Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga)

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  Brooke fought with all she had and cursed with such outrage that no man in the castle had ever heard from a woman. Lord Doyle became smug as he found her completely restrained. He said calmly “I’ll be done in a few minutes. I’ve made up my mind after torturing the mage, I’m going to get her pregnant before I ultimately kill her. That is all whores like she are good for after all.”

  All Brooke imagined was what he did to her man and she became even more furious. It made the whole castle seem to shake from her rage.

  The mage inclined his head and before he left he reminded “Do not forget she bites. I will not be able to keep healing you so often without weakening myself.”

  Doyle undid his pants and looked at the sprawled, naked woman. “Your mage seems to think you would be more ferocious than the cactus. All a woman is good for is talking and getting fucked.”

  She glared. “If that true then you should be able to handle me without chains.” She got a satisfied reaction as her words sunk in.

  “Play nice.” He taunted as he crawled up on the table with a small lance that hovered over her exposed flower. He then slammed it in with a grunt and she tried to get him out and kill him, but even her muscles couldn’t break the bindings as blood dripped from her wrists. It didn’t feel good, it was dishonorable rape. He kept slamming into her flower till he grunted and locked himself as deep as he could when his seed spilled within. She fought even as her wrists and ankles bled.

  Doyle then made the mistake of falling too low and Brooke went to bite out his sweaty throat and instead went for a pin in his shirt. She bit into his shoulder and he jerked away, but not before her teeth ripped out the medal pin and she quickly put it between her teeth and gritted. As an added bonus she managed to also draw blood to stain her teeth and grinned at the ignoble noble. He grabbed his shoulder and yelled “Bitch!” before slapping her nearly senseless.

  She succeeded in only drawling a few crimson drops in her counterattack.

  A few minutes later he got hard and slammed into her again and again till his hour finished. He gathered his pants and left, proud of himself.

  Like last time, the chains at her wrists unclasped with his exit and she rushed over to a chamber pot and urinated, stuck her fingers inside her flower and tried getting out all of the white seed he deposited within. She knew it wouldn’t matter, but still had to try. When she felt spent she sat down and spat out her prize, a piece of metal she began to work into a tool.

  Hours later she assumed since there wasn’t any light in the room anymore from the hole at street level, ten feet high. She attempted picking the lock as she saw Cage do five or six days ago to break her out.

  Cage felt time enough had lapsed as he hoarsely asked “May I have a drink of water?”

  “What for? You’re going to die anyway. Why prolong your suffering?” The young guard asked, sitting in the corner, periodically tossing in a lavender looking Floranna flowers to keep him from using magic. The floral smoke prevented the focus required to harness and control magic.

  Acting defeated to lure in the prey, Cage hung his head and said “If I’m to die I’d rather be fighting to the last breath, even if it means prolonging the agony. If you prefer, I could make it the final request of a dying man.”

  The guard looked to the man hanging from the ceiling and dry blood covered his whole body and pooling at his feet and the deep gashes that would make any other man whimper yet he made not a sound even as his ass lay torn with meaty strips from the cactus. The guard nodded “Since you haven’t even asked for mercy for all that had been done to you, I suppose a drink wouldn’t be much to ask. Unlike my employer, I’m not cruel.” He grabbed a cup and filled it with wine from his own skin. He tilted Cage’s head back to see one eye swollen completely shut and several cuts still trickling blood. “Poor bastard, I wish you didn’t have to endure this. This might not be much, but it might numb the pain some.”

  He put the cup of wine to Cage’s lips and he drank.

  Cage smiled. “Thanks, and since you were so kind… I’ll not kill you.”

  Before the guard could register the words, Cage speared his knee in his stomach and tightened his abdomen to whip his legs up. He got his bound ankles around the man’s throat and twisted just so to squeeze and constrict any air intake. The sudden assault made the man lose consciousness and be unable to call for aid. Instead of crumpling to the ground, Cage gently lowered him with his strong legs. He then worked his toes, moving the thin flap of the boots down like one would do to sandals, to reach the ring of keys on the man’s hips. Cage then contorted till he could put the ring between his teeth. He then easily pulled himself up and tried the first key in the lock and it didn’t work. The fourth key clicked and he fell lightly onto his feet. He took a few minutes to stand and roll his aching joints. Pain wracked his body, but nothing he couldn’t handle or overcome. He then pulled up his pants and used the knife that had been used on him to cut the rope from his ankles. Afterwards he bound and gagged the sleeping guard. If he hadn’t been kind he would be dead.

  Cage got out of the room silently thanks to the keys and found the pitch black hall dank, but clear of smoke. He moved slowly, fighting the pain screaming at him to go easy. Since he needed to be ready for trouble he breathed till his mind cleared and could focus. The only oddity sounded like the claws of a large rat somewhere else in the shadows with him.

  An hour passed until he finally felt the magic return and the find problem of the siphoning. He sensed his magic leaving as if he fired rock after rock. It wasn’t much, but it drew faster than he could recover. He began to gain a sense on how he was linked and tried pulling his magic back, but the castle had more magic and didn’t allow him to draw any. He then imagined scissors cutting the thread and the amount flowing from within pinched and released, severing the link. He nearly gasped as it felt immediately better to recover. He felt much improved now that power locked itself within again.

  He then focused on healing the worst injury. Cage numbed the nerves some and began extracting out the cactus thorns from his rectum, even removing the microscopic hairs as well. It took several tedious minutes to hear the tiny ticks when they all fell out on the ground. He then wove the magic and repaired the muscles and soft tissue until it became whole and right once again, as if there wasn’t any damage. He then started healing each and every other injury, reconnecting muscle fibers, nerves and pieces of skin that had been cut into and lastly he reduced the swelling of his eye. He hoped no one came down because he created an abundance of blue light to heal every injury he had.

  He smirked at the thought of appearing like a Smurf.

  Cage felt whole once again and moved down the hall where he created a white string that led him to Brooke. He canceled it because he felt his magic stronger than the castle’s current tingle. He moved stealthily through the darkness until being led to a thick iron door and heard a soft scratching noise of metal on metal. It confused him for a moment till he realized Brooke was trying her hand at lock picking. He smiled and whispered “Brooke, It’s me back up.”

  The scratching stopped and a whisper came next. “Cage?”

  He had never been relieved to hear her voice. “Yes, I’m letting you out.”

  The door easily unlocked and he opened the door. He then made a soft white light and became furious. Her right eye was nearly swollen shut and her lips, wrists and ankles were bloody from being beat and bruises appeared on her breasts, along with a crescent ring from her breast being bit as teeth broke skin. Brooke saw all the blood on his body and no cuts to realize he healed himself. She rushed into his arms and began to say “I’m sorr…” he shushed her and moved her in the room. He looked at her and sent his magic to heal all her hurts. “Better?”

  Brooke nodded. She quietly spoke, but her wrath remained just as loud in his ears as he heard hours earlier. “That asshole mounted me and spilled his seed where I only accept you. I will not leave till I get vengeance.”

  He looked at her serio
usly and said “Then let’s find him so you can make an example of what women are really like. My only suggestion is that you do not kill him.”

  She shook with anger at such a weak proposition. “No, he shall die. No one will ever spill their seed in me except you. What if I get pregnant? I do not want to bear his babe. For his crime he is to die.”

  “No, death will be a sweet release. I want you to make him suffer.” She stopped her shaking at hearing his cold, chilling tone. “Make it so he will never hurt another woman again. I will leave the method up to you, but let him live impaired, a shadow of himself. Make him rue the day he defiled my woman and dared rape you. And if you do get pregnant I’ll allow you to make the choice to keep it or shed it. My magic will allow me to do that without harming you. It will be your choice, but either way you will make him suffer.”

  “That sounds more delightful.” They grinned at each other with expectation.

  Together they left the cold, dank room and moved by a duller white light and found a set of stairs that led to a storage room lit by a pair of braziers fed by oil where they found their packs, her tomahawks, clothing and supplies on a table, but their coins and gemstones were long gone. A barrel of water sat in a corner of the storage room and Cage proceeded to cancel the light in his hand and wash off all of his blood. Brooke also used the water and scrubbed herself of the man who would dearly pay. Neither spoke further of their time in Lord Doyle’s care.

  After the much needed wash, Cage slipped on his sturdy leather shirt and Brooke slid into her bottoms and strapped her top on. As she began tying the strap to the back of her neck there came a click as a latch lifted.

  Their heads snapped to the door on the opposite end of the room as Lord Doyle’s personal mage entered. The three stopped for a moment in surprise. “How did…?” The man’s light grey eyes widened when he realized what was happening. He gripped his staff and the gem embedded at the top began to glow. A grey bubble appeared and streaked directly at Cage as he is the greatest threat. Simply holding didn’t work too well last time. He had to use the greatest offensive spell he knew.

  Cage grinned while thinking, Finally I can play! He erected a barrier a moment before the bubble reached and he could feel it trying to eat its way through as it splashed like liquid and clung to it. While supporting the barrier, Cage decided to try a different approach when dealing in a confined space where stray magic might harm Brooke. He certainly couldn’t use lightning or fire to deal with this opponent.

  Two, three foot long black swords of pure conjured magic extended a tenth of an inch from Cage’s outstretched fingers as he took his most deadly stance. Darkness, like a black mist swirled around the blades edges when he wanted to cut through the barrier the other man made. The magical blades took a large deal of mana to create as he instilled them with the physical strength of actual swords and were straight, double edged, razor sharp, would be guarded if he made a mistake and it were reflected to likely kill himself and would attack any magical barrier with less power than the blades themselves. The moment they took form, Cage wrapped the barrier closer around himself like a cloak of energy while the acidic spell did little more than irritate.

  Cage leapt and began to spin with the magic swords, making his own deadly skills even greater. The other man became frightened, seeing his attack prove ineffective and the former prisoner charging him. He knew he was going to die from using too much mana these past few days and hastily used everything at his disposal to create his greatest barrier. Cage grinned and began whipping his attack in patterns only Brooke might be able to follow, but not block. He made a chopping motion with his entire bodyweight and the speed generated made the black blades whistle. The first blade impacted the barrier like a sharp axe splitting logs. The first cleanly cut through the invisible shield, but before it could be repaired the other arm swung a half of a second directly behind the first’s path.

  The move had enough reach for both blades to separate slightly, the first cutting off the man’s two hands that held the staff in a white knuckle grip while the other beheaded like a hot knife through butter. Cage spun on the ball of his left foot, extended his arms and blades while coming to a halt in a crouched position for another assault should there be some backlash of self-destruct type magic he didn’t know of. Blood sprayed to the roof as the head slid and bounced off the ground and Cage’s barrier cloaking him became heavily splattered. The body crumpled a second after the staff and dismembered hands landed. The glow on the staff dimmed till it held no inner light. The acid-like property of the bubble disappeared. Cage knew he won and canceled the amazing blades and barrier cloak he created at the spur of a moment and knew he could now do such a thing and would compliment a variety of his combat moves. He decided then to use it when facing only those with magic, creating a nearly impenetrable shield wouldn’t be honorable when fighting an opponent without magic. It felt natural.

  He stood, waiting for a moment to sigh when no one else came running. Cage turned to see Brooke had flipped the table on its side like a wooden shield which she hid behind. Only her eyes and the top of her head peeked over the edge. She stood, gripping her tomahawks firmly to say “I’ve never seen you do that before, combining physical fighting with magic. It was impressive and frightening.”

  “Then it will be something I will work on perfecting and building on. It feels right somehow.”

  “Do that later. For now, I have vengeance that cannot wait.” She strapped the leather holsters to her thigh and holstered her weapons. Brooke then began packing the remaining materials that had spilled when flipping the table. Cage helped.

  Before long they were packed, moved the body and parts aside before using the door and ascended up several stairs. Two guards waited in the hall and they were silently choked into unconsciousness and tied up by the two silent warriors. They used the shadows to navigate the castle in the late night, taking only one more guard out before locating Lord Doyle’s bedroom on the highest room of the tower.

  Cage opened the door first to find two large lumps snoring upon the bed. He slipped inside with a murderous looking Brooke when she located the object of such hatred. Cage shut the door and used a key he found more elaborate on the last guard and found it locked the room. Brooke waited as her mate went to a closet and retrieved clothing that would be great for binding. They split up, finding Lord Doyle snoring deeply beside his wife.

  Brooke tore off the sheets and took out her tomahawks.

  Lord Doyle awoke with a start, yelling “What is the meaning of this!”

  Cage created several floating white orbs to illuminate the fancy room. The lord and lady gasped as they looked upon the intruders. He had an idea that the castle’s magic is linked to the ruler and as he saw Doyle and his wife’s mouths open he slammed them completely shut with a thought. Then he watched as the frightened man suddenly reached with his right hand to go touch a large ruby upon a ring finger. Before he even had a chance to mount some kind of defense, the man’s hands stopped. “I did give you fare warning, Doyle. You should have ran for your pathetic life, but instead you brought this all on yourself. It is high time you learned how the world really works, but first…” Cage held out his hand as if he were being given something and Lord Doyle screamed through his nose as all of his rings were jerked off his fingers. He kept the pair restrained as Brooke reveled in anticipation of being released. Cage walked over to a window and charged the rings with a spell and threw them in different directions like a bullet fired from a sniper’s fifty cal. There was a tiny sonic boom as the objects were scattered far and wide, distant from Dalaran. He turned around to say kindly “Dear lady, I’m not sure you are aware of your husband’s recent actions so let me tell you what I do know, but first I must bind and gag you so you can see just what your cruel and vindictive husband has been doing.” He saw her eyes widen at these words. “Fear not, but the two of you will leave here alive.” Then he realized her eyes meant she honestly didn’t know what Doyle has been up to. “
If you allow me to bind you I will allow you to understand just how unfaithful and cruel he really is.” In response to this she reached forward with her wrists together, realizing it to be the only safe option. Cage used the pants to firmly bind her shaking wrists and gag her from screaming. Tears tracked her round cheeks in fear, but she held still.

  “Brooke, he is all yours!” He said and removed the spell holding the man down.

  She grinned as his fear built higher. Lord Doyle screamed “GUARDS!!!” and he quickly crawled towards false freedom. He went to call upon the castle’s spells, but Cage realized his earlier mistake and clamped the man’s mouth shut again.

  Before he could reach the bed Brooke kicked him in his head. “No one will come for you, Defiler!” She kicked hard again as he hit the carpeted ground awkwardly. “You do not know how easily I would kill you for raping me.” There was a gasp that came from the wife. Without looking she said “Oh yes, this beast mounted me and spilled his seed in me without consent or by challenge, several times today. He even tortured my mate. For that I will make you, Lord Doyle, to never forget just who you fucked with.” She rolled him on his back with a powerful kick to the ribs, broke a few. She pulled off his pants and grinned. “And as for conceiving any stupid babies…” Brooke stomped hard on his manhood, crushing them under a heel and grinding it on the ground till their came an actual ‘pop’ sound. He sat up, screaming through his nose. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and slammed her knee straight in his face, breaking his nose and front teeth. Brooke stomped on his balls again and again, proving she wasn’t a helpless woman and he made the ultimate mistake. Then she grabbed a tomahawk, pulled the man’s bloody lance hard and cut it off as close to the flesh’s base as she could and threw it down. He screamed and thrashed in pain and she slapped him harder than he knew a woman could. She then began to cut him up all over his body, making the pain more unbearable. She removed two fingers from either hand and prolonged his pain for an hour when she eventually threw her head back and yelled triumphantly.