Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

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Force

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Chaor doesn't use towels. I guess when you're able to create fire and heat at will, you find it easier, or more sensible, or maybe just more fun to heat your own body until you begin to steam. I don't have that option, so I simply wait, dripping wet and shivering while Chaor instructs a pair of servants to drain the tub and clean the room.

"You must be starving," Chaor says to me as the servants scurry off. "I will have dinner sent to you." His smile vanishes, and he adds, "You are not so foolish as to attempt another escape, are you?"

Now I'm shivering for another reason. "Loud and clear," I nod. And now that he's mentioned it, I can feel my stomach aching. "Er, I don't know where my room is, though."

Chaor's smile reappears as quickly as it has left. "No doubt you know the palace well, correct?" When I nod, he continues, "Good. Go to my chambers. If anyone stops you, tells them that I sent you."

I'm staying in Chaor's bedroom? Dozens of possible meanings spin through my mind while I process this.

Chaor crouches in front of me and chuckles at my expression. "Only the greatest of luxuries for you from now on, Michael." He takes a hold of my shoulders, turns me away from him, and gives me a gentle push. "Nothing to be concerned about. Now, run along."

I start walking without thinking, and I hear Chaor heading in the other direction. I shake my head and give my cheeks a couple of light slaps. "Pull yourself together," I whisper.

The long trek to Chaor's room gives me time to think. This whole series of events feels somewhat similar to my eleventh time in Perim. Chaor had made me his pet and lugged me around everywhere, showing me off to everyone. This time, though, he seems more concerned for me, in his strange, selfish way, anyway. I'm being treated like a person, not an animal or an object. I briefly wonder whether staying in the UnderWorld would be so bad under these circumstances, but no. I have plans. I want- no, I need to get out of here.

Huh, actually, something about one of those last thoughts isn't quite true. I wasn't a person at the beginning, I was an experiment. They've spent days observing me, according to Chaor. I don't have a way to know how many days it has been since I arrived in Perim this time, because I don't remember any of the experiments Ulmar put me through.

I rub the side of my nose, aware of the blockage I had put there. Because of those missing days...

"I'm out of sync with my escape plan," I say aloud, but quietly enough so nobody can overhear me. "I'm not where I wanted to be, and I don't think I'll be able to get there."

Silence. Of course, it's not like I was expecting an answer-

"You there, stop."

I'm jolted out of my thoughts by those words and the feeling of something against my chest. A spear's point. I look up to see two figures encased in rust-colored armor, both pointing spears in my direction. Past them is the door to Chaor's room.

"Chaor sent me," I blurt as I step back and put my hands up.

A chuckle echoes out from under the helmet of the further suit of armor. "Oh, did he now? And why would he send us a Human?"

"No, I mean-"

The closer figure snaps his spear up to my throat and presses it forward a little. "Shut up."

I comply. Of course, there would be complications.

"Say..." The further figure lowers his spear, and his helmet tilts to the side a little. "I think this Human is the same one that was in Chaor's throne room."

"Is he now?" the other one wonders. "Ah, he is! I wondered where that little jumper had gone off to." He snickers and drags the tip of his spear down my body. "Gotten yourself stripped naked, have you?"

The first soldier puts a hand on his companion's shoulder. "He owes us, right? Bruised our pride, you did, escaping off the top of us."

I take a step back. "Sorry about that-"

A blur of movement, and stars in my vision. I feel something grab my hair. My head is in splitting pain, and I feel blood trickle down the side of my face.

"Not going to cut it!" a helmeted face roars past the dancing lights in my vision. "Lift him up, will you?"

A pair of hard metal arms wrap around my arms and waist and hoists me up. "Let go!" I shout, squirming and flailing my legs.

"Shut him up," says the creature in front of me, and one arm shifts as a metal gauntlet clasps itself around my mouth and nose. I shake my head, trying to free myself, but I'm just no match for these creatures. The creature in front of me drops his spear to the side and, to my horror, begins undoing the straps that hold the armor on his legs in place. "My friend and I are going to take turns with you. You might get to keep your head afterward if you stay compliant."

The creature holding me growls, "Cause too much trouble and your neck goes crack." He twists my head to the side slowly, as if illustrating his point. "We can just as easily reap our dues filling up a corpse."

I freeze. I've been in this position before, but it never gets easier. I want to scream. I want to beg. I can't talk my way out of this.

He's spitting into his hand. The other guy is taunting me. My legs are being lifted up, and he's close enough that I can see the red glow of his eyes under his helmet. I squeeze my eyes shut.

"Just what do you think you are doing?"

I've never been so relieved to hear Chaor's voice before.

"My lord!" The armored creatures release me to stand at attention, and I hit the ground hard. "We caught the escaped Human, sir, and-"

Chaor steps forward, eyes blazing blue. He's got his loincloth back on, though nothing else. Not that he needs anything else to be terrifying. "It looks to me like the two of you were going to harm my guest."

The soldiers go rigid. "Your guest? N-no! Not at all! Just a little scare, right?"

"Silence!"

The hallway goes dead quiet. Heat is radiating from Chaor's body, and steam, or maybe smoke, is rising from his nostrils. He points at each soldier in turn. "If I hear a word from either of you before morning, I will strangle you with your own intestines.

There's no reply from either soldier, just the clatter of metal from their armor as they shake where they stand. Chaor shoves them apart as he steps up to me, and he lifts me up from the ground. "I should have realized that there was a chance that you would encounter trouble," he growls as he holds me to his chest. "I should not have taken my eyes off of you."

I'm too shaken to answer. I simply lie in Chaor's arm and shiver while he steps into his room.

The bed creaks as Chaor sits down on it. "Everything is going to be fine, Michael," he says as he puts me down on the mattress. He lays down beside me, wraps an arm around my body and pulls me close. He curls around me, legs pulling up to my back, arms holding me tight against his chest and stomach. His tough skin is warm, as is his breath against my neck.

It's been too much. I bury my face into Chaor's chest, and my lungs begin to heave. Chaor squeezes me gently with his body as I sob. "I will make certain that nothing ever harms you again."

Eventually, I stop crying, too exhausted to think. I drift into an uneasy sleep, wrapped up in Chaor's warm yet terrifying embrace.

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Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.