AUTHOR'S NOTE: A tough chappy, no doubt about that. I'd like to hear, if you guys think it's "effective".
CHAPTER 17 -QUESTIONED DESTINY-
Mabon hung from the ceiling. His shoulders ached from being suspended for so long. Bernard had been right, Bruce was worse than Francis. Mabon hated Francis with a passion, but at least he never kept Mabon suspended for more than a few hours, just long enough to utilize Mabon's body in its full vulnerability. The prospect of having to wait until a dislodged shoulder was healed did not interest Francis.
Mabon's situation was made far more agonising by the fact that he could no longer place weight on his feet without suffering. Several hours of bastinado had left him with bloodied soles and palms. Shadrar had not been content at merely beating his feet. When it had not yielded the desired scream, the demon had moved on to administer the bastinado on Mabon's palms. Drops of blood were still trickling down inside the manacles.
Even having his hands beaten had not made Mabon scream. Growing tired, Shadrar had finished their first session with a flocking. The previously clean floor of the metal room was now smudged in a pearly, magenta liquid, Mabon's blood.
Mabon hated to admit it, but he was exhausted. It would take him a while to get used to regular abuse after he had spend all that time in the box. His head hung against his chest, the only movement visible was Mabon's chest heaving in large breaths.
The sound of the outer door opening brought Mabon back to the present. He would have to worry about the future later. Shadrar entered the room, no one else was apparently permitted to come in. Mabon could hear the shuffling sound made by Shadrar's long white coat.
"And how are you feeling today, little one?"
Mabon kept his eyes closed. He hated being called "little one", as if he was not aware of his own lack in size as it was.
"Now now. I know you're not sleeping. Be a good boy and open those orbs of yours, unless of course you want me to take them out."
Mabon glared at Shadrar beneath his bangs.
"That's better." The demon smiled pleasantly and reached over to touch Mabon's wounded hand. "You know, little one, you are quite the stubborn case. Makes this all more fun for me of course, I despise weaklings. But I wonder, just where do you get all that willpower?"
Mabon pulled his legs up and kicked at Shadrar's chest, sending himself spinning around until Shadrar took a strong hold of the chains.
"That kind of behaviour just won't do, little one." Shadrar looked at the magenta stains now decorating his coat. "You made my clothes dirty. Not good at all, we shall have to have extra fun today."
Shadrar pressed the control button for the electrocuter. Mabon arched his head backward, gritting his teeth. He was not about to give Shadrar the pleasure of hearing him scream. He had not done it the first time, he would not do it now.
"You think that I'm afraid of you?" Mabon spat out once the electric current was gone.
"All of my subjects fear me. Even now your heart is hammering, no amount of bravado can hide that. Now, if we could just use that all that energy to make you behave a little nicer?"
"Good luck with that, I'm a hopeless subject."
"I don't believe that anyone is hopeless. Call me an optimist, little one, but I think there is hope for anyone. Merely a matter of persistence. And as your owner has been very generous to me, I see no point in not being persistent with you."
"He doesn't own me."
"There I must disagree with you. He holds your freedom quite literally in his hands. If that is not ownership, little one, then I don't know what is."
"That is not the same as owning something. You can go and tell Bruce that I'd rather hang here till the world ends before I light one single candle for his amusement."
"That would be very monotonous, wouldn't it? No, I think you require far more variety in your life. Occasionally pain and at other times pleasure." Shadrar cupped Mabon's head in his hands and gently rubbed the base of the elemental's pointed ears.
Mabon tried to turn his head away to no avail. Mabon growled, but soon the growl turned to an involuntary purr. Inwardly Mabon swore, how could Shadrar know how sensitive his ears were?
Shadrar chuckled. "You see, little one, I know more of your kind than one would think. Though I must say." He tore off what remained of Mabon's torn and bloodied shirt. "I have never seen one with so many scars as you. In fact I haven't seen any on an elemental before."
"What does it matter to you?"
"Well, it certainly explains why you withstood my treatment yesterday, you're obviously experienced. But it also raises the question of just what kind of elemental you are." Shadrar leaned close to Mabon's ear. "But don't worry, I am not planning on letting Bruce in on my suspicions. After all I must have some way to get back at him for what he did to Francis. Now then, seeing as conventional ways seem ineffective on you, I have decided to try something a bit different."
Shadrar pulled a syringed out of his pocket and examined it. "Luckily your display of disobedience did not break this, some of the ingredients are quite costly. But since Bruce has made a point of sparing no expense in your case, I can make as much of this delightful substance as I want. Now, hold still."
Mabon struggled to get out of Shadrar's vicelike grip, only too feel the syringe penetrate his arm.
Shadrar deposited the emptied syringe back to his pocket and took a step back. "I haven't had the enjoyment to test this on an elemental before, but I assume it won't take long for it to take effect."
At first Mabon felt nothing more than the familiar ache, but soon a convulsion went through his body. He gasped and bent his head forward.
"Ah, I see it's working." Shadrar stepped closer and carefully laid his index finger on one of the old scars on Mabon's chest.
As Shadrar moved his finger along the scar, Mabon stifled a cry. It was as if he was being cut with a hot blade. He had been subjected to such things earlier in his life, but he had never before felt the searing pain that emitted from heat. He was sure that what he felt now was what humans felt when they were being burned. The pain radiated its way to every corner of his body.
Shadrar's smile widened. "If you think that feels bad, imagine how it would feel if I was to be more heavy-handed with you."
"Do you think I care what you do to me?" Mabon whispered.
"You may very soon care, little one."
- - - - - - - - - -
(Later)
Mabon screamed, he no longer noticed how Shadrar would smirk every time he expressed agony. The last few hours Mabon had been alternately begging and cursing the demon. Each curse earning him a new whiplash on his back, resulting in ear-splitting scream that rattled the shatterproofed glass in the window.
Occasionally Shadrar would slow down and talk to Mabon. "Did you honestly think that you could leave Francis' family behind you? How foolish can you be, little one? Accept it, this is your home."
"No." Mabon rasped between laboured breaths that only seemed to keep the pain going on.
"Where else would you go? Do you think those people Bruce found you with would care for you?"
"I care for them, nothing else matters."
"And see where it has led you." Shadrar sunk his nails into Mabon's thigh.
Mabon cried out and pulled at the manacles, which only served to place more pressure on his wrists.
"Please, stop..."
Every fibre of Mabon was telling him to call for an element, any element at all. But he knew all too well what would happen, if he was to let his instincts take the better of him.
"I don't believe that I will, little one. Not until you realize your rightful place and submit to your fate."
From the midst of the blinding agony a kind but firm voice sounded inside Mabon's mind, "never forget, Maboroshi, that you have a destiny to fulfil."
Mabon closed his eyes and allowed for the tears to come. "What destiny could someone like me possibly have?"
The voice spoke again, "Sweet one, I have told you that you possess powers that our kind could only dream of. Remember, Maboroshi, never let anyone convince you that you are without worth. You are precious, if not to yourself, than to me."
- - - - - - - - - - -
(Mt. ZaƓ, Northern Japan 1262)
"What is troubling you, child?"
Mabon looked at the ancient being before him. The elemental had the slightest hint of wrinkles around his eyes, a sign of extremely old age among their race.
"I need to know why I'm this way, my lord. No one else would see me, because of the council. But you are beyond the council and their judgement," Mabon said.
"I tend to avoid the council. To be honest, I fear that they have lost their original purpose somewhere along the way."
"Please, tell me what's wrong with me," Mabon pleaded.
Lord Taro sighed, "I have never come across something like this before."
"But Baba Yaga told me that you are the oldest of our kind left, my lord. I have been looking for so long. No one has any answers, they only have hate. I don't understand why."
Taro, who had lived for longer than most species had existed leaned back. "Our kind has been set in its ways forever. I suppose we would have difficulty in accepting differences from one of our own. Still, I do not condone the ignorance shown by the council, they should know better."
"How can I be different?"
"To all my knowledge, this should be impossible. You cannot be a half-breed, you have no illness... There is no plausible reason for you being the way you are."
Mabon looked down. "So, I'm stuck with being an outcast for no real reason."
Taro stood up and walked to Mabon. "Child, maybe others will not accept you, but in my mind there is nothing unforgivable wrong with you."
"My lord?" Mabon looked up.
Taro extended his hand. "If you will accept my invitation, you are free to stay here. I'm growing tired of my solitude. Here there are no others to judge you."
Mabon tentatively took a hold of Taro's hand. "I'd be honoured."
Taro smiled and held Mabon in his arms. "Welcome home, Maboroshi. Perhaps together we can discover answers to your questions."
