Hellcatstrut
139 Posts
"Your mediocrity is no concern of mine," Mijhael said dryly. "It is my responsibility to tell you what to expect. If you don't want to be in the cells, you will be out collecting other drakiri to bring them back. If it proves that your pelt is worth more than your time, you will be brought back here and harvested on a stricter schedule. You have no scales, your teeth are not terribly impressive, neither are your horns. They may take them once, but no more than that."
He straightened up and snapped his fingers. Two primals--both black as pitch--stepped out of the shadows and approached to stand on either side of Kedryzal, their massive shoulders practically touching from either side of him as humans came maneuvered between their legs to unchain Kedryzal's legs.
"They will escort you to the subfloor where harvesting takes place," Mijhael said. "If you're as cooperative with the folks down there as you were with me, you shouldn't expect them to hurt you."
The Risker turned away from Kedryzal then and went to stand beside Icarus, though he did not touch the kainu just yet. He was certain the smaller drakiri would collapse in fear if he tried, and that would only make his life more difficult.
The primals escorted Kedryzal across the warehouse to one of the double doors that led to a staircase beyond. They had to wait for the doors to be opened, walking together down the stairs with one primal in front of Kedryzal and the other behind, keeping a steady pace without rushing. They didn't say a word, they didn't have to. They were efficient enough without having to speak to one another and fell into step side by side as they reached the landing for the subfloor.
When the doors opened, they were greeted by a wide hallway--nearly an open space unto itself--with enough room for several drakiri to move about freely. On either side, there were concrete rooms with arches over the entrances, no doors or curtains, and in each there were drakiri of every shape and size. A golden kelpie with vivid purple scales was stretched out on a portable table with a team of humans in pale blue gowns hovering over her. Two of them lifted a scale away from her body and set it on a tray while another human began using a small blade to cut away under the scales on her shoulders. The kelpie's eyes were halfway open, but glazed over and unfocused--she didn't so much as flinch.
On the opposite side of the hallway, a black komakha with an impressive, vibrant blue swirled pattern on his scales lashed out with her back legs, upending the table that had been set up in the stall and sending surgical tools clattering to the floor and spilling out into the hallway. The primals led Kedryzal around the mess, heads down as they continued on without so much as acknowledgeing the komakha as she was dragged to the ground and pinned by truly massive mutt.
The primals stopped only once they reached an empty stall to the right, standing in stoic silence as they waited for the drakiri to step forward into the empty concrete space.
Hellcatstrut
139 Posts
Elessara walked into the harvesting room. She hated this place, it made her sad... but her presence helped the poor Drakiri that suffered here. He walked gently into the room where Ked was, letting out a soft and gentle greeting to rouse him... to take his pain, to help keep him calm... and possibly assist Esperanza in healing. She was fully capable of healing herself, she was surprisingly powerful. But Esperanza seemed to want to be the only healer, though she couldn't fathom why. She did her best to relieve what pain she could
Hellcatstrut
139 Posts
The nightmares would last well after the humans had finished their task and left Kedryzal lying on the ground on a steril cloth pad. He was entirely without skin, horns and even his whiskers had been taken. His claws were gone, his mane and the fur on his tail had been harvested, and even his teeth had been removed.
Across the hall, the kainu named Icarus had suffered the same fate, though his harvesting took more time as they had to take care with the removal of his scales. He had watched the entire process of removing Kedryzal's skin and horns, flinching at the sound of the buzz saw, nauseated by the smell of blood and flesh. By the time the humans had moved to his own stall, he trembled so hard they had to use magic to still him so they could find a vein to inject the anesthesia.
The most recently harvested drakiri would lay unconscious until their healer could come through and rouse them, holding the pain at bay.
PeachmintTea
17 Posts
It was unnerving walking through the subfloor. While Ked would have liked to observe and examine each room, he was feeling a chill that he couldn't quite place. It was oddly getting stronger as he continued on. He soon realized that the chill was from the room his own body was.
At first, he honestly thought the chill was the fact he's seeing what was happening to his body. He was quite wrong. He stepped back upon seeing the black smoke solidify into a creature with vague edges. He could only stare as he tried to understand what was happening. During his vague horror, he realized that the creature seemed to be feeding off of him. Just as he started to move to the creature to stop it, a weight slammed on him, pushing him through the floor.
He did not see what it was that pushed him through only that he hit a ground hard. Somewhere during the descent, he dropped his anthro and drakiri's form. Struggling to get up in his real form, he looked around. The area was pretty devoided of anything interesting or worthwhile except for...
"Binary?"
Binary was another starbeast like Kedryzal, but her expression was cold. This terrified Ked since he had no idea what her expression meant. Then, she spoke. Her voice echoed the dark area of her disappointment, anger, and distrust.
Unable to counter her, Ked forced his frozen body to run. Binary was faster, immediately appearing in front of him. He turned heels to avoid crashing into her and ran in a different direction as he tried to ignore her voice. Several more times, she appeared in front of him, forcing him to change direction.
A sudden weight landed on Ked, nearly crushing him to the ground. "Stop running around, Red. You look like a directionless proton," Binary spat out. "Can you feel it? Your energy weakening? You can't even force me off."
Indeed, he felt weak. He had been feeling weaker by the hour... or however long time passed here. Instead of tiredness in response to loosing energy, he simply feel more fear. How long will this go on?
Hellcatstrut
139 Posts
As Kedryzal stepped through the doors that led farther into the subfloor, he would smell the metallic tang of blood on the air--not much, but enough. He would pass stall after stall where drakiri lay on sterile bedding, stretched out or sitting up with their heads low, eyes unfocused but still open. Not a one wore their skins, they were hornless, some missing ears and eyes entirely. They did not stir as Kedryzal passed, they would not have stirred if the warehouse itself had caught fire.
The scent of magic lay heavy in the cold basement floor, an oppressive feeling that would set the fur standing on end and cause rippling shudders the longer one stayed there. It grew stronger as Kedryzal approached the stall where his waking body lay.
Four humans worked efficiently to remove the skin from the drakiri's body where they had rested it on a large table, stage lights beaming down from above like spotlights. The lights gleamed on the startlingly white tendons and thin subcutaneous fat that was revealed by the skin being pulled back.
Not a single one of the humans seemed to notice when a shape shimmered into existence above the drakiri, a black, whispy smoke that thickened and shaped itself into a long-limbed, half-formed creature. The vague, almost fuzzy edged shape of horns emerged from its head as it looked down at Kedryzal. It placed long arms on either side of the drakiri's body and opened its jaws impossibly wide.
Whisps of essence that looked not unlike the shimmering air above hot asphalt lifted from Kedryzal into the creature's oustretched mouth, and after no more than a second, the indistinct shape of enormous wings burst out from the shadow creature's back. The wings shuddered and shook as the creature let out a mewling sound while it fed, jaws stretching wider still in its clear excitement.
As it fed and became stronger, Kedryzal would be thrust into yet more dreams, the lapse in control banished.
PeachmintTea
17 Posts
Kedryzal did not register the pain he was in. He wasn't aware of any reality except his own mind. The nightmare ended dreadfully with him seeing his own star exploding in front of him. All that fear had snapped like tension on a rope. All he saw was pieces of his own star scattered. The vast coldness of space and darkness were all that was left.
His own body was cold to touch and barely breathing in response to his dreadful nightmare. He was not roused by Elessara at all.
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