Whispers (Book 3 of Wielder series)

Chapter 5 - Survival

CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains high levels of violence, specifically the act of torture. Most of this book's violence is what I classify as "cartoon" violence, meaning it's generally appropriate for younger audiences. This particular scene is not like that. It describes causing someone harm specifically for the purpose of inflicting pain (this is not glorified or condoned in any way, just described). If you would prefer not to read it, please skip to the end of the chapter, where I will leave a summary (without the torture details) of what happened so that you won't miss any of the story.

—Liz

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Alie's blood ran cold as her cell plunged once more into darkness. She drew her knees to her chest, causing the chain attached to her ankle to clink. Her breath quickened into short, gasping pants. Every muscle in her body tensed as she turned her gaze sightlessly back and forth, searching for the smallest hints of where Commander Sole could be.
She had never seen him look so much like the monster that possessed him.
"I'm not afraid of you," she called into the dark, as if he were nothing more than a bump heard in the middle of the night.
"Oh," he cooed in her ear, causing her to jump. "I think you are absolutely terrified."
"You can't keep me here," she snapped. Still, she scrambled away from him, sliding off her straw-filled cushion until her chains snapped taut. "Empress Tyla has pardoned me and declared me a hero of the Realm."
"Empress Tyla doesn't know you're here." Now his voice came from the opposite side of her. She shrank away again, sliding across the stone with the chains clinking behind her.
"I'll escape," she promised. "I always do."
Out of the dark, his hand cupped her chin. She jerked away, hating the icy tingle his touch left upon her skin.
His red eyes glowed like fire in the dark. "Not this time."
When he grabbed her again, he did it with purpose. His fingers dug into her cheeks, holding her head firmly in place. Pressure immediately began to push at her skull. She bit her lip to keep from crying out, knowing that the sound of her agony would only fuel his fire. She shut her eyes and focused on her breathing, willing it to stay steady.
The pressure intensified.
"You know why you're here," Commander Sole purred. His voice, so smooth and calm and pleased, made her shiver. "Don't you?"
Alie bit her lip harder. She thought she tasted blood. She didn't care. The pressure was becoming unbearable.
"I don't take kindly to being ignored," he warned.
A whimper escaped her. She tried to reach up to grab his hand, but her arms wouldn't move. Neither would the rest of her. The pressure in her skull pushed harder, causing her ears and eyes to ache.
"I don't know," she gasped out. Her voice was so much more frail than she wanted, but she could barely think.
"Yes you do." His fingers tightened on her jaw. "Tell me why you're here."
"Because you hate me."
"And why is that?"
She swore her blood vessels would pop if his power kept squeezing her much longer, but she wasn't sure there was anything she could do to stop it. She tried to breathe through the pain. "Because I killed the emperor."
"Tokala was stupid for trusting you. He brought his death upon himself." Commander Sole leaned forward, bringing his blazing ruby eyes right up to her face. "That is not why you are here."
Her skull was going to crack. Her brains were going to implode. "I don't know," she gasped, tearing up. "I don't know."
"That was the wrong answer," he grinned.
His hand slipped away, and with it, the pressure. She collapsed on the stone, dizzy and whimpering in relief.
The commander didn't give her more than a second to recover. The very next moment, a sharp, icy pain shot down her back. A cry broke from her lips.
Commander Sole's tone remained calm. "For every wrong answer you give, you will receive a special punishment of my choosing. Today's will be a slice of my blade. Tomorrow, I'll have something more creative in store."
Was he insane?! Clutching her arms to her chest, Alie lifted her head. Commander Sole stood before her, his eyes still hauntingly aglow. He'd drawn his sword; its red crystal blade cast only enough light to make out his side profile, turning him into an inverse shadow in the dark.
"Try again," he taunted, his grin turning feral.
Alie grit her teeth. "I. Don't. Know."
Commander Sole shook his head. "Going to do this the hard way, hmm?"
She didn't even see him move. His blade struck her again, slicing shallowly into her skin. It stung a little at first, but the pain grew worse the longer it sat exposed to air. She curled into a ball at his feet, moaning.
He meant to break her. They'd barely begun and she already knew that what he planned for her would be slow and deliberate, meant to degrade and destroy her piece by piece. She'd been through a lot, but she knew that before long, she'd snap like a twig in his fist. If she wanted to survive, then she needed to placate him, and fast.
She racked her brain for answers.
The blade struck again. She lost all thoughts as the icy sting enveloped her. Her breathing came in gasps. Her body trembled. She grasped at the stone floor, searching for something to squeeze in the hopes that it would take her mind off the pain.
Commander Sole snorted. "I don't like to be kept waiting."
She couldn't remember what he wanted. But she knew she had to say something, or else she'd endure so much more pain. Desperately, she stammered, "You h-hate me..."
"Yes?"
"Because... Because..."
"Stalling will increase your punishment."
"Because!" She flinched. "You hate me... because I took the magic back."
She braced herself, but no slash came. Fearfully, she dared to open her eyes and peek up.
Commander Sole crouched before her, the blade still glowing in his hand. "And what did that do?"
She stared up into his ruby eyes, trying to remember. "The emperor needed it to cast his spell."
The commander's mouth twitched. "And what would the spell do?"
"Bring back his dead lover."
"And?"
Alie's brows scrunched together. And, what? Emperor Tokala had planned to use all the magic of the Realm to reverse time and prevent his lover from dying a tragic death. The commander had helped him because... because...
Because the commander had been in love with the emperor's daughter, who'd gone missing fifty years ago. The spell would have brought back not just the emperor's lover, but his missing daughter, as well.
Alie clenched her jaw. "And it would have brought back the princess."
"You do remember." His eyes, still glowing bright, bore into her. "So, tell me again, why are you here?"
She contemplated spitting in his face. She wasn't a child to be talked down to. But she couldn't help hissing, "Because I refused to let you destroy an entire civilization to cure your heartbreak, and you're throwing a tantrum about it."
He chuckled under his breath. "I can do this all day."
His foot pushed into her shoulder, shoving her onto her back. Dirt and cold stone pressed into her fresh wounds, causing them to sting all over again. She let out a cry as his blade sliced into her arm, just below the shoulder, cutting shallowly enough to cause the most amount of pain, but deeply enough to draw blood. With a sob, she grabbed the cut and squeezed it to staunch the flow.
The blade lowered to her chin. Carefully, its flat side touched her skin. The crystal felt hard and unforgiving. A single wrong move on her part would cause it to slip right across her throat. She froze, barely daring to breathe.
Commander Sole's eyes came closer as he bent over her. "Respectfully," he instructed, drawing out each syllable.
Alie thrust her foot at him. It struck his shin, causing him to jerk. His blade slipped past her, and she took the opportunity to roll away. When she popped up to her feet, aching and stinging all across her back, she angled herself toward him, hoping to ram her head straight into his gut.
He recovered too quickly. She barely made it to her feet before he caught her. His power rolled over her skin like burning hot tar.
The cry that ripped from her throat echoed down the halls.
The agony lasted only a few seconds, but when it left, she felt completely spent. She sank to the ground, weeping.
Commander Sole grabbed her by the shoulder, shoving her back against the wall. "Disrespect will be dealt with appropriately," he said with a hint of a growl.
Alie blinked back her tears. "It's self-defense."
"It's lacking." His blade lifted to her neck once more. This time, it whispered across her skin, stinging as badly as a papercut. "Tell me what I want to hear."
"Why? It won't end this." She flicked her gaze across his hard features, watching the way his eyes studied her. "You want me to suffer because you lost the only chance you had at getting the woman you loved back. You want me to feel the pain you feel, because you think it will help you feel better. But it won't. Hurting me won't bring her back. It won't change the past."
"No, it won't change the past." His blade vanished, plunging the room into complete darkness once again. "But it will make me feel better." His power snaked out from his grasp on her shoulder, sliding with a searing heat across her skin. "I am going to make you feel the way I have felt for the last fifty years. Then maybe you'll understand what you stole from me."
Alie shut her eyes. As the commander's power consumed her, she tried to tell herself that she was strong. Even without magic, she could endure whatever he threw at her. She was the Ultimate Wielder, and she was undefeatable.
But as the seconds turned to minutes and the minutes turned to hours, as the pain became blinding and senseless and agonizing, she began to fear that she was just a person, the same as anyone else.
By the time he finally tired of her and left, she was battered and broken in ways she hadn't known were possible.
Time was an illusion. In the dark, there was no way to keep track of it. Meals - if they could even be called that - were delivered randomly. No sounds filtered to her cell from down the hall. She slept fitfully, though it was impossible to say for how long.
And when the commander returned, it was far too soon.
He took his time with the locks on her door. The keys turned this way and that with a leisure that unnerved her. The bolts slid slowly from the wall. Every one made her jump.
By the time he pushed the door open, her body had already started trembling.
"Hello," he greeted with a pleased, torturous hum. "Let's begin."
Then the door closed behind him, trapping her once more in his darkness.

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Hello! In case you skipped this chapter because you did not want to view the torture, here is a quick summary of what happened:

Commander Sole wants to make Alison understand the pain he has endured the last fifty years, ever since he lost his love, Princess Helene. He wants Alie to understand that his continued pain is her fault, because she freed the magic that the emperor had been collecting in order to cast a spell that would reverse time and bring the princess back. Alie stands up to the commander, but without magic, her attempt does nothing but encourage the commander to harm her further. When he comes back the next day, she begins to fear him and what he has planned for her.

Hope this helps!!

— Liz