Back in Time Ch. 13

A cock slapped his face and Eldan's stomach churned when the slimy tip of the head was pressed against his lips.

"Open those lips, beauty!" ordered the man, but Eldan refused and tried desperately to avoid the cock. The man was getting angry and suddenly Eldan felt a crushing slap against his face. The blow was so strong that he cried out and everything around him started to spin. In a daze, he felt the grip of the strong fingers tighten, forcing him to open his jaws. The slimy cock was forced in his mouth and the man moaned, "So you like it rough, huh?".

Eldan gagged when the tip entered his throat. As the shaft started to move in and out of his suspended mouth he tried to bite it, but just as he thought to do it the man gripped his face harder, the cock retreated, and another blow landed on his face. This time Eldan couldn't stay on his knees and he hit the floor in an awkward heap.

"If you even think of biting again, I'll make you watch how I fuck and kill that pregnant bitch you so cherish and then I'll rape your ass!" the man hissed, and snatching Eldan's hair, forced him back on his knees. The cock was pushed against his lips again and he knew that the man would hurt the Healer if he resisted.

Eldan opened his mouth and the man plunged his cock into it and started fucking him. Everything in him rebelled against the act. He felt so sick that he was afraid that he'd vomit, and he knew that the man wouldn't take it kindly.

The man was moaning, voicing his pleasure, "I knew that you were born to suck cocks, just as I saw you. You are so..."

"And who told you, Ibrael, that you can use my slave to suck your cock?"

The melodious voice Eldan so well remembered washed over him, and for one insane moment he felt almost happy to hear it.

The man whose shaft was in his mouth froze. Eldan could swear that the flesh buried in his throat shrank. In a split second the repulsive thing fled from his mouth and he fell to the floor gasping for air and trying not to swallow the pre-cum coating his tonsils. He vomited and the bitter taste of his stomach juices washed away the disgusting taste he so loathed.

"Lord Arder, I was..." began the man who just a moment ago was raping his mouth. Eldan managed to lift his bleary eyes to the stuttering man. The man tucked his glistening cock back in his pants in an attempt to hide his deeds, and looked like he wanted to run. Arder looked furious.

The Lord stepped ahead and Eldan again felt the crushing mind blow that not so long ago had been delivered to him. He felt his heart beating in his throat when his body remembered the terrible nightmare of Lord Arder's mind control.

He clutched his head crying like a child and expecting torture before he realized that this time Arder's mind wasn't directed at him. He was feeling just the side effects of the punishment the Lord was giving to his attendant. Ibrael was writhing on the floor, screaming under the crushing mental blows. Eldan shivered when he realized that Arder had strength beyond anything he had ever imagined.

Suddenly the torture stopped and the Lord spoke calmly, as though he was asking for a cup of water, "Next time you disobey my orders, Ibrael, I'll send you to the war lines. You would have still been in prison if I hadn't asked for your services here – remember that!"

Ibrael managed to squeak, "Yes, my Lord. This won't happen again."

At some sign from Lord Arder that Eldan couldn't see, the wolves lifted Eldan from the floor. Someone wiped his face with a clean cloth, then he was carried after the Lord.

They passed many corridors lit with the strange lights Eldan had seen on the ship that captured him and his people. They reached a shiny door that opened by sliding apart from some invisible force and his bearers stood him on the stone floor. The room was brightly lit by enormous windows but it was cool and pleasant. Nothing was felt of the crushing heat from the outside that Eldan had encountered.

He could tell some transparent thing kept the windows covered for the heat but not for the light. Eldan was so mesmerized by the view of those enormous, floor-to-high-ceiling windows that for a moment he could forget the menacing presence of the Lord.

Then he looked around and noticed that the chamber had well-polished stone walls made by giant blocks of rock and only a little furniture. A big bed on a high stand was covered with some kind of hides Eldan hadn't seen before and he didn't know from what animals they came. Other than the bed, there was just a big table and a massive chair that Lord Arder now sat on.

The wolves brought a tray with a jar and cups made from the same transparent thing that covered the windows, and inside the jar there was some sparkling red liquid.

Then the wolves left the chamber and Eldan was alone with the Lord.

He braced himself for some new torture and looked anxiously at the tall man watching him with icy blue eyes.

Somehow Lord Arder seemed saddened yet Eldan couldn't imagine why he had that feeling. From what he had seen so far these people were monsters.

Suddenly Lord Arder spoke, "Is that what we look like in the other's minds? Brutal, vicious monsters?"

Eldan's pulse quickened in fear that his thoughts would bring him another punishment. He didn't want to be tortured anymore. He hated the weak and fearful feeling Arder had planted in him.

"Don't be afraid. I'm not into men like some of the Darians here," Arder told him.

Eldan felt a horrible burden being lifted off his shoulders. Then another thought crossed his mind before he could suppress it. 'What if he is not telling the truth?' He couldn't tell with this man what was right and what was wrong - his mind was like a rock wall.

Lord Arder smirked, "Of course you can't tell, Eldan. Your mind, although quite advanced for a savage, can't read me if I don't want you to. So you have to rely on my word."

Again came that creepy smile that Eldan had come to recognize as a prelude to violence. The smile faded a little and Arder just shook his head. He waved at the cups and the jar on the table. "Pour a glass of wine."

Eldan wasn't sure what a glass was, then a sudden thought that wasn't his own crossed his brain and the knowledge of what glass is was practically ingrained in his head. Another thought brought him the knowledge of what wine is.

He blinked, reached carefully for the glass cup, poured the wine, and handed it to Arder. The Lord took the glass and sipped, still watching him like he could see something unseen.

"You know, I don't have any feelings towards your kind. I'm just doing my duties here," said Lord Arder, putting the glass on the table surface and standing. He towered a head over Eldan and it made Eldan feel even more vulnerable.

"You think me a monster, but I am sure that if your people were threatened by an enemy and what you were doing could ensure their survival, you wouldn't behave differently than I." Arder went to one part of the wall that Eldan thought to be a stone and touched it, making it slide aside and revealing a hidden space lit with the same kind of lights as the corridors.

"You are here because I don't trust you to be put in the mine with your people," continued the Lord as he searched for something in the hiding space. "Your mind is too strong, and I am sure that after the initial shock wears off you will start looking for an escape..." Arder turned his head and Eldan could see that same smile and he knew that the Lord was right. He would have tried everything to set his people free.

Arder took up something that looked like leather coils and again touched the wall, causing the cover of the hidden cache to close.

"However, your presence here can be very beneficial for me personally." Again that melodious voice sounded in his head and Eldan decided that this was something Arder was doing intentionally.

The Lord smirked, "Just some glamour, Eldan." He uncoiled the leather strap and lashed it in the air. "You can't be put in the mines because you will cause a mutiny, and you are a valuable hostage for now, so I can use you for something I love!"

The whip swung again and bit his thigh. Eldan shrieked from the pain and barely managed to stay on his feet.

"Kneel!" The command was spoken lowly, but he knew that if he disobeyed now he would be nothing but a dead body. He knelt on the stone floor feeling so weak for bending under the mad man.

"I love pain," purred Lord Arder, and Eldan was sure that the man was insane. 'Who in his right mind would love pain?'

The leather whip began systematically lashing his back, over and over. Eldan wasn't sure in which moment he started crying and begging for mercy. His knees gave out and he landed on the floor, rolling on his stomach and trying to avoid the whip.

Time seemed to stop for him, suspending him in some eternal hell of never-ending pain and hopelessness. At one point his mind started to detach and drift, and Eldan realized that the whip never landed twice on the same place, and that despite the pain, the blows could have been much more debilitating from a man with Arder's strength.

The Lord was breathing heavily and Eldan turned his head to look at him. Arder's eyes were glassy just as when he had tortured him before his people, and he was biting his lips in something that resembled pleasure.

When the blows ended Eldan was afraid to move, so he just laid there hoping that the man would leave him to die.

Gentle hands touched his back. Eldan winced at the pain, but the hands soothed his wounds with some salve and he felt the pain start to subside. He was helped to stand up and the Lord looked at him, extremely pleased.

"You did remarkably well for your first time, priest," praised Lord Arder with a gesture at the bed. "You may rest on the floor now until I have time to bring you pain again."

Eldan almost fainted at the idea of another whipping . He felt nauseated just at the thought of it.

His misery seemed to bring even more satisfaction to the insane man who smiled broadly, "I don't know what I love more, my savage priest. Your smell or your mind projecting your feelings, both are so sweet that I think I'll keep you around as long as possible."

With that, Eldan was left in the room alone, and when the door slid shut after the Lord he realized what had just happened. Arder had just fucked with his mind.

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Around midday they reached the sealed cave where Hasdiel had hidden his scout ship. They had spent the morning walking in a brisk tempo and Isabel was too short of breath to talk. She had plenty of questions that she wanted to ask – the Darians fascinated her no less than the Neanderthals – but she didn't want to waste the time it would take to rest and talk. Besides, she already knew the basics.

Lugnar didn't look tired at all. He was walking, with his wrists still bound in front of him, like he was on a picnic and even the slight burn on his pale skin didn't seem to bother him.

Hasdiel pointed at a pile of rocks and shrubs that Isabel would have never guessed could be an entrance to a cave.

Lugnar whistled, "Good idea, Hasdiel! You have used rocks with a high content of quartz!" He seemed impressed and threw an approving look at the former technician.

Hasdiel ignored him and instead started to remove the stones. Lugnar sat on a rock nearby and again beamed at her with his patent smile, "Shall we sit, my Lady, until Hasdiel is ready?"

Hasdiel looked like he wanted to smash Lugnar's head with the big stone he was moving but Isabel just shook her head and he calmed down.

"Excellent control you have over one of the Lower Caste, my Lady, for someone who is not raised as a Noble," said Lugnar sarcastically.

"What, after failing to harass Hasdiel, now you are trying your luck on me, Lugnar?" she puffed, and leaned on a rock, trying to give her feet some rest. "And please refrain from sounding so superior to Hasdiel. Darians may have castes, but we are all equal here," she declared and smiled assurance at Hasdiel.

"Is this what you are preaching?" Lugnar asked, honestly aghast at her statement.

"No, this is what I believe. We are all equal. And when I say we, I also mean the Neanderthals and the werewolves!" she snapped back, starting to feel annoyed with his Darian superiority.

"Is this so?" he snorted. "Then if we are all as equal as you say, why does Hasdiel have a weaker mind than you?" He leered at the craftsman who hadn't stopped working.

"Everyone is created differently, with different abilities and biology, but our souls are all the same in the eyes of God, Lugnar." Isabel tried to sound patient.

"My lovely Isabel, don't tell me that a woman like you believes in the male driven mass hallucinations that the common sheeple call religion!" exclaimed Lugnar, crossing his arms and laughing at her reddening face.

"Why? Is believing in the idea of Empire and Emperor a less male driven hallucination? Or maybe the Nobles are too much sheeple to realize that they are following a model of political structure that sooner or later will lead them to mass destruction of the hallucination they believe in?" She knew that she was playing dirty but she was beyond polite manners at this point.

He quirked his eyebrows, "You make a point. But without a figure that unites the common masses the destruction is inevitable. With an Emperor and functioning Empire we have a chance to prevent that future. "

"Is this so?" Isabel realized that she hadn't had a discussion like this since she graduated the University, sparring with someone opinionated who was trying to find her weak spots and exploit them for his uses.

"Then why is your Empire in that War and you are on the losing side when you have all these wonderful things you so cherish?" she continued, "and why are you the one who is wearing the pure iron manacles after your own buddies backstabbed you and left you to the werewolves?"

Lugnar cast her an agitated look. "Emperor Arkiel was mad! But before him we had Emperors that built the Empire and made us what we are today! Emperor Ragnar was the one that showed to all the known species that the Empire means stability and prosperity. What we are doing now is trying to heal the wounds that Arkiel inflicted!" he hissed back and uncrossed his arms, starting to show signs of agitation.

"And speaking of failures, my dear girl, why are you here dressed in animal skins and eating half cooked game when you come from a society which obviously reached a level of civilization that probably can rival my own?" he sneered.

Isabel stayed silent, and he continued, sensing that she didn't want to talk about that, "And the strange energy reading that we detected months ago is what brought you here, on this primitive planet – am I right? Have your people invented long distance teleportation and some technical malfunction stranded you here? That's why you stick with the locals, isn't it? Not because you are so enthralled with their cocks!" he spat the last word, clenching his fists.

He was obviously going to go on with his wrangling, however Hasdiel made a startled sound and they both turned to see what was happening.

A rockslide had started. The bushes that had grown in the years since Hasdiel had piled up the stones had made the pile unstable, and now that the lower plat had been removed the whole pile was becoming one mini tsunami about to happen.

The first stone hit the ground next to her as Isabel was staring astounded at the coming stone disaster; they couldn't run, there was no time.

Lugnar broke out in a vicious curse, and before she could think of any action to take he smashed the manacles he was wearing against the nearest rock, breaking the iron ties and causing open wounds on his skin, but in the second the iron fell from his hands the deep gashes disappeared.

Isabel felt how his whole power was unleashed like a tidal wave around her.

The falling stones froze in the air, some of them inches above her head and others many feet over the ground. Lugnar looked completely transfixed with his effort and he carefully threw away the stone blocks using his telekinetic ability to control objects. She could feel how his mind worked, and now she could see with her inner sight that he had a silver halo around his head.

'Do I also have this aura when I am using my abilities?' she wondered, still too shocked to even be afraid.

She glanced questioningly at Hasdiel's mind but he hadn't noticed the halo.

Lugnar cleared all the stones and then turned to look at her. Something powerful emerged around him and Isabel wasn't sure what it was, but she admired it. The halo faded leaving just a slight trace behind.

"I was working on unknotting my manacles since you tied them loose in front of me..." he grinned and Isabel couldn't stop her own smile.

"That's why you kept me distracted with the discussions we had, so I wouldn't notice that something is happening," She was really impressed how he had managed it.

Lugnar gave her his boyish smile. "In part, yes. But I really enjoyed our philosophical debate, Isabel. Most Noble Ladies are so boring, and none of them will ever think like you. Besides, I was quite curious about you and the place you came from," he confessed.

Their eyes met and for a single second his mind touched her mind shield but without any aggressive thought. She was still able to read him and he knew it.

He stepped forward and gave her a polite bow. "Allow me to introduce myself properly, my Lady. I'm Lugnar, a mad scientist, a beginner sociopath, and currently Head Scientist in absentia of Eridu Mining Base," Lugnar uttered playfully, and Isabel couldn't stop from giggling. So, Darian Nobles had some sense of humor after all.

Then he became serious, "I want to apologize for insulting you, Isabel. At some level I agree with you that the Empire we have is not the best way to run things, but it's better than the chaos that will be unleashed if the Empire falls."

She nodded. "I also want to apologize for insulting you and your state. My government is no less in dire straits than yours in handling things..."

He looked surprised, "How so?"

She hesitated, but after the latest events she didn't think that what she was about to say would reveal too much. "I learnt from Hasdiel that at present the Darian Empire is not only at War with the alien enemy but within itself. Your Emperor doesn't have the blood rights that will unify the Lords and you are in a quiet civil war..."

Lugnar sighed as he mentally agreed with her.

"But know that we are in a not dissimilar civil war than you – and in some ways much more terrible. We, I mean my civilization, have evolved in a different way than yours; in some ways on the path opposite to you. Not so long ago we had a political system very similar to your own with centralized feudal monarchies but we changed. Now you have extreme central power; we have democracy where the leaders are voted from the people, and laws that ensure we all have our civil rights and religious freedom. But..." she brushed her hair aside, "democracy is not just a word ...its meaning is vast...

"Our norms of liberalism have led us to what some of the members of my society call mental disorder... In following the law and protecting the rights of the individual, we have reached to such extremities that we are practically destroying what we hope to protect. We afford criminals and foreign aliens more liberties then ordinary citizens have. From people that rely only on themselves, we have become a welfare nation. And I'm not talking only about Europe, but about America too. We kowtow, give billions of aid and kiss the hands of people who are not part of our civilization and who hate our guts. We enforce, in the name of twisted liberal ideas, that we are all equal, but the truth is that these people don't think us equal. They think us stupid for giving them what they want and for using our own wealth to breed and to plot our own destruction..." she stopped, noticing the stare on Lugnar's face.