Dimokre Chronicles Book 1: Crossed Paths

Chapter 31 - To Be Tortured

I don't want to learn what the big, bad box is for.

The devil glared at Kael, his arms crossed. Devils—Big and Bigger—came in, carrying buckets of something heavy. They lugged it inside the cell and tilted it to pour it into the trough. Kael's eyes widened, watching the murky water flow into the box. Ice rattled together and against the sides of the trough. Kael felt the chill radiating from it. Vapor hissed up when the frigid water touched the warm, stinky air of the prison cell.

After the war, many firefox soldiers were found tortured to death by drowning them in icy water. It was well-known, or at least easy to figure out, that firefoxes were rather sensitive to ice and water. It was rumored that icy blood could take a fox's fire away, but no one lived long enough to confirm that.

Kael's eyes glued to the water. White light streamed into it, reflecting on the rusty metal, so the water appeared to glow just like the devil's fangs. He lifted his head up to look at the men.

"The treasure doesn't exist," he stammered, with teeth already chattering.

The men unclasped Kael's wrists. They seized his arms and yanked him forward. Kael screamed in pain, the sharp metal shoes slicing into the tops of his feet.

"Please, I don't know!" He screamed and pushed against the devils' chests. The leader grabbed the back of Kael's hair and shoved his head into the water trough with a splash.

Kael gasped but caught a gulp of frigid water. He coughed and squirmed. Bubbles flung away from Kael as he desperately tried to breathe. Melt. Evaporate. Please! He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to calm himself down. He stopped struggling.

Kael snapped awake when someone slapped his cheek. He gasped, yanking in the dirty air of the prison cell into his mouth and lungs. He panted, his head twisting sharply around the room with blurry vision. He coughed a bit, water dripping out of his mouth. Then he discovered a different taste than the icy, metallic water—blood. He reached a weak arm up and felt for where it was coming from. Blood dripped from the deep slashes on his cheek into his mouth. He winced when he felt it, and the shock loosened, forcing Kael to feel searing pain. He shakily turned his attention towards his torturers.

"You didn't even last the first round!" One of the smaller devils snarled.

"How pathetic," the other agreed.

"Enough!" The leader spat, "Now, where's the treasure, boy?" The man asked gruffly.

Kael shook his head, his voice cracking, "I told you. It. Doesn't. Exist."

The devil man scowled. He glanced back at the two devils behind him and demanded sternly, "Again."

Kael whipped in a deep breath right before his face splashed into the water. Minutes passed, and he struggled once again to get above it. The ice stung his skin, piercing through with violent cold. Bubbles leaked out of his nose as he attempted to hold his breath. Finally, he couldn't hold out any longer; the boy squirmed his hardest before coughing and splashing, now excruciatingly desperate. The men lifted him up before he could pass out again.

He groaned, water and blood streaming down his face and body, his hair stuck to his face.

"Gotta say. It was very convenient to find you walking alone at night without a shirt on. Makes the water sting more, donit?" one of the devils snarled.

"Look, Your Majesty," the leader sneered, raising a hand to his heart. "This hurts me almost as much as it does you – just seeing you like this. Just tell me where the treasure is, and we'll let you and your mother go."

Kael's lips quivered, but his voice was faint from exhaustion. The man leaned in, enormous hands behind his back.

Kael whispered, too out of breath and freezing to speak much louder than that, "The story takes place in the old firefox kingdom, before your people drove mine away. There's supposed to be a statue or a fountain or something, and the adventurer had to unlock it by solving a puzzle. But that's all I remember. From the story." He coughed and spat out blood. "And I don't even know if it's real, and if it is, I doubt the treasure's still there. My dad told me that place had been destroyed."