Dangerous Illusions

Chapter One: Unruhe

He didn't know how long he'd been here. Wherever here was. No windows. No means to pass the time. Could be days. Could be months. He knew his team was looking for him. If they can get him out, they will. This hope alone kept him going. Kept him silent amidst the torture he was enduring. How did he get here?

Linx. He hoped he was okay. He knew the visage that kept appearing before him, doing things Linx would never do. Linx. Caring, loving, gentle Linx. He smiled a bloody smile. They'll heal you soon and start over. Gentle is not an adjective most beings would associate with Linx. On the battlefield he was ruthless. He showed no mercy to any man. Despite the pain in his lip, he smiled further at how opposite he was at home. In private. His tender moments when they explored planets, small glances, and minute smiles. His smile slipped. The last he saw Linx or his team they were under fire from the same who took him. The look in his eyes as they dragged him away, a captive he knew not where.

Peaceful explorers. Planet hoppers looking for a final place to settle after the destruction of Earth. The once thriving planet was reduced to rubble and ashes in a matter of days. They had to flee. The four of them absconded an abandoned craft that, to their luck, still had hyperdrive capabilities.

This was the sixth planet in three years they'd tried to settle on. A couple they thought would work, but one circumstance or another made them relocate. The last place, a planet called Zenoo, they had thought would be where they would permanently call their own. But sudden surges from warring tribes made them once again try and find somewhere to settle.

Their whole lives Earth had been war-torn, all four from young ages had been trained to kill, to fight. After a lifetime of blood, screaming, death, all they wanted was to live out their lives in peace.

He looked around him. Everything was the color of rust. Leaky pipes dripping from the ceilings. He looked in longing, wishing he could get a taste.

He didn't know what they'd given him. They forced him to drink something. Neon green like antifreeze used in Earth vehicles. All he knew was it kept his captor's face unknown, and in its stead, he saw something else. He saw it now. Suddenly standing in front of him. "Do whatever you want to do to me. You've already done your worst."

"We have only just begun." His breath was putrid against his face, his body odor enough to singe nose hairs. He cut him down. Turning to his men he ordered, "Heal him. Put him in the foscmrak kleficill and leave him."

The two men, whom he could only describe as soldiers, grabbed him on either arm and dragged him back to the healing chamber. They toss him haphazardly in a metal chamber, doors lock behind him, clanging shut with a sickening echo. He doesn't move. He lays flat, his face pressed to the cool floor and waits. The white light flashed and he screamed. He screamed as broken bones mended, gashes and cuts and burns healed, his flesh and bone pulling back together in splintering agony.

When he woke again he was in darkness. The only anguish he felt was mental as the images of what was done to him flashed mercilessly behind closed eyelids. He didn't know how long he laid there before he woke, or after. Just him in his cell, silent darkness mocking him. He wanted to scream but refused. They'll come back for you soon. Begin this all over again.

"Linx. Please find me." He whispered this plea, though he heard its echo, taunting him with its lonely playback.

He must have passed out again. Light. Beams of light spilling forth, blinding. In his haze, his training was kicked in enough to know there were three sets of feet entering this place. He felt a hand on his arm and he jumped, knowing it was them to begin his torture anew. The sound that poured from his mouth dripped like the sweat pouring down his face. He wanted to beg them to stop. No more! No more! But he couldn't form words, just pathetic sounds. He kept his face covered. He didn't want to see.