Victernus - Chapter 22
The dark, dry cage still contained
Namara when he woke up from his sleep. He felt something vibrating beneath it,
giving him the impression that he was moving. Someone was sitting beside the
cage, and he could tell that it was Jordan by the pattern of their breathing.
He smiled to himself. There's so much
more I can hear like this...
When the vibrating stopped, he heard
Jordan's footsteps walk around his cage. A switch was flipped and then the
mechanical sound of a big door retracting was heard. It droned on monotonously
until it clicked, having found its resting place. Outside, he could hear that
there were two guys waiting for them. One of them asked, "Is that it? What's
inside?"
Jordan dodged, "That's for Lynn to
know. Help me get it up on the floater."
Namara listened as they got onto the
vehicle, as he had assumed it to be, and then picked up the cage. They grunted
and then set him down on something else. It dipped a little before leveling
out, keeping him from banging against the ground. Once it was stationary,
Jordan said, "Alright, just set it before the GD and you can head back.
Thanks!"
The surface that they had set Namara
on began to move. He felt a slight jolt, and then the ride smoothed out. The
men who had lifted him onto it were walking beside it softly. The one with the
deeper voice wondered, "I've seen all kinds of things come into the palace
before, but never a cage. If there's an animal inside of that thing... well, I
thought that the Great Demonstrator didn't like pets - or animals, for that
matter."
The other shrugged, "It's not like
we'll see."
They let out a sigh. "Yeah, you're
right..."
Namara heard the creaking of a large
door as it opened. The floating platform entered in a straight line and the men
waited at the door. When it stopped, the door behind him closed and he was left
alone with who he figured was Lynn. He thought to himself and then asked,
"Lynn?"
Lynn's heavy footsteps approached.
He answered, "Namara, you're finally here!"
Namara spoke solemnly, "Yes, I am.
But, before you come close... what exactly did you do to me back there?"
He stopped. "Do you not enjoy
thinking like a real animal? I
thought that that was why you did this silly thing to yourself in the first
place."
Namara growled, "Not when it is
forced. You teased me in front of them..."
Lynn chuckled, "Yeah. It was fun,
too. You look so cute when you're helpless and have no idea what I'm saying."
He banged against the wall of the
cage with his fist, "Do not mock me! You know why I am here."
Lynn came close to the cage and
said, "Yes, I do. You think I'm wrong. You want to take matters into your own
hands. But you know what? You're in my hands now." He pressed his fingers to
the keypad on the outside and then opened the cage wide.
Namara peeked out and muttered,
"Yeah, well you can go s...s...hhhh..." His voice changed into a whine as he saw Lynn
activate a device and put it back in his pocket. Words faded into oblivion and
his emotions took over, as well as a handful of images. However, even though he
was angry at Lynn, he felt pacified around him. An unnatural attraction
connected him to Lynn like a magnet.
Lynn held out his hand and took the
electric collar off before saying, "Come out, boy."
He crawled out and stood on his
feet, but his knees were bent more than usual. He glanced around the room.
There were marble pillars along the edges of the room that had great, colorful
murals in between. The ceiling was decorated with them as well. On the other
end of the room were two corridors and a throne. Looking back at Lynn, he saw
that he was speaking sternly to him and pointing at the floor. Interpreting it
as a command, he crouched down and stood on all fours. Lynn nodded to him and
then turned, walking to the thick obsidian throne. Namara followed him, staying
by his side.
When Lynn sat down, he directed
Namara to sit down beside him. With his hand, he summoned a screen of light in
front of him. On it were numbers and letters that were indecipherable to the
wolf. In the center was a moving image of a glowing yellows sphere. It was
comprised of smaller spheres that spun around and around quickly.
Namara sighed and stayed unmoved,
unsure of what to do. The desire to leave and do something else rose every few
seconds, but it was immediately quelled. He was stuck in a continuous loop, as
if his mind became a broken record. To ease his boredom, he scratched at his
legs.
Lynn slid his hand across the
screen, causing it to disappear. When he did so, a messenger burst through the
front doors. They stopped briefly, panting and holding their knees, before
walking half-confidently towards Lynn. When they were within hearing range,
they bowed and then spoke frantically. Their tone quickly changed from tired to
worry.
Lynn stood up and pointed the door,
seemingly commanding them to leave. His fists clenched and he growled something.
Glancing back at Namara, he muttered something before stepping away and heading
down one of the corridors behind the throne. As he did so, his device's effect
wore off of Namara quickly.
When he was out of sight and the
messenger was gone, Namara stood up. He walked away from the throne and shook
himself. His thoughts came back, and he growled. Getting back on all fours, he
bolted for the great wooden doors on the other end of the court. However, when
he got there and tugged at the doors, they would not budge. He tried harder,
shaking the doors violently.
Lynn returned to the court moments
later. He taunted, "You're not getting out of this one, Namara."
Namara turned and snarled, "I am not
your pet!"
He walked halfway across the room
and shook his head. "Don't deny that you like it. I know that you do."
Seeing that he was stuck again,
Namara decided to take control of his situation. He feigned embarrassment by looking
down at the ground, lowering his ears and tucking his tail in a few inches. He
said, "No I don't..." as if he was unsure of himself.
Lynn chuckled, "Obviously. You know,
you don't have to be shy about that around me."
He sighed, lowering his knees a
little bit. While he stayed by the door, he started clearing his mind of his
thoughts, but voluntarily. Anxiety shot through him when he heard Lynn coming
closer, but he ignored it and tried to keep that from overtaking him. He tuned
out Lynn's voice and then entered a sort of active mind palace where he could
still connect his pictures together to make thoughts. Even when Lynn was
standing right behind him, he could still think clearly. But, he wasn't going
to show that yet. He looked at Lynn and made it seem as if his fears had
disappeared. His ears pointed upwards slowly and he straightened himself out a
little bit.
Lynn smiled and beckoned him to come
back to the throne with him.
Namara smiled a little bit too, even
though he could sense Lynn's malevolence. Following him back across the court,
his mind wandered towards his memories. He couldn't get the image that was on
Lynn's screen out from his view. With this in mind, he started thinking up a
new plan for his escape.