Malkor

Gail scratched at Rosha's hand, gouging her fingernails deep into his flesh. Her plan worked. He let go of her hair, but as she got to her feet he back handed her across the face with enough force to send a tooth flying from her mouth. The world spun around her and her feet stumbled as he shoved her in front of him, grabbing her by the hair once more.

'Walk then,' he said. 'Give me any more trouble and I'll drag you like before.'

Gail stumbled down the hill, dragging her feet through thick snow as a throbbing pain built up in her jaw. Tall trees loomed on either side of her, adding their shadows to an already dismal day. Rosha yanked her hair, hard enough to take her breath away.

'Where are you taking me?' she said as blood dripped from her lower lip.

'Don't you know?'

Gail stared ahead. She could already see the other lords gazing up the slope towards her. Half a dozen of them had noticed her now. Her chances of escape had become even worse.

Amongst them was Malkor, his opaque eyes staring towards her from a pale, expressionless face. A hundred thoughts raced through her mind as she searched for lies to save herself one last time.

She had been exiled from the Iridium mines? No. He would never believe that. She wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. She had left Malkor's settlement instead of tending to his temple - but why? What could she tell him that he might possibly believe?

Her mind was still searching for a credible story when Rosha guided her across the smelting grounds and shoved her towards Malkor. Her feet slipped on the ice and she almost fell.

'She was watching you from the ridge on the hill,' he said.

Malkor's robe shifted, one shoulder cracking as it lifted and realigned itself.

'I came to help you, my lord,' Gail said, hoping to weave a story as she spoke. It had worked many times before but she was so cold and she had never tried it on a war lord before. His eyes seemed to stare straight through her as though she wasn't there.

Icy fingers crept through her mind, crushing her will until she couldn't think anymore. All her secrets were stolen, her web of lies exposed as Malkor feasted on her most intimate thoughts. She wanted to scream and cry and thrash around on the floor. She was powerless and exposed before him.

'No,' she said with tears forming in her eyes. 'I serve you still...'

'You've been to the Iridium Mines?' he shouted with spittle flying from the corner of his mouth.

'No,' Gail said, shaking her head, but she knew it wasn't really a question. Her mind had been laid bare before him. No amount of lying could save her now.

Malkor grunted, gazing up at the swirling black clouds above. 'You failed your simple duties at the temple, just as you failed before.'

Gail shook her head, lacking the words to defend herself.

'Even your own people banished you, expelling you from the domed city. You went through the tunnels didn't you?'

'I didn't...' Gail said, but she was in too much pain to speak clearly anymore. She just wanted him to get out of her thoughts and leave her in peace forever.

Malkor leant closer, his pale face dominated by a web of blue veins that surrounded his sunken, opaque eyes. His bald head was a mass of wrinkled skin that looked like it had been bunched up into thick folds by unseen hands, and his breath stank of death and decay. Pain throbbed in the back of her mind as he pillaged her every thought.

'That's how the clerics got you out. That's how you entered the Blasted Lands. What comes out can go back. Isn't that what they say?'

Gail shook her head, unsure of what he was talking about but suddenly his words made sense to her. He was talking about the tunnels beneath the city. She had been exiled from the Orange Zone, taken through the tunnels by the clerics before being sent out into the Blasted Lands. Now Malkor knew about the tunnels he could try to use them to his advantage.

'I can help you,' she said, taking the opportunity to try and save her own skin.

Malkor pulled a cudgel from his robe and struck her hard across the face. Gail staggered, her legs giving way as pain roared across her jaw and cheekbone. She landed on one knee as the cudgel came down again, striking the side of her temple. Blood flowed from a cut above her right eye as she grasped his robe for balance, and he raised his knee, slamming it into her face.

Gail fell back, scrambling on her hands and knees across the icy ground. She tensed, holding her breath as she waited for the next blow to fall and screamed when Malkor stabbed his spear through her outstretched hand, pinning her to the ground. Pain exploded through her twisted tendons as she tried in vain to pull her hand free. Her struggles only amplified the pain as crimson blood spilled out across the ice around her.

'Do you think yourself free?' Malkor said, twisting the spear from side to side.

Gail gasped as tears formed in her eyes.

'I will free you from life.'

'No... please...'

Malkor retrieved his spear and Gail pulled away, cradling her injured hand against her chest. Rocking back and forth on her knees, she waited for the pain to subside. It was much worse than anything she had ever experience before. All she could do was grit her teeth and pray for it to stop.

When she looked up, expecting to see Malkor standing over her, she saw that he had gone, leaving Rosha to watch over her with burning excitement in his eyes.

'Is something wrong?' he said offering a lopsided sneer.

Gail didn't answer. Lying hadn't helped her so far. Maybe she would try silence for a while.

Rosha's smile turned into a frown. 'You will learn not to cross him, or you will learn what it is to die.'

Gail glanced down at her shaking hand. It was bleeding heavily and she had nothing to wrap around it. She tried to use the sleeve of her robe but the material was coarser than she would have liked.

'Lord Malkor has a special purpose for you now,' Rosha said. 'You have earned it.'

Something about his fake smile failed to set her mind at ease. She flinched when he grabbed the back of her head, struggling until he pressed something cold against her neck. The silver collar that she had been wearing since her arrival in the Blasted Lands snapped open, falling to the ground in two pieces.

Gail kicked it away before rubbing her sore neck with both hands. Even the cold wind felt good against her neck compared to the constant discomfort of the collar.

'You don't belong to him anymore.'

Gail was delighted but then a frown formed on her face. 'What do you mean?'

'This,' Rosha said, lifting the collar from the ground, 'is a sign of ownership. While you wore it nobody would trouble you because they knew who they would have to answer to Lord Malkor. They would be punished if they tried to impede your duties. Now you're free,' he said, with a harsh laugh.

'Free, how?'

'Free to be beaten,' Rosha said, striking her across the face. 'Free to be abused in every way. Nobody can protect you now.'

Gail cowered at his feet, unsure of what else to do. She could see other lords watching her from across the smelting grounds. Was he to be her new master now or would they take turns in beating her until she was nothing but a corpse upon the icy ground?

'Come,' he said, gesturing for her to get up.

She gazed wearily into his harsh blue eyes. 'Where to?'

'You've been invited to the fire pits.'

'You mean to burn me?!'

Rosha smiled. 'Would you like that? It can be arranged.' With a shake of his head he gestured for a group of nearby clerics to take her.

Gail struggled but the clerics punched and kicked her repeatedly until her struggling subsided. Shoving her forwards, they flanked her on each side as they led her away.

When she glanced back over her shoulder, she saw Rosha standing behind her, smiling. At least he wasn't following her. She was thankful for his absence.