79 Vhalar, 718
The trial condemning Wendy Robinson to death for being an Abrogation mage had come and passed. Maxine, now a loyal sword to the Mantis in Rynmere, had played her part. She showed up. She testified against the woman she apprehended even though she knew, in a sense, the trial itself was fixed against the mage's favor. In the end it hardly mattered. It was a battle Wendy was never ever going to win. Even she had to have known that long before they dragged her up the steps of the Mantis stronghold. Nonetheless, Maxine had done everything that Rebekah had asked of her. She continued to play the part of the proficient mage hunter, and for what it was worth, she found that the benefits to reap from the endeavor were indeed worth it.
The ex-convict followed behind another Mantis sword through a long corridor, adjusting the ashcloak upon her shoulders as they approached a set of spiraling stairs. Down and down they went, their foot steps echoing hollowly upon the cold, stone floor as they descended beneath the first floor of the stronghold. Torches lined the walls after few paces but the hall was anything but well-lit. There was ever an eerie shadow between the glow of torchlight and an uncomfortable dampness seemed to hang in the stagnant air. Though she had never been down here before, the ex-convict had a sneaking suspicion just where she was being led.
"Rebekah say what she wanted?" she inquired dully from the hooded man moving just ahead of her. He turned and shook his head before focusing back on their path. She rolled her eyes. As much as Brett annoyed her with his suggestions and poorly veiled flirtations, even he was more amusing than the dead-eyed servant she was sullied to now. Luckily, she wasn't forced to wait long for stimulus. A shriek filled the halls with a shrillness that chilled her blood. "What the fuck was that?" Another question answered with silence.
Before long all became clear. A row of cages lined either side of the hall suddenly, most of them empty save for the one toward the end. A collection of ashcloaks were gathered there, most of them appearing to be mere spectators to whatever was going on on the other side of the bars. She had a good guess just what that was. Maxine tightened her jaw and turned to look inside once she was close enough. A sweat-ridden, bloody man was tied firmly to a chair in the center of his confines. His eyes were wide, frightened, and fixated on Rebekah. She stood before him with pursed lips and a shaking head.
"P-please!" he begged her, gasping. "I'm t-telling the truth!" The brunette in charge stared at him for a couple trills. Then she turned to her partner, an olive-toned man with hard eyes patiently waiting for the command. She nodded her head and he grinned, slamming a hammer down upon left hand of the prisoner. Another shriek filled the halls. Rebekah turned, visibly annoyed at the event as she exited the cage. Other ashcloaks shut the door behind her. Without so much as a moment to collect herself, the dedicated Mantis woman beckoned Maxine to follow her further down the hall where the screams were more muffled.
"Another Abrogation mage," Rebekah explained with a sigh. "Odd we caught two right in a row. It made me think we've been coming at this mage problem all wrong."
"In what way?" Max asked, folding her arms calmly across her chest while another scream rang out.
"Either they're members of the Coven here to undermine us, or someone is out there initiating new mages in this region. Whether it's the former or the latter, something has to be done."
"Torturing for that information then?"
"Precisely," she murmured before glancing over her shoulder. "Although it's not going quite as well as one might hope."
"How long have you been at this for?"
"With this one? Almost two trials. The problem is we're wasting time and resources just trying to figure out his truths from his lies."
"Would you mind?"
"No," Rebekah blinked, surprised as she watched the ex-convict slowly move toward the cage. "Not at all. Let her through."
The ashcloaks looked to one another but obeyed their superior. The cage door swung open and, with Rebekah just a few steps behind, Maxine stoically entered just as the interrogator raised his hammer again. Rebekah called him off before he could begin a new swing. The mage in the seat quivered, training his bold brown eyes on the newcomer to his room. He swallowed hard and adjusted himself uncomfortably in his restraints. Maxine lowered herself to stare into his face with her own dark gaze. The mage's pupils tightened. She smirked.
"He can go," Max nodded toward the interrogator.
"Sister, I-" the interrogator began to protest before Rebekah silenced him with a raised palm. A black cloud over his sadistic head, he shot Max a glare before he stormed out of his work space. The ex-convict remained silent for a couple more bits before she stood up again.
"He's good," Max admitted. "I'm surprised he's held on for two trials to keep this up. You're right. He hasn't been telling you the truth. Doesn't matter what limbs you break."
"Horse shit!" the interrogator spat from beyond the bars. "My work has revealed some truths already!"
"Your work isn't half so good as you think."
"How do you know this, Maxine?" Rebekah interjected before the interrogator had a chance to lose his mind.
"His eyes," the marked woman explained. "It's in his eyes. He's protecting someone. You didn't break him. Not yet."
"I'm tellin' yas," the interrogator piped up again, tugging at his thick black mustache. "Gimme another couple breaks and you'll see him broke."
"More wasted time," Rebekah murmured. "I do hope you're leading into some sort of solution, Maxine, not just mocking Oliver?"
"Half a break and I'll have what you want."
"Done."
Maxine immediately procured a dagger from her hip without any hesitation. The mage, knowing his rouse to be exposed, dropped the fearful, teary-eyed act. He stared at her with a stony, determined face now. He did not fear the knife. He had weathered pain. It was not pain that Max sought to use against him. Instincts were guiding her now, and Rebekah waited with an anticipation that one could practically taste in the putrid air.
"I don't like repeating myself," Max opened, bored as her dagger sliced away the bloody shirt from his chest. "So I'm only going to explain this once. Only once." She tugged back the fabric to reveal his bruised flesh. He just continued to stare. She lifted to knife to prop beneath his chin. "This is how this is going to go: I ask, you answer. You tell me the truth, I don't hurt you..."
"You think I'm scared of a little more fuckin' pain?" he finally broke his silence, his teeth gnashed together in defiance.
"...But if you tell me a lie, I mark that lie with my dagger on your chest. The more marks on your chest, the more agonizing the Mantis will make your execution. Understand?"
"Fuck you!"
A closed fist cracked across his blackened jaw with a force that turned his head. He blinked several times, head woozy while Maxine strained back up to take in the sight of his whole person. The rest of the ashcloaks curiously waited, watching the curious method of the brutal mage hunter they were only just hearing whispers about. Focusing on her mark, Maxine instilled upon him a fatal folly.
"What's your name?" she started off easy.
"Adam," he spat when he had his wits about him again.
"Are you with the Coven?"
"No."
"Do you know anyone with the Coven?"
"No. Immortals be damned! You're asking what the stupid bastard before you already did."
"Aye!" Oliver piped up bitterly. "Come on, Rebekah! She's accepting his word at face value! How long must you entertain your new pet?"
Rebekah snapped, "Not another fucking word out of you. Maxine will show us results. We gave her a half break."
"How about your initiator?" the ex-convict continued her inquiries as though there had been no interruption at all.
"Dead," he grunted, right hand twitching before he chuckled at her. "Go on. Keep wasting everyone's time."
Her dagger raced suddenly across his chest. He hissed while some of the ashcloaks murmured their surprise. Maxine's eyes glowed with knowing. She presented him with the dagger slick with his blood.
"That's one," she pointed out the obvious sharply. "Your first lie. So, does the mage who initiated you still live in Rynmere?"
"No," he growled between his teeth. Another slash upon his chest right beside the first. He gripped the end of his chair. "Damn, woman! I'm telling you the truth!" Three slashes rested on his flesh then. "Stop!"
"We're at three. If we hit five, I'll start suggesting some really fucked up ideas to the headsman. Is your initiator a man?"
"Yes, my initiator was a man."
"Related to you?"
"No." The dagger raked across his skin. Four lies. Rebekah smirked beneath her cloak while Oliver fumed at the tediousness of a process he couldn't understand.
"Your father?"
"Fuckin' no! Some guy I knew from merchant travels. I cut a deal with him."
"You really haven't figured it out yet, have you?" The fifth slash marked his traitorous skin. She turned to look over her shoulder at the other members of the Mantis. "Beheading is too quick. Would anyone be against a slow-roast?"
"I have the supplies to have a pyre built by sunrise," one of the ashcloaks entertained her smugly, folding his thick arms across his chest. Adam swallowed hard but remained steadfast. No breaking. Not yet.
"Five is too many lies you've told to me," Max jumped back into their conversation. "For every new mark I make, you get something new made up just for you. Maybe a little over-kill, but you reap what you sow. So back to your father...does he still live in your childhood home?"
"No," Adam responded, sweating.
"No? Does he live with your mom?"
"No. My mother is dead."
"One dead parent is better than two, I guess. If you stopped lying sooner, we could've reunited the three of you much quicker. Where is he?"
"Fuck you."
"Have a nice big trough out there before you tie him up. We can drown him a few good times before we put him to the stake. Seven to ten? Depends on how tired Oliver gets." She raced the dagger across his flesh.
"I didn't lie, you bitch!"
"If you're wasting my time, you might as well be lying. Now do you fuckin' know where to find your old man or not, Adam?"
"No. I don't know where he fucking is."
Max stood up, turned, and shrugged at the ashcloaks. She wiped her dagger off on Adam's ragged shirt before she exited the cage. Rebekah followed her down the hall with her brow knit. Sensing the obvious confusion, Maxine turned to face her before the inevitable question could be asked.
"I got you what you wanted," she began. "Your Abrogation mage isn't a Coven. He's not connected to the Coven, so you can't use him to get at them. The mage who initiated him is under your nose. You can't beat a location out of someone who doesn't know it, which is probably what Oliver is about to try. It doesn't matter anyways. His father initiated him. Send your detectives out and you'll find him before the end of the trial I'd bet." Rebekah stood silent with a broad grin upon her face. Her hand came out slowly, knowing better than to startle the ex-convict, and placed it firmly on Maxine's shoulder.
"You're only just discovering your full potential with us, Maxine," she beamed proudly. "I'm heading to our black site tomorrow. You'll be coming with me by my side. I told you, Maxine. Together we will make the mages of this realm tremble at our very names."
The trial condemning Wendy Robinson to death for being an Abrogation mage had come and passed. Maxine, now a loyal sword to the Mantis in Rynmere, had played her part. She showed up. She testified against the woman she apprehended even though she knew, in a sense, the trial itself was fixed against the mage's favor. In the end it hardly mattered. It was a battle Wendy was never ever going to win. Even she had to have known that long before they dragged her up the steps of the Mantis stronghold. Nonetheless, Maxine had done everything that Rebekah had asked of her. She continued to play the part of the proficient mage hunter, and for what it was worth, she found that the benefits to reap from the endeavor were indeed worth it.
The ex-convict followed behind another Mantis sword through a long corridor, adjusting the ashcloak upon her shoulders as they approached a set of spiraling stairs. Down and down they went, their foot steps echoing hollowly upon the cold, stone floor as they descended beneath the first floor of the stronghold. Torches lined the walls after few paces but the hall was anything but well-lit. There was ever an eerie shadow between the glow of torchlight and an uncomfortable dampness seemed to hang in the stagnant air. Though she had never been down here before, the ex-convict had a sneaking suspicion just where she was being led.
"Rebekah say what she wanted?" she inquired dully from the hooded man moving just ahead of her. He turned and shook his head before focusing back on their path. She rolled her eyes. As much as Brett annoyed her with his suggestions and poorly veiled flirtations, even he was more amusing than the dead-eyed servant she was sullied to now. Luckily, she wasn't forced to wait long for stimulus. A shriek filled the halls with a shrillness that chilled her blood. "What the fuck was that?" Another question answered with silence.
Before long all became clear. A row of cages lined either side of the hall suddenly, most of them empty save for the one toward the end. A collection of ashcloaks were gathered there, most of them appearing to be mere spectators to whatever was going on on the other side of the bars. She had a good guess just what that was. Maxine tightened her jaw and turned to look inside once she was close enough. A sweat-ridden, bloody man was tied firmly to a chair in the center of his confines. His eyes were wide, frightened, and fixated on Rebekah. She stood before him with pursed lips and a shaking head.
"P-please!" he begged her, gasping. "I'm t-telling the truth!" The brunette in charge stared at him for a couple trills. Then she turned to her partner, an olive-toned man with hard eyes patiently waiting for the command. She nodded her head and he grinned, slamming a hammer down upon left hand of the prisoner. Another shriek filled the halls. Rebekah turned, visibly annoyed at the event as she exited the cage. Other ashcloaks shut the door behind her. Without so much as a moment to collect herself, the dedicated Mantis woman beckoned Maxine to follow her further down the hall where the screams were more muffled.
"Another Abrogation mage," Rebekah explained with a sigh. "Odd we caught two right in a row. It made me think we've been coming at this mage problem all wrong."
"In what way?" Max asked, folding her arms calmly across her chest while another scream rang out.
"Either they're members of the Coven here to undermine us, or someone is out there initiating new mages in this region. Whether it's the former or the latter, something has to be done."
"Torturing for that information then?"
"Precisely," she murmured before glancing over her shoulder. "Although it's not going quite as well as one might hope."
"How long have you been at this for?"
"With this one? Almost two trials. The problem is we're wasting time and resources just trying to figure out his truths from his lies."
"Would you mind?"
"No," Rebekah blinked, surprised as she watched the ex-convict slowly move toward the cage. "Not at all. Let her through."
The ashcloaks looked to one another but obeyed their superior. The cage door swung open and, with Rebekah just a few steps behind, Maxine stoically entered just as the interrogator raised his hammer again. Rebekah called him off before he could begin a new swing. The mage in the seat quivered, training his bold brown eyes on the newcomer to his room. He swallowed hard and adjusted himself uncomfortably in his restraints. Maxine lowered herself to stare into his face with her own dark gaze. The mage's pupils tightened. She smirked.
"He can go," Max nodded toward the interrogator.
"Sister, I-" the interrogator began to protest before Rebekah silenced him with a raised palm. A black cloud over his sadistic head, he shot Max a glare before he stormed out of his work space. The ex-convict remained silent for a couple more bits before she stood up again.
"He's good," Max admitted. "I'm surprised he's held on for two trials to keep this up. You're right. He hasn't been telling you the truth. Doesn't matter what limbs you break."
"Horse shit!" the interrogator spat from beyond the bars. "My work has revealed some truths already!"
"Your work isn't half so good as you think."
"How do you know this, Maxine?" Rebekah interjected before the interrogator had a chance to lose his mind.
"His eyes," the marked woman explained. "It's in his eyes. He's protecting someone. You didn't break him. Not yet."
"I'm tellin' yas," the interrogator piped up again, tugging at his thick black mustache. "Gimme another couple breaks and you'll see him broke."
"More wasted time," Rebekah murmured. "I do hope you're leading into some sort of solution, Maxine, not just mocking Oliver?"
"Half a break and I'll have what you want."
"Done."
Maxine immediately procured a dagger from her hip without any hesitation. The mage, knowing his rouse to be exposed, dropped the fearful, teary-eyed act. He stared at her with a stony, determined face now. He did not fear the knife. He had weathered pain. It was not pain that Max sought to use against him. Instincts were guiding her now, and Rebekah waited with an anticipation that one could practically taste in the putrid air.
"I don't like repeating myself," Max opened, bored as her dagger sliced away the bloody shirt from his chest. "So I'm only going to explain this once. Only once." She tugged back the fabric to reveal his bruised flesh. He just continued to stare. She lifted to knife to prop beneath his chin. "This is how this is going to go: I ask, you answer. You tell me the truth, I don't hurt you..."
"You think I'm scared of a little more fuckin' pain?" he finally broke his silence, his teeth gnashed together in defiance.
"...But if you tell me a lie, I mark that lie with my dagger on your chest. The more marks on your chest, the more agonizing the Mantis will make your execution. Understand?"
"Fuck you!"
A closed fist cracked across his blackened jaw with a force that turned his head. He blinked several times, head woozy while Maxine strained back up to take in the sight of his whole person. The rest of the ashcloaks curiously waited, watching the curious method of the brutal mage hunter they were only just hearing whispers about. Focusing on her mark, Maxine instilled upon him a fatal folly.
"What's your name?" she started off easy.
"Adam," he spat when he had his wits about him again.
"Are you with the Coven?"
"No."
"Do you know anyone with the Coven?"
"No. Immortals be damned! You're asking what the stupid bastard before you already did."
"Aye!" Oliver piped up bitterly. "Come on, Rebekah! She's accepting his word at face value! How long must you entertain your new pet?"
Rebekah snapped, "Not another fucking word out of you. Maxine will show us results. We gave her a half break."
"How about your initiator?" the ex-convict continued her inquiries as though there had been no interruption at all.
"Dead," he grunted, right hand twitching before he chuckled at her. "Go on. Keep wasting everyone's time."
Her dagger raced suddenly across his chest. He hissed while some of the ashcloaks murmured their surprise. Maxine's eyes glowed with knowing. She presented him with the dagger slick with his blood.
"That's one," she pointed out the obvious sharply. "Your first lie. So, does the mage who initiated you still live in Rynmere?"
"No," he growled between his teeth. Another slash upon his chest right beside the first. He gripped the end of his chair. "Damn, woman! I'm telling you the truth!" Three slashes rested on his flesh then. "Stop!"
"We're at three. If we hit five, I'll start suggesting some really fucked up ideas to the headsman. Is your initiator a man?"
"Yes, my initiator was a man."
"Related to you?"
"No." The dagger raked across his skin. Four lies. Rebekah smirked beneath her cloak while Oliver fumed at the tediousness of a process he couldn't understand.
"Your father?"
"Fuckin' no! Some guy I knew from merchant travels. I cut a deal with him."
"You really haven't figured it out yet, have you?" The fifth slash marked his traitorous skin. She turned to look over her shoulder at the other members of the Mantis. "Beheading is too quick. Would anyone be against a slow-roast?"
"I have the supplies to have a pyre built by sunrise," one of the ashcloaks entertained her smugly, folding his thick arms across his chest. Adam swallowed hard but remained steadfast. No breaking. Not yet.
"Five is too many lies you've told to me," Max jumped back into their conversation. "For every new mark I make, you get something new made up just for you. Maybe a little over-kill, but you reap what you sow. So back to your father...does he still live in your childhood home?"
"No," Adam responded, sweating.
"No? Does he live with your mom?"
"No. My mother is dead."
"One dead parent is better than two, I guess. If you stopped lying sooner, we could've reunited the three of you much quicker. Where is he?"
"Fuck you."
"Have a nice big trough out there before you tie him up. We can drown him a few good times before we put him to the stake. Seven to ten? Depends on how tired Oliver gets." She raced the dagger across his flesh.
"I didn't lie, you bitch!"
"If you're wasting my time, you might as well be lying. Now do you fuckin' know where to find your old man or not, Adam?"
"No. I don't know where he fucking is."
Max stood up, turned, and shrugged at the ashcloaks. She wiped her dagger off on Adam's ragged shirt before she exited the cage. Rebekah followed her down the hall with her brow knit. Sensing the obvious confusion, Maxine turned to face her before the inevitable question could be asked.
"I got you what you wanted," she began. "Your Abrogation mage isn't a Coven. He's not connected to the Coven, so you can't use him to get at them. The mage who initiated him is under your nose. You can't beat a location out of someone who doesn't know it, which is probably what Oliver is about to try. It doesn't matter anyways. His father initiated him. Send your detectives out and you'll find him before the end of the trial I'd bet." Rebekah stood silent with a broad grin upon her face. Her hand came out slowly, knowing better than to startle the ex-convict, and placed it firmly on Maxine's shoulder.
"You're only just discovering your full potential with us, Maxine," she beamed proudly. "I'm heading to our black site tomorrow. You'll be coming with me by my side. I told you, Maxine. Together we will make the mages of this realm tremble at our very names."
