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The scent of brimstone stung An’Thaya’s senses, the smoke from the fires in the pit making it difficult to breathe. A collar at the Amazon’s neck weighed heavily, a scalding reminder of the freedom she had traded for Fionna’s release, the chain that bound it to the rock rattling as if to mock her.
Where Haldanuru had gone Tay did not know, nor did she care. The heat here was unbearable, even for someone raised in the jungle, leaving her skin slick with sweat, the thin veils of silk the neonates had clad her in soaked and clinging to soot marked skin.
From here… she could feel nothing, the bonds that bound her to loved ones a distant echo that Thaya longed to reach out and embrace. Ever elusive… it had been a long time since she had felt so alone… so exposed… and helpless.
How long she sat huddled on the slab Tay could not have said. Minutes? Hours? Days? Years? Time had no meaning here; light had no place within the darkness. Flame and Chaos… these things she did not fear, it was the darkness beyond them that haunted the Amazon’s heart. From it came the sound of a cloven hoof on stone, a hollow thumping sound closely followed by another that had the redhead lurching to her feet and backing as far away from it as the length of chain would allow.
“Light’s Hope,” the voice of the Dark God sent a vibration out on the air that made the fine hairs on Tay’s body rise. “You will find no escape my dear, you gave yourself to me, remember. There is no going back on your word.” His horned head lurched into view as he ascended to stone slope, something clutched in one massive, taloned hand. “You are mine.
Throwing her head back Tay squared her shoulders, biting back bile and forcing herself to meet the eyes of the Lord of Hells. “I am not yours. I am the chosen child of light Haldanuru; you have no claim over me. Release me… or kill me, either way, I do not belong to you.”
The laughter was not unexpected, nor was the crushing grip of crimson fingers as he wrapped them around Tay’s jaw and forced her head up. “Perhaps that was true once An’Thaya D’Riel Alcarin… but there is a part of you that does belong to me. Somewhere in the depths of your soul… you know the truth of it. I rule the beasts of the hunt, they are mine to command…”
For a second, Thaya had no idea what he was referring to… until the truth griped her insides with icy fingers, twisting until her blood ran cold with fear. “NO! Even if you did command her, she and I… we are separate beings. You have no hold over me!” Small fingers gripped the God’s massive wrist as she attempted to twist out of his grip, desperate to be out from beneath his touch.
“FOOL,” the word hit like a physical slap, “you have no idea what it is you have become, what you truly are. No matter… we have all the time in the world… and eventually, it will become clear. Ah…. There we are… much better,” he crooned into emerald eyes that had taken on a faceted texture, “Come out… come out my dear….”
“We are not YOURS,” the Amazon’s tone held undertones of Agaru and jewel like crimson scales burst through her flesh beneath the gods fingers. “Let us go!”
Broad wings burst from An’Thaya’s back, flaring out in response to rage and pain as Haldanuru tightened his grip, the jawbone creaking dangerously beneath the pressure. A movement caught her eye, and for the first time, Tay realized what the God was holding.
A long iron rod; the end bright with heat and glowing angry red in the darkness… a brand. With dawning horror she realized his intent, he meant to mark her, forever burn his mark into her flesh.
Her scream of protest was caught between anger and pain, gradually flowing into a roar of unmitigated draconic rage as Agaru attempted to force her way through. Somehow, Tay twisted out of the iron grip on her face and attempted to run, forgetting in a moment of sheer panic the collar around her throat. Sharp steel cut into her writhing flesh and it was a moment before she got her bearings again.
Cold stone pressed against her front, the unmistakable feel of a cloven hoof pressed into the small of her back. A massive hand fisted into her lengths of flame red hair, pulling Tay’s head back at an impossible angle, rendering her immobile.
“I will not let you go…”
It was the last thing she heard before the searing pain of the iron pressed against her shoulder blade, burning through flesh and scale alike. Agony lanced through every nerve, a half-Elven shriek drowning beneath Agaru’s bellow before both sank into the blessed relief of darkness.
Several Days Later
For An’Thaya, several days had already passed by in a bloody haze. She had been tired upon her arrival, in no condition to face Haldanuru and his plethora of tortures. The branding had been just the beginning, as she had known it would be. There was only so much she could do, and she clutched at each small victory with an indomitable spirit that refused to give in.
When the IronBane in her blood waned, the burning iron collar was kept from her flesh by a ring of hard crimson scales, a small but gratifying win in the slow battle that threatened to break her will. When Haldanuru injured her, she gave the wound back with vicious intent; reversing the polarity of her healing magic despite the ripping agony it caused her wounded soul.
To the Demon God, it was all a vast source of amusement, and his laughter only drove An’Thaya further to rage, bolstering her need to fight back, to somehow survive the torment he subjected her to. Fear only revealed itself once, rising hot like bile in her throat as she was held slammed up against a wall by the neck, Haldanuru’s horns scraping the searing hot stone on either side of her head, the leer that twisted his features unmistakable in its intent.
The stone burned at her skin, searing strips of flesh away, but the pain failed to register, it was the look in his eyes that held her frozen, terrified, a cornered creature that could see its fate but do nothing to stop it. A cold hard knot formed in the pit of her stomach and the Amazon went rigid, pulling on reserves of strength and fighting the urge to be physically ill. Emerald eyes hardened forming a kaleidoscope of jewel and facets until it was difficult to tell who was truly looking out from behind the windows of her soul.
Crimson scales clattered across her flesh, forming a solid coat of armor against his touch. Fingers curled into razor sharp talons, poising to strike as An’Thaya met the gaze of Shadowed Death. “You may be a God,” her voice dual toned, as if two beings spoke at once, “but you are still a male… you touch me that way… and I will castrate you.”
Yellow eyes flashed with rage and the God snorted a billowing cloud of choking hot steam, leaving the Amazon gasping for breath and struggling in his grip. The roar that ripped from his throat vibrated through the wall before he ripped her from it, tossing the redhead a good twenty feet with a heave of his shoulders.
She hit the ground with a crack; landing face first and feeling several ribs give way with the impact. Before she could even think about moving he was there, driving a cloven hoof down on her upper arm and shattering the bone. Taloned hands dug into flaming red locks and pulled her head back at a painful angle.
“You think to DEFY me?” he hissed, “I promise you, An’Thaya D’Riel Alcarin… soon, you will be begging me to touch you.”
“I’ll DIE first,” she spat out, through bloodied lips, “Just kill me! No matter what you do, I won’t give in! So just damn well kill me!”
Any further arguments were silenced as she was twisted roughly, the broken bits of bone in her arm and ribcage grinding together and causing unimaginable pain. Halda was rewarded with a shrieking scream of agony from his small but stubborn victim, and it was all An’Thaya could do to cling to consciousness like a drowning person weakly grasping flotsam on the open sea.
“Oh… you will give in my dear… after all, we have eternity together. Such a very long time, and how long do you think it will be until your mind snaps?” Crimson-fleshed fingers stroked her bruised cheek, the talons scraping skin, then dragging through fiery locks. “We shall be very happy together, you and I, when Arminiea and Jaran are but a bad memory, when the world has fallen to darkness and flame. Besides… let’s face it, Child of Light, you crave those things far more than you are willing to admit. Remember… I can see your hidden desires… and you… have been a Very. Naughty. Girl.”
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