Gifts of Affection

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“I bestow this advice. Nurture fear in others, for only fear rules men. Nothing else leaves deeper scars.”





Vaen’s eyes slowly opened. Darkness.



“Senna?” He called out. Silence.



He could hear the sounds of the forest. Songbirds flitted from tree to tree filling the air with their music. Judging from the wet dew on his skin, it was some time in the morning. He tried to pick himself up. He struggled, unable to move. Not a single muscle in his body responded to his will.



He panicked. What was going on? He tried to clench his hand. Nothing. It was as if his muscles were not his own. He noticed his body ached. Much more than it had ever before. His stomach churned, a sickening nausea beginning to course through his body. There was a sharp pain in his side.



Suddenly, he felt a sharp impact against his back as he flew forward, his face slamming into the dirt.



“Ooof!” The impact knocked the breath out of him as his cheek rubbed against the coarse dirt and rocks. He felt the imprint of a boot digging into his back, grinding him into the ground. Vaen felt the coarse threads of rope looping around his wrists behind his back.



“Who’s there??” He shouted. “Show yourself, coward!”



“Shut your mouth, human.” Vaen grimaced as the rope was viciously tightened around his wrists, biting into his skin. “Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to remove the tongue from your mouth.”



A female Sin’dorei. But the voice wasn’t light and airy like Senna’s. This voice had a dark edge that made even Vaen give pause.



Vaen lay helpless as he felt himself being tied and bundled like a pig to be butchered. “What did you do to me?” He demanded. “Where’s Senna?”



He howled in pain as he felt a boot connect with his cheek, the impact jarring his head to the side, nearly rolling his body on the side. He was positive there was a broken bone in his cheek.



“Didn’t I just tell you to shut your mouth?” The voice seethed with malevolence.



Vaen felt leather gloves digging into his long, black hair, yanking a fistful of his hair upwards. His head followed suit. He could see the outline of orange from the sun, even through the darkness in his vision. It felt like his neck would detach from his spine.



“Listen, and listen good, [i]boy.[/i]” There was no attempt at masking the contempt. “I’m going to enjoy every single last second of ‘play time’ with you.”



Vaen felt her grab his bound hand as she pried his index finger from the rest of his clenched fist. He trembled, shaking as he felt the lone digit surrounded by the harsh texture of the leather gloves.



“First, I’m going to break every single bone in your body.” Vaen howled as he felt his finger snap with a sickening crack. Tears rolled down his cheek, his body powerless to resist.



“That’s right, nice and slow. A finger a day, maybe.” Her voice dripped with morbid anticipation. “But that’s just the appetizer.”



Vaen felt a sharp poke against his gut. He winced as could feel the searing sharpness of a blade biting into his skin. He cringed as a rivulet of his blood trickled down his abdomen.



“Then, I’m going to cut you open, nice and slow.” He felt the whisper against the side of his ear. “You’ll be able to look down and see your bowels dripping from your body.”



Her voice dropped even lower, to the barest of whispers. “But don’t worry, boy. I spent the morning preparing a special poison, just for you. It’ll keep you conscious the entire time. There’s no escape, no exit. Only hot, searing, blinding, excruciating agony.” There was a hint of glee to the voice. “I will relish in your screams of anguish. Nothing will please me more than your suffering.”



The dagger was removed from Vaen’s skin, but the other hand still held his head tight. He could see a blurry outline as his vision slowly began returning. He could still sense the poison coursing through his veins.



“Did you really think you could just snatch my sister and run off, boy?” There was no amusement in her voice. “You are in our lands, human. I hunted you down like a mongrel, and I’ll put you down like one.”



Color slowly began seeping into his sight. Vicious emerald eyes stared straight into his. Long, flowing crimson crowned a mocking sneer.



“And…” Her face hovered inches away from his. “If I found out you touched my sister in any way…”



Vaen’s eyes bulged as he squeaked something resembling “Muu.” The elf held a death grip on his balls as she squeezed. His eyes twitched as it glanced downward, intently following the edge of the dagger as it hovered dangerously close to his privates, the gleaming dagger pressing lightly against his undergarment.



“Believe me when I say I will castrate you. I will rip it off and shove it down your throat.”



He breathed a sigh of relief as the dagger returned back to the woman’s sheathe.



“Now, you will have your fair shot at ‘justice’, boy. She insisted as much. If I had my way, your entrails would be decorating this tree right now.” Vaen could see a wicked grin forming across red lips through his blurry vision. “But don’t worry, we’ll have so much fun playing together while you wait.”



Vaen felt a shiver run through his spine.



The blood elf grabbed him like a sack, throwing him onto a hawkstrider waiting to the side. His arms and legs were tied and bound, another rope securing him to the hawkstrider. The kris he kept inside his clothes was gone. But there was something cold pressing against his skin, poking him. The edge of something rectangular. The tome.