NASTRAGULL: Pirates (16 page)

Alexa replied, "Always."

He walked around her suite, behaving as if he were inspecting it. He leaned into the bedroom and noticed the mess on top of the bed. He raised his nose into the air and sniffed deeply, wrinkling his eyebrows. With a sudden angry expression he turned around, glaring at Alexa; but his expression soon melted to one of surprise.

She and Nina were foundling each other, kissing very passionately. He walked up to them, smiling. They stopped kissing, but Alexa kept her arm around Nina's for a long moment before drawing away and walking over to the unconscious prisoner. She started dancing around him like a kickboxer, delivering roundhouse and snap kicks to his body as if he were just another punching bag. Zuzack looked on with a stunned expression, then quietly sank down on the couch. After a few minutes, Alexa turned to Zuzack and started to walk towards him—when she heard Alec moan.

Without even looking, she delivered a roundhouse kick to his head, snapping his head back; a tooth spun out of his mouth, and a fine mist of blood sprayed onto one bulkhead. As the prisoner passed out again, Zuzack smacked his knees with his ham-sized hands, laughing until tears were trickling down his face.

"My little bird! You're using him as a punching bag. Who would have known? You truly are a mean little pirate."
              "The meanest, and soon I shall drink from his skull," Alexa vowed, "and become a full-fledged member of this clan."

Zuzack stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders, looking down into her blood-splattered sweaty face with a father's pride. "And I shall marry you, my little bird, and together we shall become the most feared pirate couple..."

Alexa finished for him, "...in the universe, Father."

Zuzack tossed his head back and laughed merrily.

Alexa heard Alec moan again, and looked desperately at Nina. "Shall I gag the bag?" she asked laconically. "I'm tired of hearing him whimper."

Alexa nodded sharply, so Nina roughly gagged the prisoner with a wooden pole with ropes attached to the ends. She tied it hard behind his neck when she noticed him starting to come to.

"Now, Zuzack, what have you brought me?" Alexa wondered.

Zuzack grabbed her and pulled her down onto the couch with him, where she perched atop one of his large knees. Nina sidled up next to them with a curious expression on her face.

Zuzack handed the wooden box to Alexa, then looked on in eager participation as she opened it up to reveal an odd-looking high-tech surgical instrument. It had a bone handle, inset with a small metallic plate. A few buttons and three small wheels were also inset into the handle, which tapered into a short metallic arm tipped with a thick, round metal plate.

"Oh my!" Alexa shouted happily, while Nina blew a short whistle. Zuzack smiled at their reactions.

"I took it from a slaver over fifty years ago...well, only the handle, actually. It's made of some type of horn from a creature called a cornius. I had Zozo build the rest, and now it's your first Marker."

Nina interrupted, "A cornius! Aren't those the creatures that the Silver Guard rode on thousands of years ago? I thought they became extinct, along with the Silver Guard, at the end of the war on the Blood World?"

Zuzack shot her a puzzled look and said, irritated, "Who cares? It's worth a ton of money, and almost impossible to find. And no, those things were called K´droges or something..." He shook his head.             

"A Marker, I have my own Marker!" Alexa said proudly. She looked at the tool with teary eyes. "Does that mean that I'm free now?" She looked at Zuzack with a searching expression.

Again Nina interrupted. "No, no! You still have to go through the ritual. And actually, you're not supposed to receive your own Marker—or should the correct word actually be Brander?—until you pass all the tests, and..." Nina never saw the back of Zuzack's hand before it hit her on the mouth, sending her flying over the couch.

"I couldn't wait to give it to you," he explained to Alexa. "I've been so exited since you declared your intention of becoming a true member of our Order. I honestly thought I'd lost you to Myra..."

Alexa looked at the tool in her hand and turned it on as Nina got up, clutching her bloody face and cursing like the pirate she was. The flat end turned red as it heated up, and then white. She pushed one of the buttons, and several sigils and numbers morphed into existence on the flat end of the brander, shimmering in the tremendous heat.

Zuzack observed her intently. "If you can keep a secret from the other officers, then I will let you practice branding on your punching bag—as long as you slice off any piece of flesh with a burn mark before the ritual. We wouldn't want anyone else to know."

Alexa eyes widened in horror, but she quickly put on a smile, "You mean, now?"

"Of course, my daughter and future wife, why not?"

Alexa looked down at the tool and mumbled, "I don't know if I'm ready for that—"

Zuzack interrupted her, grabbing her wrist very hard. "I
insist,
dear."

Alexa stood up quickly and strode over to her "punching bag," shooting Nina a quick glance that begged for help as she went. But Nina only looked back at her in horror, shrugging infinitesimally.

Zuzack saw her expression and ordered, "Come here, you. I want to make sure that there are no more interruptions from you. And bring some wine and some of that new drug...and turn on my favorite music. Hurry, you useless cow!" He unzipped his pants, releasing two enormous erections with a loud sigh. Nina looked at him with horrified disgust...until she realized that his evil eyes were staring back at her. Then she scuttled into the galley. When she returned to the living room, she held the clay bottle of black wine, several smaller silver bottles, and a syringe gun. A horrid arrhythmic drumming sound was issuing from hidden wall speakers.

Zuzack gestured towards the bottle, and Nina, trembling, handed it to him. He bit off the clay neck with his sharp teeth, and spat out the pieces before taking a long swig of the contents. Then he set it aside and yanked Nina down in front of him. She knew what she had to do, so she lowered her head, her expression dull, and began to perform orally on one of Zuzack's erections while massaging the other.

"Proceed, my little flower!" Zuzack shouted to Alexa as he took another chug from the clay bottle, burping in ecstasy.

Alexa turned her head away from them with disgust.

"More music, and make it louder and faster!" Zuzack called to the room computer. "And more humidity! Less light!" The room dimmed immediately as the drum tempo sped up, and a faint white mist begun to pour out of the air vents.

When Alec finally came back to consciousness and managed to focus his eyes, he saw the most beautiful woman in the universe standing in front of him. She was saying something in a low voice, but it made no sense. "I…no…you…th…lo…y…sor…"

He couldn't make out the words—and then he didn't care, because he felt a horrible pain on the right side of his chest that burned straight through his skin and muscle, directly into the bone. He screamed like a lost soul, struggling against his bonds; and instead of the pain decreasing, it got worse, until it felt like every cell and nerve in his body was being crisped in his own private hell. His eyes bulging, he stared at Alexa's bewildered, teary face and tried to speak—but he passed out before he could.

The beast was climbing. No, it was flying...it was gone...no, it was not real. The cloud was blue and the sky was white and a second dark line emerged.

He fell back into the cave and there were fires; they burned away his flesh until all that was left was a screaming skeleton.

The monster laughed as it tore into his flesh with its sharp fangs, devouring him alive.

The boy shouted out for help, but no one was there to help him. Instead, everyone he knew stood around him, looking down, laughing at him as they ate parts of his body.

The head of the young boy was placed on a pole, and two black birds landed on his skull and proceeded to tear one of his eyeballs from its socket. The birds took off then, fighting for the eye. The remaining eye stared back at him.

"Awaken; awaken, and you can hear me. Listen to me, listen to my words, for I am you and all of you are I, but no one listens. Awaken, and I shall return...bring me back. Bring me back. Awaken, and remember what all souls remember but dare not face. Do not hide from yourself... awaken, and step forth from your shadow and into my light. For the two of us are one. Awaken and thunder..."

A large beast stood on its hind legs, and from its head came an alarming sound, echoing inside the boy's brain. The sound increased; and it wanted to get out into the open. It wanted to return; it knew it was alive.

On the egg was an eye; and the egg was growing, even as the eye was shrinking.

The monster was back, and its concubines pleasured him. The most beautiful female in the universe, his love, was pure evil. With malice, she laughed as she bit down onto his flesh, tearing it off his bones. Her laugh was as clear and delicate as crystal, and she taunted him as she chewed on his raw meat, while blood dribbled down her alabaster chin.

He screamed, but there was no sound, for he no longer had a tongue or even a mouth. The pain struck his heart like a lightning bolt and ended up inside his hands, and then there were more drums.

The drumming sound and the strange odor struck Alec like a tornado as he swam back to consciousness. He felt nauseous and faint. He had an incredible headache, too, but its intensity paled in comparison to the severe pain in his wrists and chest. He blinked and tried to focus, but it only caused him to feel dizzier and drowsy, so he closed them, tight. His heart was pounding like a jackhammer, in unison with his quick, labored breathing. Millions of needles were pricking his fingers and hands, and a similar feeling, but hotter and more continuous, flamed from his chest.

He couldn't feel the ground anymore, and wondered if he were floating in the vacuum of space, dead or worse. He clenched his eyes more tightly shut in a desperate attempt to exclude the pain, but the strange drumming stole his concentration, and he opened them again. This time he could see, somewhat. He tilted his head back and looked up, noting without emotion that his hands were tied together over his head, attached to a rope that was bolted to the ceiling. 

His hands were a mass of mottled white, bluish, and purplish flesh, and seemed to have swollen to twice their normal size. When he shivered, the pain in his wrists and arms intensified; and it was so bad that it temporarily numbed the burning sensation in his chest. He was breathing even harder now, and realized he'd hyperventilate and pass out again if he weren't careful; so he tried all the techniques that he'd learned at the Academy to calm himself. Eventually, as the pain in his chest began to return with a vengeance, his heart rate and respiration began to slow. He turned his head to orientate himself, and that's when he realized that he had died and gone straight down to the evil Red Land of Amarada, his people's version of Hell.
Not a dream after all,
some part of his mind whispered.

A huge hairy demon sat naked on the floor in front of him, guzzling wine and laughing as two women pleasured him sexually. Each had a long, black phallus in her mouth, hungrily attacking it
with her lips and tongue while massaging the monster's round, hairy belly. As he watched, their sweaty and naked bodies—which were festooned with torn rags that might once have been clothing—dropped to the ground, and they changed position,  facing Alec on their hands and knees. The monster moved up behind them, positioned himself, and began thrusting. 

Their ecstatic moans repulsed Alec. Their bodies were covered with blisters, bruises, and long, deep contusions, all fresh; their hair was greasy and messy. As the monster thrust, and they started screaming in mingled pain and pleasure, they lifted their heads, displaying their faces to him.

Alexa! No, No, NO! It can't be, it can't...

Alec's life flashed before his eyes, from the moment of his birth to the present...including the dreams, the strange, violent dreams he'd had ever since he could remember, all of them nightmares. The attack, the slave blocks, the torture, the auction, and the beautiful goddess that he had sworn to himself he would worship for eternity. His childhood, family school, friends...A strange time before his present life, which he didn't understand but still remembered parts of.

He remembered everything—and then it stopped. Time stood still. Alec thought of nothing more; no pain, no despair, no anything. His eyes turned dry, dead, as they focused on another pair of eyes, those belonging to the love of his life.

She stared back at him and smiled, as she emitted a loud moan of pleasure.

This is all wrong,
he thought, and then he listened to the voice coming from inside him.
Who or what are you?
he asked the voice, but it didn't answer him.
I'm going mad. I'm losing it,
he confessed to himself.

Welcome back
... the voice responded.

Alexa let her mind go blank from the effects of the gas that she and Nina had inhaled, splitting an entire bottle between them; she could only feel joy and pleasure from the drug, and all her responsibilities just faded away. The animalistic drives that the drug had teased out of her mind made her welcome each and every hard thrust inside her vagina; she came closer and closer to climax. But still...something felt wrong, very wrong. She didn't know what it was, and she lost her concentration. She looked up at the beautiful man hanging before, smiling at him.