Over the next few months, Arnold’s appearance changed. His face filled out, his acne scars healed, and his body toned up all by itself. He was taught about his ability to glimpse the Spiritworld and its inhabitants, and how he could extract information from them, summon them, force them into objects, and much more. The voice said to him during one lesson …
: I have some influence over the Spiritworld myself.
… though ‘Moloch’ did not expand on this statement.
Before the deal had been made, the voice failed to mention that Arnold could control only spirits; if he wanted to control anyone in particular, he would need to kill them first. That’s what you get for making a dark deal, he reasoned. It was a pretty big drawback, but he soon came around to the idea and chose his first victims. With some cunning ideas from ‘Moloch,’ he arranged the deaths of his family members, turning a pleasant gathering into what looked like a tragic accident. Then he escaped to create a new identity for himself, becoming Austin Townsend. Jessica would have been among those he killed, but to his annoyance, she had moved halfway across the world by this point.
During one communication with ‘Moloch,’ Austin attempted to glimpse whom the voice belonged to, like he had the first time he heard it. This time he succeeded, and instantly recoiled. Later, when he contacted the voice again, it said …
: Now you have seen me, are you sure you wanted to?
Austin wished he’d never learnt what the thing he’d sold his soul to was.
About a year on, after Austin had a taste of being attractive, of having women swoon over him, of having multiple women in bed, of being hale and energetic, of being easily liked and somewhat envied, the voice came to him, angry, and told him it was time to obey.
‘Moloch’ provided Austin with two names, one complete, one not, and then gave him a destination and instructions …
Drip, drip. Austin came to with the smell and feel of the paste on his body, and its taste souring his mouth. The dripping drops increasingly irritated him. When the elf shaman next appeared, he asked the questions again.
You’re asking the wrong questions, elf, thought Austin. You shouldn’t be asking who I work for, but what I work for …
When no answers flowed, the elf tortured his prisoner more severely than ever before.
Austin’s bones were broken, his skin boiled and flayed, his fingers and toes crushed and removed, and his body prodded with miniature knives. He was sure his mind would snap at one point, and prayed that it would, but he kept lucidity.
Yes! his mind screamed, He’s getting carried away! He’ll accidentally kill me … I’ll die without giving those answers! Austin held onto that thought, smiling through his pain and passing out once again.
When he next woke, his skin and toes and fingers were back, and his bones were healed. He didn’t understand. He knew he healed fast, but not this fast … and he doubted his ability could grow back his extremities.
The blue paste had been reapplied, as it had before the last session. Elf illusions, he realised hopelessly, wondering how many more times he’d feel his toes crushed and sliced off.
The torture came again, and before it commenced, the shaman said, ‘It will only get worse.’ His colourful eyes had a satisfied glint to them.
The shaman was right; it got much worse. Austin was strangled, drowned, de-nailed, scalped, whipped, raped, circumcised, and then dismembered. The grand finale was complete castration. But when Austin passed out and came to again, he was whole and healthy and alone.
That’s when he cracked.
‘I’ll give you the answers! Just kill me! PLEEEAAASE! KILL ME ALREADY!’ He remembered all he endured before blacking out, and imagined an eternity of it. If there’s a hell, then this is it … He wasn’t even sure what body parts he still owned, if the torture was the illusion or if this was. Maybe all of it was some sort of trance. Maybe he wasn’t even here in this Otherworld dungeon, but instead was being held captive in the human world and under an induced coma loaded with magic.
The elf shaman didn’t come for a long time, further tormenting Austin with the wait. Austin recalled being sexually taken during the last torture session … taken by a male elf. So much hate saturated his body now, he was sure it would kill him. He prayed it would.
The dripping became more wicked. Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP!!!
Austin was certain his mind would crumble any second, but his torturer finally returned. Without even being asked the questions, he began spewing everything about how he met the person he worked for and how he traded his soul for power, and where it all led.
The elf interrupted. ‘You’ve already told me where to find the person you work for. Now tell me who it is.’
I did? He didn’t remember telling the shaman about his employer’s location. He must have talked during a weak point. A lot of the intervals between the torture techniques were a blur now.
It was time to give his final answer, then. He thought of his failed mission. If he had managed to kill Nicolas Crystan, then his employer might have let him live a good life, like the one he had started to have with his new looks and his ability … before he was called to obey. ‘Nicolas Crystan will never be safe,’ he told the shaman.
The luminous eyes stared unblinking. ‘Why?’
‘Why?!’ Austin laughed manically, unsure how many fingers or toes he had, or if he even had a tongue. Am I saying this now? ‘Because …’ he began, but his focus slipped.
‘Because?’
He saw Nicolas in his mind, and wanted nothing more than to rip his throat open and watch the blood gush. Through more manic giggles, he said, ‘Because a demon wants him dead.’
The laughs racked out of him as he watched the shaman pull back his cowl and reveal a long, chiselled face, thin ears stretching into points at each side. The elf’s purple orbs were as bright as ever, but his expression was full of anger. He thrust out his cudgel staff with one hand, then faced the palm of his other at the intricately detailed stick. A white ball of light took form at its tip, buzzing and sparking, gaining size and glowing stronger.
Considering Austin had only heard the shaman speak in a level voice, he was disturbed by the figure’s present demeanour. The elf’s rage was palpable, and his magic made the imagery on the staff dance outward and take on haunting forms.
The last thing Austin heard was his torturer’s furious wail; the last he saw, blinding light.
THE END OF A BODY DISPLACED
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BOOK THREE:
A SPIRIT DISPLACED
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If you’re looking for more to read, check out A Note Below: A Lansin Island Short Story about a haunted lighthouse and a family torn apart.
FROM THE AUTHOR:
Another cliffhanger? I know! But Book Two was always meant to end with this revelation, and to me it feels like the natural progression of the overall arc of the series. I have plans for the plot lines that have been left open an
d these will be developed upon in future books. I hope you enjoyed this novel and found closure in the main plot lines. Be sure to sign up to the mailing list—things are going to get a lot bumpier for Nick and Juliet!
Thank you for reading,
Andrew Butcher.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Other Works
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The End of A Body Displaced
From the author:
Table of Contents
Other Works
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The End of A Body Displaced
From the author:
A Body Displaced (Lansin Island 2) Page 40
