INIQUITY- kaz brekker

Victor

what is better, to die as a monster or live as a good man?

The day he walked into her life Iris Zusak was set for damnation. Victor Trusova the man who controlled fire and the minds of those he tortured. A servant of the Black Heretic, loyal and livid with not a scrap of mercy in his gangly limbs and beady cerulean eyes. Those eyes that laughed at her, those eyes that bore daggers into her skin, scraping and slicing away every bit of sanity and purity she had left.

He had been sat a task, one that favoured him and made him smile when he reminisced on it. He enjoyed causing damnation, a hobby, a tool, a toy. To him this was all a game, he was a piece on a chess board that the king had sent to win the battle against an innocent rival. Iris Zusak wasn't so innocent but Victor sure was player who wanted to win and knew how to claim victory when it shone down on him.

He'd always thought his life was like a play. As if the people around him were merely actors hired for their roles and somehow he landed the antagonist role, starring in a scorched and tainted spotlight that he revelled in. Yet it's good to remember it wasn't a film, it was a play and someone was always watching.

The day he landed in Ketterdam on orders from a certain Dark General to scope the Grisha of the city, he found a prospect worth much more of his time. Pekka Rollins had a beady glare and hands of steel but when they shook an alliance formed and Victor became a teacher, a trainer, a monster.

He was first introduced to the girl when she was nine. Pekka, out of the goodness of his heart didn't allow Victor to work on her until she reached double figures and so when she came to the age of 10 the darkness began and Victor grew to love the taste of his undiluted power.

Age 11

"This is Victor, he will be your trainer Iris. He will teach you firmly and wisely, I am sure you will learn a lot," Pekka spoke placidly.

"Hello!" Iris piped up with a grin.

"Let's get to work," the Inferni grunted.

Iris's grin did not last long after that.

She soon learned that Victor did not feel mercy. He did not feel remorse or regret, not like a normal person would. She sometimes wondered if there were a bone in his body melded for good or whether he had been born soulless and tormented.

Hours were long, days even longer and soon day became night as they worked and the two melded together until Iris could not tell the time or the day unless she checked the stars or the moons position. That was of course if she hadn't been blinded by another 'test'.

Age 12

"You must hone your skills Iris and wield them to make others fall at your feet"

"You aren't progressing well enough. Let's do another test."

"What is that," Iris whispered at the shining powder in Victors hand.

"The essence of the true world"

Victor had blinded Iris that day. He had forced the power into her eyes and the forced her to complete experiments. Forced her to form acids and weapons for himself, blind and stumbling, crying out for vision that she could never truly repair. Through his actions she managed to control what she once thought was uncontrollable even though the agony remained with every movement.

The saddest part was how Iris admired him. At first she had believed the man was righteous and virtuous, that what he was doing was right and that she deserved it. Pekka convinced her and Victor convinced her that she was twisted in the mind and that what they were doing would cure her.