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The Last Remnant © Square Einx

Ruthas, Clayton, Damascus, Blaine, and Hex © Abdul

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The day was going good for the group. They had just bagged their latest capture and had gotten a decently good price for the beast. It was enough to keep them going for at least a week, but that was far from good enough. Ruthas knew that if they could easily take down a beast of that size, then they were going to be A rank soon enough! Unfortunately the guild had no other monsters for his team to track down. Apparently this area had been thriving with hunters and all the other marks had been taken. After some cross words with the guild manager he made his way out and to his group.

The gray Qsiti sighed and looked at his band of misfits. His entire group was made up of Qsiti with different experiences. Some were mercenaries, others were retired from the army, and yet others only had experiences with trapping animals. There was Clayton, the healer of their group, who wore a sleeveless robe with a hood. Damascus was their magical support and he wore a sleeveless chain mail vest with a mace on his back that was used to beat up any monsters who managed to get close to him. Blaine was their dual wielder and was covered completely with plate armor and had a helmet that covered his entire face. His two steel swords were strapped on his sides. Fnally there was Hex who was the sneakiest of them all and dressed in a sleeveless black shirt. He had only a dagger on his person, but that could easily fool anyone into getting too close to him in combat. All of them, save Blaine, had light brown scales covering their bodies as was common for Qsiti.

Ruthas sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Well, no more marks team. The guild is fresh out of tasks."

He had been prepared for the loud groans that followed.

"I told you." Damascus said. "We should have taken a second one once we were here."

"Well, what do we do now? Just head out somewhere else?" Blaine asked. "If they are fresh out it'll take time for the monsters to spread back down here."

"But if we leave then if the monsters do return, then we'll miss them. Besides, wouldn't the other hunters leave if there is nothing here. We stay and we start getting first dibs and with us being the only ones in town we'll drive up a monopoly!" Hex stated eagerly.

"Yet if we stay there could be quite some time before the monsters do come. It'll be a dry period. Then we'll be the ones who are desperate for work and we'll face the guild who will lower the prices considerably." Clayton said with a sigh. "It's a risky bet either way."

Ruthas frowned, "So who wants to stay and wait it out, and who votes to head out?"

Clayton, Damascus, and Blaine voted for heading out and Hex just snorted, crossing his arms, "Oh yeah, just leave with this golden opportunity?"

Ruthas nodded, "Well we'll have to catch a caravan then. Let's head out then team."

Although Hex grumbled he still headed out with them nonetheless. The path to the caravans was a bit of a distance out from town, though the cool breeze and sunny day was by far the best weather one could ask for as a hunter. The line for the caravans were... well long. It seemed all the other hunts in the area had the same idea to leave. Hex of course groaned at the sight, "We should just stay here, look at everyone leaving! Like I said, a monopoly!"

"Shut it Hex." Damascus grumbled. "We are not staying."

"Just saying..." Hex grumbled as he crossed his arms with a frown.

A lot of the hunters waiting were of course Yama. They were the toughest out of all the races and their physical bulk allowed them to wield weapons like war hammers and battle axes that would cause other races a bit of difficulty to wield. Qsiti were rather rare to see as hunters, and although their group would usually get many stares from other hunters they had managed to gain quite a reputation in the guild these past few days.

The basic view of Qsiti only groups was simple. They died. A lot. Qsiti could join up with groups of course, but they were usually sought out as magical support for the team. Someone one in essence to heal the bulky Yama or to fight flying enemies with magic. Ruthas had heard a lot about Qsiti only groups who would boldly set out and maybe have a lucky streak at the beginning taking down a mark or two. Whatever the cause would be, they would become full of themselves and figure they could take down much higher marks... and they wouldn't be heard from again. It was a common sight in that sort of situation to find the corpses of the Qsiti party in the lair of the mark.

In fact the only reason that Ruthas' party had not fallen to a similar fate was the fact that Ruthas was not only a former general, but also due to his unique talent. A talent that only those in his group knew about. Still, he wasn't ashamed to use his ability. As the hunter's creed stated, use everything to your advantage. A good hunt meant that a hunter would find all sorts of ways to kill off the beast, even if it was indirectly. As long as you took down the beast then it didn't matter how you finished it off. In fact many times he would be approached and asked just what his team's secret was. He would chuckle and say it was a team secret. There would even be times where aspiring Qsiti would approach their team for a chance to try and join their team, but for the most part Ruthas was selective in who would come on the team, it was only due to Hex's consistent pleadings that he was on the team after all.

"But-"

"No more buts lad. You head off now and don't bother anyone else."

Ruthas' thoughts were interrupted and he had to step a bit out of the line to see a Mitra boy walking away from a fully armored Yama. Lucky for him he managed to spy a rather familiar suit of armor in front of them.

"Sampson, is that you?" Ruthas asked.

The Yama turned about, lifting up his helmet and to reveal his battle scarred face and beamed down at Marc. "Well, if it isn't Ruthas! Heading out of town too huh? Usually I'm good with picking up such signals, but I guess I was a bit late on getting out this time."

The Qsiti smiled weakly, "I suppose so. Say, did you hear that argument up front? Who is that Mitra child?"

At that Sampson snorted, "That's Erik. He's trying to recruit some hunters yet again for his wild goose chase."

"Wild goose chase?" Asked Ruthas. "What do you mean?"

Sampson grinned, "Well, in case you haven't heart, the town has some sort of myth, something to bring in the tourists you know? Apparently there exists some sort of creature in the ruins to the north of the city. I'm sure you've seen it, that old house you know. Apparently in that tower lives a creature who masquerades as a man. He wears a suit of flesh and lures travelers into his keep.

Once inside the doors seal themselves and there is only one way out, to find the creature and slay it. The house is full of traps that are used to capture those that travel inside. It is said the creature is a lonely one and so whenever he captures an outsider he keeps them alive as long as possible to indulge in their company and once his house is empty of guests he seeks out more.

Every year the doors will open in the hopes that more guests will visit him and keep him away from his loneliness."

"And Erik has something to do with that?" Ruthas asked.

"Yeah, the kid claims to have entered the house and managed to escape from the creature. It's just a wild goose chase though."

"Why do you say that?" Hex asked as he peeked over Ruthas' shoulder. "It sounds like a reason to explore it."

"Because, he recruited my team last time we were in town. We went there, and nothing but dust and cobwebs and empty, moldy rooms." Sampson grumbled. "Don't bother with it Ruthas, it's a waste of time. Anyways the team and I are heading out to Athlum, heard there is a surge going over there. If you ever make it there look us up. The Qsiti up there need to see what it takes to make a B rank team anyway right?" He asked with a chuckle.

"True and thank you for the information Sampson." Ruthas said with a nod. As he turned to talk to the others, he already noticed that Hex was gone. In fact the Qsiti had was next to Erik chatting with the Mitra. Ruthas couldn't help but let out a loud groan and facepalmed. "Who didn't look after Hex?" He asked with a strained voice.

The others squirmed a bit, looking away from Ruthas just as Hex came back. "Ruthas! I was talk-"

"Yes, I know Hex." He said with a tense voice. "What exactly did you tell him?"

"Oh, I was just asking him about what he saw. He saw the creature in the house and it looked like some sort of very very thin Mitra. It turned to look at him and he ran out." Hex grinned, "It could be cool to check out am I right?"

The others just stared at him. "You didn't promise him anything did you?" Ruthas asked again.

"Uh... what do you mean by promise?"

Ruthas let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead with his hands.

Clayton shook his head, "Hex, you do know that Ruthas is the leader do you not? He makes our decisions. Period."

Hex huffed and crossed his arms, "But we are a team, which means we all contribute."

"Yes... but on marks I accept." Ruthas groaned. "We can't stay for this, we need to get moving and find a good mark, one that is actually real and can get us some cash."

Hex stamped his foot down, "You let the others choose marks as well!"

"Because we have been in the team for far longer and we know which marks look good enough for us and even then we double check with Ruthas to at least check to see if he thinks it's a good mark to go for. We don't just accept a job and go out all willy nilly." Clayton countered with a hard frown.

"Well I would know that if someone let me try taking marks now wouldn't I?" Hex asked with a huff. "Why can't we at least try it? See if something maybe has moved in? It's entirely possible you know." Hex said. "You recruited me for a reason, let me show it now!"

Ruthas cocked his head, "Hm... alright. Fine. We'll check it out."

Everyone else let out loud groans.

Damascus stamped his foot down, "If we miss the caravan now it'll be a good four days we'll miss. Four days of hunting marks and getting some cash."

"You heard me Damascus. We'll scout out Hex's job and see if it leads to anything. And in return if it is nothing he'll be forking over half of every single pay for the next month to the group pay, right?" Ruthas asked.

Hex paled and chuckled lightly, rubbing the back of his head, "Hehe... yeah, of course!"

"Good, let's head out then. Anything else the kid said?" Ruthas asked.

"No, just that it was in the house." Hex replied.

"Good, now then if we head out now we can arrive at evening."

The others in the group groaned once more, and there were several glares given to Hex. Still, if they could have half of Hex's pay, then they were willing to at least give the place a try. As they left the caravan wagons arrived, but it was doubtful they would be back in enough time anyways. In fact, the caravan would be back in three days, which would mean three days of no hunting, of no gathering marks, and of no gaining income.

Even though the others talked angrily about Hex behind his back the Qsiti still stood up tall. It was like him to stick up for his unique ideas even if they were likely to cause him some trouble. It was another reason why Ruthas took him under his wing. He saw potential in Hex, but that Qsiti was squandering away all of his talent. Right now his teachings were having no effects, but he knew he would eventually break Hex's bad habits.

Even though the Qsiti were going a average walking pace by the time they wound up at the abandoned house it was already approaching evening. The moon was starting to appear and the sky was glowing a bright orange shimmer. The house looked like it was at least a hundred years old as there was lots of moss growing on the outside and there were loose bricks missing from places here and there. They would have to be careful inside less a wall collapse and cause some serious injuries.

"Alright... once we head in we'll see what we can find. If there is a monster to slay, great. If it's something big and rare then all the more money to have been made. If there is nothing... as I said, there will be consequences Hex." Ruthas made sure to narrow his eyes to let his threat sink in for Hex. "Be careful, this place is old. Be on the lookout for decaying wood or passages that could collapse. I don't want any bones broken due to negligence, got it?"

"Of course, we're always careful." Damascus stated with a small smile. "We know well enough to get away from dangerous situations."

"Good. Let's head in and be prepared for insects I would imagine. They love inhabiting abandoned areas." Ruthas led on to the doors and pushed them open... or would have if the doors weren't sealed shut.

He pushed a bit more then sighed, "Blaine, get these doors open."

"Rodger." The normally silent Qsiti replied as he headed on over and pressed his armored body against the doors, grunting loudly. He stepped back after his efforts proved fruitless, cocking his head. He walked back a bit and then ran right at the door, aiming his shoulder to slam against the wood that thankfully burst apart the doors.

Blaine ended up sprawling down unto the floor, but he quickly recovered and pulled out his two short swords. The others followed him in, looking about at the cobweb covered corners and mold that had spread all over the floors and walls. They had entered into a large hallway that had an equally large staircase leading up to the second floor. There were four hallways on the first floor, two to each side that led off into darkness.

"Alright, we'll split into two groups. Blaine, head out with Damascus and Clayton. You'll be in charge. Hex you'll be with me. Hex and I will scout out the second floor and you three check out the first floor."

"Rodger sir!" Blaine said with a nod. Without another word he pointed off to one of the hallways on the left and went down it.

As Clayton and Damascus left with him Ruthas already began leading Hex up the stairs. "So then, how big did the kid say it was?"

"Just the size of a adult Mitra." Said Hex. The young Qsiti glanced about in the darkness. "Hm... will there be any lights in here sir?"

"Depends. If it gets too dark we'll have to use the glow orb I have. Should last long enough for a decent exploration." The two arrived on the floor and noticed there was only one hallway leading out. "You set point Hex. I'll be right behind you." Ruthas readied his white staff and Hex drew out his dagger. "Yeah... sure." With that Hex led down the hallway at a slow pace.

Meanwhile on the ground floor the two magic users followed behind Blaine, eyeing the walls as they passed. "Hm... no more colors on the walls... " Damascus remarked.

The further they went the darker it got so Clayton had to conjure up a glowing sphere that floated above the three. Blaine just led the two, not speaking and instead focusing on looking for trouble. Eventually the three started seeing doors pop up along the hallway and Blaine wasted no time in pushing them open, swords at the ready. For the most part there was nothing in the rooms. Every so often they would find a lone piece of furniture such as a bed or even a nightstand where the wood was so rotten that even so much as touching it would cause it collapse in on itself.

The only sound for a good long while was the clinking of Blaine's plate armor. There were no insects to fight, no wildlife, not even bandits who might be poking around in the house. In essence this was the worst kind of hunt one could go on. Still, the three wanted to maintain some form of hope so after searching the five rooms in the first hallway they made their way back out and into a second hallway, hoping in vain to feel some adrenaline pumping. What they got instead were moldy clothes and a very irritating stench in what was presumably the kitchen.

After the three quickly evacuated the kitchen Clayton's temper showed itself. "Dammit! Just dammit!" The healer snapped. "That is it! Rooms upon rooms of nothing! Stupid Hex! Just... dammit!" He kicked his foot against the wall in anger. "We better get some damn hight paying marks. I just want to get as much of his cash as possible just to rub it right in his face!"

Blaine silently watched the healer's tirade and Damascus shook his head. "It's just another wild chase I say. Let's head back to the stairs. If we haven't found anything yet then odds are that Ruthas and Hex are waiting there already."

Blain just shrugged and turned to head back to the stairs and he stopped. Damascus and Clayton also stopped where they were as they saw a tall shape standing in the hallway, a bit of a distance away so that they could only identify the being as a Mitra but unable to see his face.

Blaine raised his two swords silently, his eyes narrowing under the helmet. Damascus tightened his grip on his own staff and called out to the Mitra, "Hello there? Where did you come from?"

The Mitra was silent for a moment, "I live here..." He answered in a gruff voice.

Claytone blinked in surprise, his anger now gone. "You do...? This house is abandoned though."

"No... it isn't..." The Mitra answered. "Still... I haven't had visitors in quite some time... such... lovely looking boys you all are." Slowly the Mitra began to walk toward the three.

Blaine stepped up as well, his swords held out with a clear message directed at the Mitra.

"You Mitra don't know much do you?" Damascus said. "We're not boys."

"Oh... but you look so appealing... such lovely figures you have." The Mitra chuckled a bit.

Blaine puffed out his chest, "You step closer... and I will strike out." He said with a firm and very serious tone.

One last step was all Blaine needed to have his excuse. With that step the Qsiti ran at the tormentor and raised his two swords, plunging them right into the Mitra's gut. Instead of a cry of pain or of a flinch the Mitra just stared down at Blaine. In one instant Blaine's sword were pushed out of the man's body. Sweat began to drip down the warrior's face and he shakily stepped back.

With a chuckle the Mitra's skin began to peel off. The three Qsiti's eyes widened and before Blain could back away anymore a gray tendril whipped out and wrapped around his chest, easily lifting the Qsiti up into the air. Two more tendrils whipped out with one easily grabbing hold of Damascus and the other barely missing a ducking Clayton. Clayton rolled away and watched as his two companions were lifted up, their arms pinned as well to prevent any sort of squirming. Clayton just knew from a quick glance that there was nothing he could do. Either he could try and fight... with throwing healing spells at this monster, or he could find Ruthas and Hex. Clayton made a dash past the monster and down the hallway, not stopping until he made it to the stairs and ran up as fast as he could. He wasn't the most athletic Qsiti, but he knew from experience that time was important in such situations.

As that was happening Ruthas and Hex were heading back to the stairs. There was only dust and mold in the rooms they had explored which had caused Hex to squirm a bit. They had been on their way to meet down with the others, but as Ruthas heard Clayton's shouting he quickened his pace, running in the direction of the voice and seeing the healer at the top of the stairs, gasping heavily. "Clayton? Where are the others?"

"T-The..." The healer gasped and coughed.

Ruthas frowned, "Gather your breath Clayton. Breathe..."

Clayton frantically nodded his head, taking in a few deep breaths, "T-The creature, we found it!"

Hex smiled, "You did!?"

Clayton let out a stray cough. "It grabbed the others... it was some creature. It had tentacles... it grabbed them and I ran."

Ruthas rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. "Where did you see it Clayton?"

The healer silently pointed down at the the hallway they had been in. "It... it was growing a bit, it just lifted Blaine so easily!"

"Calm down Clayton." Ruthas snapped his blue eyes starting to glow slightly causing the healer to flinch.

"I-I'm sorry Ruthas." Clayton stammered out.

The glow faded down and Ruthas glanced at Hex, "Once Clayton has recovered we'll head down and find them. We have to move carefully, no rushing or such. We rush then we end up getting caught in a dangerous situation."

As soon as Clayton had gathered his breath the three Qsiti headed on back down again. When they reached the spot Clayton had been at, the two other Qsiti were no where to be found, though Damascus' staff and one of the Blaine's swords were just laying on the ground. Blaine wouldn't let go of his precious weapons unless something had forcibly wrenched them from his hands.

"Hm... Clayton, did you see where this creature came from?"

Clayton shook his head wearily. "One minute we had come out of the kitchen and we turned to head back to the stairs and it was standing in the doorway."

Ruthas nodded, "Alright let's look among the walls and floor then. Also look at all of the rooms that are before the kitchen. There could be a trapdoor around here, or a hidden room somewhere."

The three made sure to stay together, checking along the walls and floor as they moved to the staircase, but saw no distinguishing marks or scraps anywhere. They then checked in the rooms, making sure to have Clayton make his ball of light shine brightly so that not one inch lay in the darkness. They went along all of the rooms and still found nothing.

Ruthas was starting to get a bit anxious at this point. Where were his men? Where had this creature taken them? Was it going to eat them?

Ruthas cast one glance in the room and had them all walk back out. "Hm... where could it have taken them? We've seen the entire house..."

Clayton hung his head, "I should have stayed... I should have fought it off..."

Ruthas shook his head, "It wasn't your fault Clayton. Now then... did it say what it would have wanted with them?"

Clayton groaned, "It... it said something about how lovely we looked and how appealing our bodies were."

Ruthas nodded slowly, "Hm... doesn't sound like death threats to me..."

Hex nodded as well, "Just because it wasn't in this hallway doesn't mean the other hallways are empty. Maybe in one of the other ones it has that secret switch and what not?"

Clayton shook his head, "Think Hex! If it had gone into different hallways it would have passed by the stairs. I would have seen it, you two would have seen it. Though... why didn't it come for us as well? It saw me escape, and you two would have been easy pickings as well... why only take a few of us and not the rest? It was talking so it was intelligent enough, doesn't it know if it left us here then we would seek help or such?"

"Maybe..." Ruthas closed his eyes and crossed his arms, "Hm... it could be that is how it works. We didn't believe Erik... so no one would believe us. No worrying about that right now. Hm... what about the ceiling?" He opened his eyes again and gazed up. "Do you think some of these panels could push up?"

Clayton shrugged, "Maybe?"

"If they push up... then that could be how it got behind you guys. If you checked the rooms along here, then it could move from a room upstairs down here once you were done, and if we had been checking the same rooms up stairs, then it could move down to hide from us. It would also explain how it managed to disappear from this hallway without coming out to the stairs. We were so busy hurrying down here that it just moved up to the second floor when we rushed down. Let's head up to the second floor then. There has to be some sort of switch or hidden door up there, right?" Clayton smirked, "We have it. Let's keep close and be prepared for anything."

Once more the trio headed up and scouted out the hallway. It was Hex who discovered the line along a wall in one of the rooms. Both sides were very worn down, but he could barely make out different shades of paint. Their initial attempts to open the door proved fruitless as they couldn't get a good grip on the frame and there was no handle to aid them, so they opted to try and break through the wood.

Unlike the rest of the house though where the wood easily caved in, this one section of the wall was much harder to push past. In fact when Clayton attempted to cut through it with a dagger the knife ended up hitting against something metal. Luckily the wood was easily to cut through and pull off from the metal. Underneath it was metal... but at the same time it was something so... strange Ruthas had to say.

There was a metal door, but there was no handle, no way to push it open or such. There was some sort of pad there with numbers written on it. Ruthas was not sure what this sort of pad was... it looked one could press on the numbers, but that couldn't be right. What sort of pad could have numbers that would be pressed? And why press such numbers?

There were four red lines situated above the numbers so Ruthas cautiously tapped on the red line, but nothing happened. Well, he doubted those numbers would bite off his fingers so he pressed one, looking on in awe as the same number appeared on the first red line. He tapped in three other numbers randomly and the line disappeared for a second before a loud beep was heard. The red line appeared again and Ruthas decided to press a different combination of numbers, though the same beep was heard and the machine reset.

Machines were a very rare sight indeed. Ruthas only saw them in places like the Academy and that was it. They were only used by professionals and based on what he heard it took years upon years to learn how to operate one. Still, he pressed on, typing in random number sequences at first, then adopting a pattern. He started with the number one and tried all sorts of combinations. Then he went on to the number two, still going on and on. Clayton and Hex could only watch from the side for now, but Ruthas hit a lucky break. At the combination of 3-2-4-5 a soft beep emanated from the door.

Ruthas stepped back as the metal door slide along the wood revealing a metal interior with a staircase leading down. Ruthas held up his staff and slowly made his way down followed by Hex and Clayton. Unlike the house where they needed the light sphere to navigate, the inside of the staircase was lit well enough by strange glowing bulbs. Ruthas had tried touching one but it burned him, so he decided that touching another wasn't the best idea in the world. Finally the three reached the bottom and found another door there. Instead of a pad... there was nothing to open it, though when Ruthas approached the door opened up of its own accord. He didn't see anyone else on the other side and once the three of them had crossed across it the door closed behind them.

Ruthas led them on down a well lit metal hallway. So far they had yet to run into the creature, and there were no turns along the way. Just a straight path that led to a black door. Like the other it opened when they got close enough to it. The three walked into a very large room that had two doors leading out. After a bit of debate the three headed down the left door and headed down yet another hallway. What really made Ruthas uneasy was how quiet the whole place was. Back in the house at least the rotting wood made creaking noises. The sound of wind even blowing through the house made him at ease. This... this just spooked him out. It wasn't natural. None of this was!

Finally they reached the end of the hallway, but were blocked by a gray door. It looked far thicker than the others in the area. Unlike the other doors though this one did not open as they approached. Initially Ruthas checked to see if there was some sort of keyhole or number pad, but there was no way to get into the room.

The three would have left to check out the other door they left behind but then they heard something behind the door. Ruthas frowned as he heard it again. It was... a scream?

Hex put a ear to the door, concentrating and then stood back. "There is someone back there! I heard a muffled scream."

"It could be the others then!" Clayton said eagerly. He hopped eagerly on his two feet, "Think about it! There is no one else there, the creature must have put them in there!"

The healer began to bang on the door, "Damascus! Blaine! We're here! We're gonna get you out!" He shouted loudly.

"Clayton." Ruthas said firmly. "Keep your voice down. We don't know where this creature is hiding. We need the element of surprise."

Clayton put his head against the door, "But... they are right here."

"I know." Ruthas put his hand on Clayton's shoulder. "Just relax, we'll get them out soon. First we need to find a way to get to them. There should be something that can open this door."

Ruthas peered more closely at the door, puzzled as to what opened it. "Huh... what will open it?"

He would have tried inspecting the door more... if it wasn't for the lights starting to flicker suddenly. The three glanced up at the bright lights and for a second the hallway went completely dark, and after that second the three saw a figure on the other end of the hallway. From the shape alone Ruthas could tell that the figure was a Mitra.

Clayton instinctively froze up at the sight as Hex readied his dagger. The figure was silent for a moment, then it began to approach very slowly.

"Such... lovely figures. So attractive... you will be fine."

Ruthas frowned at the strange creature, "We know what you are. Where are our comrades? What have you done with them?"

The creature giggled a bit, "They are being... prepared..."

"Prepared for what?" Ruthas asked warily.

The creature giggled a bit more, "You'll be there as well. You'll find out all about it."

Clayton murmured to himself as he casts a physical protection spell on the others and Ruthas could feel the shield surround his skin, ready to take a few blows for him.

"Come at us then creature. We will kill you."

The figure suddenly let its head hang back at an unnatural angle and crackling laughter escaped it's open mouth. "You think... you can kill me? I am not here to kill... but to enlighten."

"Enlighten?" Ruthas asked.

"Hehe... you shall find out lovely one." With that the creature began to shed its disguise. Slowly the skin peeled off and fell to the ground like some sort of discarded suit. Out from the suit stood up a very tall creature. It had very long limbs that stretched out so that they could touch both walls of the hallway. It rose up so that it now was high above the Qsiti with a very skinny body. There was a shuddering near its sides as four new arms pulled free from the body, two on each side. It had to hunch over as its body became too tall for the hallway. The creature only had two eyes on its face that shined with black pupils.

Clayton took another step back to ensure he could cast safely and Hex ran right at the creature with a battle cry. He twirled his knife once and stabbed it ring in one of the creature's arms.

There was no scream of pain or even a flinch. The creature glanced down without any pain in its eyes. In fact, it looked curiously at the knife. Hex staggered back as the creature nonchalantly raised its hand to stare at the weapon before wiggling its hand a bit causing the knife to fall out of it and onto the floor. Instead of blood gray substance began to drip out for a few seconds before the wound closed up quickly.

"Hm... no pain... now, feel enlightenment." Despite its strange appearance that would indicate a sluggish movement two of its hands whipped out at blinding speeds to grab hold of Hex's wrists, spreading his arms wide apart and lifted him up into the air.

Hex yelped and quickly began to thrash in mid air while Clayton sent out a Spark to hit into the creature. Yet again the attack did nothing to phase the creature as it raised an additional two hands that moved in toward Hex.

Ruthas sent out another Spark that hit right into the creature's leg, but yet it focused keenly on Hex. Both hands moved closer and closer, then changed course. The hands moved so that they were right against Hex's armpits and the fingers began to... tickle Hex?

The fingers moved up and down along the soft skin of Hex's armpits and Hex's eyes went wide with surprise. Quickly he clamped his mouth shut, but the fingers continues to rub against the armpits, now with one hand sticking out two fingers and moving them about in a circle along the sensitive area. Hex's lower lip trembled a bit more, but when the fingers hit the very center of his armpits he could no longer hold it. Hex burst loudly into his laughter, desperately trying to pull free of the restraining hands, but the creature proved to be too strong for that. In fact the creatures pulled the arms even further away from his body, leaving his pits wide and open to torment. Hex's laughter quickly turned to squeals as the last pair of arms moved toward him with one hand lifting up his shirt and the other running all over his stomach.

Ruthas shoted out as many sparks as he could at the creature, but no matter where he aimed them the creature didn't even show a hint of pain. All it was occupied with was tickling Hex as mercilessly as possible. With the constant wiggling of fingers along his sweet spots Hex soon began to tear up and sob as well. The creature's fingers flicked faster and faster along his skin, with the hands near his stomach now moving up his shirt to tickle his ribs and sides.

Ruthas had been purposefully kept away from his caustic blast spell due to it springing up in a targeted area and hitting all in it. Not only would it hit the creature but it would also potentially hit Hex, and unlike the creature he wasn't immune to pain. But still... it seemed to their only hope now. Ruthas began to channel his spell as all the while Hex's squeals grew louder and louder. An embarrassing blush formed over Hex's face as he was humiliated right in front of his comrades. The trapped Qsiti squirmed and thrashed and squealed like a young Qsiti.

Ruthas' blue eyes flashed as he finished his channeling and pointed out the staff right at the monster. The ground underneath the creature bubbled dangerously as acid began to form. More and more acid was conjured underneath it and finally so much had gathered that it shot up and sprayed along the creature's legs. For the first time the creature actually let out what could be considered a cry of pain. Its legs buckled underneath it as the gray skin was hit by the acid. Some of the skin peeled off and feel into the acid, but the creature quickly moved out of the pool, letting out one last scream. Its hands had stopped tickling Hex, and its eyes were now trained right on Ruthas with brimming hatred.

The creature's legs shuddered as a new layer of skin burst out and began to form back over its burnt areas. Seeing the anger in the creature's eyes caused Ruthas to take a cautious step back as he readied himself. His eyes began to glow blue as he looked up at the creature, trying to get it to look right into his eyes. Instead two tentacles burst out from the creature's torso and whipped out at the two Qsiti, wrapping them up snugly and lifting them up into the air. With their arms pinned all Clayton and Ruthas could do was kick their legs in a desperate attempt to break free.

The creature seemed satisfied that they were no longer in a position to be able to shoot acid at it, so it turned its attention back to the whimpering Hex. As it moved its hands back to his body Hex cracked. "NO! Please! No more! Stop!" He begged frantically.

The creature paused for a bit, but then moved its hands right to his pits and resumed the fluttering of its fingers. Likewise the other pair of hands disappeared yet again under the shit to torment his stomach. Hex was quick to start bubbling with laughter, squirming about instinctively as the hands explored his body. For the net few minutes the creature indulged in touching Hex all over. The hands were so effective in fact that Hex could feel less and less air making it to his lungs and black spots began to appear in his vision. He was pretty sure that he was about to pass out, but then the creature's tickling stopped. Hex gasped heavily for air and let out relieved sobs that the torture had ended.

For a few seconds he was allowed to relax... and then out of the corner of his eyes he could see those dreaded fingers moving back toward him. "NO! DON'T! I'LL DO ANYTHING!" Hex sobbed out. "PLEASE! MERCY!" Tears leaked out of his eyes as he cried right there. The creature, however, wasn't looking for mercy as it spent another few minutes tickling the poor Qsiti.

Ruthas and Clayton were only able to watch as Hex was driven to a point of desperation. He screamed and squealed for the creature and this time when he was approaching an unconscious state the creature led him right into it. With one last sob Hex's head fell forward as he blacked out. The creature withdrew it's hands from his body and slowly lowered him to the ground to let him rest on his back. With Hex out of the picture its eyes turned to Ruthas with a bit of anger still left in them.

Ruthas narrowed his eyes, calculating when to let his power out. his wrists were grabbed and pulled apart as wide as they could be. The creature's eyes shined a bit as they keyed in on Ruthas' now exposed pits. Ruthas had to make sure to get the creature's gaze to meet his own though. His eyes began to shine with that blue glow once more. "Hey big guy, why not look me in the eyes?" He asked with a cocky tone. Most of the time simply talking to one of the many animals the group encountered in their hunts would cause it to look right at Ruthas and fall to his gaze. This creature was smarter however.

As Ruthas laid down his challenge the beast snorted and turned its head away. When the fist hit him in the back of his head, Ruthas had honestly not been expecting it. All he had felt was a great amount of pain that caused his vision to teeter a bit. The second punch caused him to black out.

As Ruthas' senses slowly came back to him he was aware of loud sounds around him. His mind was still slow with the waking up though and as he opened his eyes he could make out the walls in the room. He was also aware that he was standing up. Groggily he tried to move away from the wall, but his wrists had been raised above his head and were held to the wall thanks to some sort of clamp. His brain cleared up a bit more and the sounds around him made more of an impression in his mind. It was... laughter. The shapes before his eyes cleared up slowly. He had to blink a bit, but he finally managed to see where he was.

He was in a rather large room. The room itself was shaped like a pentagon with one 'wall' actually being the door. His head was free to move around so Ruthas quickly scanned the room. The rest of his companions were here, all with their hands restrained above their heads and their screaming laughter to keep them company. The creature wasn't in the room... instead floating gray hands were busy with the others. There was only one pair of hands with each Qsiti, but they were in different spots. He spied Blaine on one of the walls, completely devoid of his armor, having a pair of hands tickling along his black scales. Hex and Clayton likewise had hands fluttering along their upper body. Damascus had the two hands moving along under his vest tickling his stomach and sides.

Ruthas glanced about, wondering if he had been spared simply because he was knocked out. It looked like the beast did have some bit of compassion after all. He knew he had to help his comrades, but first he had to figure out how to get these restraints open. He stood up on the tips of his feet to push as much of his wrists through the shackles as possible. He tried to bend his fingers down to feel the metal but unfortunately he could only feel the very edge of his restraints. He tried to stand up a bit higher, but couldn't feel any sort of keyhole. How did one open restraints without a key!?

After a few seconds of trying to feel for a mechanism he lowered himself and gazed about at the others. Blaine, Hex, and Damascus were in tears while Clayton seemed to be approaching a similar state. Even though he looked all over the room Ruthas' hope began to die as he saw there were no air vents. No mirrors. No weak walls. It was a perfect holding cell, there was even an absence of pipes to climb up to hide near the ceiling.

He didn't have to wait long for the door to slide open and the creature to enter the room. The wounds sustained earlier were entirely healed over. Ruthas gulped nervously as the creature moved past the others to stand right in front of him. It wasn't looking down at all meaning he couldn't use his gaze. There was a sickening ripping sound as two large gray chunks fell out from its torso onto the ground. The wounds quickly healed up as the gray chunks formed into a pair of hands. The two hands floated up and cracked their knuckles. Ruthas cringed a bit, knowing what was going to happen now. The two hands floated on to his armpits and wiggled their fingers experimentally against his sensitive skin.

Ruthas snickered lightly, wiggling a bit and tried to twist his body away. The hands followed along, now dancing the fingers along in all sorts of ways. They rubbed along the curves, zigzagged, and poked him with no signs of stopping anytime soon. Ruthas put up an admirable few seconds of struggling, but the tickling eventually caused his mouth to open and his laughter to start reverberating around the room.

The creature looked around at the others, more along to check if they were still in their restraints. Satisfied, the creature exited, closing the door behind itself. Ruthas wasn't sure how long the torture went on, but he was very sure that the hands were working specifically to keep them awake for as long as possible. Anytime that Ruthas even got close to falling unconscious the hands would focus on a less sensitive spot and allow the Qsiti to collect some much needed air before tickling his sweet spots once more. Time faded away for Ruthas as those hands continued to tickle his pits. He found himself squealing as the session dragged on and eventually tears began to fall down his blushing cheeks. Sure he had been tickled before when he had been younger, but never had he thought such a playful activity could be driven to such an extreme!

He was pretty sure that the torture had lasted for several hours since when the hands finally ceased he was aware of how wet his cheeks were and how weary his body was. He could feel sweat all over his body that made him rather cold in this room. Once more the doors opened and the creature stepped inside. It looked around once more, but this time the hands flew back to it and were reabsorbed into its body. The creature exited and once the door shut behind it the restraints snapped open causing the weakened Qsiti to tumble out onto the ground.

There were plenty of groans, but Ruthas pushed himself up on wobbly legs. "E-Everyone alright?" He panted out.

There were some nods as the others either stood up or got into a sitting position.

"Damascus, Blaine... did it do anything to you two?"

Damascus looked away and Blaine bit down on his lower lip. "Got us to squeal like babies..." Damascus angrily muttered.

"We need to find a way out now!" Clayton said. "We can't survive that again Ruthas, I know I can't!" He looked among them. "I don't care if I find my staff, I just want to get out! I-I..." He began to tear up and Blaine hugged him tightly in an attempt to calm him down.

Ruthas looked at the doors, "I highly doubt those doors will open for us. But how far can we get?"

"Not far..." Blaine said softly, "Before you were brought in... we tried to get out. It stuck us back in and punished us by putting us in those shackles."

"I'm sorry..." Hex sighed, "I just... I just wanted to prove myself for once."

Ruthas smiled a bit, "Well, this was a true rumor, so can't fault you there. We should have taken it far more seriously."

"But no worries, there were plenty of people at the caravans, and even Erik was there!" Hex said with a bit of a smile. "They will realize we're missing."

"But if you forget Hex, no one believed Erik in the first place. Not only that but everyone there that heard us took that caravan. They are in different cities now." Damascus pointed out. "Even Sampson would be gone for probably several months before the rare hunts come back to this city. Until then there isn't much for a hunter here, so that means there will only be new hunters here, and they aren't qualified for this. Probably anyone who comes for us will simply not look hard enough or they will be captured as well."

Ruthas nodded a bit, "Yes... but there is one hope now. We need to get it to look at me."

Clayton spoke out, "Yeah, but how!? It keeps avoiding your eyes."

"My mistake." Ruthas admitted, "But we need to get it to look at me. We'll be home free that way."

"Maybe if we lure him into a false sense of security?" Blaine asked. "If we can convince it we are helpless, it could let us out of our restraints, thinking that we won't attack or such, and then when it gets to trust you Ruthas then you can let it have it!"

Ruthas rubbed the back of his neck, "That could work, but how long would that take? Weeks? Months?"

"Or we can just rush it when it comes in!" Hex said as he punched up into the air. "Just have it look down and you connect there Ruthas!"

Before Ruthas could speak there was a loud beep. Before four of the walls rose up trays of food. The wall Ruthas had been on had no food. The others rushed over seeing a bit of meat and bread on the tray with a small amount of water.

"Not enough to share huh?" Ruthas asked as he glanced at the different tray. He chuckled a bit, "Don't worry. It'll be good."

The others glanced among each other guiltily. "Sir... we can all share." Blaine said firmly. "We won't allow anyone to go hungry."

Ruthas nodded, "I suppose rations then? We can do that, but I also see another avenue for escape. If we can jam open the tiles when they go down to bring up the food we could see if we can work to expand the opening."

With the plan in mind the five sat and had a meager portion of food. Ruthas hadn't had such a small meal in... well, around the time he first started adventuring! It brought back a few memories to him with some being good and others ones that he wanted to forget. To pass the time the five chatted about the worg pack they had gone after just a while back. Even though they chuckled at the mistakes they had made even that wasn't enough to keep them up throughout the night. One by one they ended up resting on the clean floor of their prison with Ruthas being the last to fall asleep.

Without any windows it was hard for Ruthas to judge at what time in the day he awoke. Whenever his group was out hunting he would fall into a rhythm of rising up early to do a head count. He had heard many tales of other groups who would sleep through as a wild animal would come and drag one of their comrades away to certain death. However this time he seemed to be too late. Hex was missing from the spot he had rested on. Ruthas quickly scanned the room, wanting to make sure he hadn't just gotten up in the night and found a more comfortable spot to rest at. His fears, however, were confirmed and so he started shouting at the others, even kicking them lightly to get them up.

Amid the grumbling and confusion he made sure everyone got to a quiet state. "Hex is missing. Did anyone hear anything last night? Feel anything?" He asked.

There was a shaking of heads as could be expected.

"Did that... thing come and take him?" Clayton asked fearfully.

Ruthas remained silent at the question.

"Then we have to get him back!" Damascus snapped. "It was bad the first time... but that creature could have been torturing him since last night!"

Ruthas held up his hands, "We have to remain calm first. No getting too hasty alright? All we can do right now is wait for that creature to give him back right? Then that's what we'll have to do. Just be ready for anything."

"How can I be ready? My swords were the only thing I have." Blaine grumbled.

Ruthas narrowed his eyes, "By following my orders and working together."

Clayton hung his head, Blaine crossed his arms and began to pace, Damascus kept glancing over at the door, and Ruthas sat on down and focused on keeping his breathing steady. Yet again it was difficult to keep tabs on how much time had passed, but Ruthas' best guess was about an hour and a half. Without breakfast the rumbling from everyone's stomachs grew louder and louder. Finally the doors opened once more with the creature walking in and tossing in a weeping Hex.

The young Qsiti was covered completely with sweat. His shirt had been removed as well as his hat. The creature walked out of the room, closing the door and the four ran up to Hex. Blaine helped him get into a sitting position with Damascus fanning him off as best as he could. Clayton stood back, just shuddering with fear. Ruthas kneeled before him, "Hex, what happened?"

Hex whimpered and looked up at Ruthas with teary eyes. "I-It just took me... I r-remember it was n-night. It took me to a r-room... it.. it..." Hex began to tear up again, "It was horrible! It wouldn't stop! It just kept going and going!"

Ruthas closed his eyes tightly as Hex whimpered. "We kill it. We have to before this happens again." The mage stood back up with a determined look in his eyes. "When it opens that door again, we throw everything at it. No holding back."

Blaine and Damascus gave firm nods, but Clayton squirmed a bit at the order.

"Clayton, do you understand?" Ruthas asked firmly.

Finally the healer nodded his head.

"Good."

As the others tended to Hex Ruthas walked around their prison, trying to see if there were any small details he had missed the day before. There were no cracks, no rips, and no escape. This time only a short amount of time passed before the creature came back in. It glanced about silently before speaking, "Back in positions." It ordered.

Ruthas gave a quick nod to Damascus and then unleashed the spell he had been channeling just for the creature. His caustic blast caused a howl of pain was bellowed out, but combined with Damascus' mystic mine spell it was quite a doozy, but not too much of a doozy for this foe. As soon as the spells died down the creature's skin bubbled hideously. New skin quickly replaced the damaged tissue and a new look of hatred filled the creature's eyes. A tendril pushed out from its chest and attempted to smack into Damascus, but Blaine jumped right in front of it, his body able to take what the mage's couldn't.

The creature howled yet again but its attention was caught by Blaine who was punching it in the back of its legs. The distraction helped Ruthas finish channeling his next spell, sending yet more acid at their captor.

The beast hissing turned to a loud scream. A mass of tentacles pushed out from its body and began to whack them all about. Ruthas felt a rather bulky one hit him right in the stomach. He fell to his knees gasping in whatever air he could while the others were throw around. He could hear their cries of pain but then a tentacle grabbed him and started dragging him toward the doorway. He didn't have much room to struggle, but the doors quickly slammed shut once he was out. He heard another voice groaning and out of the corner of his eyes saw Damascus had been grabbed as well.

The creature let out a huff and dragged the two along the hallway. From his position Ruthas couldn't really turn around that much to see where they were being taken, but he heard the sound of a door opening and the two were pulled into a blue room. The creature pulled them up into the air and used its hands to forcibly raised their arms. It pressed them against the wall and similar restraints to the ones in the other room shot out, snapping around their wrists and leaving them hanging. Ruthas was now recovered from the fight and squirmed about in his restraints. He knew it was no use of arguing with this creature. Why would it release them anyway?

That didn't stop Damascus from screaming out various cuss words (with some only known to Qsiti) at the creature. The beast turned and went to a bench in the corner of the room, looking as if it was tinkering with something. It turned back around and approached the two with some sort of round brushes that were attacked to metal handles. There was a button on each of them that the creature pressed, causing a light whirling sound to emit from them as the brushes began to spin in place. The creature narrowed its eyes at them and slowly positioned the brushes to hover in front of Damascus.

The mage could only squirm as the brushes moved in closer, before being pressed against his armpits. Ruthas flinched as the bruches swirled rapidly around the mage's pits, but Damascus was shaking his head frantically as small giggles escaped his sealed lips. The creature pushed the brushes so that they ran along the Qsiti's hollows. The sound of more whirling filled the room as it pulled out two more spinning brushes and used its other hands to lift up the mage's shirt and press the brushes against his belly. That was the final nail on the coffin that caused Damascus to let out a high pitched shriek followed by bubbling laughter. The creature slowly began to move the brushes along his stomach, making sure to hit every inch. The ones in his armpits for the most part stayed to entertain the hollows, only shifting about just a bit to compensate for Damascus' wild thrashing about.

The screams and howls coming from Damascus filled the room and were getting louder and louder. As the brushes migrated from the stomach to his sides a piercing scream sounded out. The brushes pushed firmly along the sides forcing Damascus to scream so loudly that Ruthas would be surprised if the others weren't able to hear them. The brushes moved up to the ribs and whirled along each and every one. Damascus kicked his feet about helplessly. He finally tried to pull himself to at least try and get above the shackles and have a better way to protect his pits, but the weariness from the torture had weakened him too much. He fell back down and thrashed for a few more seconds before his body became still and he just focused on laughing.

The torture dragged on for quite some time with. Damascus had began to sob, but the tickling stopped once a tinkling sound was heard. The brushes pulled back and Ruthas could look with pity at the large wet spot on Damascus' pants. A bit of the wetness dripped out of the pants and onto the floor. A large embarrassed blush had formed over the mage's face as he sobbed weakly in his shackles.

With Damascus out of the way now the creature turned an eye to Ruthas. It still made sure to avoid his gaze, focusing instead on looking at his chest. It went back over to the bench and fiddled around there. Instead of the brushes it brought back a container that was filled with some sort of purple paste in it. The creature delicately put its fingers in the paste and began to rub it along Rutha's pits. The Qsiti shivered as the cold goop was laid on his scales. His shirt was pulled up and the goop was applied to his stomach, sides, and ribs. After the last had been rubbed on his ribs he began to feel a tingling sensation in his pits. The creature walked out of the room as a full blown itching sensation spread along Ruthas' pits.

The mage gritted his teeth at first, but as the itching spread along the other places that were slathered with goop he couldn't help but cry out in annoyance. The itching got more and more severe, so much that he began to jerk about, trying to break free and scratch at his body. Damascus just silently watched him, flinching when the creature walked back in. Ruthas looked up, narrowing his eyes at the creature who just had a twinkling in its eyes. As the creature broke the gaze Ruthas realized that his opportunity had just been missed! He couldn't help but cry out at the lost opportunity. He was so focused on the itching that he hadn't realized that the creature had brought in a bag. When he next looked he saw the hands approaching, all of them armed with long white feathers. The first one flicked along his armpit and immediately a squeal escaped Rutha's mouth. The mage's eyes widened as he realized that the itching goo had sensitized his body!

Instead of continuing the torture, the creature held out a syringe filled with a clear liquid and unshackled one of Ruthas' arms. Its grip was so strong that Ruthas couldn't even so much as jerk his limb back. The other hands wrapped a thick wire along his bicep, pulling it tight as the veins were shown more clearly. Ruthas quickly squirmed as the syringe approached and cried out as it penetrated past his scales. The creature pushed down to pump whatever was in the syringe right into his body.

"Ruthas!" Damascus cried out.

Ruthas also cried out, though the pain was actually not as bas as he expected. The syringe was pulled out his arm was shackled back up.

"What did you put in me!?" Ruthas demanded.

The creature was silent, coming back with the feathers and this time using two on his pits. Ruthas burst out into loud laughter as could be expected, squirming frantically as the tips slowly moved up and down the sensitized skin. The feathers soon began to move right to left, going up and down the armpits to cover every inch. The feathers moved into zigzag patterns and then headed right into the hollows, giving quick movements and even swirling right in the dead center.

Ruthas' squirming became more intense when his shirt was lifted and his other parts were attacked simultaneously. Laughter reverberated around the room as Ruthas squealed for the creature. Each and every stroke of the feathers caused his body to twitch about wildly. The feathers twirled about, every so often flicking lightly here and there. The feathers exploring his ribs would spend time in between his ribs running back and forth. The ones in his pits switched over to the quill side, pressing against the skin firmly and scribbling about wildly. Sweat began to drip down his face from the heavy toll as he began to wheeze. The feathers tickling his stomach pulled away and moved to his biceps, swishing back and forth along the muscles. Although the feathers didn't do much for his arms, when the quill end hit against the soft flesh of where his elbows bent he couldn't help but burst into more laughter. very surprised at the fact that his elbows were ticklish!

The torture dragged on and on as his wheezing got worse. Black dots filled his vision and this time he was grateful for the safety unconsciousness would give him, but instead of his vision going dark he felt a surge of energy flood his entire body and give him extra air! When this happened the creature pulled away the feathers and set them all down. It used the purple goo once more, this time along his elbows. Ruthas pulled at his arms, now whimpering in fear for what was next.

The brushes it had used on Damascus earlier were brought over and as they whirled Ruthas felt his fear rise. The starting points this time were his elbows. As the brushes whirled about there the others were all set into position along his pits and ribs. By comparison the brushes were far worse than the feathers. His laughter boomed out as loudly as Damascus' had. He kicked wildly about as he screamed and squealed like a young child. Tears streamed so quickly out of his eyes that it ended up obscuring his vision. As the brushes continued to whirl Ruthas realized that he was becoming light-headed. His attempts to breath were getting weaker and black dots appeared once more in his tear soaked vision, but again a surge of energy renewed his body.

The brushes pressed firmly against his body, with the one along his ribs being removed. His feet were grabbed and lifted up. His armored shoes were unstrapped and dropped onto the ground allowing his toes to wiggle about freely in the air. Ruthas sobbed out as the brushes were applied to the soles of his feet. His laughter reached a new height and his grin stretched as wide as could be.

This part of the torture lasted far less than the feathers, but Ruthas wasn't sure if he was to be grateful for that. With the brushes gone Ruthas took the time to gasp for air. He blinked his eyes furiously to get the remaining tears out of them, though he couldn't help but regret wanting to keep himself blinded.

The creature was now removing a new item from the bag and it looked like some sort of metal disk. It had only two of them which was actually a plus. What could two metal disks do? It couldn't be worse than the multiple feathers and whirling brushes... right?

It turned out he was wrong.

The creature set the two disks down before Ruthas and pressed a small black button on top of each. Each emitted a whirling sound before they began to open up. Small black legs pushed out from the sides and numbered four on each side. On the front a single red dot appeared that keened in right on Ruthas' face. The disks now resembled miniature spiders who quickly made their way over to him and in no time were crawling up his armor to get to his upper body. The two mechanical creatures positioned their abdomens over each pit and pressed their steel cold bodies against his skin. Although the chill caused him to initially shiver in his shackles that shiver soon turned into full blunt laughter. The bottom of the abdomens had opened up and multiple tiny legs eagerly reached out to poke and wiggle against different key spots on his pits.

If anything the mechanical legs were more effective than the feathers and brushes as he screamed at the top of his lungs. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to wake up from this nightmare, but the tickling continued to go on... and on... and on. He wasn't sure how many times he was about to pass out, but each and every time he felt a surge of energy pump through his body and help keep him conscious. He was aware that as the time dragged on the legs got more devious. They would hit certain parts that would make him squeal, parts of his pits that caused him to thrash helplessly, parts that eventually wore him out so much that all he could do was hang from his shackles and sob with laughter.

It felt like days had passed by the time the legs had stopped skittering over his sensitized skin and he let out a weak sob of relief. There was a loud clink above his head as the shackles released him. He fell with a thump to the ground and groaned there. He slowly cracked open his eyes and looked for Damascus, only to see that he was no longer hanging on the wall.

He looked toward the entrance of the room and began to slowly crawl forward, but quickly stopped as he felt his shirt lift and something poke against his side. He warily turned his head to the side to see the machine right there with only one of the tiny legs poking against his scales. It seemed to be a warning and although it wasn't restraining him, it did seem to DARE him to crawl just a bit more.

Ruthas quickly pushed himself away from the entrance and against the wall once more. He managed after a while to push himself up to a sitting position and focused on gaining back his breath. He was far from alert when one of the robots walked up to him and quickly jabbed a leg against his bicep, injecting something into his system. Before Ruthas could so much as ask what it was doing he felt drowsiness hit him hard. He blinked his eyes and a second later his mind completely shut down.

As he awoke he was aware of the familiar sensation of hanging from his wrists, yet his back wasn't against a wall. He let out a soft groan and wiggled weakly a bit in mid-air. He glanced around for a bit before suddenly multiple metal spiders fell down upon him. Without wasting a beat each spider chose different spots and quickly used their small legs to tickle him mercilessly. They ripped apart his pants and surprisingly his chain mail shirt. The tips of their legs quickly brushed against his exposed body and Ruthas had no choice but to squeal yet again. His upper and lower body was ruthlessly attacked. No spot remained untouched.

Ruthas howled and screamed for mercy... though nothing answered back. He was so confused as to how long he had been tickled. He was pretty sure it had at least gone over a day... though he couldn't be sure. It could have been far more for all he knew! Still as he was tickled deep inside of this strange place he couldn't help but feel his willpower weakening more and more, twisting him into whatever tool this creature wanted him to become.