by Lance Wilson
Attonnan only sits there and waits for him to finish, enjoying the gentle touch of his master, the way his hands caringly work over his back. Then as a shock to the both of them there is a tap at the door.
“Enter lady Elana” lord Fuma says knowing that the hour is late in the mourning and that Attonnan should have been in her grasp a good time before now.
As he predicted it is the lady Elana who walks through the door. At the sight of her Attonnan shivers and flinches at her vary presence. Fuma smiles as well, yes he fears her, fears what she is going to do to him, but in time, before all this is done, he will fear no one. In time, it will be her that will fear him. Calmly he smiles and nods over to Elana.
“Is the young apprentice ready for his second lesson.” She says smiling over at Attonnan
“I am ready” he says, he was trying to sound strong, sound brave but his voice, it is only a whisper, the sound of his fear is as clear as day.
“I doubt it, but we shall see won’t we” she says and steps out the door but leaves it open for him to walk past her. She wants him in front so that she may watch him. Watch as with every step that he gets closer to her chambers how much stronger the fear will take hold of her.
As they walk through the ship, back to where he knows she will take him, back to where the pain will roll over him like a river, he can feel his legs become weak and his courage become less and less. He wonders what horrors will follow this trip, what she will do to him. His pace becomes slower and slower, that is until he feels her shove him making him move a bit faster. She has no patients for this. Today may not be as exiting as yesterday, but she does have plans, things she was told to prepare him for. Pains that he must learn to endure if lord Fuma is to be pleased with her. In no time they reach the door her door, black with a red handprint. As he enters he sees that the room although it is the same it, she had done some work to it. There are chains now and the bed has been replaced with a kind of dummy, at least that is the only thing he can think of calling it. It is a post about a head, maybe two taller then him, and then smaller posts sticking out of it in all different places and angles.
“Today I think we shall start with something simple and work our way up. What do you think” she asks him shutting the door behind them both.
Attonnan cannot bring himself to answer; he only looks at his device wondering what it is and what it will be used for.
“Let me demonstrate shall I, give me your finger” she says her gaze is now cold and stern.
Attonnan knows that she is his teacher now and that he must do as she tells him. Taking a deep breath he gives her his hand, her touch is gentle and soft. As she gently grips his index finger, she gives him a soft gentle smile and then, then pulls hard on his finger. There is a quick pop sound and a sharp stabbing pain all over his hand. Without being able to control himself he screams out and cries from the pain. Slowly Elana examines the finger, she has done her job, and the bone is dislocated but not broken. She has found throughout all of her years that dislocating it usually causes more pain then breaking it. Attonnan goes to pull his hand back but she has a firm grip on it. She moves on to his middle finger. Like the last there is a quick pop sound followed by pain. Again Attonnan screams in pain… . his whole hand burns now like it is on fire, he can even feel it moving up his arm. Tears roll down his face like water. Then the ring finger, more pain, more screaming, the pinky, the pain moves past his hand it burns all the way down to his elbow. His hand trebles as she checks all the fingers over; they are not broken, only dislocated. Attonnan knows what he must do, he must move beyond this, but the pain, it burns and pierces through him.
“Go to the post over there, stand against it, your back too it” Elana says smiling. She knows she will be able to get some kind of fun out of this. Sure it won’t be the torture that yesterday was, but still she should be able to get a bit of fun out of all this.
Attonnan, still trembling goes over and then post with all the smaller post comes out of it. Slowly he turns around and backs himself against the post. He feels one under each arm, and one between his legs. Once he is in position Elana slowly walks up to him and smiles. Slowly she walks over and gently lets her finger trace over his cheek. He then walks over to a table and grabs a few leather straps. She then walks over and pushes him closer to the post, she then places his arm against one of the other posts sticking out but then moves it up slightly so that the post only is against the upper arm, there is nothing against his arm past the elbow. She then takes the leather strap and wraps it around both is arm and the post, just at the bicep. She feels his whole body trembles at her touch. He fears her, as he rightly should. Gently she lets her hand move down his chest. Attonnan only begins to breath deeply. Something is about to happen, she is about to hurt him. But he must focus, he must move past the pain that is about to come. Her hand moves slowly past his chest, to his shoulder, then to the elbow. She moves her hand feeling the elbow. She feels the skin, the muscle, all the tendons and all that makes it bend and moves. Firmly she puts a hand just below the elbow, and the other just above it. Her grip is firm and instantly Attonnan knows that this is the moment, here comes the pain. She bends the elbow here and there as if she is testing it. Attonnan feels her press it hard against the post, he can anticipate what is about to happen, and he can beat this. Just like all the other times, there is a quickly pop and then, then a rush of burning pain. A pain that starts at the elbow, runs all the way back to the joints in his hand flashing back their pain, and then all the way to the shoulder. Smiling she takes off the leather strap and grabs is other arm. And straps it down just as she did the other one. Then without any foreplay this time there is another quick pop, and more furious pain flashing all though his arms. Tears flow down his cheeks as Attonnan screams out his pain. Elana enjoys the screams but only shakes her head with a sigh, if he is trying to block the pain he is not trying that hard.
“You did so well yesterday, and yet this pain is nothing to that.” She says with a sweet but disappointed voice.
She then walks over to the table and takes off of it a larger leather strap. Smiling she wraps it around his chest. Once she is sure that he is secure she unwraps the strap from his arm and then slowly drops to one knee. With both hands she gently begins to move her hands down his leg. Then, slowly back up it. Attonnan only focuses on the pain running up and down his arms. He has to focus on it, has to beat it. The pain is like fire running through his veins. Even the wounds on his back that were healed are not actually starting to tingle again, he is sure that not much more of this and he will feel them as well. He has to think, he has to focus. He has to beat this. He feels her start to flex and move the knee. So that is her next point of pain. Taking a deep breath he focuses. Again there is a quick pop and pain rushes though his leg, and hip. The pain rushes through him and he wants to scream, but no. This time he only grunts. Even if tears are running like small streams of water down his face he will not give her the pleasure of screaming. As he stands there, helpless a pawn to her whims he hears her chuckle. He feels her move on to the other leg, she is moving faster now, each joint coming quicker. He can guess why as well, the more time that passes between punishments the more time he has to let the pain ease before the next. Another quick pop… . his whole body trembles and it takes everything in him to stifle the scream. But he does, he will not cry out for her. Not anymore. The tingling in his back has begun to move into more of a slight burning sensation, the kind where your not sure if you should worry or not, but you know it hurts. The leather strap around his chest keeps him steady, keeps him from putting weight on his now disabled legs. Smiling she moves down the leg to the ankle, now this is a tricky one. She lets her hands move over the ankle feeling the tendons, the Achilles tendon is the tricky one, if one dislocates these bones wrong it will rip the tendon and render him useless and she would pay dearly for that from lord Fuma. She gently lets her fingers move over everything carefully
she has to feel this out carefully. Once she is sure that the knows how to continue she trips the upper part of the ankle and the other hand on the foot, then, like all the others he pops the rip of pain, this time the pain is hard, fiercer. It rips through him like a title wave of fire. His whole body trembles, Attonnan clinches his eyes shut, he can’t help but let out a whimper. Elana smiles, she is surprised at how well he is dealing with the pain. She moves to the other ankle. Lets her hands feel over the tendons and bones. Yes, it is just like the last one. Another quick pop and another title wave of pain. Attonnan keeps his eyes shut, his teeth bared now, another whimper of pain escapes him. Gently she moves back up leg. This time her hands stop at the hip. She has to keep this going, keep the pain coming for him. Dislocated bones cause a great deal of pain at first, but then only move on to a dull ach after. She wants the intense pain to keep going. The dull ach is not what she was training him to hold, anyone can hold that. With a quick forceful tug she manages to pull the bone from the hip joint. Attonnan lets out another weak whimper but no screams. She is impressed. Quickly without loosing her pace she moves to the next leg… another forceful tug and it too is pulled out of place. She smiles at him, his whole body is trembling, all of his body feels like it is on fire. Like his vary veins are filled with hot molten lava. The wounds on his back are not starting to scream out in there own pain now. They were healed; at least the surface, but now, now he’s not so sure. It feels like every cut has been ripped open again. He faintly feels her hands moving over his body, this time it is moving up. She moves over his hip, stomach and chest tell she is once again at the arms. He feels her hands gently move over shoulder, he can’t seem to stop his body from trembling. Gently she feels the shoulder, feeling out the muscles and joints. Quickly she grips around the armpit with one hand, then the arm with the other. Just like the legs she gives it a quick pull and there is a pop. Attonnan braces himself as it happens. So much of him wants to scream out, scream out and just release the pain with the scream. Quickly she moves to the other shoulder, there is no reason to feel it out; she knows how it works from feeling the last one. Then. She braces him just like the last time. Then with a quick tug the bone is pulled out. Pulled loose from the socket. Attonnan’s whole body is now just one pulsating nerve of pain. As all of it running through him, Elana smiles and looks at her work. All of the joints she could have worked over are dislocated but not broken. Sure she could have worked the toes but that wouldn’t do much. She lets the hot intense pain wash over him. It will only take a few moments and then it will be replaces with a dull ache and she can talk to him again. She is a bit surprised at how well he handled it. But then again like she told him, the pain yesterday was a lot more intense. She watches closely as his breathing goes from a fast, raged and intense breathing to a slow steady pace. She then walks back over to him and smiles. It is time to cause some more pain. She slowly reaches out and grips the arm; it hangs at his side loosely, completely of no use to him now. Attonnan growls at the pain and glares at her, fire in his eyes. This is training that much he understands, but she is enjoying this. One day, one day when he stands at lord Fuma’s side, he will make her pay. An hour of pain for every second of pain she caused him. Elana sees the fire in his eyes and only smiles at him, then without breaking the stare she twists and pushes on his arm, there is another quick pop, she has just put it back into place. Attonnan feels the pain rip though his arm once again, but it is short and quick, followed but the rushing coolness of relief the arm is back where it should be. Elana moves over to the other arm, pulls it out, and then shoves it back into place. Attonnan can only keep his eyes tightly shut as the pain rip through him. Tears once again creep out, and he grunts in his pain, but he will not scream, not for her, not for her ever again. Elana smiles, he is beyond the pain right now, conquering it. But that is only the first step. She knows that before they reach their destination he will not only become beyond the pain, but he will find the peace that lies deep in it. But for now being beyond it is enough. She moves down and begins to pop all the bones back into place. She listens to the grunts and growls of Attonnan, but this is no longer fun, he no longer screams for her. Instead his strength has turned this more into a tedious chore. Mindlessly moving over his body she pops all the bones back into place, the arms, legs, ankles, and the fingers, all of them. Attonnan can feel the tedium in her actions, she is done with him, that means the lesson is over and once again he has beaten her. Beaten her game of pain. Once she is done with him she undoes the strap holding him to the post. Attonnan moves only a step before he falls flat on his face, hitting the cold wood floor below him. His body has been one tense muscle for too long, he is too tired, to weak, at first his anger his pain kept him moving, kept him thinking. Now, now that it is all over he feels the strain his body has endured. He is tired and he can no longer keep his mind focused, he cans barely keep his own eyes open. He hears her chuckle above him. She finds this funny, how dare she, one day, when he is at Fuma’s side, his lieutenant, the right hand of the demon lord, he shall show her what he will find funny. Elana claps her hand twice and soon the door open and a Hojo clansmen walks into the room.
“Take our young apprentice to lord Fuma’s room” she says and smiles at the clansmen.
The clansman only nods not saying a word and then bends down throwing Attonnan over his shoulder.
The clansman walks up the stairs tell he comes to a bright red door with a black hand on it. With his knuckles still holding Attonnan he taps on the door, but there is no response. Carefully he tries to open the door. The handle gives with ease and the door opens wide. The room is simple, no real decoration, slowly the clansmen lies him down in the bed and then gently lays the covers over him. His job done he leaves the room and tends to his other duties. Once in the bed with the covers lay on top of him Attonnan lets sleep over take him. Falling deep into a peaceful sleep, with thoughts of revenge on Elana for his lullaby. Elana walks out of the room into her own personal quarters and looks in the mirror over her dresser. She looks a fright. She must get cleaned up and presentable. It is the new moon and she must be ready for lord Fuma. The new moon they always meet and spend the night, it is the one night of the month that she is allowed to bask in his glory and shadow. She has known him since she was only a little girl and he himself was only an apprentice in Vivec. But he grew stronger, created and honed the skills of the Hojo clan. Became one of the most powerful lords, and then he called for her. Her and many of her sisters (slave girls) called them forward and showed them the meaning and mysteries behind pain. Turned them all into the ebony hand. The bringers of pain and hell to those that he felt needed it. And now, now that she is strong, she only wished to be worthy of him. He gives her a day a month to her. But she is one of only a select few. Fuma shares his bed with no one; he is not a fickle man. Occasionally he has taken one of his apprentices to his bed, bringing them deeper into his grasp, but that is work, and plans, not pleasure. And it has never affected his time with any of his women. A smile on her face she walks over to a large basin that has been filled with warm water due to her instructions earlier. She strips off her cloths and lies in it. Letting the water wash over her. Her mind thinking of how her lord will touch her; send pleasures up and down her body, they will take each other, there will be howls of ecstasy, they will claw, there will be blood, but she has learned that the fine line between pain and pleasure can be faded and at times, disappear completely. She feels herself tremble in anticipation of the night. She will be ready for him. She will make sure that when he sets his sights on her this evening that he will hunger for her as much as she already does for him.
Attonnan awakes hours later in the soft bed making him forget what has happened to him, as it has before. There is another weight in the bed and slowly he rolls on his side to find that it is lord Fuma sitting on the other side, his hand gently stroking Attonnan’s hair.
“My lord, I did not know you where here, forgive me” Attonnan says closing
his eyes enjoying his lords touch.
Fuma does not reply at first. Instead he reaches down and like the last time he pulls the covers off to examine what has been done to him, and what it will take to heal. He smiles to see that today it was not bad, dislocation. All around the joints the skin is a deep purple and he is sure that it is tender. He has not received his report from Elana on Attonnan’s progress, but he is not worried. He knows already Attonnan has passed this test as well. Something in his gut tells him it. Fuma slowly reaches over to the side table and pulls a small jar with a salve in it. It is the same salve he used when the back was torn, blistered and ripped.
“This will sting” Fuma says and dips two of his fingers into the salve.
He then gently puts the fingers to one of the bruises on his shoulder. Then with a both firm and tender touch he begins to rum the salve into the skin. He feels Attonnan’s body tense up, the flesh is tender, but he doesn’t hear him squeal, or even grunt in pain. Attonnan feels the touch of his lord, and at first the vary lightest of touches on his bruised and tender flesh makes him wince, but soon he feels the pain wash away and become replaces with a heating sensation. Like a soft fire has been ignited in his shoulder. He relaxes and lets his lord and master move his way over the shoulder, his touch firm, gripping, but with all the care and tenderness of the father he never had, the father he always wanted Feff to be. Fuma moves his way over the body, rubbing the salve into each area, first the back areas, shoulders, hips ankles wrists, then he has him roll over and smiles to see Attonnan blush and turn his head so he does not look at him. Fuma moves his hands over Attonnan’s firm porcelain white body, and rubs the salve into each of the burses that moved there way to the front, shoulder, hip, legs, ankles, wrists, and then gently takes Attonnan’s hand and begins to rub the salve into his fingers. He knows that the heating sensation that is now working its way all over his body will sooth the muscles and again make him drowsy. There will be no need for a sleeping potion like he thought there might. Once all the bruises have been tended to he smiles and pulls the covers back over Attonnan. He watches with a smile as Attonnan pulls his pillow close and rolls on his side. His eyes already closed, sleep already knocking at his door. Fuma only lies back at Attonnan’s side and lets his fingers run though his hair.