A Touch Of Lightning (COMPLETED!)

Chapter 24 Flayer Memory

That subtle motion made the chains on his wrists clink softly, and the creatures feverish gaze shifted down to inspect the shackles on his wrists. It stunned him further by pointing at the shackles, then pointing at its own head. Callin glanced down at the shackles, then back at the creature, not understanding. It pointed more fervently at the shackles, then pointed to its own temple, nodding its massive head. This time, Callin understood.

He held up his wrists and met the creatures gaze.

"You're trapped here, too. You're trapped in your own mind." He said softly, not sure what to expect.

To his astonishment, the creature nodded very emphatically. It clearly understood him, and what he had guessed it was trying to say was correct. Callin had guessed it felt trapped in its own mind because he himself had blocks placed in his own mind by the lab telepaths, keeping him from accessing all of his memories, keeping him from accessing his powers. Trapping him in his own mind.

The creature took a step towards him, its bulk filling the hall, filling his vision. Callin instantly threw himself into a back handspring, covering fifteen feet in an eye-blink. He landed perfectly balanced, his fangs bared and ready. The creature was slowly shaking its head, an almost comically worried expression creasing the skin around its eyes. It hadn't pursued him. Callin stood up straight and watched it closely, using his hearing and his nose to gather as much knowledge as he could about the creature. It was clearly not about to attack him. He had reacted on instinct when it had stepped closer, its long legs having given it much more reach than he had expected. Thinking on it, Callin knew that it could have easily reached out and slashed him, the distance between them having been that close.

It pointed at his shackles, then made a motion with its hands as if to show them being broken apart, then pointed to itself. It wanted to help break his shackles. He was dumbfounded. This creature was far more intelligent than its savage appearance would suggest.

His wolf-keen ears, and obviously the creatures ears also, heard the distant racing, booted steps heading their way. This hall would be filled with armed guards in the next few seconds. On a wild whim, he decided to trust the strange creature, and leaped forward, holding his hands forward. The monstrous creature darted forward, and with stunning precision, it extruded its pointer finger on each hand and jabbed the massive claw on the end of each directly through a chain link between Callin's hands. In almost that same instant, it savagely threw its arms outwards. And the steel shackles shattered violently before the raw power in the things arms.

There was a moment where both of them were stunned by an ultra-high powered burst of electricity as the shackles released all of their energy at once into them, then it was over. Even though that burst of lightning had only been less than a second, it made black spots cloud Callin's vision for a moment. He reeled on his feet, then blinked in surprise as he felt powerful arms support him. The creature had caught him! It had known he may pass out from the burst of power and had been ready to catch him.

He regained his senses and looked into its eyes. Bright blue and strangely human...and filled with unspeakable pain. It lifted his hands with its own, pressing down gently on the center of his palms, making his claws slide out, then lifted his hands to its throat and nodded slowly.

Callin stared at it. It wanted him to kill it. There was no denying it. It even sank down to its knees in front of him, holding its head high to bare its neck. Callin hesitated, confused. Why did it want him to kill it? And if it really wanted to die, its own claws were perfectly capable of ripping out its own throat.

As if reading his mind, it lifted its own claws and acted like it was tearing out its own throat, then sadly shook its head and pointed a finger at its temple. Its eyes burned with agony. A pain felt to the depths of its soul. Callin felt his mouth go dry as he understood. The blocks inside its mind, created by Lab telepaths, prevented it from killing itself. Standing in the hall, feeling its pulse beneath his claws, literally holding its life in his hand, Callin felt his hatred of the Labs ratchet up another notch. He could kill this monster, this strange, sad creature, but the Lab itself was the mother of the nightmare. He curled his claws, letting the razor tips slid deep into the creature's neck, preparing to deliver as quick and painless death as he could.