A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.
Pain raced through his right cheek. Tarhuinn groaned in discomfort, and, steadily, he opened his eyes. As he grew more awake, he could feel how badly the rest of his body hurt. The burns on his wrists and ankles made his skin there far too sensitive for his liking. It was as though he was still being burned by the watery restraints.
He shifted himself a bit to try and be more comfortable, but that only caused the stone chair to rub against his wounds. His breath caught in his throat as he held onto a sharp gasp of pain. A rough tug on his hair caused him to emit it. Behind him, he heard a chuckle. "I'm surprised that you woke up so quickly. I thought that you would've been out for a lot longer given how pathetic you are," Icniss taunted, moving around the chair and releasing his hair.
Tarhuinn's head fell forward from the sudden release. A glare rested upon his face as he looked up to the mage through his disarrayed hair. Before he could respond, his chin was grabbed roughly. He met the ocean blue eyes of Amtoma. There was a small smile on her lips while she dug her sharp nails into his skin. Already, he could feel a warm substance run down his cheek from the slap, and more added itself as she held his gaze.
"Don't listen to the boy. You lasted long enough for a first time, but I do expect you to stay awake longer on our next session. After all, you disturbed me while I was dealing with my disgraceful partner. I can't let you get away with that."
An amused smile fell upon Tarhuinn's lips. "What makes you think that I'll only disturb you once? You've already failed in capturing my wife, and I doubt that you'll catch her. She's not an easy individual to restrain. So, what makes you think that you can hold me until my death? You're all laughable excuses for a threat. You hide behind your spies and have them do your dirty work. The merfolk are more dangerous than any of you will ever be."
"Why you!" she shouted, gripping his face harder. Red pooled around her fingertips, but Tarhuinn just continued to smile while his eyes shone with a bloodthirsty gleam. "How dare you compare us to those creatures! We're better than them, and they bow before us. We're the ones controlling everything in these parts, and you'll learn that I'll be your worst nightmare!"
Plopping himself onto one of the chairs, Rocean crossed his arms over his chest and placed his feet on the table. "You're making me jealous with the way that you're talking to him," he chuckled out, closing his eyes some as though he were about to take a nap.
Dropping her grip on Tarhuinn, she roughly faced him. "Now, you know how I feel every day, yet you continue to jest about sleeping around!"
"Byda, you need to get over it. So, I slept with one of Cian's daughters. I don't even remember her name. She could've lived years, with the serum, after Icniss turned two, but I let you kill her on his second birthday. Still, though, you remain so jealous."
"It's because you act so flippant about it! We both know that you would sleep with another human if you were given the chance. Obviously, I need to be rougher with you. I'll ..."
"That's enough you two!" Alpontus slammed his hands on the table. "You can save your arguments for later. We have more important matters to take care of." His eyes turned to Tarhuinn, who leaned back in his chair and scowled to the head author. The author looked back to the arguing lovers, who did quiet down. Amtoma took a seat across from Rocean while Icniss leaned back against a nearby wall.
Relieved, Alpontus seated himself again and pushed his braid from his right shoulder. He rested his right knuckles against his cheek. His left fingers tapped against the tabletop while he looked over Tarhuinn's various injuries. "You'll be tied up for the rest of the day. I want those cuts to heal before we continue with any more punishment. I do desire to have you around for a week or two. And, once we have your wife, she can listen to some of the sessions. I have other plans for her after all. She'll suffer a treatment as excruciating as that mage inflicted upon our spies."
Tightening his fists, Tarhuinn's darkened his gaze considerably. His smile fell while his teeth began to show. "None of you will catch her. If one of you so much..."
"Making threats won't frighten us. You cannot stop all of us, and you know that quite well. We're all at equal strength, except for Icniss, who is stronger, and there are four of us. There's only one of you, and we will have her in our clutches soon. She cannot outrun Icniss's minion, nor can she get past all of the guards and spies in this place on her own. She is but a human. Even if she does manage to do the impossible, she'll come to us on her own.
"You're with us, and you'll draw her to us. I doubt that she would abandon you when the two of you seem to have such a tight bond. And, that's why I intend to use that bond to my advantage. It'll bring both of you immense misery," Alpontus remarked casually. He only grew more entertained by the murderous countenance of Tarhuinn.
"If she does come here, it'll be to end all of your lives. You'll be dead before you can execute any of your plans on her, and I'll make sure of that."
"You're really just a foolish boy. You can believe in your wife all you want, but that belief won't make it a reality. She's a human. Enough said." Amtoma examined her nails and wiped the blood from them on her black dress. "Why you let a human girl entrance you so will forever puzzle me." Her eyes darted to Rocean for a moment, and he rolled his eyes before grinning to himself.
"Like Byda stated, your belief will not change the outcome. She'll suffer and at my hands. My friends have already agreed with me on this. I haven't had a human partner in so long after all." Immediately, Tarhuinn went to leap out of his chair, but the water restrains held him back. A shrill cry left him as they burned his already damaged skin more. He fell back into the chair and had to catch his breath.
Pleased at the scene, Alpontus sat straighter and intertwined his fingers. "I would have her pair with Icniss, but, unfortunately, his mother managed to cast a spell on him before she died. It left him infertile, and the spell could only be reversed by the caster. We didn't discover that until she was already dead." An irritated glance was shot in Rocean's direction. He held up his hands, but it was clear that he felt no guilt on the matter.
Looking back to Tarhuinn, the head author continued. "No matter, I think that taking your only child with her from both of you will be repayment enough for bringing the mage to the pixies and for you not abandoning her when you had the chance. Of course, I'll add a few more things to her suffering, but I'll leave those things to your imagination. I wouldn't want to spoil everything for you."
Something clicked off in his head. Not a single emotion could be seen. Tarhuinn's dark blue eyes appeared void of life; they were like blue abysses. His fingers scraped across the stone chair, and more crimson decorated him. No reaction to the pain displayed itself, though. The long, ink-black locks upon his head made it seem like he might melt into the shadows.
Witnessing the display, all four captors paused. Even they couldn't act as though it wasn't terrifying. They all held their breath, and the water running down the steps sounded louder than before. Rocean removed his feet from the table, but the action caught the dark blue eyes.
They snapped towards the author, and he remained motionless once more. The two stared for a time that felt like years but was only a few moments. Dark blues moved gradually over to Alpontus. Steadily, lips were pulled back into a smile. Teeth revealed themselves as fingers now twitched. Keeping still in his seat, Alpontus spoke softly to Icniss, "Knock him unconscious now."
Those words set him off. Instantly, Tarhuinn sat up. The water burned him, but he didn't care anymore. He forced his wrists and ankles free as Icniss shot more water at him; however, Tarhuinn moved faster. Going straight for Alpontus, he jumped onto the table and ran across. Before any could restrain him, he collided against the head author and toppled to the ground with him.
Teeth sank into the head author's right shoulder, though; they had tried to go for the neck. Unluckily for Tarhuinn, Alpontus had stopped that from happening. Tarhuinn pinned the male's wrists to the ground and didn't remove his teeth. Rather, he bit down harder and tried to reach deeper flesh. A loud cry of agony escaped the author's mouth.
Amtoma was the first to reach the pair. As she went to stop Tarhuinn, he ripped back and struck at her. Her right hand was caught in his mouth, and Rocean attacked as Icniss's water reached Tarhuinn. The pair managed to knock him unconscious before anymore damage could be committed. Collective sighs of relief rang out as Amtoma freed her hand and grumbled, "I'll be taking him to the room first. He needs to be taught a lesson."
Picking himself up, Alpontus agreed along with the other two. "Just keep him alive and be careful. If he wakes up in that state, he could be capable of anything. And, see to your hand first. I need to tend to my shoulder." The head author walked off, and, soon, he closed his room door behind him. A smirk did grace his lips, though, when he saw the sight before him.