Uda - Possessed (1)

The ropes around Uda’s wrists and ankles cut deep into her flesh, making her dizzy. Diga had tied her to a wooden table inside one of the large buildings. The Hunter Leader had looked at her with a cruel smile, trying to make eye contact while pulling the ropes far too tight around her joints.

“Not too loose, huh?” Diga had asked.

Uda had tried to respond, yet the gurgling sound that escaped her throat only made the soldier smile wider.

Now she lay naked before Diga. The woman looked almost jealous of her exposed body, while the men behind her could not stop themselves from staring at her with their filthy eyes.

The only thing keeping Uda from falling into complete panic was the thought that Nia was far away now, kept away from this place and from the sadistic Exorcist.

How can I free myself? I have to find a way to follow her…

The stump in her mouth still hurt, and Lera had beamed with delight when she burned out her tongue one final time. Uda tested her restraints again. The knots tightened at once, forcing a pained moan from her throat.

“You can’t escape, Seductress. You’re finished. Exorcist Immesh will be here soon. You have no idea what he’s going to do to you. Not even in your worst fantasies could you imagine what’s waiting for you in the coming days. If you still know who you are afterward, Nightmare, I would be very surprised. The only good thing about my transfer is that I get to watch him completely break you. If it hadn’t been for you and that other whore, I’d probably still be with Kelwin. He never would have opened up too much or bragged about you, filth, and I could have kept winning him over slowly and properly, for myself,” Diga said.

Then she stepped closer.

“I can feel him, you know? We’d already started forming a bond, even though he claimed he didn’t want one. A bond only forms if it comes from both sides. And now he’s gone, and maybe I’ll never see him again... I just know this: I hate you. You and your little whore took the small bit of happiness I could have had,” she whispered, running her fingers through Uda’s tangled hair.

A violent wave of nausea rose within Uda, and she began to retch. Nothing came up; she had not eaten since the apple. Even so, her tortured body struggled desperately to cope with the disgust twisting around her neck.

“It’s so wonderful… I can even control the stones on that pretty necklace of yours a little. I was never talented enough to use the full range of the Circle, yet I still have you in my hand whenever I want. A Deepest… who would’ve thought that such a lovely little trinket could subdue something as corrupted and powerful as you? I’m almost jealous—it really does look good on you. Meaning, I’ll have even more fun tormenting you with it. And I have every reason to be angry, don’t you think?”

Uda tried once more to protest. Diga brushed her fingers across the net around her neck and sent fresh waves of nausea coursing through her body.

“You know, my dear little piece of shit, I could feed you a few things. Wouldn’t that be funny? You must be starving. I’ll be kind and give you something so you can throw it up all over my boots. It’ll probably taste much better afterward, don’t you think? Your awful little friend assured me of that. She needed a bit of persuasion, although she was very willing to start enjoying her meals soon after I administered it...”

Uda screamed and writhed. All it earned her was more pain in her joints and another surge of sickness. Diga’s hands wandered over her entire body, across her face and between her breasts, along her thighs and further down. Uda tried to pull away as the Huntress’s fingers traced their terrible path, yet it was useless.

Then, suddenly, footsteps echoed from below. Diga stepped back at once, retreating to a wall. The ringing sound of boots on stone filled Uda with more dread than all of Diga’s humiliations combined.

Immesh was coming closer.

No, please… I have to get out of here somehow. I have to reach Nia. I can’t take this anymore, please… she begged silently into the void, though she knew it was hopeless.

No one would help her.

Diga’s grin widened. Colored bands of light spread across her face. Uda froze. Her eyes drifted to the right, where a Sky Stone rested on a bronze stand, its glow illuminating parts of the room.

Calm returned to her as she watched the colors shimmer across the wall behind the stone, as if a long-lost dear friend were calling to her, a faint shimmer of solace in this madness.

The footsteps grew louder. They sounded almost pleased.

The Sky Stone drew her gaze again. There was something so familiar about it, something magnificent she had somehow forgotten. Was the sky something that had defined her in her former life? Oh, how wonderful that would be…

“Ah, there’s the little whore,” said a rough voice.

Uda tore her gaze from the stone and turned her head to the right. Immesh stepped into the room. The network of burns and scars across his face gave him a dreadful look, and his twisted features sent fear deep into her bones. He approached slowly, his eyes flicking over her naked body. She tried again to break free, this time with more strength. Something inside her screamed that she had to escape, that something was about to happen to her, something she could not even imagine.

Immesh stopped and bared his teeth, his eyes burning with fury.

Uda struggled a final time, yet soon her strength gave out. Her wrists had grown hot, and she saw that they were darkening, crimson blood seeping from the spots where she had rubbed them raw.

“Exorcist Immesh, may I assist you…” Diga began, excited.

“OUT! OUT! SHE’S MINE! GET OUT, ALL OF YOU!” Immesh thundered, pointing a trembling hand toward the stairs.

His voice was filled with pure hatred and made Diga stumble back a step. She went pale. For a moment she looked angry enough to defy him. In the end, however, she hurried off with the other two Hunters, throwing Uda one last contemptuous glance before she disappeared.

Then Uda was alone with the horrid Exorcist. He looked down at her wrists and grimaced. He turned away and walked slowly toward the shelf where the Sky Stone rested.

“You… I… you actually have a very attractive body… a Seductress…” he laughed hollowly. “Well, we’ll see if I can purify a creature like you. Normally, I would have had a little fun with you right away. This time I want to test a hypothesis. It came to me while I was thinking more about how you Possessed manage to cross the Holy Shields. You should evaporate like normal Nightmares, and yet somehow, you survive.”

His hands slid over the shimmering stone as he slowly lifted it from its stand.

“And then I had this idea. The human body isn’t just a vessel for you; it’s protection as well, isn’t it? You have a shell that isolates you and lets you pass through a shield. Yes, there’s still a reaction, a few sparks, but not enough. That is how you manage to exist among us.”

He turned around. His eyes narrowed. A joyful smile suddenly played across his lips, yet Uda thought she saw a trace of distant guilt on his face, something the man tried hard to suppress.

“But what if I bring this stone, the source of a Holy Shield, into contact with you not from the outside, but from within? Perhaps I could even save the young woman you’ve possessed, the one whose body you’ve altered to your liking. Maybe I could save her, Nightmare… Temptress? I would go down in the history of this realm…”

His heavy steps echoed against the walls like omens of a terrible future as he hurried toward her. The Sky Stone shone dimly, yet beautiful and once more gave her a short inkling of a safe haven, but it was not enough. Uda’s thoughts raced.

What does he mean… from within? No… she thought in panic, trying to press her thighs together, although Diga’s bindings left her no protection.

Immesh stood beside her now, lifting the stone.

No, please don’t… she pleaded with her eyes, putting everything she had into a last whimper.

The Exorcist showed no sign that he noticed her attempt to communicate.

“Open your mouth!” he hissed, eyes narrowing further.

What…? Uda thought, confused.

The golden net around her neck sent another wave of nausea through her body, and she gagged as she fought desperately to keep her lips shut.

“Even if it doesn’t work, it’ll be very painful. A body may block the barrier, but contact with this Sky Stone will be like a clash between two forces. The Light of this stone is of a special kind. Do you know that, Nightmare? It is ancient and only a few can even handle it. The best weapon we have against you. So pure. It saved so many... And it will cause you pain so intense it will perhaps vaporize your mind,” Immesh said, his voice now a whisper, pressing one end of the stone into her spasming mouth.

She kicked and struggled, trying to break free, trying not to let it happen. Pitiful, gagged screams escaped her lips as the material pressed into the burned stump that had once been her tongue.

No...

Then the pain was gone.