Chapter 3 -Captivus

The flames looked just as spectral as the ones that burnt down his home, but up close, to his surprise, they barely radiated any heat. Before he could contemplate the hellish spell that brought them to life, his head burst with a sharp pain, almost as if someone ran a dagger through his skull and then, not satisfied with the results, twisted the blade several times. 

 

 The searing pain on his back had barely registered under the vile throbbing headache. From glimpses of the wall beyond the fire pit, he knew he was in the church building. The masterfully painted winged people against the blue, cloudless sky stared blankly at him, and he at them, somewhere inside hoping that one of them would come to life and destroy the demonic fiends in the town… Another part of him ridiculed the thoughts. Especially since his father had actually spoken to one of the celestial beings and later recounted that they looked nothing like the paintings in the church, saying that mere paintings could never replicate the truth. 

 

He tore his thoughts away from the past and pushed them back to reality, with a brief frown wondering if he was experiencing that 'life flashing' event people would have in the face of death. 

 

A glance down revealed the bulky steel chains and cuffs. They were every bit as heavy as they looked, clearly even a bear couldn't muster strength enough to break free, but that didn't the least bit deter him from trying. 

 

Tugging and pulling on his restraints he quickly found out he was being watched. 

 

One of the black shadowy creatures approached him from right. 

 

Mjoln couldn't see its face, if it even had one, save for the pair of red orbs glowing against the blackness. 

 

It carried a long, black staff with a short blade on the end of it.

 

"No speak, no struggle. You sit, you wait."

 

The beast croaked in a barely understandable tone, and to reinforce the point, hit Mjoln in the head with the blunt end of the staff. 

 

The already savage headache worsened, and it took all he could muster to keep from crying out. 

 

Satisfied with the results, the creature returned to its previous post. 

 

Mjoln followed it with his gaze, and soon discovered that through the doorway, in the main chamber of the church there were other people, bound and chained. 

 

Most of them were the young. He could only imagine one reason for keeping them alive…

 

Another of the fiends came into the side chamber pulling three others by a long heavy chain.

 

Mjoln didn't know the three women, but he guessed they had been captured in a nearby village. 

 

There was no pretense in the fiends actions, apparently they had brutalized everyone just the same, regardless of their age or gender.

 

Before he had time to think about escape yet another beast entered the side chamber, and walked directly to Mjoln.

 

The monstrosity dwarfed the earlier monster in size, and as Mjoln soon discovered, in strength as well. 

 

It grabbed hold of the youth by his neck with its right, and lifted him from the floor with little effort. Despite his dire situation, Mjoln stared back into the red orbs, unblinking. 

 

"You not afraid?" 

 

The beast rasped. 

 

"You're not worth my chills and shivers."

 

Mjoln sputtered as he fought for air. 

 

"Smart mouth, good. You give good strong soul for big magic."

 

Came the croaking voice, followed by a grin of edgy yellowed teeth. 

 

"Oh just get it over with, I haven't got all night for you!" 

 

The creature would have probably laughed, but some of the other captives showed a change in attitudes at Mjoln's defiance. That became apparent from a fresh series of pain filled whimpers and cries as their captors decided to crush any defiance. 

 

Mjoln's captor dropped him after a few moments of staring into his eyes. 

 

"No more smart mouth. You not speak again."

 

The monster added, then left to the main chamber of the church, disappearing around the corner. 

 

Before the wiry figure had time to recover, a goat-like face appeared in the doorway. 

 

The demon's body was covered in emerald green scales, it resembled a lizard's body, but the legs were also a goat's, yet somehow the hellish chimera walked like a human. 

 

It said nothing, and didn't appear the least bit interested in the three others chained to the wall to its right, some steps behind Mjoln. 

 

It walked over to the fire pit, and from somewhere behind its back produced a jagged blade. It mostly resembled a dagger, save for the fact it was somewhat longer and completely black. 

 

It carefully put the weapon down on the stone floor with the blade reaching into the eldritch flames. 

 

Mere seconds later, the blade already glowed a reddish orange, but the monster waited still..

 

Mjoln understood at once what use the creature would have for the weapon, recalling what the previous fiend said. 

 

He thought of backing away then kicking the monster with both legs toward the fire, and almost as if sensing his thoughts, the creature grabbed the weapon with its three fingered right hand, and grabbed hold of Mjoln's shoulder with its left. 

 

The moment they touched, Mjoln was flooded by a cold sensation. An ageless dread filled his being and even the adrenaline boosted strength left his body. He might as well have gone completely limp, for all his effort and struggle to keep the demon away, the fiend seemed to have no trouble bending his upper body over, and then securing his chains to the floor with a wordless spell. 

 

He couldn't get back up or move away enough, but the blade neared his face, stopping only an inch from his skin. 

 

He felt the searing heat emanating from the weapon. The next second, with practiced ease, the demon forced his mouth open and pulled his tongue out. Mjoln thought it would rip the body part clean out, yet he knew that something much worse was to follow. 

 

The glowing steel neared the base of his tongue from underneath. His heart beats came at a speed he never thought possible, his breaths short and edgy… He tried to prepare himself for the pain, and squeezed his widened eyes shut. 

 

Saliva dripped onto the weapon, hissing against the infernal heat, and just as he was certain the unforgiving bite of both heat and steel was to follow… The demon let out a series of sickly chuckles. He opened his eyes again, only to see the unfeeling gaze of the monster, fixed into his, no doubt waiting to see the agony reflected in them. 

 

The soulless red orbs came to life a moment before the agony struck. 

 

Guttural cries and roars escaped from his throat, flesh boiled and blistered, some of the blisters bursting as quickly as they had formed. Blood gushed forth, fueled by a crazily pounding heart.

 

Inexplicable pain coursed through his entire body and yet neither consciousness nor life wanted to leave him… 

 

His body convulsed violently and moved left to right straining against the chains in every direction to no avail. 

 

The demon had its fill of his suffering and a second later hit him in the head with a blunt object. The bloodied wall paintings and reddish hellfire faded from his view, the pain grew distant as if it wasn't even his, or real. 

 

Awakened by the cold and hard stone underneath, he found himself lying on his right side, curled up into a ball… 

 

The flames were no more, only some faint smoke lingering above the blackened firepit met his gaze. His entire head felt empty and the emptiness pulsed against his skull from within. 

 

No desire to get up, or to even look around, he let the weakness take him back into a black embrace of unconsciousness. 

 

 The quiet stillness had been barely disturbed by armored bodies moving about outside the church building. First rays of the sun pierced even his shut eyelids.. Dread, pain and misery reverberated in his body, cold edgy emotion.. 

 

The creature's croaking chatter kept him awake. Even as exhaustion would override pain and force him asleep, the presence of evil had conjured up a bone chilling tension at his core.

 

He felt it, as if they had been surrounded by whirlpools of black nothingness. Nothingness that somehow weighed tons of pressure against his being. 

 

When will this end.. 

 

As time slowly passed, he sensed the presence of his captors, and somehow knew exactly where they were relative to him. 

 

If only it wasn't for these bindings.. 

 

But the unforgiving, tight embrace of steel left its red marks around his wrists, wrists that now hurt even at the slightest motion or touch. 

 

Eternally long minutes flowed, hours slowly passed and willing or otherwise, he had passed out for brief periods, but not even sleep provided the asylum of his dream world. 

 

Dreams came, but only of horror and gore, streets flowing with blood, moving dead people, and friends turned into shadow creatures.. 

 

Vile pulsating headache jolted him awake. 

 

Thought registered as the daze slowly lifted 

Something's coming..