Sealed In Darkness

5. An Aetolian's Tale

Zhang, Zor Empire,
Ascesion Age (As/A): 3084

...

The Wraith guards marched in. A dozen of them; face lost behind a skull mask, armed with crossbows and swords sheathed to their waist. They stormed through the crowds in lines of two, venturing like bolts of shot arrows deeper into the epicenter of town: the bull's eye of Zhang.

Their boots echoed as it met the hard stone ground, and many who heard them march, knew what it meant. Soon a loud thud came with their halt, commanding the inhabitants of Zhang to spring out of their houses.

To the pulpit of bonded timbers stationed at the center of this awe gripped town, a twine hanging over a single wooden pole that extended through the platform, dangled with a tiny copper bell at its end. The rope was immediately pulled lower with the guards halt, forcing the bell to swing and ring, as it were to both carve respect, and serve more cold platter of fear.

The sound of the bell told different stories, and it being at the town's center, mostly gave the notices of when public executions met it's set time.

These executions were all but of mercy and restraint. Hanging was common: one would either choke to death, or the dropping force would instantly crush their throat. Most were by slowly liquidating the flesh with corrosive substances—acidification. As incredibly intriguing the pleasuring sight of watching the human skin slowly bubble and melt into red sticky goo, there was another that served more epiphany, and utilized only in rarer occasions: The Mïjknotr. It is a set of execution carried out in three theatrical stages.

The punished is first anchored face-up to the wooden platform, their arms, legs, and torso bound by shackles. Metallic hook drawn from a burning stove, shimmering in redness from intense heat, is then plunged into the corners of the eyes. After it digs into the eye socket, the hook is then forced out, and with it is a scoop of an eyeball.

With the lightless eyes dangling from its sockets, a heavy tree stomp fashioned to look like a single log (though large) is let down with a rope, and made to first crash into the lower half of the body. The first hit ushers the second as the giant log is pulled up, and once high enough, the grip is freed, and yet again permitted to drop to the upper half, with a careful exclusion of the head. The same hammering processes continue, shuffling between the legs and the chest, pounding the body, shredding the bones, and near flattening the flesh, with heavy thuds as it stroke the skin, and puffs of dust that scurried away.

The executioners decide when the judged is near death, and if they are ready to cap up the show with the final piece: decapitation. The semi-conscious body is finally met with the edge of an axe that drives through the neck, ending the blissful life of the offender.

Hope in Valhalla awaits thou.

The Mïjknotr has always been a wild spectacle of torture and punishment, and it sometimes served as retribution for cases where the crime was either murder, thievery, or even rape, but not all crimes were honored with the three package deal torment, even though others were far less exciting than the Mïjknotr. Barbarians!

Today it was different. From the quaking feet of the Wraith guards, everyone knew that it was that time of the month, and they all began to make their way to the town's center for it. Most of the denizen of Zhang arrived the set spot, and stood by to listen to their next order.