Chapter 54 Meager Punishment

I watched in horror, my heart breaking for my beloved caretaker. Frustration and helplessness surged through me, but I knew there was nothing I could do. If I stepped out of line we would get even more beatings making our situation even worse. The guards eventually grew bored of their cruel game and left Kaka lying in the dirt, their laughter echoing in the air.

With the guards gone, I hurried over to Kaka, my body trembling with a mixture of fear and anxiety. I extinguished the flames with my bare hands despite the searing pain. Kaka whimpered softly, tears streaming down his face as he lay motionless on the ground.

"Kaka," I whispered, my voice choked with sorrow. 

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry this happened to you."

Kaka's eyes met mine, filled with profound sadness and exhaustion.

 "It's not your fault, Hermit," he said weakly.

 "This is our life now. But we have to keep going. We have to find a way out of this hell."

As I helped Kaka to his feet, I could feel the weight of our situation pressing down on us.

Just as I helped Kaka to get up, an orc rushed over to us, his face twisted with rage.

 "You useless torch tail!" he shouted, his voice booming.

 "You broke the eggs! I told you not to mess up! Now, you will be punished, along with your shitty runt here. Who said you could leave the crop field?! You two will receive whipping until the whip breaks! I will skin your backs, leaving only bones and bloody flesh! Next time you will be more careful!"

Me and Kaka convulsed in fright, letting out terrified yelps, "REEEEEEEEEEEEE!" We hugged each other tightly, trembling in each other's arms out of fear.

The orc guard grabbed both of us by our throats, his grip like a vise, and dragged us toward the bloody pillars where whipping tortures were delivered. We struggled and squirmed, but his grip was unyielding, choking us. The closer we got to the pillars, the more our dread grew. We had seen other slaves taken to these pillars, and none had returned on their own.

When we reached the pillars, the orc guard threw us down roughly. He pulled out a thick, leather whip, its ends frayed and stained with the blood of countless others. He tied our wrists to the pillars, our backs exposed and vulnerable, our scrawny feet tumbling in the air. The anticipation of the pain was almost as bad as the punishment itself.

The first crack of the whip against Kaka's back echoed through the air, followed by his agonized scream, "WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The whip's leather tail struck his exposed skin with a sickening thwack, immediately raising an angry welt across his already bruised and beaten back.

The second lash came swiftly on the heels of the first, landing with a force that made Kaka bite into the rough bark of the pole. His knees buckled, and he let out another guttural scream, the sound mingling with the first to form a haunting symphony of suffering.

 "WRAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" His body convulsed with each strike, his muscles twitching involuntarily as the pain radiated outward from the points of impact.

The orc guard didn't pause; he brought the whip down again and again, each strike leaving a new trail of blood and torn flesh. I could see the agony etched into every line of Kaka's face, his eyes squeezed shut against the relentless onslaught. Sweat poured down his forehead, mingling with the dirt and blood that streaked his skin. His teeth were biting the bark so tightly that I feared they might shatter under the pressure. Each crack of the whip seemed to tear at his very spirit, reducing him to a trembling, broken figure.

The whip's cruel tail landed again and again, each strike accompanied by a fresh wave of agony that contorted Kaka's body in unnatural ways. His back was a canvas of pain, crisscrossed with welts and cuts that oozed blood and fluids, the skin torn and raw from the merciless beating.

Soon, other guards joined the fun. The guards showed no mercy, their faces twisted into expressions of sadistic glee as they took turns wielding the whip, each eager to outdo the other in inflicting the most pain.

"Please... no more...," Kaka gasped between screams, his voice barely more than a whisper, hoarse from the continuous screams of torment. But the guards paid no heed to his pleas, their laughter ringing out cruelly as they continued their brutal work.

 "WRAAAAAAAAAAAAA! EEEEEEEEEEK! WREEEEEEEEE!" Kaka's voice broke with the force of his suffering, each new lash eliciting a fresh cry that spoke volumes of the unbearable pain he was enduring.

 "No more...," he whispered one final time, his eyes pleading for a mercy that would never come.

Kaka's screams mingled with mine as the whip bit into my back as well. The pain was unbearable, each lash sending shockwaves of agony through our bodies. My body shuddered violently with each blow, my muscles tensing and convulsing in a desperate attempt to brace against the onslaught. My skin, once a mottled green, was now a tapestry of bloody welts and deep, angry gashes that oozed blood and sweat. My screams were guttural, primal, the raw sound of a being pushed beyond the limits of endurance. The pain was so intense that I shit myself with each lash at my back. My eyes, wide and bloodshot, were filled with a mixture of pain and a fleeting, desperate hope that this torture might soon end.

The orc guard's laughter was a cruel counterpoint to our agony, a mocking, guttural sound that cut through the air like a jagged blade. He took perverse pleasure in our suffering, his eyes gleaming with sadistic glee as he raised the whip for another strike.

 "Look at you two pathetic wretches," he sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. 

"Miserable! Pathetic! Good for nothing shitty slaves who can't even do a simple job! Next time you think about slacking off or breaking the eggs, remember the punishment! And you better believe it, you won't forget it when we are done with you, you two shits!"

His words were like poison, seeping into our minds and corroding our will. The whip came down again, slicing through the air with a sickening crack, and I felt the leather bite into my back once more. The pain was indescribable, a white-hot fire that blazed through my nerves and set my whole body aflame. I could feel the skin splitting, the blood flowing freely, each lash compounding the agony of the one before.

We clung to each other as best we could, trying to draw strength from our bond, to find some semblance of solace in our shared torment. But the pain was too great, an insurmountable force that threatened to drown us both in its unrelenting tide. Kaka's breaths came in ragged gasps, each exhalation a testament to the unbearable strain he was under. His body trembled uncontrollably, a puppet jerked by the cruel pane.

 The orc guard's face twisted into a cruel grin as he delivered another strike, the whip slicing through the air with a wicked hiss.

 "You think this is bad?" he taunted, his voice a cold, merciless snarl. 

"This is only the beginning. Your deal is done with the boss, no more protection for you two. I can make this last for hours. Days, even. You will beg for death long before I am through with you."

The words were a hammer blow to our already fragile spirits. The whip came down again, and I screamed, the sound tearing from my throat in a raw, unfiltered burst of agony. Kaka's cries joined mine, a harrowing duet of pain that echoed through the camp, reaching the ears of our fellow goblin slaves who convulsed in shared pain with each scream we made.

The orc guard's laughter rose as he delivered another blow, the whip cracking like thunder against our backs.

 "Pathetic! You can't even stand up to a little pain. You deserve every lash, every moment of agony. This is your place, beneath my boot, suffering for my amusement."

And then, mercifully, the whip paused. The orc guard stood back, his face twisted into a sadistic grin. 

"We'll continue this a bit later, let those wounds sit for a bit. You will feel the next lashing much more painful this way, bragagahahahaa!" he laughed, his voice sadistic, menacing growl.

With that, the guard turned and walked away, leaving us tied to the pole. Our bodies were wracked with pain, and our spirits were shattered. Kaka's tormented eyes found mine, and in that weak, trembling bond, we spoke of solidarity in our shared suffering. We hung there, broken and beaten, drawing what little comfort we could from each other's presence, knowing that our punishment was far from over.

The ropes that bound us to the pole dug into our flesh, their rough fibers chafing against our raw, exposed skin. Kaka's wrists were especially bad, the skin rubbed raw and bleeding from where he had struggled against his restraints. The pain must have been excruciating, but Kaka bore it with a stoic resolve that only added to the heartbreak sight.

Every breath he took was labored, each inhalation a struggle against the pain that wracked his chest. I could see the effort it took for him to draw in air, his ribs straining against the bruised and swollen flesh that encased them. Each exhale was accompanied by a soft, pained moan, a sound that made my heart ache with helplessness.