[hr] [h1][center][color=silver]Life[/color][/center][/h1] [hr] The world was darker when Tiok awoke. His head pounded, and every breath was ragged and painful. It took him all his strength to simply move his head up so that he might glance at what was around him, and his heart sank. This was not a sandy beach, but a forest floor where he lay. The young man then saw a dim fire burning, not three bodies length away. With the flickering flame, and with his foggy vision, he could make out two forms who looked like they were sleeping. Both too large for one to be Dratiri, and his heart began to pound as he struggled to see anything else. Suddenly he felt a large hand grab the base of his neck, and painfully begin to lift him up. Tiok whimpered softly as another arm wrapped around his chest. He was then dragged, and then at last placed upright at the base of a tree. When his vision stopped blurring, he saw the bald man grinning in front of him. "I was just about to wake you up, boy. Don't you know it's rude to black out when keeping company? A pity your pain tolerance is so low, takes the fun right out of torture it does. Oh well, Ol'Grambo will keep you awake now." He then pulled out a large stone knife, knapped from a black rock and sharpened to an edge. Tiok's eyes went wide as tears began to flow down his cheeks. Grambo sighed, "There now, boy. Ol'Grambo will make everything alright. Just you relax now." As Grambo began to cut his right arm, Tiok anticipated the feeling and his throat constricted. He tried to scream but couldn't as the pain flared up. He tried to move his arm, but he was far too weak and Grambo had it pinned down. As Grambo smiled sadistically, Tiok began to panic. He tried desperately to move his arm, but he couldn't, and Grambo was beginning to take notice of Tiok's silence. The bald man stopped cutting, fresh blood gleamed off the blade in the early moonlight. "What's a matter boy? Devil got your tongue? Why don't you speak a little!" Grambo then forced Tiok's mouth open, "I want to hear you screams boy! Now scream! Scream!" The crazed look in his eyes became unhinged as Grambo was denied his enjoyment. Tiok finally screamed, a harrowing wail of pain and frustration. "There we are! Good! Very [color=darkred]good."[/color] The sudden change in his voice almost went unnoticed by Tiok, but now the bald man's eyes glowed a fiery crimson and pulsated the same. He looked at Tiok with an unnatural expression. [color=darkred]"I was beginning to wonder if you had gone mute, child."[/color] came the rich voice of a woman from his lips. Grambo then stroked his cheek with the knife, leaving a small cut behind. He did not cry out this time, for he was far too taken aback for such rational action. He thought he had died, or the pain was making him see things that weren't there. Yet it felt real to him, but strangely, he was not afraid of that. The voice spoke again, [color=darkred]"You are free of the curse. It seems not all of your kind give in so easily to their darker passions. Both you and your female companion resisted temptation, but alas, I'm afraid now only you remain."[/color] "W-What?" Came Tiok's weak voice. Dratiri was...? No! She couldn't be, he was alive, that meant she had to be as well! He began to shake his head. [color=darkred]"Come now child, what did you expect from two adult men alone with a woman? Look and you shall see."[/color] and Grambo grasped his cheeks slightly, then turned his head so that Tiok might see what the voice wanted him too. His heart broke into a thousand pieces as he looked up to see Dratiri hanging bare from a tree branch. Try as he might to look away, he could not. There was his best friend, his greatest lover- dead. Tiok tried to get up, but his weak body wouldn't budge. He wanted to cut her down, to hold her one more time. As he continued to look, he no longer felt anything, no pain, no frustration, no sadness- only numbness. Dratiri was dead, and it was all his fault. He felt his face turn back to the red eyes of Grambo, but Tiok didn't really look. [color=darkred]"A pity, I know. She had such promise, such a bright future and with you by her side of course. But now her soul rests with Azhriel, Lord of the Underworld and he hoards souls for his own plots. It is unfortunate, but this world is cruel."[/color] Grambo paused, as if in thought. The woman's voice came again after a moment, [color=darkred]"It doesn't seem fair she was taken from you, now does it? Hmm, perhaps I could help you. Yes, would you like that? I know I would."[/color] This caught the broken man's attention, and he whispered, "What do you mean? Who even are you?" while holding Grambo's gaze. [color=darkred]"How rude of me. You may call me Anu, child. The Giver of Gifts and the Patron of the broken. And child, you are broken. You are weak. I say this not to offend you, but as cold truth. These terrible, wicked men brought this upon you. Wouldn't you like revenge? A chance at making them pay for their actions?"[/color] Tiok listened with interest. What the voice spoke was true, he was weak and broken. There was nothing he could do to change that himself, he was going to die here. Even though something inside of him was screaming to not listen, to run far away, he didn't want to. For his numbness was slowly giving away to anger and rage. They had killed Dratiri and they needed to pay for their crimes. He said yes with little hesitation. Grambo smiled as the voice spoke again, [color=darkred]"I need but one thing from you and you may have your revenge upon these monsters. It is but a small price to pay for my gift to you. I require your soul, so that you may be free to do as you please with the what is to be given to you. Also, we wouldn't want Azhriel to claim your soul as well, now would we?"[/color] At this, Tiok hesitated. His soul? Could that be given away just like that? To any of his choosing? The thought of this Azhriel, claiming his soul, worried Tiok and it angered him that Dratiri was now ensnared to the underworld. Was there not a better place for the dead? He clutched his fists. Tiok knew what he wanted, revenge for Dratiri's death and to reclaim her soul so that they could be together once more. He looked at Grambo with a fierce determination. "Is it possible to reclaim a soul? I want to save my beloved, I want her back more than anything. I feel hollow without her by my side, and empty." he asked with a clear voice. [color=darkred]"Anything is possible child. To reach your beloved, you would have to cross the land and the great waters, to reach the Pit of Ahael. There you would find what you seek, but whether or not you obtained it remains to be seen. Azhriel is a fiend, and his lordship over souls makes him mighty. You could not do it as you are now. I shall ask once more; will you accept my gift? If not for revenge, then for your beloved?"[/color] Tiok thought on this new information, coming to the conclusion that any chance where he might find her, was one he had to take. "I accept your offer. Take my soul." Grambo's twisted smile deepened and distorted. All at once Tiok felt himself shatter as his vision blurred. He felt something hot and sharp bite into his neck, and his body erupted into flame, yet he was not on fire. This pain was beyond anything he had ever felt before, like a thousand flaming knifes ripping his insides over and over again. He screamed and screamed so loudly he felt his voice give out, leaving only the silence of pain. [hr] Tiok knew not how long it had been when he opened his eyes to see a world far clearer and more vibrant then it should have been. For reasons he did not know, he could tell it was still night, but he could see as if it was the day and it didn't bother him. He stood up slowly, the pain he had felt earlier now but a distant memory. He felt good, better than he had ever felt before and with energy abounding. He looked down at his hands and was horrified to find them coated in fresh blood, which still dripped. Tiok looked before him and saw nothing, but when he turned around, he saw the bodies of the men from earlier that day. Their corpses had been mutilated beyond recognition. He looked away from that, and back to where Dratiri had been hanging. Hey body was gone however and Tiok became distraught with rage. Losing control of himself, he hit a tree and splintered the side of it by the force of the impact. He let out a deep breath, then placed his forearm on what remained of the tree trunk. A sudden sound, like the tear of fabric, came from behind him. Tiok spun around with inhumane speed, coming face to face with a red and black mass of some strange substance. It hummed softly and covered the area in a soft glow. Before he had time to do anything, a large armored hand came through the portal, grabbed him tightly around the waist and pulled him through. [center] End of Part Two [/center]