shattered champion of Eldoria!

The Broken Hero

Lord Thorne was not merely interested in defeating Ash; he wanted to utterly destroy him—physically and mentally. Ash, the hero of Eldoria, had become his most coveted prisoner, and Thorne was determined to break him piece by piece.

The torture began almost immediately. On the first day, Ash was stripped to the waist and bound to a wooden post in the cold, damp dungeon. Thorne's men carried whips with barbed ends, each lash cutting into Ash's skin with cruel precision. The pain was excruciating, but Ash clenched his teeth, refusing to give them the satisfaction of hearing him scream. Blood dripped down his back, but he stood firm, defiant.

But this was only the beginning.

On the second day, they dragged Ash to a tank filled with ice-cold water. He was chained to the bottom, submerged completely, unable to move or escape. For hours, he endured the cold, his body convulsing uncontrollably as the chill seeped into his bones. By the time they pulled him out, Ash was on the verge of losing consciousness, his skin blue and his body trembling violently. They left him lying on the stone floor, his strength all but drained.

The third day was even worse. Thorne ordered his men to place Ash on a rack, a medieval device designed to stretch the body to its breaking point. Slowly, the wheel was turned, pulling Ash's arms and legs in opposite directions, his joints screaming in agony. As the tension mounted, his body felt like it would tear apart. For the first time, Ash's screams filled the dungeon, echoing off the walls, his pain reverberating through the cold, dark chamber.

But Thorne wasn't finished.

Each day brought new torments. Ash was branded with hot irons, the searing metal burning cruel symbols into his skin, the smell of scorched flesh filling the air. They waterboarded him, holding him down while water filled his lungs, leaving him gasping for breath, teetering on the edge of drowning. He was starved, denied food and water, his body wasting away, his once-strong form now weak.

The physical torture was only half of the cruelty. Thorne played a psychological game, too. Each day, he visited Ash, standing over him with a twisted smile, whispering insidious lies meant to crush Ash's spirit. "No one is coming for you," he would say softly, his voice like poison in Ash's ears. "Your friends have abandoned you. The world has forgotten the great hero of Eldoria."

As the days wore on, Ash's resolve began to waver. The pain, the hunger, and the isolation gnawed at him, slowly eroding the mental fortress he had built over years of battle and hardship. His once-steadfast belief in his friends, his people, began to falter under the weight of Thorne's cruelty. He was trapped in a nightmare with no escape, each day blurring into the next, a cycle of agony and despair.

Finally, after days of relentless suffering, Ash's body could take no more. He collapsed in his cell, barely able to breathe, his vision fading to black. His mind, once sharp and focused, was now clouded by pain and exhaustion. The last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was Lord Thorne, standing over him with a look of triumph, his cold, cruel smile a haunting image burned into Ash's fading consciousness.

Ash, the hero of Eldoria, was broken.