Beasts pt.2

Aurora returned home the next day, only to find a trail of blood leading to the back door. Following the trail, she found Raja, still wearing the Desian uniform, on the floor, prone. She checked for pulse and breathing. He was alive, miraculously, despite his injuries and loss of blood. She turned him over, face-up, so that she could determine if he was going to live.

"Raja, can you hear me? Raja?"

"...mmnng...unnnng..." Raja writhed weakly with pain. His eyes fluttered open to greet Aurora's.

"Au...rora...it..." he uttered weakly.

"Don't talk. Conserve your strength while I patch you up," she quickly grabbed some bandages and ointment from her pack and began to wrap up his wounds.

"...L...Lloyd..."

"I said, don't talk. You'll only waste your energy if you talk."

"It's...about Lloyd..." Raja was now a little more conscious and breathing heavily.

"What about Lloyd? Where is he?"

"...he's…Desians…came and took him somewhere…"

"What? I thought the Desians disbanded!"

"...F...Forcys…" Raja began to cough up blood.

"Hang in there!" she cried, "Just hang on!"

She threw his arm over her shoulder and carried him upstairs to let him rest in the futon, and finished the bandages. His breathing was deep but somewhat labored. Raja then opened his eyes again and looked at her.

"There...is something that...you must know...Aurora..."

"Hmm?"

"...Forcystus...is alive...Lloyd's in danger...go find him...quickly..." his voice strained against the pain.

"Forcystus..." she glared down. How could he still be alive after all those reports of his death? Surely the boss wouldn't like this...

"Understood. Stay here and heal your wounds. I will bring Chiriko to care for you until I get back."

XXXXXXX

Nightfall had quickly descended on the small utility shacks just inside the lumberyards of Izoold. One small shack, however, had a special guest inside, as well as his enemies. Inside, it reeked of cut lumber that had been stacked high outside, making maneuvering around the small jut of land the shack was situated on tough. Several other empty shacks around it made it an ideal spot for soldiers to hide and 'interrogate' their captives.

SPLSH! Warm water was splashed into Lloyd's face, who had been tied up and beaten the moment they arrived at the shack. He was bound in rope by his hands and had been tied to one of the metal rafters above, swinging like a kick bag with each blow. His ankles were also tied up, preventing him from kicking or running away from the torment that ever so eagerly awaited him.

SPLOSH! Another wave of warm water was thrown into his face, forcing him to gasp for air. Forcystus looked at him with disgust.

"Pitiful human!" cried Forcystus as he wound up for one last punch at Lloyd, "talk or suffer!"

Lloyd remained silent and stared at the floor. Water and sweat were slowly dripping from his half-stripped and badly bruised body, and with each soaking of the water sensitized his skin to stinging punches and kicks from his captors.

"Harumph, fine then. This one's from me!" said the half-elven leader as he punched his victim dead square in the ribs with his robotic arm, making a disgusting, cracking sound. Lloyd opened his eyes wide with tears of pain and cried out in agony as he swung back and forth from the blow.

"Ah, the mere sound of your tortured screams of agony just simply soothe me," haughtily chuckled the leader, "I wish I could have you scream for me all the time, but eventually you'll crack. And that's when you die. Such a moment it will be after all this time."

He sighed and turned to his soldiers.

"I'm getting tired of hitting him. Go ahead and take him down for the next round."

"YES SIR!" The soldiers dutifully did as he ordered and took him off of the metal rafter. They then tied him down to a metal table that had been left there, already cleaned up of sawdust and chipped wood. Lloyd tensed up as his exposed skin made contact with the cold steel of the table. His body ached so badly that he didn't even feel the others tie him down tightly.

"God, it's hot," complained one of the soldiers, fanning himself. The rest of them were feeling quite warm inside the stuffy little shack, some even removing their shirts and helmets, "can't we just open the door or something?"

"No," replied Kinuka, sipping on his drink, "Someone might hear his screams, and we don't need the extra attention," he took another drink from his cup, "Remember our fallen comrades, and endure. The boy's bound to break sometime soon, so be patient."

He turned to Ikon, a half-elven woman and an expert torturer, who was sitting on the floor over a small hotbox full of small rods and hot coals. Her hair was a light blue, done into a long braid that reached to her buttocks, had deeply penetrating blue eyes, and a sinister attitude to go along with a beautiful figure. She didn't wear the standard issue armor. Instead, she wore a dauntingly skimpy version of body armor: almost all of her skin; save for the private areas, were exposed to the world, with flexible bands of leather and steel connecting the main plates. That twinkle in her left eye was always scheming something to herself on how to maim her next victim.

"Ikon, are you ready?"

"Heh heh! Yeah, I am…" she cackled, holding up one of the heated skewers. Steam had began to quickly form around the rod of the poker and curled playfully in the stagnant air. She waved it around like a cat with a mouse, grinning.

"…and so are these babies. I'm sure they would like some hot, spicy meat tonight!" She stuck the poker back into the hotbox, stood up, and approached the prone Lloyd. She carried over a cup of water and brought it to his lips.

"Drink!" she commanded, in which he did, causing a smile to emerge from her lips.

"Good boy. Looks like you still got some life in ya. Be a bitch if you croaked too easily!"

She gently caressed Lloyd's head and purred soothingly into his ear, "Poor baby. You know, if you talk, we'll let you go, so why not tell us everything that you know about your pals that you're with? I'm sure Lord Forcystus would forgive you of your trespasses against him in the past. Or are you afraid to tell us? I mean, if you blab, you believe that your friends will come and kill you, or if you don't speak, you're afraid that we'll kill you and eventually find out? C'mon, baby cakes, if you tell us, we won't tell anyone about your little confession. I mean, no one will really know for sure where the information came from. We'll keep it a secret, I promise."

Silence. She tried again, this time trying to be a little more convincing.

"Y'know, dearie, before I joined the Desians, I got to help torture devout Martelian priests. Twelve total, and all converted. Man, that was some mother fuckin' serious business then. Peeling off their skin, raping and slicing up little boys and girls, right in front of their parents. Sticking hot iron pokers into their eyes and hearing their pleas for mercy…heh, molten sulfur down the throat, aw yeah. I get a little horny just remembering it all. Those were the times...but here, my little pumpkin, compared to that, we're just playing a little rough."

She massaged his temples and head between her breasts in an effort to make him talk, but he looked back up at her with unforgiving, silent eyes. She glared back in disappointment, and threw the rest of the water from the cup into his face before turning to Forcystus, who had now sat tending to the hotbox full of the pokers.

"Hmph! Fine, then, you lowly human! Lord Forcystus, hand me one!" He handed her a fresh hot poker and sniggered evilly at Lloyd.

She took the poker, steam now curling again from the metal, and drove one pick into Lloyd's right thigh. A small sizzle of burnt flesh could be heard, before his screams of pain filled their ears. Lloyd writhed and struggled against the ropes to break free, but to no avail. Tears of pain began to stream down his face, and before the pain could subside, she began to roll the handle around in her hands, causing even more pain. After several rolls, she violently yanked it out, causing her victim to cry out in pain even more.

"Mmmm...love the smell of barbequed meat, heh heh!" she giggled, taking the cooling poker and playfully licked it before discarding it on another small table. She then took up a bowl full of a red, thick liquid and pulled out a medium-sized nail. Ikon looked gleefully at the boy, who was still writhing in pain.

"Y'know," she said, "when you wanna cook some real home barbeque, ya gotta spice it while it's hot, yes?"

Lloyd gritted his teeth to deal with the pain as she continued.

"See this stuff? It's my special sauce: hot peppers mixed with vinegar, black satay, and marinated in clover honey, my favorite. It adds that special...stingy, painful touch that makes sizzlin' meat taste just so damn good, heh heh! This stuff'll blind ya if it gets in the ol' eyes, no?" She took a nail from the bowl and swirled it around, coating it well with the molasses-like mixture.

"Now, let's plug up that hole so it doesn't bleed too much, okay?"

Ikon took the nail from the bowl and gently stuck it into the hole that had been made in the boy's leg. He emitted a small cry of pain as the sauce made contact with his wound, and just as the pain began to subside, she fiercely whacked the head of the nail with her hand, driving it in quickly and painfully. His eyes opened wide again as the new, excruciating tide of pain hit him like a brick.

"NNGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" his scream of agony could curdle blood. Sure, simple punching and broken bones hurt, but not as painfully as this did. He instinctively struggled against the ropes in an attempt to free himself, but to no use. He was tied down quite well, so well that he now noticed that the ropes began to dig themselves into his skin, almost like eating it alive.

"C'mon, you good for nothing human! Talk!" demanded Forcystus, "Your brave resistance is futile. We already know that you're with two...well, make that one now, heh, other people that are working with a group of people called the Lonemen. This organization has been working in the shadows for centuries, closely following all of our moves, and at some times, assassinated some of our older ranch-leaders."

"What? When did you know this?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Shaddup! Don't question Lord Forcystus, or you'll be on that table next!" hushed another.

Forcystus continued, "Now, while your other friends and that cursed Chosen were in Derris-Kharlan, the Lonemen had planned to assassinate Lord Yggdrassil, but you killed him first. Ever since I heard the news during my recovery, I was shocked, so to speak. Your group inadvertently helped them at every turn, and now, with the rise of the secretive new Desians, they have become quite the hindrance ever since."

Everyone was now listening to him, including Lloyd through the stinging pain in his leg. He continued.

"However, two weeks ago, we captured two of these Lonemen and questioned them, just as we're doing now, as to who hired them. Mind you these two people had managed to wipe out 50 of our men. With his last breath, one of them broke and said: Igaguri. And since you're with a female assassin that we believe is a member of the Lonemen group, Lloyd Irving, she would have more than likely told you something about her job, so to speak. If not, you're already a member of the Lonemen."

Forcystus approached Lloyd, who was now weakly glaring at him, and grabbed his chin.

"Now, speak. Tell us everything you know of these Lonemen. And complete the name Igaguri, not to mention how many of you are there. Speak! Before she drives in another, and another…"

Lloyd replied by angrily spitting into Forcystus' face. The soldiers gasped at this insult to their leader.

"You insolent little---!" the half-elf roared, wiping his face with his sleeve, then grinned. "Fine, I guess you'll answer will have to wait. Ikon, please, continue your fun with this plaything. I want him begging for mercy at my feet by dawn!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Aurora arrived back at the inn, carrying her weapon. She stepped into the doorway and sighed.

All day searching and no luck. After sunset, it became nearly impossible to track Lloyd's attackers scent or footprints. She talked to the innkeeper and several other people about it, but they didn't know anything about where they went or how many there were.

She sat and propped her back against the wall when she heard a dog whining at the door, pawing pitifully. She turned her head to look and was surprised to see a very large, light and dark spotted green dog with large ears looking at her. She remembered that this was Lloyd's faithful pet dog, Noishe.

"Noishe! What're you doing here boy?"

The mutt replied with whimpers and whines. He nudged her head playfully before settling down next to her.

"Are you worried about Lloyd too? I bet you are..." she sighed, "I wish I had some clue as to where they went with him..."

Noise whimpered in her ear almost pitifully.

"Oh shaddup..."

More whimpers bereaved her ears before the dog settled its head on the floor.

'I can't ask Raja about tracking these guys. The poor guy can't really move, let alone have the strength to show me. Augh, I wish I had a better understanding of how to track people like him...' she thought, then turned to Noishe.

"I highly doubt you can find him in conditions like this...hell, I don't have anything of his that has his scent on it...I'm gonna have to continue looking for him in the morning, and I'm taking you with me, you big pooch," she smiled at the dog, who had laid down for sleep. Aurora sighed heavily before looking at the ceiling and closed her eyes for the night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Somehow, the wind had carried Lloyd's tormented cries of pain and agony all over the world. Genis woke up from his sleep and sat up in his bed.

'What was that just now?' he thought. He looked out the window of his home in Iselia, then looked at the sleeping form of his sister, Raine. He got out of bed and shook her shoulder to wake her up.

"Raine...Raine..." he whispered, "I heard something outside. Did you hear it too?"

Raine grumbled something before shifting in her bed, "…if you had another bad dream," she mumbled, "...mmmm...go back to bed..."

"But Raine..."

She responded with another mumble and turned herself away from the prodding boy, "...me...sleepy..."

Genis sighed in frustration and returned to his bed, unable to sleep because of that strange sound. Just what was it, he wondered, and where did Lloyd run off to this time? He remembered that Lloyd wanted to go adventuring again, but his personality would end up getting him in trouble more often than not. For the first time since, well, forever to him, he began to feel worried about his friend.

End part 2.