regain her breath, Tichondrius grabs her again, digging his long, sharp nails into her chest and pulled her up to his face. She only growled weakly in pain but looked at Tichondrius straight in the eye. She could feel the rage literally radiating off of him.
"You son of a bitch! Why did you kill Velora??!" Tichondrius demanded.
"Why? Because that bitch deserved to die! She was going to hurt my friends and I wasn't about to let her kill them!" Melissa exclaimed angrily.
Tichondrius threw her again. "I'll make sure your friends suffer as well for killing Velora! None will escape from my wrath!"
Melissa's eyes were wide with fear for her friends. Tichondrius activated the virus but used a control to do something else. "Now I'll make sure your precious Duke suffers greatly first!" Tichondrius threatened.
"No!" Melissa yelled.
Back at the base, Gloria, Leon, Ashley, Xalahk, Jessica, and Duke had returned to the base and were outside, speaking with their allies when suddenly Duke collapsed on his knees, screaming in agony. His hand was on his chest in the area where his heart was and Gloria already knew what was going on.
"You son of a bitch," Melissa whispered in rage. She had had enough. She got up and ran towards Tichondrius, screaming in anger. Tichondrius's back was turned but all he did was turn around, stick his hand out, and concentrated with little power. Melissa was blown back by an unseen force.
"Do you really think that you can stop me?" Tichondrius laughed. "You're as pathetic as your friends."
Melissa growled in anger and was about to attack with her claws when Tichondrius grabbed her wrist and twisted so hard, he actually broke it. She roared in pain but before she could do anything else, Tichondrius punched her hard in the face, sending her smashing against the stone wall again. She groaned and struggled to get up but Tichondrius kicked her in the stomach again. She struggled to breath. "Hmph. You're even weaker than I thought. Your friends have corrupted your power, making you weak," Tichondrius said. He turned back to the screens and used the control to increase something. Unbeknownst to Melissa, the dial was used to increase the virus's attack on the heart, bringing death to the victim much faster than normal and causing even more pain.
Duke's back arched as he screamed in agony. Jessica tried to use a spell to somehow stop the virus but nothing was working. Nobody could do anything that could stop the virus's attack.
For some reason, Gloria had the urge to do something. She wrapped both hands around Duke's left hand, closed her eyes, and started saying something in the Kudok language. The others did not know what she was saying but it sounded as if she were saying a prayer.
Duke's screams of agony began dying down as if something was taking the pain away. Gloria continued her prayer in the Kudok language while Duke's screams of pain continued to die down. Finally, after several more minutes of pain, Duke stopped moving around in pain and stopped screaming. He lost consciousness as he had done in previous times. Gloria finally let go of his wrist and opened her eyes.
"Gloria…what happened?" Jessica inquired.
"I—I don't know," answered Gloria. "Something just told me to start praying in the Kudok language. I guess somehow it stopped the virus. But I don't know what got me to do that. It just…happened."
"We can figure it out later," James uttered. "Right now we have to get Duke inside."
Leon, Orlando, Gloria, and James picked up Duke and brought him inside.
Melissa tried to get her breathing normal. Tichondrius was concentrating on hurting Duke and had almost lost interest in her. But then he turned around and looked at her with glaring eyes. Melissa got her breathing normal and said, "If you want revenge take it out on me. My friends did nothing."
"Your friends killed Velora. They will all die. Each and every one of them will suffer for what they've done," threatened Tichondrius.
"No. They didn't kill her. I did. I was solely responsible for killing her. My friends were powerless against her and could not stand against her. But I was able to use my attack to rip her to shreds and kill her. I was responsible, not them," lied Melissa.
"Why should I believe that?"
"Because I was the one who hated Velora. Gloria and the others didn't even know who the hell Velora was. They know nothing of your army except you, Sylan, and me. They wouldn't have a reason to kill her. Only I would."
Tichondrius seemed to fall for it. He turned around and pressed the button to deactivate the virus. Unbeknownst to him, Gloria had somehow stopped the pain in Duke's heart and destroyed the virus.
"You'll be facing double the punishment for your actions. You're lucky I don't kill you," Tichondrius reminded. "But don't think your friends won't suffer."
"Leave them alone Tichondrius! They had nothing to do with this!" Melissa ordered defiantly.
"Shut up!" Tichondrius yelled in anger. He backslapped her hard. But not even that stopped her. She didn't know of the destruction of the virus in Duke's heart.
She growled and was about to attack when Tichondrius held his hand out again and somehow stopped her movement. Two large cobraman knights grabbed her arms and tied them behind her back while she was frozen by an unseen force. Then she was released from the power. She roared in anger and struggled against the two cobraman knights. But they held her back. Tichondrius could only smile and laugh. "Take her to the dungeon. Tell everyone of what is to occur at this very hour. Wait for me," he ordered the knights.
The cobraman knights dragged the struggling Melissa away. She tried and tried again to get at Tichondrius but gave up after a few minutes. She knew what was to come, but she wasn't sure exactly what he would do to her in her torture. But she wasn't afraid. She was prepared to face the consequences. She knew her friends didn't have much time left if Tichondrius kept to his word and used the virus to hurt them longer than usual. Until then, she would have to worry about herself. For unknown to her, she was going to go through the worst torture ever.
Melissa was chained to the stone ground. She was on her knees, waiting for Tichondrius to come. Two cobraman knights stood beside her while a crowd of monsters from Tichondrius's army stood nearly 20 feet away, watching and waiting for the upcoming event that they would probably enjoy.
Finally Tichondrius came and sat down on a big chair right in front of Melissa. He crossed his arms while a cobraman knight stood next to Tichondrius and said, "Melissa, you have killed Velora, and for that you will be punished. This punishment will be a message to everyone that disobeying the Master or killing any minion of the Master will have serious consequences. You should be happy that the Master is kind enough to let you live. But you will face the greatest punishment ever done in this great fortress. Today, you will face the consequences for your actions!"
Melissa didn't do anything except growl and glare at Tichondrius. "Anu'delt, bring out the whips," the vile beast ordered.
Melissa gasped softly. She looked back at the cobraman knight named Anu'delt, who disappeared for a minute and then returned with a long thin object. Melissa's heart raced as she realized that the cobraman was holding not one, but two whips. The crowd of monsters literally cheered at the sight of those. Evidently the monsters enjoyed watching someone suffer for disobeying their master.
The two cobraman knights that stood beside her each took a whip and smacked it against the ground to make sure it was still good. Then they stood beside Melissa again. The whips brought fear and nervousness to Melissa and a small part of her almost wished she had not killed Velora.
Anu'delt looked at Tichondrius and asked, "How many hits Tichondrius?"
How many hits? The victim gets a specific number of hits depending on the problem they're getting punished for?? Melissa thought.
Tichondrius was silent and had to think for a sec. The monsters in the crowd were yelling random numbers. 1,000, 50, 100, 70, and more numbers came from the crowd. Tichondrius stuck his hand out to his right and the monsters were silenced. Then he answered, "200 hits altogether. You each take one hundred."
Melissa gasped at the large number Tichondrius had chosen. She wasn't even sure if she could actually survive that many. She looked at the cobraman knights beside her and noticed them moving behind her and getting themselves ready. They looked at Tichondrius along with Melissa. All he did was nod.
Melissa gasped lightly again and looked behind her. One of the cobraman knights brought his whip up and then smacked it against Melissa's bare back. Melissa felt an explosion of pain. She groaned loudly in pain. Then she felt another explosion of pain and heard the smack of the whip against her back. The crowd cheered loudly. Tichondrius sat where he was, smiling sinisterly.
Another explosion of pain came from Melissa's back and again she heard the noise of the whip smacking against her back. Melissa moaned in pain, wondering how on earth she was going to survive 200 hits from two whips.
Duke groaned as he barely opened his eyes. His eyes were opened very little, but he could still tell that he was in a room of almost complete darkness. He closed his eyes after another minute of just looking.
He could feel that he was lying on a soft bed. He didn't feel anything else that was part of his surroundings. But for some reason, he could feel pain on his back, like something was hitting him. He wasn't sure why he felt it but he just did.
His chest didn't hurt anymore. He didn't remember exactly what happened but he did recall someone grabbing his hand and then heard that person chanting something in the Kudok language. Then he felt overwhelming power surging through his body. The pain steadily went away and he felt something inside his heart, where the virus resided, but it felt more powerful. He couldn't exactly explain it. Then he remembered blacking out.
And now he was feeling pain on his back. He wasn't sure if the chanting was responsible for that. He couldn't even explain how it was happening. But he could feel small explosion after explosion of pain on his back. He had to find out.
He gently pushed himself but stopped when he heard groaning. His eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, so he could see a silhouette of a person sitting down right next to him. It scared him since it took him by complete surprise.
It sounded like the person was sleeping. Duke got up from the bed, walked up to the silhouette, and crouched down. He snapped his fingers and his entire right hand was suddenly engulfed in flames. Of course, the red flames didn't hurt him.
The strong flames filled the room with a bright light. The bright light revealed the sleeping person as Gloria. What on Earth is she doing here? Duke thought. Then he thought for a second. Duh! Sleeping here, you idiot! He called himself the idiot.
He gently shook her to try and wake her up, but she wouldn't. He tried again and still no success. He tried yet again and the same result.
Maybe I'll just leave her alone. She must be tired after all that has happened.
Duke was about to exit when he suddenly collapsed and groaned loudly from a sharp pain coming from his back. The pain was getting worse and worse. He was about to get up when he felt someone helping him. He looked behind him and realized that it was Gloria. He was confused at first but allowed her to help him back up onto the bed. She sat back down on the chair that was a few feet away. "Gloria why is it when I tried to wake you up, you didn't but when I collapsed you decided to wake up?" Duke wondered.
"I did wake up on the third try but I didn't make it obvious. Why? I dunno," Gloria answered. "Anyway, what happened?"
"I collapsed from a sharp pain in my back. Then you helped me."
"Why do you feel pain in your back?"
"I don't know. But it feels like something is hitting me and hard."
"Let me see your back."
Duke got up again but turned around and lifted his shirt high enough so that Gloria could see his entire back. What she saw confused her. There were thin red marks all over Duke's back like an invisible whip or something was hitting him. "Duke, where did you get all these red marks?" she asked him.
"Red marks? I didn't even know I had any," Duke replied almost worriedly.
"These could be what are causing your pain," guessed Gloria.
"But if they are, then how did I get it? A spell or something?" inquired Duke.
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Unexpectedly, Duke collapsed on his knees again from another sharp pain. Gloria crouched down near him and tried to help him up again. She helped him back to the bed. She wasn't sure what was causing his pain or what had caused the red marks. But Duke's question about the marks was also unexpected. "Gloria…do you think this is actually coming from Melissa?"
"What? But how?" wondered Gloria.
"I don't know. It's just a thought. But I have a feeling that it is her, maybe trying to show us how much she's suffered," Duke said.
"But Duke, think about it. Why on Earth would she want you to suffer to show us? You know she wouldn't allow any of us to suffer like that."
"I just don't know. But I just have this feeling that it is her. Don't you feel it too?"
In fact, Gloria did have a strange feeling. She felt that someone was in danger and could almost feel their suffering. After what Duke said, she began to believe that it was Melissa. "Yes, I feel it too," she admitted.
"See? It has to be her!" Duke said.
"But how can it be? Is she using some kind of spell or something?"
"Maybe…it's because you've created a close friendship and she and I have a close relationship. Maybe because of that, we can feel her suffering."
"But it doesn't make sense. If that's the cause, then why didn't this happen before?"
"I don't know. I'm just worried about her. What did those red marks look like?"
"Like a thin thing like a whip or something was hitting you."
"Then maybe that's a sign that she's being tortured for killing Velora as we speak…"
Gloria could not think of such a thing. She didn't even know how Duke could think that. The thought that Melissa could be tortured at this very moment by being whipped mercilessly horrified her. She immediately cleared the thought from her mind or else the thought would've haunted her until Melissa was out of Tichondrius's hands.
"I know it's a bad thing to think about, let alone bring up, but what else could it be?" Duke admitted.
"Just don't talk about it. I can't think about something like that happening to her," Gloria said in a shaky voice.
"I'm sorry. I should've kept it to myself," Duke muttered, upset.
Gloria turned around and faced a window that was several feet away from the bed. Moonlight was now shining through it. Before, clouds were covering the moon, preventing light from going inside the room, which was why the room was almost completely dark before.
Duke could almost hear Gloria beginning to cry. He slowly got up and walked to her. When he was right beside her, he realized that she really was crying. He thought the image that he had brought up before had upset her, which made him even more upset. He was about to turn around and leave when Gloria said, "I just can't take it anymore."
"Take what anymore?" Duke asked, fearing that she might do something to herself. He had dealt with enough people committing suicide or hurting themselves because of extremely stressful situations like this.
"I can't go on knowing that Melissa is being tortured because she's trying to protect or help us. I don't even know how she could survive nearly a month in Tichondrius's fortress. If that were me, I would've—"
"No you wouldn't!" Duke exclaimed. He almost wanted to cry himself. He never liked seeing others upset, especially his best friends. "You wouldn't kill yourself!"
"I wouldn't be able to last as long as she has. How can she stand being there, knowing that she'll be tortured if she doesn't do what she's told to do?"
"Gloria, I know you. I know you enough to know that you wouldn't kill yourself. She's got a strong spirit and so do you. You could survive just as long. You've got a strong heart, a strong spirit and your friends and family will help you survive because you know they need you just as much as you need them. Don't ever say that you will commit suicide like that. I know you wouldn't. Ashley knows you wouldn't. Caitlin knows you wouldn't. Hell, even James and Melissa know you wouldn't kill yourself. Even if you were in the same situation as Melissa is now. Besides, killing yourself won't help us in any way shape or form in this war."
"I guess you're right."
"Just hang in there Gloria. I know this is all extremely stressful for you, but this will be over soon. Soon we'll all be together again and going home. Then we can live peacefully again, just like the old days."
"Yeah. We will one day."
"Yeah. All you need to do is hang in there."
"But what about you?"
"What about me?"
"You haven't exactly been ok yourself."
"Gloria, I've said this a million times. Don't worry about me. You have others to worry about. Besides, I'm ok. Right now I just need some rest and I'll be ok again before you know it. Perhaps you should do the same."
"I can't get some rest right now. I have things to do."
"I know you heard Melissa correctly when she said 'have someone temporarily take your place' if you're very stressed out. Have James take over for a while. He's smart; I know he can easily take your place for a while."
"Maybe I will take a break and have James take over…but then what will you do?"
"I'll be resting for some time and then I'll go and help the others if needed."
"You can rest for a week. That should be enough time for you to get back to normal."
"Then a week it is. You on the other hand should rest for two weeks. You deserve it."
"I can't be resting for that long."
"Who says you can't? You're in charge, you need more rest than anyone, and you're extremely stressed out. Give yourself three weeks if you have to, whatever it takes to get some pressure off you."
"I guess I could do that."
"I hope you do."
Duke finally turned away from the window and was walking towards the room's exit when he collapsed yet again from another sharp pain. Gloria was about to help when he held his hand out and said, "I'm fine."
He slowly got up again and began walking out. He opened the door and was about to close it when he added, "Do you want me to get James? He might make you feel better."
"Yeah, get him for me please," Gloria responded.
Duke nodded in reply, closed the door, and began walking around to retrieve James.
"198…199…200!" the crowd screamed.
At last, the whipping was over. Melissa was relieved to finally reach 200. She didn't think she would make it. Blood was gushing from the many wounds on her back, especially from the wounds that were caused by the whips smacking vulnerable flesh.
She was still kneeling down, breathing hard and groaning from the agony. She had survived the first of her ordeal, but she knew it wasn't over.
The cobraman knights that had the two whips were covered in her blood. They both put the whips back on a nearby table and waited for Tichondrius's command. He only stared at Melissa for what seemed like a long time. Then finally he ordered, "Bring out the thorns!"
The thorns? What is he going to do with thorns? Stab me to death? Melissa wondered. Whatever he was going to do, it wouldn't be pretty.
She watched as Anu'delt got something else called thorns. She already had a feeling that the next thing was more than thorns. The cobraman took out two more things that were wrapped in a circle and gave it to the other cobraman knights. They unrolled the unknown object. When Melissa saw it, it horrified her. The "thorns" were actually more whips but covered in curved thorns that were meant to dig into flesh and not be easy come out. She looked at Tichondrius to wait for his command. She was hoping it wouldn't be over 100 again. He said, "How many hits should it be?"
The crowd went wild and began screaming big numbers like 200 again, 150, and even 500. But of course, Tichondrius didn't listen to them. Instead, he said "We'll make it 50."
Melissa was still horrified by the large number. She had survived the first torture, but would she survive the second?
She was about to find out.
Tichondrius nodded again. The cobraman knight on Melissa's right brought his whip back and smacked it against her already damaged back. The curved thorns cut deep into her flesh. When the cobraman knight was going to bring the whip back to him, it only pulled at Melissa's flesh. She groaned in pain as he pulled at the whip but it wouldn't come out. Finally with all his strength, he pulled at the whip once more, and it finally came out. Melissa screamed in agony as the spikes were finally out but it actually pulled flesh off. The crowd just went wild.
The other cobraman knight smacked the whip against Melissa's back and again the thorns got stuck. When he did pull it out, it ripped off more flesh. Melissa screamed again. By the time those bastards are done with me, I'll be stripped to the bone, she thought. How am I going to survive this time?
Reptile could hear Melissa's agonizing screams of pain. He could not stand it anymore. He had passed the crowd previously and had actually seen the cobraman knights whipped his friend. He only saw a few seconds of it but it still haunted him now. He did not know that it was her they were hurting until he actually saw her. He thought it was another monster that was being tortured to death as Tichondrius had done a few days ago. But his worst fears were confirmed when he did see the dragon. He had run back to his cell and began crying uncontrollably. He was hoping that Melissa wouldn't go through the same thing he went through. By the sound of things, however, her torture was worse than his.
He had already contacted Drake and was waiting for him to arrive. He had much to tell him. He also wanted Drake to tell Melissa's friends to hurry with their army as well as be extremely careful. Chances were that Sylan would soon attack them and kill them. Although Reptile had confidence in them, he believed that they wouldn't be able to defeat him alone.
All he could do in his cell was wait for Drake and hope that Melissa's torture would end very soon.
"Duke tells me you're going to need a replacement," James said to Gloria.
He and Gloria were in their room. She had her head pressed against his chest and he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. She had long since settled down from what occurred in the room with Duke, but she was still very tired. They were both staring out the window.
"He suggests that I take a long break because I'm stressed out," Gloria answered.
"Well he's right. You are too stressed out to continue our campaign. You should take a break."
"I don't know." As much as Gloria wanted a break, she didn't want something to happen while she was resting.
"Are you afraid something is gonna happen while you rest?"
Gloria was amazed that James was right. "How'd you know?"
James gave her a small smile. "I can tell Gloria. You and I have been together for a long time. I can tell what's on your mind most of the time."
"Ah, right." Gloria forgot about that.
"C'mon G, just take a break. You don't have to worry. I'll make sure everyone is ok and that we still get allies. And if we need you for the utmost important missions then we'll get you.. And when you're ready to take your place as head of this army again, then just tell me and I'll give you back your position. Simple as that. Duke was right when he told me that you deserve a long rest. So many things have happened in such a small amount of time. Get some long deserved rest, will you?"
Gloria sighed. "Ok, I guess I can try it."
"That's it," James said with another smile. He kissed Gloria on her forehead and said, "You can leave everything to me. You don't need to worry. Trust me."
"You're right James, I trust you," Gloria agreed.
They continued staring at the window, enjoying each other's company and wondering what they were going to do next for their campaign against Tichondrius.
At last, the cobraman knights had stopped. They reached 50, and now they were taking a rest. The monsters screamed, roared, screeched, and hissed in excitement. But it was obvious they wanted more. The floor was soaked in blood and a few slices of flesh were on the floor which fell from the whips. Tichondrius sat in his tall black chair comfortably, watching his 'apprentice' scream, groan, and moan in pain.
Melissa wasn't sure how she had survived. She could feel pain all over the place. The flesh-ripping whips had done serious damage to her back. She felt the worst pain from that area. She wasn't sure how much longer she would live. The pain was intense, she was losing tons of blood, and her back was damaged beyond repair.
But she knew it wasn't over.
Slifer, please…end this. Let me die here. Just please, end the pain and let me die, Melissa pleaded.
Tichondrius said, "Bring out the chains!"
Chains? Is it done finally?
Anu'delt took out long chains and actually placed them in a fire nearby. Melissa didn't exactly get what he was going to do. Until it finally hit her after the cobraman knights took the chains.
Now he's going to use heated chains? I've never heard of something like that.
Melissa glared at Tichondrius. She had suffered enough. She wanted Tichondrius to go through the same pain she was going through. She knew that when the time came for revenge, she would make sure that he suffered form torture just as much as she had.
The cobraman knights were wearing gloves that protected them from the heat of the chains. They waited for Tichondrius to come up with a number. Once again the monsters were screaming random numbers. And yet again the vampire didn't listen. "20 hits this time," he announced.
Melissa almost wanted to sigh in relief. Finally, a number that she knew would come quick. But the question was: would she survive another whipping?
Duke stayed in his room, his door locked to prevent anyone else from entering. He was sitting down on the edge of his bed, groaning loudly from intense pain that he felt on his back. He had collapsed on his bed several times before from feeling intense pain. It felt like someone was just ripping flesh from his body as well. He almost wanted to cry from all the pain he felt. He never felt this much pain before, not even with the virus. He was being tortured by an invisible force, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
He had a feeling that whatever he felt was coming from the torture that Melissa was suffering back at the fortress where Tichondrius resided. He had become extremely worried about her, wondering if she would even survive such agony. He prayed to Slifer, the god he respected the most, and asked the thunder dragon god to end Melissa's pain. Not kill her, just simply take it away. Duke would rather suffer from pain than have Melissa suffer like this. He knew that what he was feeling wasn't n close to the real thing. He didn't want Melissa to suffer like this.
Although he didn't realize it before, he began to shed tears again. So much was on his mind that was making him upset. So many emotions were locked inside him. The only way to relieve himself from all these emotions, he thought, would be to just cry. Rage, sorrow, and worry were locked inside him, unable to be released except by weeping.
Why did the gods allow this to happen? Why can't they do anything to stop this? he thought in anger. Why can't they just help Melissa get out and help us kill Tichondrius? Why??
He needed some rest, badly. He cleared his mind of any thoughts and continued to cry; ignoring new pain he was feeling.
As fast as it had started, the new whipping was over. The heated chains mostly burned into her flesh, blackening parts of her back. The burning was worse than the actual hitting from the chains. But thankfully, it had gone by fast.
Melissa's condition was getting much worse by the minute. Not only was her flesh burned, but she was still loosing a lot of blood causing her to feel lightheaded. She thought she would lose consciousness.
The cobraman knights, exhausted from the continuing whipping, finally collapsed on the ground. The monsters were still cheering. Tichondrius was still sitting on his damn chair, just watching Melissa with delight. He was pleased by Melissa's torture. He enjoyed all of this.
"I know you can survive one more thing, Melissa," he sneered. "You are a strong person."
Melissa growled in anger. Tichondrius ignored it and said, "For the last thing, brand her again on the back."
No…just end it. Melissa almost wanted to cry in anger and pain. She also did not want to get branded again.
Anu'delt himself took the same heated metal rod that was used the first time Melissa was tortured and walked up to her. He suddenly placed the rod on her severely damaged back and left it on for several excruciating seconds.
The dragon's flesh sizzled from the heated metal. The metal literally began sinking into her flesh, causing the worst agony she had felt yet. She screamed loudly in pain.
At long last, she had given up. She finally collapsed on the ground, the branding object off her back. At long last, her world went black.
Duke collapsed on his bed again but this time he bellowed in excruciating pain. Something invisible was burning him. He could not take the pain anymore.
But suddenly he felt someone by his left side, trying to do something about the pain. He could hear someone saying, "Hang in there, Duke!" and then there was yet another prayer similar to when the virus was attacking him.
In nearly five seconds, the pain ceased. Duke was groaning but at last the pain was over. He looked to his left and saw Gloria once again by his side. "Gloria…why did you—" he was about to ask when he was interrupted.
"What? Is it against the law to help my friends now?" Gloria asked. "I came to end your pain. Just like me, you've suffered enough. Besides, it just seemed to get worse."
"Well…thanks. You always seem to show up when we need you," Duke commented.
"That's what a leader and a friend does. Helps her friends and allies when needed," Gloria reminded. "Now, get some rest. You're going to need it."
Duke nodded in reply. He stayed where he was on his bed and closed his eyes. Gloria slowly got up and left his room. She slowly walked down the long hall of the base in the first floor. It was late at night and many of her allies were asleep. James, Ashley, Leon, Caitlin, Johnny, and the rest of her friends were asleep. LavFlame, Xalahk, Sifyre, Dark Magician, and most of her other allies were asleep. A few werewolves, several Guardians, Metruzahk, Seerahk, and Dark Magician Girl were standing guard. Drake had flown away, claiming that his friend and master, Reptile was calling to him. He would return soon.
James would take Gloria's place as leader starting tomorrow while she and Duke took a long break. She wasn't sure if she would return to normal after her break nor did she know whether Duke would be ok. He seemed to suffer much more from recent events than Gloria.
She continued her walk down the hallway, wondering if she and Duke would ever be normal again.