When Hell Freezes Over

[Anonymous]

At eighteen years old, Seren LaForet was the kind of girl who knew better than to wander too far away from home.

Still, she knew how to get back to the familiar cottage where she lived with her parents – it was naught but a hop, skip and jump away from here. Still, the thick forest that she enveloped herself in was a little daunting, and she found herself feeling a little claustrophic if she spent too much time thinking about how dense the forest was. When she looked up, Seren could see nothing but trees – they nearly blocked out the sun. Despite its best efforts to shine through the thick foliage, the forest still seemed dark and damp, even though it was quite early in the morning. A cold chill wafted through the trees, and Seren found herself shivering a little, biting her lip, wondering if she should turn back.

Seren wasn't a quitter though – starting a task and leaving it unfinished... it was an unthinkable thing to do, one that would keep her up at night. And so, with a scroll of paper tucked into the side of her pants, along with a sharp piece of lead, the girl wandered the forest, making calculations and finishing geometry problems in her head as she did so.

Admittedly, she had never been in this part of the forest though, but it was nearly impossible for Seren to ever get lost. She was Seren LaForet after all, soon to be the greatest cartographer who ever lived! If someone who made maps ever got lost, could you really trust them to make a reliable map? So she took mental notes in her head, making little landmarks for herself, in order to remember where home was from here.

It was quiet in this forest, eerily so. Seren hummed under her breath to herself, in order to keep her moral going, but it was a little hard, especially when this part of the forest seemed so... creepy. How could she concentrate on making her calculations for her map when the forest seemed like it might eat her up, and swallow her whole? Every now and then, she would think she heard a rustling in the bushes, or footsteps trailing behind her, and she'd stop, waiting for something to surprise her... but nothing ever came. She bit her lip, continued on, but that chill still ran down her spine.

The bushes rustled again, and Seren stopped once more. She held out her hand, allowing her chilly ice magic to overcome her, and in her hands, in a flash of frosty wind, appeared a staff made of ice. She held the staff in her hand, her blue fingerless gloves protecting her from the ice's chill, and cast her hardened aqua blue eyes around the area – still, no one was there.

"The woods are eerie today..." she muttered under her breath, using the staff as a walking stick – prepared to use it as a weapon if need be. "It's probably just the wildlife," she told herself, and nodded, sure that it was just some animals trying to freak her out. "Maybe it's a bunch of raccoons or... or maybe some wild dogs... Nothing to worry about, really..." She continued on, but still felt that cold chill running down her spine. And the chill wasn't from her ice magic – she was sure of that.

[Anonymous]

Predators.

That's what always liked to lurk in dark scary forests. Predators just waiting for prey to come along. This was a long way out of his comfort zone. Northern Serendipity. So close to Connlaoth. He'd been there once. Had met some fucked up people there. One that stopped magic. That made him actually afraid, since he was a good portion of magic. But this was the best place for what he was doing. It came down through whispered words, like it always did. One person to another, secrets that many men would kill for. Capture mages, take them west of La'marri, and get paid good for it. There was no telling what they were for though, none of them seemed to knew.

Lots of conspiracies though. Some were sure it was experimentation, some Connlaothians looking to see how magic ticked. Others thought they might be sacrifices of some kind for rituals. There was even a rumour of them being shipped off to an island so they could all repopulate a long dead civilization. There was no telling just what they were for though. He'd try to bag himself one though and maybe take it down there. In the very least, he'd get some gold out of this. He highly doubted he'd get any answers, and he'd have to be very careful down there. No telling if they'd try to make a move at him. It would be hard though...considering he had twenty six eyes that could each independently look in different directions.

Hah! They'd never expect that would they.

The dark garbed man, his black leather surprisingly silent as he tromped through the forest was following a trail. There was no telling whether or not he'd find anyone magical here. Well...almost no guarantee. He was following one of his eyes, which was currently a blaze with magic and focused in one direction.. The eye stalks that came from his skull were special...each of them having the ability to use a different magical ability. Only one eye didn't do so well, and that was the large cycloptian eye right near the middle of his face. Large and red, it was an intimidating sight usually. Just that one alone scared people, not to mention the twenty five eye stalks that stood like weird hair.

His large dagger like teeth glinted in his mouth as he carefully moved through the forest, a wicked looking spear in one hand. Still hunting...still following. His eye was looking at something...it saw an aura of some kind. This usually was magical in nature, but it never was sure whether the thing was ACTUALLY magic capable, or if it was just magically attuned. It was a fifty fifty chance, but for the amount of Gold he heard was being paid...he wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass him up. He had hunted from a young age...and he learned how to be good about it, even without his special powers.

You had to walk softly, you had to move in just a way, avoiding everything on the ground that could make a noise, and generally making sure your prey didn't see you.

It was exhilarating too.

He couldn't see his prey, and there was hardly a change she could see him. His dark tough skin looked similar to tree bark in the darker light of the forest. Sure his eyes might give him away if he used too many and stuck out like a sore thumb but...for the time being he was doing his best. the only way he could see her was with his special eye stalk, and he was using that sparingly. He had to get closer though. His eye turned off and sped up his pace a bit. His spear got strapped to his back and he was very careful as he moved. Rustle no bushes, hit no twigs with your feet, avoid any rocky dry ground. This was all so...normal for him. Occasionally there might have been a sound...but he didn't care. A flash from his eye stalk told him that who ever was walking out here wasn't really starting to run.

As he approached, he was finally able to see her through some thick foliage. A young girl. Well. Even if she wasn't magic, the forest was dense and fun COULD be had. Either way he'd win. His eye hardened into a glare however as he noticed her doing something. A staff of ice started to form in her hands. Oh. That was magic. There was no way that it wasn't magic. It made him grin and smile. A mage. A young mage. Oh he had been having a very good string of luck lately hadn't he?! This was fantastic. Perfectly fantastic.

The only question was how to deal with her. How to capture her. Numerous ways filled his mind. He had to keep her a live, so some of them were out. He didn't want to cripple her because he didn't want to carry her. He would have to disable her temporarily then. Some poison then? Something to knock her out but not kill her. His hands went down to the large belt around his waist and he felt along it. There were little smooth vials inside specially made holders. Metal ones that wouldn't get shattered with some errant knocking, ah they were a fine investment. But which to use? Something that wouldn't kill her...

He knew of one that might work. It wouldn't be instantaneous but it would caused her muscles to swell and become hot. It wouldn't be absolutely painful, but it would be enough to at least slow her down quite a bit. The only problem was how to use it. He had to get it into her blood stream...and he couldn't just chuck the spear INTO her. He'd have to nick her with it. Well...he'd try his best anyway! Right now, he just wanted to follow her for a little bit longer.

[Anonymous]

Normally, Seren loved the dim quiet of the forest; to her, it may as well be her second home. For as long as she could remember, she spent her afternoons amongst the trees, letting herself trek deeper and deeper into the shady treetops, testing her own apparent inability to get lost. Her parents, they had been worried at first, afraid that one day she'd overstep her own boundaries, but there had never been a day when Seren didn't know what she was doing.

Even now, she muttered quick calculations under her breath, using her fingers only occasionally for tricky geometry, while scribbling a sketch of the area out on her pad of parchment. The paper was dusty – if she let her fingers glide across the page, a pasty residue would slide off on her tips of her digits – but it was sturdy, reliable, paper utilized by cartographers by herself. The scrap of lead she held between her fingers was whittling down to a stump by now, but she was halfway there, nearly done carving out a map of this area. If she could hold out just a little longer...

The ice staff was strapped by her side, held there by a belt looped around her skirt. She hoped it served as a warning to any wild animals lurking in the forest, that she was not just some girl who could not defend herself, but something told her that if something wanted to attack her, it would. Still, it made her feel more comfortable, even if the staff did nothing but make her aura feel colder. Every so often, Seren would lift her head, curious, looking left and right – never seeing anything suspicious, no, but she couldn't help but feel like someone, or something, was watching her. It gave her the chills, like bugs were crawling under her skin, but there was nothing she could do about it, was there?

Suddenly, she stopped – unable to shake that eerie feeling. "Hello?" she called into the forest, her lone voice echoing off the trees, unanswered. Of course no one would answer her – if someone was following her, why would they answer back? She shook her head at her own stupidity, but she had hoped – prayed – that maybe the person she felt in this forest alongside her was just a simple traveler or something, someone shy who happened to be going her way, whose presence she could feel but not see. Either that, or she'd have to believe that it was something more sinister – and she'd rather leave her project unfinished (an abhorrent thought) than believe that.

But she knew something was here. It was something she felt, even though she couldn't confirm it with her own eyes – but such a belief was out of character for her. How could she be sure, if she couldn't even see this so-called mysterious figure? Perhaps she was just nervous, even if that was out of character for her as well. There was just something about today, something about this forest that set her on edge.

"Get a grip, Seren," she told herself, and decided maybe she needed to sit down, to relax. She knelt down near the lake, her legs tucked underneath her so that her skirt wouldn't be ruffled out of place, and looked out over it, back turned toward the woods, trying to clear her mind with soothing equations.

She had walked around this lake, taking its measurements – now to figure out how large it was. Seren muttered math under her breath, sketching out more details onto her parchment, that small bit of lead whittling away. Math, to her, muttered while ciphering, was more soothing than anything else – tangible with truth, it grounded her in reality, let her slip into peace, unaware of her surroundings.

[Anonymous]

He enjoyed it when they were off in their own little world. That wasn't something he was often able to do personally, considering he had all these eyes and with a bad reputation like his own he had to keep his wits about him all time. He wasn't exactly sure what she was doing right now, but it seemed to be something...heavy and involving. Maybe she was studying the plants and the trees. He wouldn't be surprised, mages seemed to have an affinity for something like that. Something so...boring.

He could never do something like that.

Every plant was a plant to him. He knew there were those that had different properties to them but...he was able to eat and ingest a lot of things most couldn't so...plants were plants. He preferred meat anyway. Nice...raw...juicy meat. He licked his lips at the thought of it. With the money they were paying for this job, he'd get a cow and have raw meat for a week.

Hopefully.

He was busy with the damn poison right now though. This stupid thing had to work, and he had to injure her in a way that she wouldn't get it into her blood, but wouldn't  get injured from the spear. This wasn't looking at all good really, he wasn't sure he had ever learned not to decidedly injured someone with a spear. It was a bulky thing that flew straight at least, so he could plan that as best as possible. Until she started talking. Well, one word wasn't really talking but still it got him to stop what he was doing and watch her carefully. Well, watch her little aura of magic around her anyway.

She might have just heard a bird or something. After a while she was on the road again though, and so was he. His mind was working and he finally game up with a solution that would hopefully work. He had telekinesis, and he had a vial of poison. The two of those went together exceedingly well, and he was going to use it to his advantage. A cruel smile went across his lips as he began to stalk after her. It didn't take her long to start resting though, and that just made him grin that wicked grin again. He had to move around though, get to her back as best he could, and he started walking ever so carefully, trying not to make any noise that would disturb his resting prey.

His eyes all focused on her as he hid by a tree, the predatory instinct rushing through him as he watched his prey go about her business as if she wasn't about to get attacked. He held out one hand with the vial, one of his many stalks focused on it and began to glow lightly. Thankfully it was day, the glow would be hard to spot. So would the vial that was slowly hovering up out of his hands. Perfect. Concentrating on her, he suddenly let it fly, the tiny glass vial screaming towards her head, hoping to smash against her body and shatter on impact. She'd either get some cuts from it, or it might even land in an orifice and she'd ingest it that way.

[Anonymous]

It was so easy, to get lost in a world of calculations and mathematical equations. Swiftly, the world around Seren began to disappear, and the invisible threat of the shadow she thought loomed over this forest had been erased from her memory. She was an efficient worker – swift in her technique, fast with math and handiwork, and the map, so far, was coming out nicely! She grinned a little to herself, at the thought of showing her parents her brand new map; after all, she was improving so well, wasn't she? The lead worked so well on this particular piece of parchment, and sketched out the little details so well, so neatly... Her eyes were glued to the page, enraptured with her own work.

But then, she heard it – a whizzing sound, like a hummingbird's wings – and turned around to see just what it could be, only to be struck in the forehead with a glass vial, letting out a shrill scream in scream. If she had a little more time to react, perhaps she could've frozen the vial in midair, but it had been travelling too quickly, and Seren's reflexes weren't so fast. She was a cartographer, not a warrior after all.  The glass shattered on her forehead, and the remains of the vial rained down on her. The impact cut open a nasty wound on her forehead, as well as additional ones on her neck, from the aftermath of the initial hit.

If that wasn't enough, the vial had been filled with a strange liquid substance. It oozed into the cut on her forehead, dripping down her face, into her mouth, down her neck, onto her prototype map. She coughed, wiping the ooze from her face and out of her cuts, spluttering, in an attempt to keep it out of her mouth. It was a disgusting substance, one that seemed to stick to fingers and face – one that made her shudder in contempt. Seren coughed again, trying to assess what the hell had just happened. She bent over, looking at her bloody face in the stream, grimacing. "What the hell..." she muttered, and wondered why she didn't have healing magic, instead of ice magic – at least then, she could've patched herself up...

Seren stood up, reaching for her ice staff, and taking it in hand. "Show yourself!" she cried, her voice piercing through the forest. "Face me like a man, you coward...!" She took a step forward, and wondered why such a small action seemed to have taken so much effort, or why her body felt so hot. It probably would've been best to wash the ooze and blood off her person, before issuing threats to a faceless threat in the forest, but she wasn't thinking clearly – a first, for logical Seren, who prided herself on being practical and precise. She grit her teeth, face angry, distraught and bloody, and tried to take two more steps, but found it was becoming a chore...

Think, Seren! What direction had the vial come from? If she knew, she could probably calculate where her attacker might be... But she had been too distraught over the initial hit, to remember such a trivial detail...

[Anonymous]

He must have done something right in a past life to deserve this. Because he sure as hell was going to pay for everything in the next one. If he were a believer in such silly things. A nice young mage, cute little female too, that was just in her own little world like nothing was going wrong around her. He wondered how bad she could be, considering there was no doubt danger lurking everywhere and she just didn't care. It was absolutely perfect, and he couldn't have written it better himself.

Well, considering he was near illiterate that wouldn't surprise most people.

He winced slightly as she screamed, the deafening sound reaching his ears. He had better than average hearing, and extremely better than average sight. He'd almost go as far as to say he had nigh superior sight. However her scream was on the high end of piercing and he wasn't one who particularly cared for such loud things. However he had heard the shattering glass and was ultimately pleased by the location of the hit. Right in the face! "Bam, down goes baby." He muttered as he carefully kept an eye on her.

Or several. He didn't need to come out and gloat, not yet. When she was fully paralyzed, that was the time to start bragging, but idiots left their cover when they had a poison that needed to course through someone's system. She even started to yell and swing that frozen staff about. He ignored her, staying in the safety of his brush and tree hiding, gripping his staff tight. Even if she didn't end up falling flat onto the ground unable to move, she'd be in no mood for fighting, and he'd have the upper hand.

When she started to see the right amount of dizzy he began to move, his eyes glowing as he did so. What to choose, what to choose...Oh! Of course! Air blast! He grinned to himself as he concentrated on one of his eyestalks drawing in magic. This was perfect, a nice blast to get her off her feet and probably disorientate her even more. The eyestalk picked a spot, and with a small motion, the air near Seren began to distort. It was only for a second, as if the air was gathering, then with nary a sound a sudden wave of pressure exploded from that spot.

He was so proud of that one.

[Anonymous]

How could she fight an enemy she couldn't see? How could she defend herself against an invisible threat?

The sticky goop that had exploded from the vial that smashed on her forehead still would not leave her person. It left her feeling gross and gluey, but worst of all, she was sure that it was making her sick, somehow. Everything around her was getting blurry, and it was getting harder and harder to think straight, and to think quickly. Seren prided herself on making decisions and making them efficiently, but when she couldn't do that, in a situation like this... Well, what good was she, if she couldn't even live up to her one true talent? She was nothing, useless – a waste.

So she couldn't fight – not if her enemy would not show himself, if there was even an enemy to be found. But no matter how out of it Seren was, she knew that glass vials didn't just go blasting themselves at innocent, unsuspecting girls out of the blue. No, someone was behind the attack... and perhaps it was foolish to stand her ground against someone who would not show himself. She whimpered a little, and decided to turn and run – it was not an honorable decision, she knew, but honor was for boys who had strength and power to show off. She was a girl whose only defense laid with her magical capabilities, and she had never seen it as useful in the first place. It was time to go. It was time to run.

But even after finally realizing that fleeing was the right thing to do, Seren couldn't even do that, of course not. She was drowsy, unable to move properly – even when she took a step in the opposite direction – towards home, sweet home, where she wanted to return – her legs were as wobbly as cooked pasta, and she couldn't seem to focus her movements correctly. She furrowed her brows, unable to believe this was happening, and as soon as she was sure this couldn't get any worse, it did.

A gust of air blasted down near her foot, which shocked the ice mage, causing her to yelp aloud once more. Her legs were already wobbly from trying to run, and the force of the air blast caused her to shake and fall on her behind. Blood still poured down her face, from the cut the glass vial made on her forehead, and her neck still bled, dabbing her shirt with streaks of crimson. Confused and disoriented, Seren didn't bother attempting to get back up on her feet. She crawled, albeit slowly, away – taking baby steps, with miserable tears streaming down her face. "I give up, okay?" she wailed to the darkness. "Stop – just stop, please!"

It was one thing to be under attack. It was another to be up against a threat without a face.

[Anonymous]

This had been too easy, and while he was a bit broken up about that, he'd rather get an easy pay day rather than a hard one. The people were supposed to be paying quite a bit after all, and bringing in a fresh mage like this one? That'd be rather sweet when it came to the payout. All he really had to do was just sit back and watch her stumble about half blind as the poison took its course through her. What fun this was going to be! It was like watching a newborn calf search for its mother on unsteady legs.

He stuck nearby and watched even as she tried to run, which was very ineffective as it appeared the poison was taking great effect on her. That brought a rather large grin to his dagger filled mouth. How pathetic was that? It wasn't effective, it appeared that she couldn't really move much. Xion just wanted her to collapse already, but he could be patient for a few more minutes. It's not like that would really kill his schedule after all.

The pressure blast of air definitely seemed to help out quite a bit in getting her to submit though. She didn't even get back up from that, it had definitely broke some of her will...which was nice. She was trying to crawl though, and that made him wonder if he should probably smack her again with something else. Just as he prepared to bring up another blast to hit her with she started to yell something out.

Finally!

He put his spear away and stepped out of the brush and from behind some trees to approach her. "I was wondering how smart you were going to be about it." Xion said with a small smile as he approached. Most of his eyes were upon her, though some would scan regularly around him just in case she hadn't been alone some how. He removed the rope from around his belt as he knelt beside her, starting to bind her wrists tight with the thick rope. "You and I are going for a little trip." First though he'd have to get that poison out of her wouldn't he? And if he remembered correctly having all that glass in her skin would be bad. "Now, hold the fuck still while I clean your wounds. Flinch too much and I'll just knock you out, understand?"

[Anonymous]

She wasn't used to discomfort – to disorientation.

Seren led a cushy life, she realized – a life of softness and safety. She had never been uncomfortable, never had to feel pain for too long, and never had to be in a situation where she didn't know where she was. If she was awake, she would always know where she was and how to get home, right down to how many steps the journey would take, exactly. Never in her life had she been reduced to crawling on her knees, mewling out to the darkness to stop, that she surrendered – praying for a savior that obviously would not arise.

A secret she kept, locked away in her soul, was her passive atheism – she had never found a need to pray out to a god. But as a shadow swept over her, a creature she could not even dream up in her nightmares – she found a desperate need to call out for a messiah. She stared up at the thing – the beast, the monster – and wanted to cry out, to clasp her hands in prayer for once in her life, despite how illogical such a thing was. She wanted to tell herself that this was all a dream, despite how illogical that was as well. Now she knew why people believed in gods and fairy tales – sometimes, fantasies were better than believing in the truth.

So she screamed, of course – what else could she do? With no god to pray to and no hymns to recite, Seren LaForet, who had spent her life in safety and solitude, could do nothing but let out a shrill scream. It was mostly out of surprise, because she hadn't expected this thing who had stalked to her to be so... grotesque.

Her ice blue eyes, widened out of fear, looked up at him, and wondered if he would bother answering any questions. What good would it do to ask 'who are you' and 'what are you going to do with me' when it didn't really matter? Who cared who he was? And did she really want to know her fate? It seemed pretty obvious, anyway, by the bonds he was wrapping around her wrists.

She was surprised that the thing could speak, but was even more unnerved by what it said – that they were, apparently, going on a trip. Her mind was not all there at the moment, but even she could work out what they meant. "No," she muttered, shaking her head vehemently. "No, no, no, no..." she said quickly, in succession, in denial. "I... don't want to go on a trip with you," she said firmly, or as firmly as her voice would allow. While she did stay very still, as he had asked – not out of obedience, but because she was too shell shocked to do anything else. "W-We don't h-have to go on a trip, no – w-why n-not just leave me here, so I can go home?"

No, Seren, this was obviously not a logical thing to ask a kidnapper.

[Anonymous]

She was just a scared little rabbit.

The fear that dripped off her excited him in some way. He almost wished she'd run more. The thrill, the hunt, the beating he'd place upon her, and the rape...oh it was all a very...mmm...exhilarating fantasy wasn't it? However, she hadn't done that, and it was disappointing. Not a lot of fight in her, which meant a lot of the things he wanted to do would almost be boring...almost. He was still going to do them, just enjoy them less.

At least she was looking at him in fear.

The shrill scream caused him to wince, and one of his hands clenched into a fist. He almost belted her across the face but he was sure that a mage that was less broken fetched a better price. As he knelt close to her, he could smell that intoxicating scent again. Oh by the Gods that was a good smell. How he missed it too. He'd get a lot out of her for the trip, wouldn't he? "Well that's why it's a kidnapping you stupid bitch. Now I'll level with ya. You might die. Not on the trip, oh no, you'll be kept in tip top shape...but when we get to where we're going...they might kill ya. I don't rightly know why they want mages, but I know that you're worth money." Was he curious?

Yes, in a way. He had no qualms about selling people to be killed...but the fact that they were asking for so many. This wasn't a re-population effort was it? Could have been, find the strongest of the mages and get them to breed. Possibility. Experimentation to find out their magic powers and how they used them? Again, another good possibility. Were they just going to outright kill them in a cultish manner for their demented devil or God? Oh yeah, that could be it too. On his trip, he had time to think about it, and on the way back he'd have a lot to think about too.

He only wondered, as a creature of magic, as a being who possessed and utilized magic, would he be captured as well when he delivered his bounty. "I promise you that if it is just death, I'll ask them to make it quick with you." There. A little bit of mercy. That's what the humans liked right? The idea of mercy. He couldn't remember. He got a cloth out of his attached bag and began to clean her face, the other hand on her shoulder and holding her tightly so she wouldn't move. The poison could just run it's course, but the wounds could be infected and all that, so he wanted to avoid it.

Couldn't have her dying of an infection on the way there.

[Anonymous]

She might... die?

No, no, no – Seren was not going to die, not here. Or there – wherever he was taking her, that was. Apparently, she would be kept alive during the trip, which she could only think was a good thing. Of course, Seren had little time for reading stories about people who were kidnapped, and her imagination was not as good as other girls her age, so she could only think that being kept alive for a good thing, as nothing could be worse than death. There was no immediate threat of death now, so she could stop, and think later, of a plan to escape.

But for now, she wanted nothing more than to sleep, despite her situation. Whatever had been in that vial was making her feel extremely groggy, despite the fact that she had been so full of energy before. But how could she sleep, when a beast – an ghastly creature that she wouldn't have been able to dream up in her darkest nightmares – was tying her up, and taking her away, away from everything she had ever known and called home? She wanted to flail, which she did, but whatever was inside her made it hard to fight back.

If he hadn't cheated... maybe she could've got out of this mess. If she had just paid more attention, if she had stopped her calculations to get a good look at her surroundings... But no, she had never been in such a situation before! She groaned at him, shaking her head, wanting to find some logical explanation for all of this, but couldn't find one for the life of her.

There might be death waiting for her, he reminded her, but he promised to make it quick. She shook her head, not caring if it was quick or long – death was death, and pain was pain, either way. "You're a ... vile, ungodly creature," Seren groaned, and she found she wanted to spit at him – so she did. She spit – a quick, determined spitball – aiming right for one of his eyestalks, hoping she could at least have one small victory over him, while she was in such a sorry state. It wouldn't do much, she knew, and it wasn't logical to waste so much energy on one stupid task, but it was all she could think of, at the time. She was too tired to do anything else...

[Anonymous]

He was lying of course. There was a particularly good chance that she would die. What he should have said was that she might live. Well, too late for taking back words now. Neither of them would help her feel more at ease after all. Still, he should at least try, it'd make the trip a little more comfortable and less strenuous on himself. While he figured he would be plenty rested by the time he got to his destination, he still wanted to ensure that he would have the utmost amount of energy for taking on any of the mage hunters who thought he might make a good target.

At her groan he could only glance at her with a look of superiority and haughty smugness. "I'm sorry, trying to say something? Rather hard isn't it, with all that venom just running through you. I think you should be grateful, I could have used something that might've killed you." Truth be told he really had wanted to, but this in the end would work out better. He did so hate having to exert more energy on saving the life of someone he was just condemning anyway.

"You should just like tha-Augh!" He wouldn't deny that his tolerance for pain was high, but surprise and sudden blinding in one eye was a little different. It was a good way to throw him off, hurt one of his stalks. It only took a few seconds for his other eyes to take over, while the one eyestalk closed its lids and shrank back toward his skull to recover. His hand up to her throat and he grabbed her in a tight grip as he opened his mouth, showing each of his sharp killer teeth. He brought them close to her face as he growled angrily at her, the smell of rotting flesh and rancid ale on his breath. "Don't EVER. EVER. do that again, or I will suck one of your eyeballs out and fuck your frontal lobe through your eye socket." It was a horrible image, and the look on his face, the stillness and steely resolve in his voice made it seem like that really wasn't beyond his capabilities.

He stood up and hauled her to her feet by her throat, letting go afterwards. No point in finishing cleaning her face, while he had gotten all the glass out her wounds would now close on their own. "Let's get moving. Best way to get the poison out is to burn it out through walking." There were other ways of course, some potions and tonics, as well as different form of cardiovascular movement, but walking was the best solution.

[Anonymous]

[ Is it bad to admit that I laughed at Xion's reaction? Just picturing his eye freaking out made me lulz. xD ]

Bullseye! Despite how tired she was, somehow Seren had managed to land that spitball right in one of the monster's eyes. She grinned, feeling satisfied at her small victory, but of course, it wasn't a victory that lasted for very long. He drew her up close – hand grasped around her throat – his breath rancid and vile, which made the girl almost want to wretch. She held her breath, not wanting to breathe in his stench, trembling at his words. Before, it really hadn't been too clear what kind of situation she was in... The mixture running through her veins had made this whole ordeal seem like some kind of dreamlike illusion, but now she knew – she was definitely in a nightmare.

"S-Sorry," she choked out, and repeated it over and over, as if saying the word would erase that horrible mental image he had left in her head. "Sorry, sorry, s-sorry..." One minute she had been so full of fire, so adamant, and the next, she had been reduced to a servile little girl. He truly was a monster – the stuff of nightmares – and she still couldn't understand it, how a girl as normal as her had managed to land herself in this ridiculous situation. Seren squeezed her cold blue eyes shut, hoping that when she opened them, he wouldn't be there, that if she just pretended he wasn't there, he wouldn't be – but she knew, deep down, that it was bollocks to think these things. It wasn't logical, after all.

There were his hands around her throat – pulling her up, demanding that she walk. Seren bit her lip and opened her eyes (yeah, he was still there), and without much thought, decided to follow him, knowing she had no choice. He seemed like a big guy – but could she outrun him? She didn't know, but it was safe to assume she couldn't. The last thing she wanted to do now was bring his wrath down upon her – she didn't want him to be that close to her, ever again. But another part knew that she couldn't just be his puppet, obeying his every command, could she? Her home was so close, just a romp through the woods, but here she was – walking away from it.

If she wasn't careful, she might never see her home again. With that in mind, she sucked in a breath, trying to be brave.

"You said... earlier," Seren began, narrowing her eyes, "that someone needed mages, and you didn't know why." Her voice was still very shaky, like a leaf in the wind, "But... why me, of all mages?" Someone who barely even considered herself a mage, someone who didn't even touch her magic except to goof around with, when she was bored, or curious, with this seemingly useless gift that she never needed to use before. "I'm... I'm barely even a mage at all!" And now, this gift had made her a target for some madman of a creature, who had made it his mission to drag her away from home.

[Anonymous]

((I pictured it like if a snail hit a leaf or something with it's little stalk and was all "Nyuuuu get awaaaay" x3))

He had to make sure of one thing: She knew that he was in charge...and at any time he would exert that authority over her.

"No, you're not for now...but you're gonna be you little bitch, don't you worry." He told her with a wicked smile on his face. Yeah, he was going to tear her ass open tonight, he was almost sure of it. She should have known better, and yet she still had the audacity, and she'd have to pay for that. But not right now...they were still much too close to the village, and he wanted to get away from that until he did anything with her. He just had to remember to keep his anger in check.

But he'd release a little bit on her to make sure she knew who was boss here.

He made sure to grab his wicked and deadly spear, putting it back into the loop on his back. He grinned to himself as she followed along behind him. This is good! He didn't even have to put a collar around her neck with a leash. This rather pleased him actually...it was good to know that a slave could actually listen to him without much beating. This would perhaps put him in better spirits for later actually.

"You were out here, you were alone, and you have some magic. Had I not seen you actually do any sort of magic, I'd probably have let you go." Though as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his fingers running over the horns that grew from his chin. "You wouldn't have been in the best of shape, but you'd be alive." Free to live her life in fear and pain of the monster that accosted, molested, and ate part of her in the woods. Hah! She'd never enter this place again. It was a good deterrent really. He could go to the village, demand payment, as they'd be able to say he lived in the forest, preying on the young and the weak.

It was a service really! He'd have to think about doing that to one town, seeing how much money he could make off of it.

[Anonymous]

It was ridiculous. To think, that she was so afraid of pain that she would go along with this monster's demands without even putting up a fight. But how could she? Despite his claim that walking would help, she still felt groggy from whatever the hell was running through her veins. And despite knowing ice magic, she wasn't very good at it, in the long run. All she could do were fancy parlor tricks – nothing particularly useful to get her out of a situation like this. And what do you know? It was her fancy parlor tricks that got her into this situation in the first place.

She grit her teeth at his threat – that she wasn't sorry yet, but she would be. They were just words, she tried to tell herself, but they chilled her to the core. He... he had said that she would be alive until he brought her wherever it was that he was bringing her, right? So, no matter what he did, she wouldn't die. She held onto that hope with fervor, and tried to imagine a world where there was no worse fate than death.

But, despite herself, she couldn't help but imagine the horrid things he might do to her to pass the time... She shook her head, and barked at him, "Do not call me bitch, you... you... thing. I have a name – it's Seren. If you want to make threats, at least use my name to do it."  She had a strong dislike of words like 'bitch' or 'cunt' or what have you – at this point, the only way she could stand up for herself was in that small way. Granted, as soon as she said the worlds, she hoped to god that he wouldn't do what he had done the last time she had retaliated...

At his words, she shook her head, eyes determined. "I'm alive now, aren't I? I may be like this now, but, I don't plan on dying here. Not in the slightest." Her mind was still reeling, trying to come up with a plan to escape. The village was not too far off now – it would still be a walk, but this was the closest she'd ever be to it again. How could she use her ice magic, this stupid, useless, ice magic, to escape? And why was it that, right now, when her tactical mind would be best put to work, that she couldn't use it to save her life – literally?

[Anonymous]

All he knew was that the men said magic users. They never said how much magic the person should know after all, they just said...they had to know magic. So he had found someone that knew magic! Someone far away that no one near would miss. He'd be hundreds of leagues away and no one would be any wiser to him. He'd have to keep coming back up here to grab a few people. Though he'd have to see how much money he made at first with this girl.

If it was enough to make a good living, he'd have to go and round up a few dozen more. Maybe retire with a harem of slave whores.

She would be sorry in the end...and in other places as well. He couldn't kill her, he had to keep her alive, but he was very good at keeping people alive despite torturing them. It wasn't as if he couldn't heal them, he had an eye for that actually. Literally too, he had an eye that could help speed up the healing of any wounds. It wouldn't heal instantly but it would at least close and stop any major bleeding and such.

He looked to her with a glare, all of his open eyes looking at her carefully. "I'm sorry...I forgot that I was asking you, and that I cared." Seren, what a stupid name anyway. He wasn't going to call her that anyway. He would call her whatever word he wanted to. Probably 'you' or something like that. Probably something degrading, something to break her spirit then. He'd start coming up with something that would hopefully do just that.

"Yes, for the most part. Those little stunts are going to take away from your life a few years, but you should worry about that later. When it'll come up." He slowed down until he was walking next to her, his arm around her shoulder suddenly as he pulled her against him as they walked. "Now this is what you have to remember. I'm the one who has to feed you, and make sure you have water. Now if you're good, I'll actually give you food, and I'll give you water. Wouldn't that be nice? To give you food and water...instead of making you choke on mud and drink piss." He gave her a tight squeeze with his arm, grinning as his eyes looked down at her.

If she wasn't a frightened mess in a few days, then he wasn't doing his job! Well, this wasn't actually his job...it was just a hobby. "So why don't you just chipper up, and stop pissing me off."

[Anonymous]

She had figured that the monster wouldn't care about her name – why had she even bothered clarifying? Maybe she was scared – scared of the idea that she was travelling with some freak who couldn't even be bothered to call her by her name. So if he wouldn't call her by her name, she'd have to remember to hold it close to her, every so often. Seren, she thought to herself. My name is Seren. But she didn't plan on being out here long enough that she'd forget it. Somehow, she'd have to find a way to get out of this ridiculous situation...

What good was magic if you couldn't use it to annihilate this guy, or teleport away, or something? Maybe she could use the ice to make her travel faster, or something... She knew how to manipulate ice so that she could walk on water, but what good was that when she was walking on dirt? Maybe she could make a road of ice for her to skate away on, maybe it would help her travel just fast enough to get out of the monster's reach. He didn't look to be a very fast creature, but then again, she could be wrong.

Granted, she didn't have time to put any plan into action, because the creature sidled up close to her, and placed an arm around her shoulder. She let out a yelp of surprise, not liking this close proximity, but figured it wouldn't do any good to squirm. If Seren was anything, she was physically weak and scrawny, and definitely wasn't someone who could escape his grasp, even if it was casual. But then he said something – that her 'stunts' would take away from her life.

"...Are you saying that the magic will shorten my lifespan?" she asked, biting her lip. God, this magic really was useless, wasn't it? She couldn't get out of this situation with it, and now maybe it would take away from her life. But then again, how was she to know that this creature was telling the truth? He was probably just saying that to screw around with her – yes, that had to be it.

Gods, but then she remembered who she was dealing with again – sometimes it was so hard to imagine that she was really in this crazy situation. But then, as he pulled her close, she got a good look of his many eye stalks, of the rancid breath he blasted her way, of how completely inhuman he was, and she was scared stiff. Her eyes widened – a deer in headlights – and she nodded up and down, making a note in her mind – don't piss him off. Don't try to escape unless she knew it would work. She couldn't just plan to leave on a whim. Because, if she tried, and she failed, he would probably make her wish she was dead.

That squeeze to her arm made her wince, and she furrowed her brows, closing her eyes. In the smallest of voices, she murmured apologies under her breath, over and over, like before, until his grip had ceased.

[Anonymous]

It really did make him wonder what her fate would be. He would be sworn to protect her until they reached outside of La'marri. It was a small wonder that no one in the town hadn't heard the big news...that's what always made him wonder. It must have been people FROM La'marri doing this...but that didn't make much sense. He wouldn't dwell on it much, he had a magic user right here, a big fat pay day for him! That's all that mattered in the end. He didn't need to know what they were doing with them, sure he was curious but...a good mercenary never let things like "what happens after" get to them.

Just get the money and go.

"Because I'll take years away from you, get it?" He gave her a tight squeeze so she'd understand what he meant. It was easy to weaken a person, to cripple them in a way that would make it so their lives wouldn't be lived to the fullest, and that they died young. It usually had to do with damaging their livers, hearts, or lungs. It all depended on what mood he was in.

She was right though. Only try to escape if she knew that she'd be fully away from him. She would have to use magic, without a doubt, but as she said she didn't have very strong magic. That was good. It meant he wouldn't have to worry about her suddenly disappearing. That was always a pain in the butt, and it meant he wouldn't have to keep her drugged or knocked out. That was a big relief. It was a waste of money, and effort, since he usually had to carry them.

"Yeah, that's a good girl. We understand each other perfectly." He grinned a razor toothed grin and let go of her finally, taking a step away from her. She smelled rather nice...like fear...and food....and that was good. Well, and it was bad. If she smelled like food then he might be tempted to eat her, and he couldn't do that. Maybe a finger or two...but he was sure there was better game around here. Fatter game for that matter.

[Anonymous]

So Seren had been stupid (and who would've thought that her name would ever be in the same sentence as the word 'stupid') and hadn't totally understood his threat against her the first time around. He had to spell it out by delivering another fierce squeeze to her arm, and he spelled it out for her while he was at it, too – if she didn't comply, he was going to take away years from her life. She let out another shrill yelp when he squeezed her, and shut her eyes again, coping in that same way that she had done before, muttering over and over, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The apologies only ceased when he had released her, to which she took in a sharp breath of relief.

"I understand," she muttered, shivering a little. "I understand." And she held her hands together, suddenly feeling cold, which was strange for her, despite the magic she harbored inside. This situation had turned from being ridiculous to nightmarish, and she wasn't sure how long she could stand this thing's company.

After running the specs through her mind, she was sure that she could not produce a road of ice quickly enough that she could skate away on if it meant making the road atop grass. If they were to find a great body of water, for example, her chances would intensify, but the only body of water around here in these woods was the lake that she had sketched out, and there was only more forest on the other side – she had checked. So unless they came across a lake so great that a town was on the other side of it, she was screwed. Royally screwed.

Her magic wasn't strong enough to take him out, she had established that already too. Maybe, if she could create tons of little ice spikes to drive in his eyes, she would be able to stun him, but she wouldn't know how long it would take for him to recover from the stun. And what was the point of stunning him if she had nowhere to run? No matter how many plans she ran in her head, she only came to the same conclusion – it wasn't going to work.

"I'll be good," Seren promised, finally, and she meant it too – for now. She would be good, until an opportunity arose where her chance of escaping successfully was near flawless – then, she wouldn't be so good. But for now, all she could do was hope to play to the monster's good side... if he had one. (She doubted that he had one...) "I'll be good, so you won't have to take off years of my life. Okay? I promise. I swear." Her voice shook on that last sentence – it was the voice of someone who was scared by the truth that came out of her own mouth.