Private Tales The Old Ways

[Xylthe]

Xylthe bobbed a curtsey and then ducked out of the room before he changed his mind. When the door shut behind her she leant her weight against it and shut her eyes to focus on her breathing. Her whole body shook like a leaf and she worried that if she didn't get some bit of control over herself now that she would be completely undone. She couldn't afford that, not when she was about to take a man to his likely death. With a deep breath she pushed off and set off down the hall.

As she suspected, it took some convincing.

Or rather it took a certain type of convincing.

The humans often saw her red skin not as an omen - good or bad - but exotic. It was a curious thing she hadn't really understood but she had always found she drew the male eye of a human. George had been no different. He'd been off with her until she had offered, timidly, to take him for a drink. Then any transgression had been forgotten and the two now ambled nicely along the outskirts of the city enjoying the night air. The warehouse loomed not too far away but George was not paying it any mind as he boasted on about his impending promotion.

"I'll earn enough to set you free Xylthe, no more slavery!"

 

[Velkyn]

Velkyn was no fool.

As soon as Xylthe stepped outside the door he had summoned one of his men. The Reaver stepped from the shadows as though he had always been there, melting from the dark corners of the room without a word or sound.

The order was given quickly. Follow the Avendrow, see that she did her duty and did not pull away. Not when things were so...precarious. The man wordlessly accepted, and returned to the dark corners of the world to leave Velkyn to his business.

By the time Xylthe and her companion approached the warehouse, Velkyn had spent most of his day studying the state of things in Raath.

They were much worse than he had expected, and he knew that it would take work to undo the horrors that had been dealt to this city.

It would start with the guest that Xylthe was bringing tonight. A small bit of convincing that he would do with the man. Something that he would ensure the Avendrow had a part in, whether she would like it or not. As the two approached the warehouse it seemed quiet, a singular door presented to the front of the building itself.

Shadows seemed to lay everywhere.

Waiting and watching.

 

[Xylthe]

Free. Wouldn't that be nice?

Xylthe's feet slowed as they approached the looming warehouse. What was she doing to this kind man who had done her no ill? Perhaps it would be better to die for this one defiance than to live in the service of a man who might make her do worse things in the future. Would the life she kept living be worth it? Her hand hovered over the door.

"What was it you needed to get anyway?" Her friends voice jerked her back from her thoughts and she blinked at him as if surprised to see him there.

"Oh, just some records Lord Deth wanted to read - I can get these on my own, George. Really. You should be going home. I'll be fine."

 

[Velkyn]

There was silence in the warehouse district, a quiet that seemed almost unsettling as the two of them spoke.

It was dark, only the barest gas lamps lighting what little could be found around them.

Yet the shadows seemed to move as Xylthe began to encourage her friend to leave, wavering, flickering. Almost as though it was listening to the Avendrow speak. The quiet seemed to fall over the district even more, a soft breeze cutting down the street that cut from nowhere.

Another flicker of shadow.

The air itself seemed to grow a bit more thing, a constricting tightness flowing through the darkness.

 

[Xylthe]

"No... I think it's best I stay," George said as the darkness thickened about them and he took a step protectively closer to Xylthe. Her heart squeezed.

"Really, George you should go. Maybe the warehouse does not like... outsiders," there were all types of spells the Drow used to keep other people out - their own kind included. Of course George did not need to know she didn't think there were any such anti-human specific curses a Drow would put on their homes. Fear was healthy in moderation. It might just save him.

"No."

Or not. He flashed her a grin over the fear that writhed under his skin then he pushed past her and opened the warehouse door.

"Let's find that book."

 

[Velkyn]

"Yes." The voice came from behind Xylthe.

The sound of it was like a knife. It seemed to cut through the silence that had reigned within the dark alleyway. Shattering any illusion of safety that had been left. Velkyn stood, towering above the Avendrow and peering down at her. "Let's find that book."

He said, hand coming up to grab Xylthe by the scruff of her neck.

George turned almost in an instant, his face a mask of bewilderment and confusion that quickly twisted into fear as his eyes saw who stood behind the Avendrow. His mouth opened to say something, perhaps to protest, but it was too late.

A blade appeared at his throat, one of the black mask Reavers snapping from the shadows behind the freeman. The odd serrated knife laying across the humans skin, a hand grabbing at his shoulder and dragging him into the warehouse.

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe jumped even though she had known sooner or later he would appear. She was almost out of his reach before his hand came up to grab a hold of her and she gave a startled puppy like yelp. It hurt but his grip wasn't iron yet, wasn't close to the edge of breaking bones like it could be. She wondered if he had heard how she had wanted to get him to leave and panic seized her. Would he kill her too? Did she even care? It was one of the few times she had tried to do what she thought was right and a tiny part of her was proud of that.

Deep beneath the fear.

"Let her go!" brave George demanded despite the blade to his own neck.

 

[Velkyn]

"Brave, boy." George was no child of course, but to Velkyn he might as well have been.

The Drow was not one of the eldest of his species, but he was ancient in the eyes of most humans. A scowl pulled at his lips as he practically shoved Xylthe forward, casting her onto the ground as the Reaver's knife stepped closer to the freeman.

He leaned forward for a moment, clearly whispering something in George's ear.

Almost instantly the freeman seemed to stop, his face paling and his eyes flickering down to Xylthe for a moment as he seemed to consider something.

"Fuck yo-"​

Before he could finish the sentence the Reaver's foot went smashing into the back of George's knee, the blade biting into his neck just an inch as he went casting to the floor. The wound was not deep, but served as a warning.

Velkyn stepped forward, hovering above the two of them. "Brave, but stupid."

The Drow contended.

"You can fight, and die, painfully." He told him. "Or you can do as I say."

Velkyn looked down at the Avendrow, offering a promise wordlessly. You will be dealt with later.

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe hit the floor with a cry, the impact bruising knees, elbows and what little pride she had managed to gather for herself in the last few minutes. Pride that had helped her try and save George's life. If only he had had less of his pride and they might not be in this situation. She turned and scrambled back from both the Reaver and her new, cruel master so that her back was to neither of them.

"George!" she gasped, seeing only the flash of a blade and blood before the human fell to the floor. He gasped when he hit the floor and Xlythe crawled towards him, gently turning him to check his wound. When she looked up and saw Velkyn's gaze on her she flinched then began to quietly beg her friend to see sense.

"No Xylthe, he has no right. I work here legally," he growled. "I work for your council! Attacking me is a criminal offense."

 

[Velkyn]

Velkyn let out a cruel bark of a laugh.

There was no joy behind it, not a single ounce of mirth. He shook his head as he stepped towards the human wretch, scowling. "What laws?"

He demanded.

"Laws made by kin and kine who live a flash of my life?" The Drow stepped forward, kicking Xylthe aside and shoving her away from George. His boot landing on the boys ribs a second later, throwing him onto his back. "Let me teach your what your laws mean to me."

Velkyn said, opening his other palm.

A small trinket upon a chain of black slipped from his hand. George would have no idea what the trinket could do, but Xylthe would see it for the horror that it was. A mind trap. An artifact abhorrent enough that even the Drow had once cautioned against it's use.

"Perhaps you'll understand when I am done." Velkyn said, the black chain beginning to flicker with a glow of red, slowly crawling towards the pendant hanging above George.

 

[Xylthe]

Xlythe whimpered as the kick caught her in the ribs and sent her sprawling. She had no choice but to crawl back from George as he stood over the human and revealed the mind trap. Pure horror crawled over her features. George of course didn't know what it was and glared at what probably looked like a necklace. Or he did until he caught Ahsoka's expression. Then the colour began to drain from his face.

"L-look, I don't want any trouble. Name your price and I'll pay it for Xylthe and we can just leave, we'll go to the surface and..."

Xylthe could only sit in stunned, abhorred silence as the man pleaded for both their lives. Surely her new master was not this cruel... not this dark...

 

[Velkyn]

Velkyn stared down at the boy, his head shaking slowly. "You still don't understand."

The light continued to crawl down the chain, running slowly at a trickle until it finally touched the pendant. The once black gem set in silver burned brightly, casting a glow over George's face as life erupted from the magic Velkyn poured into it.

"But you will." The Gem flickered, and then George opened his mouth with a soundless scream.

It was as if his entire body froze, as though every muscle and organ within him suddenly found itself entirely paralyzed. Every bit of him was stuck, save for his mind. Within the mindtrap he experienced horror beyond the abyss. A thousand years of torture. A millennium of pain and terror brought by Veklyn's imaginations.

Centuries of abject, ceaseless, fear that would pass in the realm of reality within minutes.

Velkyn held the mindtrap in his palm, turning to Xylthe as her friend suffered something no man should have to. "This could have been so much easier."

He chided with a shake of his head.

 

[Xylthe]

As George thrashed and screamed on the floor at her masters feet whilst his very mind was taken from his control, silent tears ran down her cheeks. There was nothing she could do now but live with the guilt she would feel for centuries to come, long past the day they put his body into the ground. Perhaps it would be a kindness for her to slit his throat now but there were no weapons other than those the Reavers held and she did not think she could get one of those without losing her own head too.

That stubborn, persistent will to live kept her cowed.

Wordlessly she looked up at Velkyn and anger seized her for a sudden, brash moment.

"He's a human! You didn't have to ever stoop to... to this. You're a monster!" She spat.

 

[Velkyn]

Velkyn chuckled as the Reaver half stepped forward towards Xylethe. The Drow Lord waved him off, apparently considering the outburst little more than a chance to make a point.

"I am." He admitted plainly.

His fingers pulled the mind trap up into his palm. The magic would run it's course for another minute or two, and then he would bring George back from his millenia of torture. It really was a remarkable thing. Velkyn wished he himself could craft more.

"An ambitious one at that." He squatted down in front of her, grabbing her chin. "There isn't any stopping me. There isn't anything I won't do to get what I want."

Velkyn glanced towards George whose screams has silenced. "Remember that."

As he held her, his touch almost seemed to burn.

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe scrambled backwards as he crouched in front of her but didn't get very far before his hand grabbed her chin and halted her progress. Anger made her body shake, though she had a feeling a healthy douse of fear was also adding to that. Her eyes flickered between his haunting yellow stare and she felt the bile rising up in her throat. Everything he'd done, the steps she now saw he would take. It made her so... angry.

For the first time in a millennia the bracelets around her wrists glowed as they stopped her powers.

And then she spat in his face.

 

[Velkyn]

Anger.

No. It was more than that. Rage. Indignation. Pure and unadulterated seething ran through Velkyn in an instant. His fingers tightened on her face, his eyes seemed to burn with a sort of hollow anger that coursed in every vein. "You're going to regret that."

There was a horrifying calm to his voice, tinged with only a hint of that rage.

He only had so much patience.

"It seems I will be teaching two lessons tonight." As he spoke, Xylthe would begin to feel a tingle upon her skin. The fingers clutching her face tightened, and then a river of red began to pour down his arm.

A fog of crimson ran from his fingers and onto Xylthe.

In seconds the Avendrow would feel something beyond pain. It wasn't hurt. It wasn't the agony of a stabbing needle of a beating. It was something else, something worse than that. A suffering that set into the bone. It rushed over her in an instant. "Let's start here."

Velkyn sang.

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe's scream split the gaping silence of the warehouse. It was so loud it was almost as if she were screaming on behalf of George too who could not scream, locked as he was within the prison of his own mind. She couldn't even break away from his hold or utter words to beg him to release her.

The Avendrow simply had no control of her body.

 

[Velkyn]

The magic seemed to flow, flicker, and spark over Xylthe's skin. It rushed like a wave, and then suddenly withdrew as quickly as it had come.

"This world." He told her, his fingers pressing into her face. Nails dug into her skin, pressing hard enough to draw blood. "Doesn't belong to them."

Behind him the human still lay frozen, the only movement a slight twitch in his eylids. The torture he endured lasted a thousand years in his mind, longer. A breaking that would see even the strongest men buckle. "It belongs to us."

Then the magic ruptured over her flesh once more.

"To me." He hissed.

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe sucked in deep breathes as the wave of pain faded for a blissful moment. Every nerve in her body shook and she quaked in his grips. The pain before had been so indescribable, so pure that his nails digging into her cheeks enough to draw blood that ran in dark blue rivets down her skin barely registered. She could only shake and whimper in his grip, his words coming to her through a disjointed kaleidoscope of her scrambled mind. There was nothing that came in response to his words and no chance either for the pain seized her once more. This time, however, the Avendrow was unable to withstand it.

Blue blood ran from her nose and like tears it pooled from her eyes. Then, like a door suddenly slamming shut, her scream cut off and she slumped forward into unconsciousness.

 

[Velkyn]

As Xylthe slumped onto the floor Velkyn let out a sight, the magic ceasing once more. "Ah."

Briefly he glanced towards the Reaver at his back.

"Perhaps a bit much." He said with a slight frown, looking back towards Xylthe with no small amount of disgust. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head and muttering. "I forget the weakness of their blood."

The Drow mused. "See both of them are brought back to the estate. The human is to be bound."

A nod tipped the Reaver's head in silent acquiescence. Velkyn stepped away, moving towards the door and heading back to his stolen home. Thoughts of his plans whirled in his head as he stalked forward, lips thin in consideration.

When Xylthe awoke, it would not be in her rooms, nor the study she so favored. Instead both she and her companion would come to life after their tortures in a darkened room lit only by faint red lines painted upon the wall.

A room she might once have recognized as the Lord's old Garden, now brought back to it's proper state.

 

[Xylthe]

When Xylthe woke it was with a fogged memory of what had happened the night before. Her body remembered something terrible, she knew that from the way it quivered, but her mind couldn't wade through the mists that hugged her mind like a sea fog hugged the rugged cliff face. She pushed herself up onto her elbows, frowned in puzzlement at the cold, hard floor, then looked up. Panic seized her.

She had been in rooms like this before so she knew instinctively what it was. Scrambling to her feet, her breathing ragged, she stumbled to the door and slammed her hands against it over and over.

"LET ME OUT!" she screamed through the thin grates then hammered her hands against the door again. The memories of the last time she had been in a room like this rose through the mist. Of a Master who has been obsessed with seeing if she looked the same as other Drow with the skin pulled back.

 

[Velkyn]

Velkyn seemed to flicker into existence before that grated door.

His body seemed to peel from the shadow itself, not dissimilar from how the Reaver's appeared from the darkness. Dark red eyes met her amber gaze, his stare as cold and hard as the granite of the earth itself as he peered down at her.

He did not speak a single word.

He did not say a single thing.

Like a ghost he seemed to sweep forward. His hand gripped the small lock on the steel in front of him. The door creaked as he pushed it open. Ringing out as he forced Xylthe back into the room. His presence seemed thick, overwhelming.

As though he permeated the very air itself.

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe retreated but not by many steps, dimly aware despite her blind panic that George still lay sprawled on his back on the floor. She hadn't checked on him. In a way she hoped he was dead. It would probably be better for him if he merely drifted away in his sleep. Small, tiny whimpers escaped her as her eyes darted from him to the small, confined walls, and back to him and the door beyond.

"P-please I just need to get out," she stepped forward, her eyes barely seeing him and only seeing the light beyond. She barely saw him. Her mind in a place almost 400 years ago when she had spent her days in a box without light.

 

[Velkyn]

The pale red light that hung around the walls illuminated Velkyn as he stepped into the room. "Disobedience."

A single word.

It echoed, it seemed to thunder within the small space around them. There was something painful, almost wounding about it. The lash of his tongue seemed to rake across her back almost as harsh as the taste of a whip.

"Will not be tolerated." The Drow said plainly. "Not now. Not ever."

Slowly he stepped forward, his boots echoing within the room. "This place is the second lesson."

A hand reached out, snapping like a viper as he grasped her chin. "A reminder of the old ways. A path to what your old master forgot."

His face twisted in disgust as he recalled Xylthe's previous owner.

 

[Xylthe]

Surprisingly, Xylthe didn't flinch away from him when he stepped forward her. If anything she stepped towards him. When her eyes turned towards him they were wide with unshed tears. The whites of her eyes almost overtook the amber turning them pale and haunting in her red face. One could practically see the ghosts that swirled in their depths there. A fear of someone - of something worse - that trumped her fear of him.

"Okay," she gushed in a hissed whisper. "I understand," she nodded vigorously, tried to smile and failed as her heart beat rose into a frantic gallop.

"I will."