Cat and the Mouse: The Battle (Part 2)

[Orion]

Orion and Kveykva

Orion felt her mind suddenly open up and he slipped in. He was about to retract, knowing she would only do that if she had a plan when he found a memory, in fact, it was his memory. That memory happened to be Orion's family dying. Not wanting to think about that, he quickly retracted his mind.

How did she get that memory? There was no possible way she could get that. Orion wanted to murder her for showing him that, he didn't want to relive his family's death, and she should have had the sense to know that. So he increased the torture on her body, tightening the rope the bound her to Kveykva, causing her wrists and stomach to bleed, making it tough to breath. He did other things too of course.

Kveykva landed in the open square in front of Galbatorix's hall. As soon as the soldiers identified him, they opened the door. He and Kveykva walked in with Anira tied on his back. They wound there ways throughout the building, coming into a prison cell meant for keeping Riders. He untied Anira from Kveykva and put her on the stone slab in the center. He then took the metal shackles and put them on her. Orion then cast a spell that would make her blind when she woke up, at least until she was released from the spell, which he would only do when she swore fealty.

There were other ways, but Orion didn't want those happening, and doubted they would travel to Uru' Baen with just themselves. He then walked out and shut the door. Orion then peered around the corner, Galbatorix was sitting on his throne. He then stood guard outside her cell, awaiting Galbatorix to make her swear fealty. Of course, he would have to come into the cell for that, so he waited., and Orion could clearly feel the presence of Galbatorix.

[ᗩпїra]

Anira felt the tightening of her bonds, though she only smiled mockingly at the ebony Rider as the crimson red blood trailed down her stomach and arms disguised by the velvet green cloak. Inside she knew that she had struck back, a hard hitting blow on his mental self. A feel of discomfort ran down the length of her back when she felt the cold hard stone beneath her once again. A horror it was to see the bloody elven, masked with a beautiful face and hair that still shimmered with it's variety of violet shades and ebony, coated with blood along her arms and stomach which sifted off onto the stone after a while.

The normal blackness encased her as she opened her eyes, the colorless gaze even more empty than it was before. Is this the best you can do, ebony Rider? Her mind rippled with the thought, calming herself quietly as she opened her mind once more to the memory of his parents. Didn't he stay to watch the entire memory, the part where Galbatorix lied to his face? A hint of irritation coursed through her, feeling ignorant to him for a moment.

They'll never get me to swear fealty, I would rather die. She reassured herself, clenching her fists against the shackles at the attempt to shake herself free of the restrictions. Anira didn't say a word, what was there to say? Curse at them? No, that was childish, and teasing a child would only make them laugh. That's all they were, ignorant children who were given too much to play with. That made them spoiled.

Anira's wrists bled through more, and she wondered if she could break an artery and skip the torture by ending it there. Was this really how it was supposed to be? I'm cornered, and there's nowhere to go. That could lead me to doing things that I wouldn't have done in the past. She relived the words Aysten mentioned at their meeting, blocking out any of the memory from watching eyes with a barrier of cold sympathy. Powerless.

[Aelodil]

((Um..is this closed too? Idk, I'll delete it if it it is, sorry ^^))

Vlaer and Aysten had heard from Herion and so they flew furiously to Uru'baen, the one place they hated more than any other. Though they knew that if Galbatorix would intervene, they were doomed. They gave up their life for their friends and students. And this time the youth Rider would have no chance against the combined might of Aysten, Sora, Vlaer, Belgabad I, and Belgabad II, and Herion.

[Orion]

Orion and Kveykva
[/color]
Orion stood there, awaiting Galbatorix, letting his mind wander throughout the palace until it came to Anira's. She was awake, and seemed pleased. He went into her mind for a few seconds to hear the thought, is that the best you can do, ebony Rider? So they knew not his name.

The nickname Ebony Rider amused him, did they not know Kveykva was black? They must be color blind, he chuckled and turned and opened the door. He walked through and let it clang shut behind him with a loud boom! He could see she clearly couldn't see, he laughed. "Oh, don't worry, I can do a lot better than that Anira. By the way, my dragon is black, not ebony. And our names our Orion and Kveykva."

"As you well know I brought you here to swear fealty to Galbatorix, he shall be seeing you shortly. You can try to resist, he will know your true name and make you." he chuckled, brushing her face with his hand. "I thought elvish Dragon Riders were supposed to be far more superior than Human Riders? Apparently that is wrong, as I have captured you. I'd like you to know your dragon, Herion is his name right? He is on his way right now to save you, however, we have Riders keeping watch to drag him down and make him swear after you do, though we know that won't take much convincing."

Orion laughed and took knives and stabbed her hands, leaving them inside. "We know you don't want you to join us, but we will keep torturing you until you give in." He then said, "Boetk istalrí" and set fire to her cloak. He waited a few minutes before ending the spell, and he knew he burnt her fairly well.

Orion then sent her a false memory of her friends swearing fealty to Galbatorix while she watched helplessly. "Ah, I see you are remembering yesterday, yesterday your friends Vlaer and Aysten and that stupid white Rider swore fealty. They aren't here right now, but they will be soon, and I know that will help ease the process along."

[Nandon]

Aysten lay crouched outside the city gate, it was open due to the fact that the city was expecting a caravam soon. Aysten took that to his advantage though and slipped forward putting the guards to sleep and then waking them up quickly once he was past. Then he continued through the city avoiding guards here and there. Then he found his way to the large castle and began climbing the walls. They where old and had plenty of handholds.

When aysten reached the prison area he dropped in through a open window and grabbed a guard quicckly knocking him out aysten donned his uniform before moving down the hall. He heard a voice in one room and went towards and and knocked on the door. More like banging on it. "Sir! We have the dragon you requested."Aysten he said masking his voice with a spell

[ᗩпїra]

"Don't touch me." She snapped quietly, flinching against the chill touch of his hand against her cheek with a glare of her blinded gaze. "If you learned your colors when you were younger, you would have known that ebony is a type of black, hatchling." Anira calmed herself instantly, feeling she was being too harsh even though her situation was asking for it. She wouldn't act like a savage animal under their mercy, she wouldn't act all cruel and foul, she wouldn't act as if they were strangers. Anira even let out a shocked smile as the knives slid into her hands, a silent mock at the pain that jolted up her arm and stayed there.

Next came the burning of her cloak, the hot flames lapping at her sides and shoulders with unspeakable pain. Anira sank back into her mind for the time being, keeping her breathing calm and telling herself over and over again that she was stronger, more determined than they were. "You owe me a new cloak, Orion." She gritted between her teeth after the spell ended, feeling the tingle of charred skin which burned in silent fury at the charred places of skin. Testing his real name out for the first time as well, it rolled off her tongue in her usual musical voice, though a hurt pause appeared in between.

The memory amused her, knowing that none of her friends were that juvenile to do such a thing. "Those types of torture won't work on me, darling. I know what's real and what is not, and I ask of you to see a memory of mine for your safety and knowledge only." She spoke as clearly as she could, a halting pause sometimes appearing while the pain lapsed at her body like an inferno. It was her only chance to help him, when she really needed the help herself.

[Orion]

Orion and Kveykva

As she snapped at him Orion got an idea just to make her even more mad about her personal space. "Elves don't like people in their space now do they?" He leaned down and kissed her just to make her mad.

"Hatchling? You call me a hatchling? You are the mere hatchling, as I am much more powerful than you, and have been a Rider far longer than you have, you filthy elf." he said, spitting, if it was under normal circumstances, he would have not kissed an elf. She then started complaining about her cloak.

"Wow, you are a very whiny elf at that. It's just a cloak, you have no need for it, once you're in the Empire though, we'll give you a cloak, and state of the art armor." he said chuckling. She then talked about her wanting him to see a memory. "I'm not foolish elf, I'm not falling for a trap."

Orion then got an idea to get her to move along in the process more. He silently walked over to the door and opened and closed it before he returned to the table. "Well Anira, it looks like Galbatorix has arrived, he'll torture you now with my assistance, and we shall make you swear fealty."

He used a spell to disguise his voice as Galbatorix's and said, "Yes, thank you Orion. Remove the knives please and hand them over." Orion did this and waited a few seconds before cutting her in various places and using various spells to break bones in her body and cause an insane amount of pain. "I've changed your opinion a bit I believe, I shall be back later." he said and pretended to make Galbatorix leave.

Ending the spell, Orion went back to the table and stabbed the knives into her knees this time. He then heard banging at the door and a soldier say something about a dragon being there. Orion never requested a dragon, he reached out with his mind and felt nothing. It could be one of her friends. Orion chuckled and drew Rauthr. He walked over to the door and opened it and quickly said, "Malthinae!" This would bound the so-called soldier in place.

[Nandon]

Aysten froze in place. This situation was now bad and he saw the door open. Saw anira on the floor. And tried to move against the bindings but couldnt. In fact his frantic attempts at movement caused his pendant to fall and shatter leaving his mind unprotected except for his most inner thoughts. But now his memories could be seen. At least some of them. "Oh no...."Aysten muttered as he stared the black rider in the face.

[ᗩпїra]

Anira felt the cool touch upon her lips with a silent fury, pulling at her gauntlets despite having the knives tearing through the palms of her hands. She didn't respond, a glare setting in quietly as she once more refused to speak. She went down to the depths of her mind, cursing at him and his foul mouth. If Anira didn't know better, she would have willingly spat at him, and if only her arms weren't held down by. A slap would be in order later, no matter the circumstances. It was true, an elven disliked having their personal space violated, unless it was allowed. She slowly took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth, steadying herself and burying into her mind.

The removal of the knives brought slight relief until the breaking of yet more bones released a gasp of fiery cries down her limbs. A few seconds later, the ringing of her ears increased as the knived went down in her knees. It felt like she had just fallen from Herion at the topmost part of the sky, crumpled into a rag doll and crush under a giant's foot. Her pride had been shattered, though they couldn't remove her determination. "P-pain is all in the mind." She stuttered at the first part, steadying her words slightly as the short gasps evened them out.

This was worse than the flames, the real flames, for now there was separate ones all throughout her body. She fled into her mind, focusing on keeping her mind on different subjects and trying to forget the pain to no avail. No tears would be shed that day, she wouldn't give Orion that satisfaction.

A deep echo bounced in her mind as he left the room, and she jerked at her gauntlets with difficulty while trying to slice her wrist open through it. She had forgotten of the pendant around her neck that Aysten had given her, she had much more things on her mind such as the pain. Though at the time, the pendant was still reflecting the immense pain she was in through the necklace. A similar presence seemed close by, and it was all she could do not to let out a whimper of assistance. This is harder than I expected.

[Orion]

Orion and Kveykva

The soldier was stuck in place so Orion easily took off his mask and noticed it was her friend, Aysten. "So you have come to save her eh? How'd you get here so fast? By dragon?" Orion laughed as he twisted his wrist the wrong way, snapping it and looking at his palm. Plain as day was the Gedwey Ignasia, he alerted a soldier to warn the other Riders to watch out for a second dragon.

Then a pendant shattered and he could feel his mind. He dragged him into the room and set him on the stone palate next to Anira. So the pendant kept him from seeing Aysten's mind. He noticed one on Anira, he didn't know why it didn't work, but he took it and smashed it too.

He then searched his mind and found a few valuable things, one, he hadn't told Anira, two, he was in love with her. "So you haven't told Anira you love her? I guess she knows now, along with being a Rider." Silently he cast a spell on Anira, making her mute and said, "too bad, because she loves me, let me show you."

He then gave him a false memory that looked so real that he wouldn't be able to tell it was fake. It was him kissing Anira and she responding positively and kissing him back, then them hugging. Then as the memory ended, she said, "I love you."

He then took more knives the guards gave him and stabbed them into various body parts on Aysten, along with casting a spell that put constant very painful pressure on his groin area, like someone was stabbing it constantly. At last he stabbed the bloody knives into his knee just like Anira. He then caused his bones to break as well and made him go blind too.

Orion then unmuted Anira, knowing Aysten wouldn't believe her saying they were false. He then secretly showed Anira what he showed Aysten and what he was going through. He said in her mind, I will stop the torture of your friend and you, but all you have to do is swear fealty. Your friend will hate you for this, as he believes it strongly. He then looked at both of them, both were very bloody, as was the floor, and obviously well tortured, but Orion wasn't done, not anywhere close.

[Nandon]

Aysten was flung into the room and he began to struggle untill the memory reached him. Then eyes staring straight forward he slowly lost his resolve. Of course he had held that thought in his mind for a long time. But now it came to a front and aysten was unable to bare what he now believed as not only a total rejection of him. But also a love for the evil one tormenting him now. "I guess i really am worth nothing..."Aysten aysten muttered before the knives began stabbing into him, he barely felt the pain as the pain his own emotions where now causing him was much greater.

Aysten then lost his sight and his breathing quickened as he wondered what was happening around him. Most likely some new romantic scene that the rider had taken mercy on him and blinded him so he wouldnt have to watch.

Thats when aystens second wall shattered. The wall that had been made ccompletely from his resolve to save anira.

[ᗩпїra]

Anira ripped at her gauntlets, blood gushing from her wrists as she tried to tear her hands out from the close grip. Her mouth opened in a silent curse before he muted her, the word love ringing in her ears like the toll of bells. A deep sadness seemed to emanate throughout the room, bringing it's own type of torture as tears trailed their way in tiny creeks down her lightly tanned cheeks. It wasn't until she was not muted did she start the fierce conversation, pleading almost to the one called Orion. Before she could being, a memory was jabbed into her thoughts of a warm kiss between the two, a loving hug, and the three words she had grown to resent tumbling out of her mouth in the same musical type voice.

It stunned her, she didn't know what to think or believe. It was all a jumbled mess of confusion, broken bones still not allowing movement. "Leave him alone." She growled slightly, the musical voice toned down into a fierce statement -- no, a command. She ripped at her hands once more, pushing back the strange thoughts and emotions as she tried to rip her hands free. The skin pushed itself up, and she could feel one sliding out, but the blood loss was too much. Everything seemed to overwhelm her, and that's when everything shut off. Fainted, I suppose?

Everything swirled in a confused mess of a dream, tatters of memories breaking and shattering while a nightmare of the kiss replaying itself once more. What was real, and what wasn't real? She felt a strong connection to the rider, and yet she wanted to rip out his throat at the same instant.

In real life, the blood flowed willingly down her released arm, her head resting silently on the stone plate. It seemed as if she had died, and maybe it would have been better if she did just then. Though fate wasn't that kind, was it?

[Orion]

Orion and Kveykva

Orion broke through another wall of Aysten's memories, and he searched through there, he extracted the one of him being a Rider and gave it to Anira, healing some of her wounds.

He told her in her mind, Aysten lied to you, he is a Rider, but he didn't want you to know. He gave her the memory and played it throughout her head. Orion could also feel her strangling with the previous memory, he inserted yet another one, this time on a different occasion of them hugging.

Don't you remember my love? I was taking you to Uru' Baen to bring you to fealty like we agreed and Aysten here took you from me. I captured you in Dras' Leona and he forced me to torture you! I managed to capture you back and take you, but he overpowered me once more and is making me torture you, but I am healing you, do not worry. He gave her these memories, erasing the ones she previously had of the true events, including them finding love and agreeing to swear fealty. He then healed her wrists and several of her wounds. If you swear fealty you will be released and we can overpower him and torture him together! He is not of Galbatorix, but we will force him to.

Slowly Orion could feel her believing these memories as he restored vision to her eyes, but making it so when she looked over at Aysten, no one was there. Aysten isn't here my love, he is elsewhere, but he is controlling me nonetheless. He was in here earlier, we fought, that is why you heard him. I would release you, but he'd kill me. All you have to do is swear fealty then I can release you, as Galbatorix will allow me too, I can't allow non-empire people to wander freely in Uru' Baen otherwise we shall die, you must swear fealty to be with me, don't you want that? Then we can capture and torture Aysten for what he has done to us!

[ᗩпїra]

Anira blinked around cautiously as she scanned her arms and legs and testing her hand as she balled them into fists and then released. Everything seemed to be working in order, nothing out of the ordinary. Her colorless gaze locked with Orion's open and foreboding stare; yet her colorless one could betray no emotion whatsoever throughout the small stare down. Something wasn't right, a slight panic coming over her when she searched for the missing section of her memories which were replaced with ones with Orion. Hadn't she just experience him doing all this on his own accord?

Everything was turning out wrong. This would have never happened if no one had discovered her at Eldor, and to think she had trusted this Aysten! "Fine." Her voice was cold, a glare touching the edge of her eyes giving her more of a feminine look about her. Anira clenched her fists, knowing that something wasn't right, something that she just couldn't reach out about it. Empty, lonely, and like that of a lost lamb that was hunted by a pack of savage wolves. Her trust for everyone seemed to collapse, heading back to her careful self that of the one that left Ellesmera, not the one that had opened up and became more friendly after her meeting with Aysten and their adventures.

Was all of that gone? None of it to be remembered? A tree, a simple tree was all she could remember of the one called Aysten. It struck her as important, and somehow amusing, but she couldn't grasp it. The feeling once more overwhelmed her, irritated that she couldn't find the memory. Maybe she was all wrong?

"Just tell me what to say."

[Orion]

Orion and Kveykva

"Finally, we can be together Anira, who I love. Say as I say," in the ancient language he said, "From now on until the end of my days, I swear fealty to Galbatorix and will do whatever he commands." She repeated and he smiled, he released her and then kissed her, she was now a part of the Empire.

He then secretly placed another false memory of them capturing and finding Aysten and binding him to where she was, and then him torturing him, then the spell ended allowing her to see him there, lying in pain. "I am glad you are with me finally my love," he said, putting an arm around her.

He then said to Aysten mentally, you might have Anira back, at least you can see her again and possibly befriend her, but all you have to do is swear fealty, just like she did.

[Nandon]

Aysten heard him say those three words repeatedly 'my love..."' and those words stabbed aysten worse than anything he had felt before. He let loose a scream of anguish "gods be damned! If you will end this torment you have placed on me I will swear as well" he muttered the words himself then let himself sink into his deep misery

[ᗩпїra]

Anira glanced at Aysten with a quiet smirk, allowing the arm to wrap around her though she still felt uncomfortable about it. Something still wasn't quite right, and no one could erase that or ease the tension between the two. After a moment, she pulled away softly and took a step backwards to almost slip on a pool of blood. Anira steadied herself, not even daring to look at the one called Aysten. Why would anyone do this to her? What did she ever do to them? All she wanted was to be left alone, and yet you poked a bear with a stick and expected them to invite you to tea and porridge.

The elven let the charred velvet green cape fall from her shoulders, picking it up quietly and going the opposite direction down the hall. "So, where am I staying?"

[Orion]

((This thread is closed here))

[Aelodil]

WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!??!?! I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TIME TO POST! O.O"