The Isle of Torment

by Andrew Hunter

“You’ve seen him? Is he all right?” Tanys demanded.

  Brynn raised his eyebrows and looked away as he sucked air through his teeth.

  “What?” Tanys said, her heart sinking, “What have they done to him?”

  Brynn sighed. “I really don’t know,” he said, “The dwarf lives, but…”

  “But what?”

  “You have to see it.” Brynn said.

  “Take me there now!” Tanys said.

  “All right,” Brynn said. He looked down at her breasts. “You want to get some clothes first?”

  “Fuck that!” she hissed, “Take me there now!”

  Chapter 8

  The Mirrormage lived in the deepest part of the ghast delve. The stone lifts only went down to a floor three levels above where Brynn claimed the sorcerer made his lair. They descended the remaining levels via a narrow, winding staircase that twisted through the black rock of the island’s core. At least it was warm. By the time they reached the lowest level, Brynn’s shirt hung open and damp, and Tanys’s nude body glistened with a sweaty sheen.

  The throbbing boom of some subterranean machine echoed through the black halls of the lower delve. Tanys brushed against one of the damp walls as they walked and she recoiled in horror. The wall crawled and undulated where she had touched it, and she cried out when she saw the thick coating of wriggling black worms that covered the stone. Brynn lifted his torch to the wall and watched in fascination as the worms scurried away from the flame and back again, just as swiftly, when he withdrew it.

  “What a shit hole!” Brynn said.

  “Let’s just get Jorva and get out of here,” Tanys shuddered.

  Brynn caught her arm with his free hand.

  She glared back at him.

  “Listen,” he said, “I told you I would help you find your friend, but you have to realize the… thing we are about to meet thinks of your dwarf as its own personal plaything.”

  “I don’t care,” Tanys whispered, “I’m not leaving without Jorva!”

  Brynn shook his head. “You don’t know what this thing is capable of!” he said, “Vriene is dangerous, but he makes sense in a fucked-up way… This thing… the Mirrormage… It will fill your stomach with needles if it even thinks you aren’t showing it enough respect!”

  Tanys’s skin crawled.

  “I’m not joking!” Brynn said, “This thing thinks of itself as some sort of god! It you treat it like one, it’s as harmless as a kitten, but, if you piss it off… Well, you do that, and I’ll kill you myself! It’s probably better than whatever it would do to you.”

  Tanys pried his fingers from her arm, watching the color return to the white fingerprints he left on her skin.

  “Understand?” he said.

  “I understand,” she answered.

  Brynn nodded. “Let’s go,” he sighed.

  A hot blast of air and a stench like a singed moth washed over them as they stepped through a great iron door that hung open on rusted hinges and entered the lair of the Mirrormage. Tanys did not see the creature at first. She was too overwhelmed by the sight of nearly a hundred man-sized glass cylinders that filled the enormous chamber, suspended from the dark ceiling by thick black chains. Within the hollow of each cylinder tank, some manner of man or beast hung suspended in a greenish and faintly glowing gel. Some of them had been flayed open, with metal probes and sutures still piercing their butterflied skins. Others had been dismembered with new limbs grafted on, not a few of which, it appeared, were taken from some other species altogether. Tanys cringed at the sight, feeling the bile rising in her throat. It was then that she noticed the movement of a person, clad entirely in black, hunched over a metal table in the center of the chamber.

  Her heart leapt in horror when she saw the motionless body of the tattooed dwarf, stretched upon the table.

  “Jorva!” she cried, rushing forward in spite of Brynn’s attempt to catch her arm.

  She staggered to a halt as the Mirrormage straightened his back and turned to face her. She saw her own face, distorted and full of fear, in the reflection of his polished face mask.

  “Jorva… That is his name, yes?” the Mirrormage croaked. His voice sounded thin and strained, as though he was unaccustomed to speaking aloud.

  “Yes,” Tanys said, her eyes falling to the dwarf’s chest that rose and fell slightly as he breathed in his sleep, “He’s still alive!”

  “Yes, of course he is,” the Mirrormage said, “Such a one as he… too precious to waste… valuable… no harm will come to him in my care.”

  Tanys’s eyes went from the mage to Jorva again. He seemed only to be resting, and, as far as she could tell, completely unharmed. As she watched though, faint wisps of light played across his naked flesh, flickering and fading away as though some subtle magic were slowly working its way into his body.

  Brynn caught up to her then. She winced when he grabbed a handful of her hair in his fist as he put his arm behind her back.

  “Greetings, Master,” Brynn sighed, forcing Tanys to join him in a respectful bow before releasing her.

  “Greetings, Beast-Lord,” the Mirrormage said, “I see that you have brought your student this time.” The mirrored mask tilted as he looked at Tanys again.

  “Ah, yes,” Brynn said, “You are, as always, correct. This is Tanys, a human faeblood who shows some promise.”

  “Odd that Vriene has let her live so long,” the Mirrormage said, “When do you think he will dispose of her?”

  “I cannot say, Master,” Brynn said, “Who can say what Master Vriene is thinking?”

  “Indeed,” the Mirrormage answered, laughing, “I find his madness refreshing… as unpredictable as the flow of Chaos itself. Still, I would like to question her briefly before she dies.”

  Tanys fought to control her rage, forcing herself to keep silent.

  “Certainly, Master,” Brynn said, “She is available for questioning now… if it pleases you.”

  “Excellent!” the Mirrormage said, straightening to his full height. He stood nearly a foot taller than Brynn, though Tanys guessed he weighed barely half as much. His thin body, wrapped in black leather, would create only the slightest resistance for a pair of ghast-wrought blades… if Tanys could ever get her hands on them again.

  “What do you wish to know… Master,” Tanys asked, trying to betray no emotion in her voice.

  “Where did you find the Spell-Bane?” the Mirrormage asked.

  “Jorva?” Tanys said, “I found him in the pits of troll slavers, far to the north.”

  “The north?” the Mirrormage said, “How far north?”

  Tanys shrugged. “My homeland lies at the edge of the Eternal Ice,” she answered, “Perhaps not far from your homeland as well.”

  The Mirrormage tented his long, gloved fingers in front of his mask, lost in thought for a moment. Then he raised one index finger and said, “This will be faster.”

  Before Tanys could resist, the Mirrormage leaned forward, seizing her by the shoulders with surprising speed and pressing the cold metal of his mask against her forehead.

  Tanys’s thoughts disappeared in the memory of swirling snow and bitter cold. Her body ached as she felt the slaver’s lash across her back, and she stumbled in the bloody snow. Then she was again in the frigid, stinking pits below the troll city, and Jorva was there too, tearing out the throat of the bear tribesman who had tried to take Tanys by force.

  Her thoughts lingered there for a moment, frozen in time, as the Mirrormage saw through her mind’s eye, studying the runic tattoos on the dwarf’s skin. Then, suddenly, she was on Cini’s ice ship, crumpling to the floor under the power of Cini’s dark spell, and Jorva was there, shrugging off the evil magic as he felled the sorceress with a flying kick.

  Then she felt the sting of warm sand on her naked skin as she looked out across the desert at night. “Where do you come from, Jorva?” she asked.

  Jorva shrugged his massive shoulders and grinned. “Jorva just Jorva,” he said, “Jorva go
places, some good, some bad. Jorva come from snow… Jorva come from sand… Don’t matter. Jorva just… here.” He smacked his broad chest with his palm as if that explained everything.

  “Interesting,” the Mirrormage said as he stepped back and let Tanys have her thoughts to herself again.

  Tanys gasped, clutching at the sides of her head. Her brain felt as if it had been split down the middle with a hatchet. She fell to her knees and vomited into a shallow trough that ran the length of the tiled walkway.

  Brynn knelt beside her and whispered, “Are you all right?”

  Tanys nodded, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.

  The Mirrormage had turned his back to them. He stood over Jorva’s unconscious form, running a gloved hand over the dwarf’s tattooed chest.

  “What…” Tanys groaned, getting to her feet again, “what are you going to do to him?”

  The Mirrormage did not look at her. “A fertile field… unsowed,” he whispered, tracing the runes on Jorva’s chest with his fingertip.

  “What are you going to do to him?” Tanys demanded, anger in her voice.

  Brynn tried to hush her, but she pushed him away.

  “Answer me!” she shouted.

  The mirrored mask swung to face her again. “Leave me now,” the Mirrormage hissed.

  Brynn clamped his hand over Tanys’s mouth and pulled her away. “Yes, Master!” he shouted over Tanys’s muffled cries.

  “Oh, and one more thing…” the Mirrormage rasped in a chilling tone that silenced both of them, “When the time comes to make your escape, come back here first. I will have him ready to leave by then.”

  Tanys and Brynn did not dare to breathe. They nodded together mutely as they backed slowly away from the thing in the mirrored mask.

  Chapter 9

  “Will he tell Vriene?” Tanys asked as soon as the door to her chamber closed behind them.

  Brynn looked sick, running his hand over his pallid face. He shook his head. “I think he wants us to escape,” he said.

  Tanys laughed.

  “You’re fucking laughing?” Brynn scoffed.

  “That’s the thing about your people,” Tanys said, “If you put two of them in a room together and come back to check on them a few minutes later, they’ll each have come up with a plan for betraying the other one.” She picked up the water jug from her table and drank away the taste of bile in her mouth.

  Brynn shook his head. “You’ve killed me… You know that, right? You’ve killed me.”

  Tanys set the jug down and wiped her lips, rubbing her face clean with the wetness on her palm. She walked over to the bed and lay down on her side, watching the beastmaster rub his chin. His eyes looked hollow and panicked.

  “Will Naietta’s… poisoning… pass, once we’re off the island?” Tanys asked. She arched her back as she stretched out on the bed.

  “What? Who?” Brynn asked.

  “The drugged girl,” Tanys said, “We’re taking her with us when we have Jorva… and the others.”

  “How many people do you think we’re taking with us when… if we go?”

  “If?” Tanys laughed, “We are going, and you’re in it now too. That makes… eight… no, nine.”

  “What?” Brynn’s eyes bulged.

  “Me, you, Ghodn, the sisters,” Tanys said, counting off on her fingers, “Jorva, Naietta, the Princess, and the boy who tends my room.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Brynn said. His voice was growing a little desperate.

  “Oh, and don’t forget we still have to find my daggers,” she said, “I imagine that I’ll need those before this is through… not that I’d leave without them anyway.”

  “The kid with no face?” Brynn gagged.

  Tanys nodded.

  “And don’t even think about the Zhadeen girl!” Brynn hissed, “She’s Vriene’s prize! I don’t know what he plans on doing with her, but she’s special somehow. You and me, I doubt he gives two fucks about, but her! There’s no chance he’d just let us go with her!”

  “Doesn’t matter if he’s dead,” Tanys said.

  Brynn looked as though someone had punched him in the balls.

  “You know we have to kill him to have any chance of getting away,” Tanys said, “He’s too dangerous. Vriene has to die first… before he can call his demon.”

  Brynn shook his head, mouthing the word No over and over again. At last he raised his hand, shaking his finger at her. “I’ll tell him everything!” he rasped, “I’m not dying for this… not for you!”

  Tanys sprung out of bed and shoved him against the wall, pinning him there with her nude body. His hand went to his axe, but she held his wrist. “Think about it!” she growled, “You run to Vriene and sell me out. Maybe he lets you live, but, while he’s having me fucked to death by a demon, I’m sure as hell gonna sell you out too!”

  “I haven’t done anything wrong!” Brynn said.

  Tanys shook her head, grinning savagely. “You’ve thought about it though… you’ve hid things from him, and he’ll know that. How’d you like it when your old master bent you over the table, little stableboy? What do you think Vriene and his pet demon will do to you this time?”

  “I’ll kill you myself,” he said, “I’ll…”

  Tanys silenced him with her lips, holding his tongue down with her own. Her fingers clawed at his clothing as she kissed him again and again.

  Brynn yanked the axe from his belt and shoved her away with his free hand, lifting the axe between them.

  Tanys smiled, licking her lips. She stood, facing him with her legs slightly apart. She lifted her chin and spread her hands, offering her breasts, unprotected, before his blade. She saw the emotions fighting for control behind his eyes.

  “Well, if you’re just going to kill me,” she said, “it seems a shame not to use me a little first.”

  Brynn winced, and then a quivering smile spread slowly across his lips. “I am so fucked,” he whispered, rolling his eyes upward.

  Tanys stepped forward, pushing his axe aside and started to undo the laces of his trousers.

  “Just promise me one thing,” he mumbled between kisses, “When this all goes horribly wrong somehow, and they catch us… just make sure you put a blade through my heart before Vriene can get me… I do not want to be fucked to death by a demon!”

  Tanys tore the shirt from his body and marched him over the bed. Throwing him down, she straddled his manhood and grinned. “I’m the only one that gets to fuck you now, boy!” she laughed.

  “That’s…” he started to say, but lost himself in a shuddering groan as she sank onto him and began her long, slow ride.

  Chapter 10

  “This is a purge,” Brynn whispered, laying a small bundle of herbs on the table beside Tanys’s face.

  She struggled to focus her eyes on the dry hunk of grass as she felt the first flutterings of orgasm stirring in her loins. Brynn’s cock slipped out once again as he lost his concentration, and Tanys cursed. Both glanced nervously toward the doorway at the far end of the storage room, but most of the beast handlers had grown tired of the show and wandered off. Only a few of the younger ones remained, but they had begun joking among themselves and passed a bottle of wine back and forth, only occasionally looking back to watch their master ravish the human girl.

  Tanys groaned as Brynn found his rhythm again. “What’s it do?” she gasped.

  “Makes you vomit… a lot,” Brynn whispered, driving deep inside her once again, “But it cures you of any poisoning in short order… useful when working with… certain fish.”

  “Will it… ahh,” Tanys sighed, pausing a moment as her body surrendered to a shivering wave of passion, “Will it cure Naietta?”

  “Don’t know…” Brynn grunted, his fingers dug into her hips as he came. “Might work… might not,” he added as he slowly pulled his glistening shaft from her body, “Crush it into water, and then have her drink it.”

  Tanys lay on the worktable for a m
oment, recovering. She palmed the bundle of herbs as she stood up. She stooped to pull her pants up, tucking the herbs in the waistband of her trousers as she tightened the cinch. “What about Ghodn?” she asked.

  Brynn laced up his fly and looked toward the doorway as the last of the spectators cleared off. “I’ll take him to the sea cave later,” he said, “He’ll be there waiting for us tomorrow night.”

  “We could use his help,” Tanys said as she pulled her shirt back on.

  Brynn shook his head. “I’m not risking him on this,” he said, “He doesn’t deserve to die with us if we fuck this up.”

  Tanys stepped forward and kissed him.

  Brynn grinned. “I was expecting some kind of argument,” he said.

  Tanys shook her head gently. “No… thank you for caring about him. Most people see him as just an animal.”

  Brynn looked away. “Yeah, well… I like animals better than most people.”

  “How long do the herbs you gave me take to work?” Tanys asked.

  “No more than half an hour usually,” Brynn said, “but who knows what they’ve given your friend to drink. It may not work at all.”

  “I’ll have to wait until we’re almost ready to go,” she said, “Once I’ve given her the drink, I’m not letting her out of my sight. We’ll have to bring her with us when we go for the others. I hope Jorva’s awake when we come for him. He’ll be glad to see that Naietta’s safe… and I’d like to have him when we face Vriene.”

  Brynn’s face darkened. “I still think we could make it out without having to fight him,” he said.

  “You want him alive and on our heels?” Tanys said, “We’re not going to be moving very fast with all these people. If there’s one thing that Jorva taught me, it’s not to leave any loose ends.”

  Brynn sighed as he belted on his axe.

  “Oh, have you found out where they’re keeping my daggers?” Tanys asked.

  “Probably the armory,” Brynn said, “but only Vriene and his chief bodyguard have the keys.”

  “What can we use for weapons without the keys?”

  Brynn patted his axe. “Plenty of boarding weapons… knives… and the stuff in the torture chambers… hammers and spikes and shit that’s good at cutting people up, but useless against real armor. The good stuff is all in Vriene’s armory.”