Collapsed World [MxM, Non-Con, Mpreg]

Part 13 [Lykaios]

  Abilities among the Corvine varied widely according to purity of bloodline and personal strength. There were of course abilities shared by all Corvines and which they developed according to their personal needs. An ability to see in pitch-blackness was one such ability that even the weakest Corvine possessed. In half-breeds the skill was not as strong, limited to dim lighting and not complete blackness. The ability to stand so still that one's eyes skipped over them was another ability. Corvines in the military and little children used this ability to most, often standing stock still before their enemy but invisible from their sight unless one looked extremely slowly and carefully. This skill was matched only by the uncanny ability of Corvines to move silently over even the noisiest terrain. The trait, some believed, was a compensation to the males for their general lack of wings, which child-bearing female Corvines possessed. Since the males could not take to the skies at great speeds without the aid of technology, they were granted the ability to mover over earth as nimbly and quietly as a cat on carpet. Corvines also had a very adaptable immune system, which made it hard to infect them or for them to fall prey to an inhospitable climate. The reason the comet's plague was so devastating and traumatizing, is precisely because it ignored this basic fact of Corvine biology and immunology. But these abilities were granted to all, along with a close bond to the female parent, whether male or female on the part of the child or parent. This, combined with the Avaen connection between parent and child was a source of great distress to those Corvines who wished to make the halflings loyal, as they often neglected to sufficiently brainwash the mother. These abilities aside, there were others possessed by the different clans and by the strength of blood within those.

Of the Corvinus clan, an emotion based power was a common ability. Lykaios' brother Micah and their father, for example, had emotional manipulation abilities. While Micah's was limited to working with emotions already there, their father was able to induce certain emotions as well as augment their level with a touch or a prolonged look. Lykaios and his mother, on the other hand, had the ability of emotional listening. It was one of the reasons Lykaios enjoyed others emotional upsets. When someone around Lykaios experienced extreme emotions, Lykaios felt them in his own body as sensations of various sorts relative to the extremeness and type of the emotion. Anger and pain filled him with an adrenaline like energy that he readily got drunk from, while happiness induced a giddiness that made him want to burst into a fit of giggles. All of this happened beneath the surface of his impassive mask, and he rarely let it show how others emotions affected him. Even minute emotions produces a ripple in his emotional lake and while he was not able to manipulate them like his brother and father, that insight into what another was feeling also gave him advantage enough to twist them as he wished. Iris' pain, then, at the removal of his mate mark, produce an ecstatic ripple through Lykaios and he had to bite back a moan of pleasure. His hand had even slowed to cut slower, just to feel the variation of pain sensation that Iris experienced. It was fascinating as well as intoxicating. A feeling which had more than earned him his reputation as a sadist. But while Iris' sobs and despair gave Lykaios cascades of pleasure and tantalizing sensations, Iris' words provoked a rarely seen and even more rarely expressed rage.

"Accepting death is to shackle one's will to inevitability and defeat. Death is not freedom, only a more complete master." Lykaios hissed venomously, his eyes flickering with rage, disgust, a touch of fear, and something deeper. All of which he quickly stifled and which receded back into the calm pool of cool detachment he had before. His voice became even again, the burst of emotion from before gone and carefully locked away. "But don't worry. I will not let Death claim you for its own, but will free you from the shackles of weakness and contentment that have weighed you down for so long." Lykaios whispered, almost fondly, as he gently brushed away Iris' tears with his thumb. Once Iris' wings were dry Lykaios folded them back neatly to Iris' back, leaving the rest of his body restrained until he had wheeled Iris into a room with a plain brass handle. It was a playroom like the others, but the drawers were set into the wall and locked. Lykaios gave Iris a mild sedative and gently laid him on the narrow bed on his stomach, leaving him naked. There was nothing to hurt himself with in the event that he showed backbone and attempted suicide. A small space in the corners was for washing on one side, and to use the bathroom on the other. Lykaios dimmed the light to slightly darker than was comfortable for Avaen eyesight, and closed and locked the door, wheeling the metal table out and back to the infirmary.

There was no real peace when the door closed. Grates in the high ceilings provided too narrow vents to the other playrooms, through which each could hear the suffering or pleasure of the others. Kit's soft groans and sniffles dominated the vent now, his mutterings an attempt to sooth both his throbbing backside and stave off the fear of the dark. His quiet sorrows soon grew in pitch as Lykaios entered his playroom and administered punishment for the poor upkeep of his wings. For Iris who was new, the punishment administered could only be guessed at and by Kit's screams it sounded more torturous than it was. Eventually Kit's cries for mercy quieted to muffled sobs of pain which were eventually joined by the loud crack of a whip on the skins of the other Avaens. Through it all Lykaios' soft but clear voice cut through. "Kit's ailment is not only his fault. For my pleasure, if not for care for your fellow, should have prompted you to step in earlier. You all are a family now, and the misdeeds of one are suffered by all." There came an intonation of 'Yes Master' from the others before the whip fell silent and all were left to reflect as they listened to the suffering of the others. Iris was left in the twilight darkness for 4days as his wounds healed. He was provided food and water, suited to Avaen taste and without anything extra added in, with the warning on the first day that if he didn't eat, Kit would be forced to make him. The boy was still delicate, Lykaios told Iris, and it would be quite selfish of Iris to make Kit suffer.