Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

Bokuboy

I was right. I didn't like finding out how they had so many albino slaves. No, I didn't.

“Get in!” An angry man said and hit my back with an oar. It was with enough force that I flipped over and landed inside a large vat of white potion.

I splashed around and tried to get my footing, only to remember I had no toes and fingers missing from my hands. After a minute of me floundering around and almost drowning, the slave woman in charge of my welfare stepped in and helped me keep my head above the water.

“Dunk him again!” The angry man spat and held the oar in a threatening manner.

“Hold your breath, sweet prince.” The slave woman whispered and I did so. She held me under for a full minute before she pulled me up again. I pretended to spit and sputter, for the angry man's satisfaction, and she dunked me again.

Half an hour later, I was sat on the floor next to the vat and a very elderly man in weird mage robes walked down the line of freshly dyed albino white slaves and cast several spells on them. It changed their eye color and then the glow of the spells seemed to settle and the dye became skin pigments. When he came to me, he huffed and whispered under his breath about lazy slaves and then cast the same spells.

Of course, I countered the one for my eyes, because Helena loved my eyes, and I let the ones for my skin and hair settle to become my new skin and hair color. Bright white. He didn't even notice I still had my normal eye color and moved on.

“All right, you lot! You're going back to the slave quarters and you'll stay there until we come for you!” The angry man spat at us. He pointed to me and two of the new albino slaves picked me up and carried me out of the place and took me into the basement. I could tell what was coming by the tools and things on the walls, so I didn't bother trying to fight. It wasn't the slaves fault I was there.

“Drink this.” The angry man said as he passed me a potion vial and I drank it. He waited for a few minutes and I didn't react. He frowned slightly and gave me another. When I still didn't react ten minutes later, he gave me another, then ordered me strapped face down onto a table.

Pain. Excruciating pain. I had felt it before and I knew I would feel it again, especially here as a slave. The thing was, after suffering through my regeneration potion and ten days of pure and unadulterated agony, being tortured for not doing what I was told was practically a vacation from real pain.

“What is your name, slave?” The angry man asked me for the twentieth time.

“David Drake.” I responded and his face became even angrier.

“WRONG!” He lifted the whip again and slashed it across my back ten more times. “What is your name?”

“You're right. It should be David Henrietta, even if I haven't signed the marriage contracts yet.” I said.

“GRRRR!” The man growled and used the whip ten more times.

I almost laughed as he took out his frustrations on me, because we had been at this for over an hour, and each time I changed the name I responded with. Boy, Freak, Marsh Boy, Marsh Man, Murderer of Men, Student Drake, Conscript Drake, Private Drake, War Hero. And every version of David and any last name that I could think of. The last two I used seemed to really piss him off, though.

“That's enough.” A woman's stern voice said and the whipping stopped. “Healing potion.”

The slave woman chosen to take care of me stepped forward, her face soaked with tears, and she poured a very inferior potion down my throat. All it did was close my wounds and didn't heal anything.

“You seem to not feel anything.” The stern woman said. When I didn't respond, the whip slashed my back again.

“Speak, slave! Answer your mistress!” The angry man spat.

“She didn't ask me a question.” I said. “Also, slaves can't speak without permission.”

“GRRRR!” The angry man growled again and ten more lashes went across my back.

“Enough!” The stern woman said and the lashes stopped. “You are only making this worse for yourself.” She said. “Why are you not feeling this torture?”

“I am feeling it. It's just so inconsequential compared to being eaten by a dragon and cutting my way out of its stomach, that I can easily ignore it.”

“LIAR!” The angry man yelled and slashed me again.

“I said ENOUGH!” The stern woman said and there was a slap of a hand on flesh.

“M-m-mistress! I'm sorry!” The angry man said, apologetically. The sound of his knees hitting the stone floor was loud in the silence. “I was only correcting the slave's mistake!”

“No, you are frustrated that your poor techniques are not working on someone that supposedly has gone through more pain than you can cause him.” The stern woman said. “Why is the mental breaking potion not working on him?”

“I don't know, Mistress. I've given him three times the normal dosage.” The angry man said. “He should have been highly suggestible an hour ago.”

“Slave, do you know why you are not responding to our mind breaking potion?” She asked.

“Of course I do.” I said and didn't say anything else.

“You WILL answer the MISTRESS!” The angry man said and I heard him get to his feet.

“I did answer her.” I said and the woman sighed.

“Must I ask you every little thing to get you to talk?”

“Talk? We're not talking. You're interrogating me. One question, one answer. Slaves are not allowed to volunteer anything or to speak out of turn, as you very well know.” I said and the angry man growled. “If we were sitting in a parlour and enjoying a nice cup of tea, that would be talking.”

The slave woman let out a surprised squeak and quickly retreated to the wall and ducked her head.

“See? Even noises are forbidden.” I said. “I don't know why you want to keep doing this. I'm a slave. I'm collared and hobbled already. What else do you want to do to me and what purpose does it serve?”

“Tell me why you can resist the mind breaking potion.” The stern woman ordered and I could hear the stress in her voice.

“I've nothing left to break.” I said and she gasped. “The Hag thoroughly tortured me for over a decade and made me her disciple. There is literally nothing you can do to make me any more broken.”

“That... that can't be true.” The stern woman whispered.

“I was a conscript in the army and my first drill sergeant was fired because he couldn't break me like he did the other recruits to make them into proper soldiers. He kept trying and he kept failing, and it made his completely irrational anger at me blind him from his own illegal actions. He also tried, unsuccessfully, to get me kicked out.”

Complete silence met my words.

“It's going to take me weeks to learn to walk again with my toes missing and to hold things properly with two less fingers on my hands.” I said and didn't bother trying to lift my head up to look at her face. “You're just wasting your time trying to break me, because there's nothing else you can do to hurt me more than the Hag already has.”

“I'll take your tongue!” The angry man spat and I heard a knife be pulled from a sheath.

“The Hag won't let you.” I said and the blade stopped by my face. “You're already in severe trouble for marking up her favorite food. She hates the taste of scar tissue and your pathetic healing potions have ensured my back is completely marred.”

The angry man and the stern woman took in sharp breaths.

“Yes, that's right.” I said and let satisfaction into my voice. “I don't even have to plan my revenge on you, because she is going to be so angry at you both for ruining her once perfectly smooth dinner.”

“N-no.” The stern woman whispered and I heard her take a step back.

“She also hates the taste of anything ruining her meat.” I said. “The potions and permeation spells you've used to make me an albino has surely soured my tasty flesh. If there's one thing she will never forgive, it's spoiling her dinner.”

“G-g-get the healers!” The stern woman's shaking voice ordered and several sets of feet left the room.

“It's much too late for that.” I said with a chuckle. “I can feel that there's not even an inch of clear skin on my back for them to heal over. My muscles and tendons are all torn and stiff, thanks to those same inferior healing potions you only use on slaves.”

“Oh, no.” The stern woman whispered and I heard her back hit the wall. Her breathing started to speed up and I could almost feel her panicking. Her feet shuffled towards the door before I spoke again.

“Don't try to run.” I warned her. “The Hag will find you and make things that much worse for you if you make her chase you. Believe me, I know.”

“How?” The stern woman asked.

“That's how I lost some fingers and toes the first time.”

The stern woman started to sob just as the healers came into the basement work room.

“By the Hag's grace!” One of the women exclaimed. “WHAT have you DONE?!?”

“She's killed us all.” Another healer said and she stepped into my view as she knelt. “Will you tell the Hag we are not responsible for this?”

“Sure.” I said and she looked relieved. “She's not going to believe that, though.”

The healers gasped.

“You were supposed to ensure my health and safety. The minced meat that is now my back will let her know I was not kept healthy or safe at all.”

“We weren't here for that!” One of the healers exclaimed.

“It's not my fault you weren't checking on the slaves like you're supposed to.” I said.

“We can try to do something with it.” The one looking at me said.

“It's healed with potions like it is. I doubt I can move more than half of my normal movement. If you think you can undo the damage without causing even more damage, go ahead.”

None of them said anything.

“I'll give you the same warning as I did the stern woman in charge of this place.” I said and repeated the one about not running, because the Hag will only make their punishments worse. There was a quick scuffle and the door opened as the angry man tried to make a run for it. He was quickly subdued by the guards and tied up.

“If the Hag chooses to punish you for what you've done, you must stay.” One of the guards said.

“What do we do now?” One of the healers asked. “Mistress, please calm down.”

“No, I... I won't. I'm not responsible for this.” The stern woman said.

“You are the Mistress here.” One of the guards said. “All here are under your command.”

“Yes.” The stern woman said and her breathing evened out. “Yes, you are.” She said. “Scrape his back of as many scars and ruined flesh as possible, clean the wounds, and heal him as much as you can.”

“Mistress! We can't do that! His back is...”

“He will be healed as much as possible before he is sent to the docks. Put him on the first available ship, no matter who owns it.” The stern woman said and all of the healers gasped. “I won't have him anywhere near this place when the Hag returns.”

“Mistress, she will know that...” The words were cut off as a hand slapped flesh.

“The new slave escaped and we don't know how his back was damaged.” The stern woman said. “I don't care if you cripple him even more than he already is. Heal the damage and get him out of here tonight.”

I heard footsteps walk across the room and then stop.

“None of you are to speak to the Hag. Ever.” The stern woman said and left the room.

“You heard the Mistress. Get to work.” One of the guards said and the door shut.

“I'm terribly sorry about this.” The healer kneeling in front of my face said.

“You're going to make it worse if you do anything.” I said.

“Yes.” She said with a sigh. “But, we have our orders.”

“Which are easily accomplished. Use a knife to scrape the top off of one of the skin ridges and heal it. Orders fulfilled.”

The healers caught their breath.

“We still can't tell the Hag what happened.” The healer in front of me said.

“No, you can't.” I said and she looked sad. “Write her a note instead.”

“By the Hag's grace!” The healer exclaimed.

“You can inform her without actually speaking to her and you don't even have to sign it.” I told them and I could almost hear their eager nods. “Make sure she knows I wouldn't be stupid enough to run.”

The healer nodded and her hand reached out to touch my face.

“Tell her what I look like and what they did to make me so horrible to her taste.” I said and she nodded again.

“This will hurt.” She said.

“More than getting it done in the first place?” I asked and she sighed. “No? Then go ahead.”

She stood up and pulled out her knife, then she stepped close and leaned over me to reach my back. She either didn't realize she was pressing her womanhood into my face and was ignoring it, or she was doing it on purpose.

“I'm betrothed.” I mumbled and she laughed softly.

“You're a slave and you're being sent out onto the open seas. If you're lucky, the ship they dump you on will be a cargo ship. If you're not lucky...”

“...I don't want to know.” I said.

“You won't enjoy it, no matter where you end up.” Another healer said as she took several strips of scarred skin from my back. I didn't really feel it, which meant the nerves were pretty damaged.

“Can I get my sea legs back quicker if I don't have sea toes?” I asked and the healer leaning over me laughed softly, because I could feel it through her body.

“How can you joke at a time like this?” She asked and leaned back with three long strips of scarred skin in her hand. There was no blood, which meant the skin would be dying soon anyway and would probably get infected and make me sick.

“I would rather make love to my future wife. However, I am currently indisposed. I only have my mouth available at the moment.”

The woman blushed deeply and looked down at where she was intentionally pressing herself against my face. The only thing between my lips and her womanhood was her healers robes and her panties.

“You need to focus. We must have evidence that we tried.” One of the other healers said.

The healer staring at me nodded and then smiled as she leaned back over me.

Half an hour later, their healing magic washed over me and I felt the wounds settle like my new skin color had. My back felt like there was a thick pad covering it and I tried to move some of the muscles, only to have nothing happen.

“Relax and try to stay still. If you move too soon, the damage may become worse.” The one against my face said, then she stepped back. She added the last of the removed skin to the pile the others had removed and then the two guards came in to get me. I was untied from the torture table and then flipped over to be placed in a cart with a blanket underneath me.

One guard took the handles to push me and the other guard took the tray of flesh strips. When the slave assigned to take care of me stepped forward to follow us, the other guard stopped her.

“I must go. The Hag ordered me to take care of him.”

“The Mistress ordered you to remain.” The guard said.

“She wants me dead then.” The slave woman said.

“Yes.” The guard said and waved the guard pushing the cart forward.

I glanced back and saw the healer that had pressed herself against me take her hand and started to whisper to her. The slave's eyes widened and she nodded several times.

I was strapped to the back of a horse behind the guard and we were soon at the docks. True to the stern woman's orders, we stopped at the the very first ship we came across. The guard offered me as a slave for the very cheap price of free, because of my lack of toes and need to learn how to walk and use my hands again.

“Toss him into the hold.” The very dirty man said and opened the top hatch. “If he doesn't learn how to walk by the end of the week, he'll be flayed and used for bait.”

The guards exchanged scared looks and then eased me down into hold instead of actually throwing me.

“I don't know what you're scared for. He's not your problem anymore.” The dirt man said and slammed the hold closed.

“Fresh meat.” A gruff male voice said and several albino slaves stepped into the moonlight rays coming through the tiny port holes.

_______________

You have a critical choice to make. This will determine the course of the story from this point forward, for good or ill. Will you make the right one?

A) Be afraid. B) Scream. C) Fight. D) Kill one of them. E) Play possum. F) Choose two.

Oh, thank god! I thought I was going to be left to languish. I thought, happily. I'll choose two. E and D.

_______________

“Stay back! Please!” I said and pretended to be afraid as I shivered. “I taste horrible!”

A few of the slaves laughed.

“We'll decide how good you taste, fresh meat.” The gruff voice said and walked over to me, knelt as he grabbed my arm, and then smiled to reveal jagged and broken teeth.

I wasn't stupid enough to waste an opportunity like that, so I used my free hand and the two fingers there to jam them into the man's eyes. Both popped from the pressure and the man howled in pain. He let my arm go and cupped his face, which is exactly what I wanted. I grabbed onto his collar and pulled him down on top of my knee and dug my face into the side of his neck as his momentum rolled us over in a classic army move to give me the advantage.

I bit down hard into the man's jugular vein and tore my mouth away with a large part of his neck with it. Blood gushed out and covered my face and bare chest and I braced my hand on his throat to sit up. The man tried to scream, only my fingers were crushing his windpipe. We were both weakened by our slightly starved states, since we were slaves; but, my weakened state was quite a bit more powerful than his.

I still had my thumbs on my hands thankfully, so I easily dug it into the skin on his neck and squeezed. He choked and laid there, his hands fruitlessly trying to pull my hand away. He died of both blood loss and choking to death a minute later and I turned to look at the other slaves. I made a show of chewing on the chunk of the man's flesh in my mouth and pretended to swallow it as I pushed it into my cheek.

“Who's next?” I asked and grinned at them like the Hag used to smile.

Every single slave whimpered and shuffled back out of sight.

I looked down at the man I just killed and his clothing was in better shape than the worn pants I had on, even with the blood on them. I wasn't going to take them, though. The blood would cake and harden in a short time and they would be harder to move in than my own. Instead, I needed to make sure that the other slaves didn't get any ideas about me. I bent down to the mangled neck and hid my face from view as I spit out the chewed chunk of flesh and then made growling and chewing sounds.

There were a few more whimpers and the sound of someone almost throwing up. Whoever it was, caught it before it escaped and swallowed it again. They couldn't afford to lose food so recklessly.

I stayed there and pretended to eat while tearing up pieces of the body with my hands and burning them away. Thanks to the spells I knew, none of the slaves had any idea I was doing that. When I was done making a show of it, I crawled over to sit beside the wall of the hold. Most of the man's face and neck were now gone and I made satisfying sounds before I pretended to swallow loudly.

With my persona firmly established, I closed my eyes and used my vigilance technique to stay aware, even though I knew that none of them were going to approach me.