Grrrrr... The website caused my story to disappear, then it lost this chapter so here I am re-posting it...
Once again I apologize for the delay in getting this next chapter out. Not to fear though, the end is within sight now. Be patient!
WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VIVID VIOLENT DESCRIPTIONS.
Nadir stepped aside to accommodate for the search party that rudely shoved their way into his home.
"We have come for the magician. We know he his here with you."
Nadir did not know if he should say anything or not. He would help Erik as much as he possibly could, but only if he were free. If the guards arrested him now, he would have no chance of helping.
"I don't know what you mean," Nadir lied.
The man in charged surveyed the room and spied the two half empty glasses on the low table behind Nadir. He motioned for the four men standing to the side to search the household. They went through each room in the home, breaking articles and throwing furniture around in their search, all the while Nadir stood holding his ground with a strained look on his face. He feared for Erik and at the same time for himself. He would be executed for treason if Erik were found. He silently prayed to Allah that his magician friend could make himself disappear with the same skills he had proven so often before.
"You know," the filthy guard started, "If you are found guilty of treason, I will be the one who has the pleasure of stretching your neck." He rounded Nadir in close proximity, scrutinizing the nervous daroga with a well-practiced glare. "Oh, and one other thing," he added, "All this that you claim to your name, will become mine, and I will become the Daroga of Mazanderan. So, you see, I am hoping that my suspicions are correct, that we will find the traitor here."
Nadir breathed nervous shallow breaths, grimacing at the smell of the other man's rotting breath. He felt the sweat trickle annoyingly into his eyes but refused to break his taunt stance to wipe it away.
Before Nadir could retort, one of the guards shouted outside, "Quick! He's getting away!"
Nadir and the guard rushed outside in time to see Erik speeding away on a stolen horse. The guard quickly joined his companions on their horses to chase after, but not before he warned Nadir that he would be back for him.
Nadir watched the group chase after Erik, leaving a choking trail of dust in the air behind them. He lost no time in gathering a few belongings and the money he possessed. He must flee before they came back. As he galloped away from his home, he looked back at the still lingering dust in the air with a twinge of guilt. As much has he hated to admit he could not leave Erik to the clutches of the Shah and his mother without forever feeling responsible for it. He slowed his horse to a stop and turned back. He had to help, but now he too was a wanted man and would have to go carefully. With that in mind, Nadir made his way into the underbrush of the countryside that led to the city. There he would be able to hide and find help in a few less than respectable places. As much as he hated to admit, he did possess connections with people that went against his grain of life.
Erik turned to look behind him as he continued to urge the beast he rode to run faster. The horse had begun to tire and he could hear the hoof-beats closing in behind him. He felt badly that Nadir would have to suffer for being brought into the mess that he caused. He had shown him nothing but respect and friendship despite all that he had done. He wished in the back of his mind that he would be all right.
Erik turned again to see how far back his pursuers were from him, when suddenly the horse beneath him jerked hard and fell to the ground. Stunned and unable to comprehend what had happened, Erik realized that his right leg was pinned beneath the horse's sweaty body. He pushed against the back of the animal to free himself, but was unable to move. The horse kicked and fought the unseen cause of the pain; It had lost it's footing on the uneven ground and now lay writhing in agony from the broken leg it suffered.
Within moments, the sound of hoofs accompanied by the shouts of the men, echoed in his pounding head. Erik squinted to see the man who approached him and knelt beside his trapped body.
"Well, well, well," the man said, "I do believe I will get my pension after all."
With that, he felt a sharp pain on the side of his head and everything fell to black.
The Khanum grinned feverishly as the servant told of Erik's capture. "Bring him to me now!" she ordered.
"Yes, my lady," the eunuch replied as he bowed and exited her presence.
She paced anxiously as she awaited his arrival. There was certainly one thing that she excelled in, and that was the art of torture. She had thought up a suitable punishment for her masked magician. Torture with common crude weapons would never suffice for she knew Erik's indifference to physical pain. She knew just what to do with him, and her jaw clenched tightly at the thought of the satisfaction she would have in making him suffer.
She sat in a padded chair and waited, enjoying the electrifying tension she created for herself. She heard shouts coming nearer and chains being rattled. The door to her chamber burst open and the eunuch's scrambled to her side to protect her from the fury of Erik's struggle against his captors. His hands were bound in heavy iron shackles as well as his legs. Several large guards held his chains taunt, and although severely outnumbered, he was giving them a healthy fight. He jerked and shouted incomprehensible words at his captors much like a wild animal. The Khanum sat forward in her chair, her eyes wide with pleasure at seeing his tightly leashed fury let loose.
She rose and stood before him, but out of reach. "Did you think that you would get away with such an outrage?" she hissed at him. He quieted down and stopped struggling to stare at her.
"What? No answer?" she asked coyly.
When she thought he was going to speak, he spit in her face. A guard punched him across the face, causing a spray of blood to fly onto the Khanum. She wiped it away with the back of her hand and sighed.
"Pity, I was rather hoping you would have more to say."
Erik stared at her with a loathing to kill an army. He gave a few more jerks on his chains, but the guards held fast.
"Erik, why do you think I brought you back here?" she asked.
He, of course, did not answer her.
"Do you think it is to punish you?" she whispered. "Oh no, my friend. You are far to valuable to punish, according to my son."
Erik swallowed the lump that had formed in his dry throat. He watched her pad barefooted across the marble floor. He had seen her fluid grace before, reminding him of a snake hunting prey, and it could only mean one thing; she was going to do something unbelievably worse than anything his mind could conceive.
He watched the Khanum draw back the curtain to the adjoining room and with a beckoning hand, gestured for someone inside. Erik saw the Khanum's personal bodyguards drag out three young girls bound by ropes. They could not have been more than thirteen.
Erik's battered mind tried to comprehend what she was going to do with these girls. The Khanum watched his face as he stared confused at the girls and smiled.
"Did I not explain to you that you were to be rewarded for a job well done on the torture chamber?"
He stared at her, utterly perplexed.
"A reward is a reward, is it not? I see you do not understand our little prize," the Khanum rounded him slowly. "You see, these girls are my gift to you. I know that deep down you desire females much more than you care to admit, and so I honor you with these three."
She gestured toward the girls who were roughly jerked towards him. They fell at his feet; their eyes wide in terror at seeing his unmasked and bloodied face. He tried to turn his head from them, but the Khanum grasped his neck and dug in her long fingernails, forcing him to stare back.
"I know," she seethed into his ear, "that you desire girls, but more evident, is that you love to humiliate and you love to kill." She moved to his other ear. "And to assure that you do precisely that, I'm going to let my men help you accomplish it."
She nodded and stepped back as the men who held his chains grabbed his wrists and forced a knife into his hand. He tried to drop it, but the guard's vice-like grip around his hand was overpowering.
"Hold him tightly, make certain he doesn't get away!" she ordered them.
Erik pushed against them but they dragged him forward toward the first petrified girl. They had started to wail and scream in terror, huddled together on the cold stone floor.
Erik ceased to struggle; it was no use. There were too many strong hands on him and the sound of the screams seemed to paralyze his brain. He saw his hand wielding the knife, forced towards the first of the girls. The sharp blade cut away her clothing. He felt them rubbing his body onto hers and suddenly found the other two girls stripped of their sheer clothing as well. Erik felt sweaty arms pushing his body against theirs as he watched the girls struggle to free themselves from the death-like hold the other men had on them. Erik saw the guards' faces, laughing and jeering into his as they forced his knife to cut the girls one by one. The floor was soon slippery with their blood, causing them to fall to the floor in front of him. One of the men shoved Erik to the floor with them and actually picked up a girl and threw her on top of him.
She fell face to face with Erik and the panicked screams began with renewed strength. She bit and clawed at him as he tried to free himself from the tangle of bloodied children's arms and chains. He felt a fist grab hold of his wrist. Just as he realized he still gripped the knife in his hands, he felt it shove upward towards the chest of the child on top of him. Her face contorted and she fell limply on top of him. He dimly felt his arm being raised and driven down into the girl by his side, over and over again.
After what seemed like an eternity, he realized that the room had gone silent, aside from the snickering of the men who stood around him. He thought to look for the knife and realized they had taken it from him already. The three girls' bodies were pulled aside and he now lay in a pool of sticky blood. The Khanum now looked down at him with a venomous gaze. He suddenly did not have the power to breathe under her stare. She knelt down by his side and all he could seem to do was stare at a splatter of blood that had found it's way to her white linen gown.
"Did you enjoy your reward?" she whispered to him. "Let this be a reminder the next time you choose to exceed your pathetic commission in my country. The three girls were suitable for the times you crossed me. For when you locked me in that chamber of yours, for your disappearance, and finally for choosing to run away."
She stood slowly and wiped a drop of blood from the back of her hand, licking it clean. As she turned to leave she leaned over her shoulder and said, "Oh, and by the way, I'll have to owe you one for spitting in my face. I trust you look forward to it."
Erik dimly felt himself being lifted to his feet and dragged back to his chambers where they threw him to the ground. He looked down at his bloodied hands after the men had left and tried desperately to shut out the things he had seen, the things they had made him do. As he frantically stripped of his tattered clothing and began to wash himself clean in the basin of the bath, he began to weep uncontrollably.
LIKE IT? HATE IT? PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW. I PROMISE MORE TO COME SOON AND WHO KNOWS HOW IT WILL END ...
Once again I apologize for the delay in getting this next chapter out. Not to fear though, the end is within sight now. Be patient!
WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VIVID VIOLENT DESCRIPTIONS.
Nadir stepped aside to accommodate for the search party that rudely shoved their way into his home.
"We have come for the magician. We know he his here with you."
Nadir did not know if he should say anything or not. He would help Erik as much as he possibly could, but only if he were free. If the guards arrested him now, he would have no chance of helping.
"I don't know what you mean," Nadir lied.
The man in charged surveyed the room and spied the two half empty glasses on the low table behind Nadir. He motioned for the four men standing to the side to search the household. They went through each room in the home, breaking articles and throwing furniture around in their search, all the while Nadir stood holding his ground with a strained look on his face. He feared for Erik and at the same time for himself. He would be executed for treason if Erik were found. He silently prayed to Allah that his magician friend could make himself disappear with the same skills he had proven so often before.
"You know," the filthy guard started, "If you are found guilty of treason, I will be the one who has the pleasure of stretching your neck." He rounded Nadir in close proximity, scrutinizing the nervous daroga with a well-practiced glare. "Oh, and one other thing," he added, "All this that you claim to your name, will become mine, and I will become the Daroga of Mazanderan. So, you see, I am hoping that my suspicions are correct, that we will find the traitor here."
Nadir breathed nervous shallow breaths, grimacing at the smell of the other man's rotting breath. He felt the sweat trickle annoyingly into his eyes but refused to break his taunt stance to wipe it away.
Before Nadir could retort, one of the guards shouted outside, "Quick! He's getting away!"
Nadir and the guard rushed outside in time to see Erik speeding away on a stolen horse. The guard quickly joined his companions on their horses to chase after, but not before he warned Nadir that he would be back for him.
Nadir watched the group chase after Erik, leaving a choking trail of dust in the air behind them. He lost no time in gathering a few belongings and the money he possessed. He must flee before they came back. As he galloped away from his home, he looked back at the still lingering dust in the air with a twinge of guilt. As much has he hated to admit he could not leave Erik to the clutches of the Shah and his mother without forever feeling responsible for it. He slowed his horse to a stop and turned back. He had to help, but now he too was a wanted man and would have to go carefully. With that in mind, Nadir made his way into the underbrush of the countryside that led to the city. There he would be able to hide and find help in a few less than respectable places. As much as he hated to admit, he did possess connections with people that went against his grain of life.
Erik turned to look behind him as he continued to urge the beast he rode to run faster. The horse had begun to tire and he could hear the hoof-beats closing in behind him. He felt badly that Nadir would have to suffer for being brought into the mess that he caused. He had shown him nothing but respect and friendship despite all that he had done. He wished in the back of his mind that he would be all right.
Erik turned again to see how far back his pursuers were from him, when suddenly the horse beneath him jerked hard and fell to the ground. Stunned and unable to comprehend what had happened, Erik realized that his right leg was pinned beneath the horse's sweaty body. He pushed against the back of the animal to free himself, but was unable to move. The horse kicked and fought the unseen cause of the pain; It had lost it's footing on the uneven ground and now lay writhing in agony from the broken leg it suffered.
Within moments, the sound of hoofs accompanied by the shouts of the men, echoed in his pounding head. Erik squinted to see the man who approached him and knelt beside his trapped body.
"Well, well, well," the man said, "I do believe I will get my pension after all."
With that, he felt a sharp pain on the side of his head and everything fell to black.
The Khanum grinned feverishly as the servant told of Erik's capture. "Bring him to me now!" she ordered.
"Yes, my lady," the eunuch replied as he bowed and exited her presence.
She paced anxiously as she awaited his arrival. There was certainly one thing that she excelled in, and that was the art of torture. She had thought up a suitable punishment for her masked magician. Torture with common crude weapons would never suffice for she knew Erik's indifference to physical pain. She knew just what to do with him, and her jaw clenched tightly at the thought of the satisfaction she would have in making him suffer.
She sat in a padded chair and waited, enjoying the electrifying tension she created for herself. She heard shouts coming nearer and chains being rattled. The door to her chamber burst open and the eunuch's scrambled to her side to protect her from the fury of Erik's struggle against his captors. His hands were bound in heavy iron shackles as well as his legs. Several large guards held his chains taunt, and although severely outnumbered, he was giving them a healthy fight. He jerked and shouted incomprehensible words at his captors much like a wild animal. The Khanum sat forward in her chair, her eyes wide with pleasure at seeing his tightly leashed fury let loose.
She rose and stood before him, but out of reach. "Did you think that you would get away with such an outrage?" she hissed at him. He quieted down and stopped struggling to stare at her.
"What? No answer?" she asked coyly.
When she thought he was going to speak, he spit in her face. A guard punched him across the face, causing a spray of blood to fly onto the Khanum. She wiped it away with the back of her hand and sighed.
"Pity, I was rather hoping you would have more to say."
Erik stared at her with a loathing to kill an army. He gave a few more jerks on his chains, but the guards held fast.
"Erik, why do you think I brought you back here?" she asked.
He, of course, did not answer her.
"Do you think it is to punish you?" she whispered. "Oh no, my friend. You are far to valuable to punish, according to my son."
Erik swallowed the lump that had formed in his dry throat. He watched her pad barefooted across the marble floor. He had seen her fluid grace before, reminding him of a snake hunting prey, and it could only mean one thing; she was going to do something unbelievably worse than anything his mind could conceive.
He watched the Khanum draw back the curtain to the adjoining room and with a beckoning hand, gestured for someone inside. Erik saw the Khanum's personal bodyguards drag out three young girls bound by ropes. They could not have been more than thirteen.
Erik's battered mind tried to comprehend what she was going to do with these girls. The Khanum watched his face as he stared confused at the girls and smiled.
"Did I not explain to you that you were to be rewarded for a job well done on the torture chamber?"
He stared at her, utterly perplexed.
"A reward is a reward, is it not? I see you do not understand our little prize," the Khanum rounded him slowly. "You see, these girls are my gift to you. I know that deep down you desire females much more than you care to admit, and so I honor you with these three."
She gestured toward the girls who were roughly jerked towards him. They fell at his feet; their eyes wide in terror at seeing his unmasked and bloodied face. He tried to turn his head from them, but the Khanum grasped his neck and dug in her long fingernails, forcing him to stare back.
"I know," she seethed into his ear, "that you desire girls, but more evident, is that you love to humiliate and you love to kill." She moved to his other ear. "And to assure that you do precisely that, I'm going to let my men help you accomplish it."
She nodded and stepped back as the men who held his chains grabbed his wrists and forced a knife into his hand. He tried to drop it, but the guard's vice-like grip around his hand was overpowering.
"Hold him tightly, make certain he doesn't get away!" she ordered them.
Erik pushed against them but they dragged him forward toward the first petrified girl. They had started to wail and scream in terror, huddled together on the cold stone floor.
Erik ceased to struggle; it was no use. There were too many strong hands on him and the sound of the screams seemed to paralyze his brain. He saw his hand wielding the knife, forced towards the first of the girls. The sharp blade cut away her clothing. He felt them rubbing his body onto hers and suddenly found the other two girls stripped of their sheer clothing as well. Erik felt sweaty arms pushing his body against theirs as he watched the girls struggle to free themselves from the death-like hold the other men had on them. Erik saw the guards' faces, laughing and jeering into his as they forced his knife to cut the girls one by one. The floor was soon slippery with their blood, causing them to fall to the floor in front of him. One of the men shoved Erik to the floor with them and actually picked up a girl and threw her on top of him.
She fell face to face with Erik and the panicked screams began with renewed strength. She bit and clawed at him as he tried to free himself from the tangle of bloodied children's arms and chains. He felt a fist grab hold of his wrist. Just as he realized he still gripped the knife in his hands, he felt it shove upward towards the chest of the child on top of him. Her face contorted and she fell limply on top of him. He dimly felt his arm being raised and driven down into the girl by his side, over and over again.
After what seemed like an eternity, he realized that the room had gone silent, aside from the snickering of the men who stood around him. He thought to look for the knife and realized they had taken it from him already. The three girls' bodies were pulled aside and he now lay in a pool of sticky blood. The Khanum now looked down at him with a venomous gaze. He suddenly did not have the power to breathe under her stare. She knelt down by his side and all he could seem to do was stare at a splatter of blood that had found it's way to her white linen gown.
"Did you enjoy your reward?" she whispered to him. "Let this be a reminder the next time you choose to exceed your pathetic commission in my country. The three girls were suitable for the times you crossed me. For when you locked me in that chamber of yours, for your disappearance, and finally for choosing to run away."
She stood slowly and wiped a drop of blood from the back of her hand, licking it clean. As she turned to leave she leaned over her shoulder and said, "Oh, and by the way, I'll have to owe you one for spitting in my face. I trust you look forward to it."
Erik dimly felt himself being lifted to his feet and dragged back to his chambers where they threw him to the ground. He looked down at his bloodied hands after the men had left and tried desperately to shut out the things he had seen, the things they had made him do. As he frantically stripped of his tattered clothing and began to wash himself clean in the basin of the bath, he began to weep uncontrollably.
LIKE IT? HATE IT? PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW. I PROMISE MORE TO COME SOON AND WHO KNOWS HOW IT WILL END ...