Dreadlords A Cruel Kind of Education

[Perrine Urahil]

One last month of being a Proctor, and the sweetness of more freedom was just at the tip of her tongue.

That was if she were left to do as she wished and planned these last four lessons.

It was as if memory came to those higher than her in position here at the Academy suddenly remembered what speciality Perrine was known for other than being one of the strongest and intuitive Healers currently in active duty. A special request, one meant to test the resilience and fortitude of the class a year from graduating. They had someone else teach the lesson to the recent graduates this time last year, but before Proctor Urahil could make leave, she was to test the resolve of her students.

What they asked of her bordered the cruelty and extremities that came before the revolution. This was no etiquette lesson.

No, it was something more important than that.

It was a lesson of not giving up information.

Such a lesson was not being held in her usual classroom. In the cold, dark, and damp cells of the Academy, three Initiates took up space in separated cells where they could not see one another, but hear. This lesson was to be done in groups, and the times varied between them. The morning of their imprisonment saw that each Initiate would be assigned information on a false mission and investigation, and at all costs had to protect key information. Interrogation was no laughing matter. In the past, they had bled Initiates and mutilated them in order to get what they want, but there were ways to attack another without inflicting visible wounds.

Perrine's boots fell heavily in the silence of the hall of cells, coming to a stop once she reached the end and turned back. "State your names so I know who is present."

 

[Keel De Reye]

"Keel De Reye, Proctor Urahil."
He brushed his large hair away from his face and again reminded himself that he needed a haircut.

Such a training was to be expected of those who could carry information. A Dreadlord had to be an expert of many areas of warfare and subterfuge.
Keel tried to steel his mind for the coming task.
He entertained some vague notion of just, forgetting the information that it could not be taken from him and that gave his thin face a grin.

"Ready when you are, I suppose."

 

[Oryyn Black]

"Oryyn Black, present."

The annoyed voice of the rough initiate came from the next cell. Oryyn had been forced into this lesson, although he had been way more accepting when he had thought it was about torture, that he could deal with.

No, instead, it was about information and mental fortitude, two areas in which the Proctors apparently believed Oryyn needed more practice. That would have been bad enough, but they were also stuck in these dumb cells which Oryyn absolutely hated. Why did he need to be locked up?

 

[Cormund Augur]

Cormund flitted his vision in the dark left and right and left again. He saw nothing new, only visions ranging from painful to inconvenient. They seemed to be even more vibrant in his dark cell. He bounced his leg where he sat, wondering how he was meant to hold out against whatever was to come. He had been given names, places, numbers, lists. There was so much they could ask him about, and it made him wonder if there was an allowance on how much they could give up? A horrible case of wishful thinking.

"Cormund, Proctor"

He looked about some more before realizing his mistake and quickly correcting.

"Cor-Cormund Augur, sorry."

Whoever these two others were, they seemed far more suited to this lesson than him. The whole thing seemed strangely pointed.

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

Unbeknownst to the three poor souls locked in Academy cages, a fourth initiate entered the dungeon behind Proctor Urahil.
"Initiate D'Amour at the ready, proctor," he announced himself with equal parts smug and professional.

His older sister Evangeline, a proctor herself, had much taken a shine to Miss Perrine in their mutual time at the Academy. While King had no place among the wretches in the cells, Big Sis Eva had offered King up as an aide to Proctor Urahil for the day. While he wasn't sure exactly what the task might entail, he could hardly say "no" to his beloved older sister.

Aiding in the potential suffering of his inferiors was just icing on the proverbial cake.

 

[Perrine Urahil]

If this were not already a cruel task at hand, it certainly was now.

"Thank you for the assistance today, D'Amour." She gave polite smile and turned to scan the iron bars to the cells the other boys were in.

When she spoke next, Perrine took in a deep breath. "You three will go through some quick tests to see how you respond to magic being used in a way to manipulate. Fear, pain, and patience. I have been given an hour to keep you here, and I will use that time constraint to bolster my efforts. That is why I have assistance today, and perhaps if Initiate D'Amour would like to test his magic some more, he may join in the effort of extracting information."

Her gloves came off now. Only by her hand could she heal or break, but she extended her hand to her assistant now. "I will need to feel your magic in order to control my own's growth."

"You have one minute to steel yourselves." She warned the others.

Keel De Reye Oryyn Black Cormund Augur Fabien 'King' D'Amour

 

[Keel De Reye]

"Oh, King is here."
Keel waved through the bars as he leaned on them playfully.
"Hi King. What's on the lunch menu today, do you know? I had a light breakfast."

He did not wait for a response. He had heard the good Proctors instruction so he took it.
Bounding off the bars and back into the cell he stretched his neck and arms. Readied himself for pain and discomfort. He could protect himself in his armour but that seemed unsporting and he did not believe the good Proctor would truly harm him.

He jumped up and down then to psyche himself and returned to the bars then rolled up his sleeve and stuck his hand out through the bars.

"Go ahead, I'll cry uncle if it gets too much."
His playful demeanor was something he felt little need to help at that time.

Perrine Urahil Oryyn Black Cormund Augur Fabien 'King' D'Amour

 

[Oryyn Black]

King was here too? The pompous brat, of course, would enjoy getting to inflict pain without having to experience any of it.

Orryn stood up on his feet letting his weight shift back and forth. He did not need to prepare his abilities as they were always there with him ready to go even without his command. Instead, what Oryyn focused on was the anger that often sat in the pit of his stomach. He harnessed it to drive the adrenaline through his body, treating this exercise like any other battle.

"Bring it on!" His voice already carried that brutish rage that it so often did.

This was just like any other day of experiments, and just like those, he was determined to win this.

Perrine Urahil Fabien 'King' D'Amour Cormund Augur

 

[Cormund Augur]

Oh gods, oh gods above who enjoyed cursing him so, why did it have to be D'Amour? He didn't know who was worse between that one and Vittoria. What was his magic again? Something to do with making things better? He would have something like that, wouldn't he? He wondered how that would be of use to this "exercise" they were about to be put under. Fear, pain, and patience, huh. He was certainly accustomed to the first two, but what could patience mean? Were they going to bore them into spilling their secrets?

He flinched when the initiate next to him yelled. His voice reverberated through the cramped space, and Cormund covered his ears. He took a deep breath, taking but a moment of the minute offered to ready himself. Images of death danced in front of his eyes every single day, how bad could this be... right?

"Ready, Proctor Urahil. I think..."

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

King grinned with devious glee and placed his hand in Proctor Urahil's. Raw magical might would begin to seep into her, the power of Amplification allowing her to break far beyond her usual limits. One minute to prepare could never have been enough for these poor sods.

 

[Perrine Urahil]

Keel did not last long under Perrine's magic.

The pain she had dealt him was enough to replicate a broken bone, and the poor boy buckled and yielded information. Another failure.

It was not until she wandered to the last two cells that she looked upon King D'Amour and offered her ungloved hand again. "Put a little more power to this. I intend on projecting to them both at the same time."

They had less than forty minutes left now.

The first round had been to test their resolve, their patience by applying little pressure to feel out for any weak links among them. Now, came the second approach Perrine intended to wield. D'Amour's magic allowed her to go beyond reaching with her hands to use her magic. It gave her the means to reach them without lifting a finger, feeling their very body at work. The heart pumping blood, the lungs expanding with air, the stretch of muscles even at a minor movement. Perrine was connected to each Oryyn Black and Cormund Augur and could manipulate their organs, muscles, and nervous system as she saw fit.

But the Proctor loosed a breath and applied pressure at their lower backs, rendering them uncomfortable. There would be a pain in one shoulder, unable for them to get in the right position. And she would hold this for a moment before delving more into her power over them. "You have information on Anirian Guard movement we need." Perrine raised her voice. "Tell us now or have your pain threshold tested."

Then a thought occured to the Proctor.

The Initiates all knew her to be the one conducting the Etiquette lessons, but perhaps she was volunteered for this job to remind them of her real magic beyond that of healing. It sickened her, but there was delight in the fact that she was not forgotten for what she could truly do. What helped her survive her own time at the Academy and graduate seemingly unscathed.

 

[Oryyn Black]

Orryn grumbled as he tried to readjust his shoulder while mumbling, loud enough for them to hear.

"Why don't you fuck off?" He understood this might be the only time that he could get away with something like that.

This all was extremely unusual to Orryn because in his head he could tell that he was not suffering physical damage, but just the pain and feelings associated with it. If it was something like a real broken bone then his powers would have raced to fix the problem, but they remained dormant.

As the feel of uncomfortably spread, he bit down on the inside of his mouth, the taste of blood made him smile. The comforting feeling of his abilities quickly moved to heal the wound inside his mouth. Just knowing his abilities were still there helped him.

That still did not stop this from fucking hurting. It had started as a mere annoyance, but every second that ticked by made the pain more noticeable.

"Let's get this over with."

Perrine Urahil Fabien 'King' D'Amour Cormund Augur

 

[Cormund Augur]

Cormund squirmed in his already uncomfortable seat. He breathed deep but each breath was just a bit too shallow. He became conscious of his breathing and blinking. The sweat dripping down his face was all too noticeable. Was he supposed to respond and tell them off like Orryn did? Or would that cause Proctor Urahil to turn the heat up? Gods he was just gonna go for it.

"I don't know anything, so like he said, uhh, fuck off..."

He would have been embarrassed by the pathetic display he put up if he weren't acutely aware of the uncomfortability slowly becoming pain. Cormund began to liken it to a frog put in boiling water, but the heat was being turned up a little too fast and the lid is on so it's not like said frog could jump out anyways. The metaphor was breaking up as the pain increased. He wondered if he could distract himself somehow, but the prospect seemed distant.

"I thought you were supposed to be a healer, Proctor Urahil, how does your magic let you OW! do this?" The young Doomsayer's curiosity got the better of him, maybe he shouldn't have said that. "O-oh, I'm sorry, is that breaking the immersion of the exercise?"

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

Bold words from Black and Augur both. No surprise that De Reye wimped out. The former two were sure to join soon enough. Proctor Urahil needed only exert the power King offered her. A request for more came shortly.

"Of course, Proctor," he smugged, delivering a significantly stronger pulse of Amplification this time. "You've only scratched the surface. Take as much as you need."

 

[Perrine Urahil]

Perrine felt three things at once.

She felt the strength and humour hearing Initiate Black react to her magic. The protection that was summoned hearing Initiate Augur do his best to fight against the pain she was inflicting on them both. She felt caution when meeting Initiate D'Amour's gaze, at his insistence to lean on his magic some more to truly see results.

The Proctor took a breath, not yet drawing more amplifying magic. "My magic allows me to manipulate the body. Every nerve, every muscle, every organ. If I was just a healer, I would not have survived to graduate from my class all those years ago." Perrine chose her words carefully. This was different than speaking to an entire class that did not bother to listen to her due to the lessons she taught on etiquette. She had three young Intiates here in her presence, unable to not listen to her voice as she controlled this exercise. "I was a threat, and before the revolution, threats were often tested. I needed to learn to heal myself. Heal friends and family, allies. But Vel Anir kept me using this power to get information from the tightest tongues."

Perrine now drew on more magic. She increased their body temperatures until they sweated, and the Proctor let them stew on those feelings a moment before continuing the questioning.

"Give me an answer that will make us happy, or we will start breaking bones."