Side story (i) - Tessia Eralith

/// Tessia ///

A blustery drive on my shoulder made me stumble forward. Losing my balance, my hands reached desperately for a nearby wall, its rough texture slightly grazing my arm skin.

"Keep it moving." The brash tone of one of the guards of my human abductors echoed, ringing in my ears like a gong.

I looked back- the human from before, who had been comforting me whenever times were hard was no longer with me. Under the pretence of 'educating' me, they had separated me from him.

Whether it was desperation or something else, the feeling of getting separated from him was devastating. It was like the only shadow that sheltered me from the tyrannical despotism was gone. Like I was left naked, vulnerable- like a clay pigeon.

Distant murmurs echoed- sussurating.

A plethora of different sounds reached my ears, echoing against the cramped tunnelled walls; Impatient taps of feet against the floor, stuttering man, crackle of ice forming and breaking.

One, two- no three. I couldn't guess how many people there were. I hadn't awakened. Even if I did, I stood no chance against grown up adults. My body trembled as I got closer and closer to the exit of the suffocating tunnel.

Snow white mist creeped out of the entrance from the other side.

I took a step forward entering the other side...

Then another...

A shiver ran down my spine as I looked at the sight in front of me.

A man clad in a pitch-black armour sat on a throne of spikes. The foul acidic smell invaded my nostrils, a wave of nausea washing over me. His horns extended upwards and then bent backwards.

An overpowering dominant surge of oppression washed over me. My eyes widened and my insides churned. He wasn't even looking at me. Yet I felt my shoulders curving forward, caving my chest in. My heart clobbered against my chest. Every fabric of my being screamed at me to run away. Run as far away as possible from him. Yet my body felt so flabby and forceless that I couldn't even move a muscle.

"How are the preparations, Otis?" The horned man asked another man who was standing with his neck bent downwards.

"W-We have allied many renowned houses with us. They all are ready to accept the great Vritra as our new rulers and live a prosperous life under them", the man with blonde hair and olive eyes said. The man who was the reason for my abduction.

My hands balled into fists, anger and spite mixed in with an unquenchable hatred coursed through my body. But what did he mean by Vritra? New rulers?

"However... there has been a slight miscalculation", the man called Otis said.

The horned man's bored expression deepened even further, his crimson eyes remaining fixed on him. "Speak", he said.

Otis' eyes trailed from him to me. He jerked his head, and the frightened guard picked me up by my arm. The metallic touch of his armoured hand was gelid- freezing. The bone in my arm rattled as he dragged me roughly. Reaching close he tossed me between Otis and the horned demon.

My body touched the glacial floor.

It was cold...

So cold that it burned...

"What is this thing?" The horned man's baritone echoed, a bit loudly this time. He regarded me as a "thing", not even acknowledging me as a living being.

"It was a slave I had ordered some bandits to get for me..." his voice trailed off as he cowered, hesitating, "she's the elven princess", he blurted out.

"And?" The horned man said, unfazed by the realisation of me being a princess.

"My dad is a kin-" my threat got caught in my throat as I felt a crushing weight on my shoulders. I fell to my knees. A warm sensation enshrouded me. My hands travelled to my face. As I brought them in front of my crimson stained eyes, I saw my hands bathed in my own blood.

"Know your place, forest monkey." His voice was muffled by the rapid clobber of my heart. Just as I felt my consciousness fade away from me the barbarous intent vanished.

I gasped for breath, opening my mouth wide as I tried to inhale as much air as possible. Like a starved beast I took in as much air as I could, fearing this mercy won't last long.

Tears fell down from my eyes and onto the frozen floor. Images of my family- My father, Mother, Grandpa...

I miss them,

I miss them all,

I want to go... please someone... take me home.

My sobs were interrupted as the man Otis pulled me by my hair, making me stand.

"Bring in the beasts", the horned man said. Sound of clamouring metal echoed throughout the underground hideout. The floor seemed to tremble with every step of whatever was coming our way. After a few seconds a huge shadow loomed over us. Still recovering I looked up. In front of me stood a titanic, feminine figure covered in vines and flowers of every kind. A name came across my mind but no matter how much I thought about it, it was extremely different. It shared some resemblance with the monster that my mother used to tell me, "Elderwood Guardian", yet it looked extremely different at the same time.

The horned man got up and turned towards it, his black robe fluttering with his every movement. The next moment he snapped his fingers. The beast let out a feral howl, but before it could even scream in agony the ground splintered beneath it. Huge metal harpoons conjured beneath, stabbing and crucifying it.

After a few seconds the beast was gone completely. Its body was torn into two, a mutilated mess. The horned man walked closer to it and stooped down. Between the slushy miasma of acid and its foul stench he pulled out a shining green orb. With the orb in hand, he walked closer to me and Otis.

"Make her integrate with it when she awakens. It is what you lessers will classify as a SS-Class beast." He said before casting a side-long gaze at me. My body flinched at it, the urge to kneel and prostrate in front of him washing over me.

"If you don't mind, Retainer Uto, we can have better uses of the core than to waste it to the slave girl." Otis said, looking at the orb hungrily, like he might devour it.

"Of course, it has better uses. However, it's still better than a waste like you having that. Further, this will solve your problem with the elven royalty. The core has some... effects that will forbid her from revealing what you want to. If she struggles it will kill her." He explained as all thoughts of escape vanished from my mind. "Just change her appearance when you let her go outside as a servant or guard." He explained as a look of satisfaction washed over Otis' disgusting face.

"As you wish, esteemed Retainer. Would you like to stay for a while here? We have many delicacies here." Otis said, looking at me.

The horned man, who was referred to as Retainer, looked at him with an axiomatic disgust and abhorrence. His brow twitched as he let out an audible scoff, "You lessers are beyond saving. I have no interest in indulging the 'delicacies' you are so proud of." He said, wiping the smirk from Otis' face.

Retainer turned around and started walking away. With an object in hand, he placed it on the ground. The object gimmered in a white light as a bright portal shimmered to life. He cast one last look behind and then vanished inside the portal.

I felt Otis take a long breath of relief. "You!" He exclaimed, pointing at the guard who brought me here. "Lock her in a cell until she awakens." He said as I felt the colour drain from my face.

"M-My lord, Sir Bairon is still waiting for the girl." He stuttered.

"I will tend to him. If he asks you too, just say she was sent away to get trained." He said and started walking away, grumbling along the way about the Retainer being unfair to him.

-- TIME SKIP TO HER AWAKENING –

The sound of rubble shifting woke me up from my deep slumber. Waking up I saw myself floating just a centimetre above the ground. An almost transparent dome formed around me, repelling everything away. The guards rushed in followed by Otis. His hands gripped the bars of cell,

"About time."

-- TIMESKIP --

A pained gasp escaped my mouth as I felt the burning, searing sensation against my bare back. Like hot iron being used to brand slaves, a conflagrant metal pressed against my back. I screamed, wailed, and cried. My own voice sounded foreign to me as I forgot for how long I had been screaming.

"If I may ask, what is this for?" Otis' voice was garbled, distorted, muffled by the harrowing burn and pain.

"It's an additional measure. A spellform that will restrict her from revealing her encounter with the Retainer Uto." The other man spoke as he pressed the scalding metal with even more force.

My head felt like it was exploding from the continuous crying. Tears that flowed like streams stopped- reserves dried up as the feeling of pain, anxiety and fear all dissipated in thin air.

I felt nothing. Just a hollow mess... like a cold fireplace, that once provided warmth but now dwelled nothing but minute sparks of the once glorious flames. Yet I felt it. An alchemy of rage and contempt for the scarred man bubbling inside my guts.

"I'll kill you one day."

-- TIME SKIP --

A fireball came towards me at a sluggish speed. Its form wavered, turning into a small wisp. Using a gentle flick of my fingers, I conjured a tornado as it engulfed the clumsily conjured spell. A vein popped at the conjurer, Lucas's forehead as he stomped in my direction.

He extended his wooden staff and plunged it into my abdomen. I fell onto my knees. It should've hurt, it should've felt bad. I should've felt pain, yet all I felt was a hollow emptiness. A relentless cannonade of punches and kicks rained down on me as I took them all. Took them all and continued to memorise the pain and suffering and humiliation this brat and his father put me through. I memorised it all.

"The debt will be cleared one day."

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"This is bizarre... She is fully integrated, but the property of her elemental affinities has changed. It's like... it's corrupted." Said a man wearing a long white robe as he examined me and my core.

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-- ANOTHER TIMESKIP --

"Are you really, okay?" Bairon's voice was as soft as ever. On the outside he was like just another noble. Proud, selfish and drunk on his family's prestige. But that was just a show he put. He was prideful but a man of justice. He was brash but a kind person at heart who just wanted his family to be okay and righteous, just like himself. As much as he wanted it, his own family were betrayers for the demons.

I nodded my head weakly trying to sit straight. His hand travelled towards my bandaged hand; a small red patch still evident on it. "Why do you do it? This act of self-harm?" He asked, his voice quivering, already knowing the answer.

"Just a reminder that you filthy humans can never be trusted." I spat at him, venom seething from my every word. None of it was his fault, yet he was the only person I could speak to like this.

Such a strange nature for all of us. We never dare to speak up in front of an oppressor but oppress the people who genuinely care for us and are ready to listen to us and do everything they could for us. It was a despicable act... and I was a despicable person myself.

"I am trying... just wait." He said with a gentle squeeze on my shoulder.

"Don't touch me." I said, slapping his hand off. It felt bad to do all this to him. He was the only one who cared, yet I continued to badmouth only him.

He let out a tired sigh, "Why are you still not telling me where you were those two years?"

"I can't te-" My words got caught in my throat as an excruciating pain emerged from my core to my back, a searing, sizzling pain making my back arch forward.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking at me.

"N-Nothing. Just some back pain." I lied, unable to bear with the pain anymore. The pain subsided as I let out a breath of relief.

"Is there something they did to you that's keeping you from telling the truth?" He asked suddenly, catching me off-guard. I wanted to tell him, scream the horrors they made me go through just to shut my lips tight, however, I couldn't.

The decrepit room was once again filled with a perduring silence. A sepulchral air made it even more suffocating, difficult to breathe in.

"I understand now." He said. An almost liminal sound made me turn my head as I saw his hands balled into fists, his nails digging deep in his skin as drops of blood made a small puddle beneath him.

"That won't help you know", I said. He looked over to me and sighed, pardoning himself of the self harm. He got up and began to move outside.

"Can you stay? Until I fall asleep?" I blurted out. It was a bizarre request. He was the son of my abductors. He could be testing me for all I cared. Yet, whatever he did felt genuine. No matter what hell I was put into, I always felt home with him. He sat near me, his face towards me. Images of my family sitting along my bed and telling me stories until I slept flashed in my mind.

My eyes burnt... I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. Tears won't come no matter how much I tried. Just a tangible burn followed by pain. I placed my one arm over my eyes, obscuring my vision of everything, the disconsolate room being replaced by a comforting dark. There were so many things I regretted. How I misbehaved with my parents. How I almost never listened to what they said. How I always did stupid things despite being told not to.

I regretted it all.

But it was too late to regret.

I felt Bairon's hand clutch my own. I didn't remove my arm over my eyes and kept laying there. His grip tightened, a sense of security washing over me. I felt like my family was here. I felt home- for the first time in the past four years filled with nothing but an endless suffering and constant trauma.

The subtle warmth from his hand permeated into mine. I felt the reign of darkness stronger and stronger over me- and I let it take control. It was my only respite. My euphoria... as I fell into the dark embrace of sleep.