FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Perils of Arrius Keep: Chapter 1 for Dexter/Mishanti by Draconicon

J'Raksha shook his head as he made his way from one grove to another on his way to Arrius Keep. The trees and the plant groves made for good cover for the Khajiit as he made his way along, but he had no idea just how far he was from his objective.

"Times like this, this one wishes he knew more magic."

Still, he was making good time. The sun was still high in the sky, and that meant that he'd only left his companion behind a few hours ago, which was good. The longer this took, the more likely it would be that Do'Randargo would come along with reinforcements and try and find him. Should that happen...well, the concealment of the forests would do a force that size much good, that was for sure.

He pushed his way past a few more branches before the sounds of footsteps reached his ears. An experienced scout, J'Raksha did what any Khajiit in his position would do; scramble up the nearest tree and keep an eye out.

The footsteps got louder and louder as he settled on one of the upper branches, but eventually the travelers came into sight, and he hissed. A large contingent of Argonian soldiers, as well as a column of Dunmer warriors with a few battlemages, were coming through the forest. They weren't hiding, by any means; why should they? The fort was one of theirs, and they were likely heading there to reinforce the blasted thing.

Our friends aren't going to be happy to hear this, J'Raksha thought as he watched the numbers passing by. He didn't dare attack; even from his height, he'd be spotted before he took out more than a few of them, and even then he'd be lucky to get more than one. No, it was better to count the approaching force so that everyone else could know what they'd be dealing with, and just how many more men they'd have to fight.

He'd counted nearly two thousand troops before another, much more worrying sound caught his attention. J'Raksha turned his head back towards the trunk of the tree as the fearsome cracking sound repeated itself, and saw that his branch was slowly breaking loose of the main tree. He hissed, muttering several choice words under his breath in his own language.

"This one choose a poor perch."

"Yes, the dumb cat did."

J'Raksha leaped to his feet instantly at the sound of another voice, but it was too much for the branch to take. As soon as he got up, the branch cracked completely, and began to fall. He flailed his arms, managing to grab one of the other branches and swing himself out of the way, but he could already hear a laugh coming from behind.

He didn't dare look back; if he fought, he was dead. If he turned around, he was dead. If he stopped at all, he was dead. His only hope was to get as far from the column as possible and report what he'd seen.

Do'Randargo, this one hopes you are near. Otherwise -

Another crack sounded as he came down on another branch, and this time, there was no leaping off of it. It collapsed under his feet, and the Khajiit fell with a scream.

"Whyyyyyyyy?!"

He hit the ground with a hard thump, getting the breath knocked from his lungs in the process. The khajiit looked around through swimming eyes, seeing a number of different soldiers rushing in around him. J'Raksha groaned, rolling onto his side -

"Ah ah ah."

A boot to the back of his head knocked him out, and he saw no more.

Fire and smoke woke the feline from his slumber, but it took him several minutes to lift his head. Even then, it was more to escape the fumes than it was to wake, and he begrudgingly pulled himself to awareness when he couldn't pull away.

Coughing past the billowing fumes, J'Raksha looked around as best he could. He was in a dungeon, he could tell that much. The walls were completely made of stone, and the only window was set far in the opposite wall, high off of the ground and barred with metal, as far as he could tell. If anyone were to try to get in, they'd fall nearly twenty feet before hitting the ground, so he immediately dismissed it as an escape route.

Chairs aplenty were littered across the room, some sitting upright, some laid on their sides. None of them were occupied, other than his. Slowly, the Khajiit put together the features of it together in his head. A stiff wooden block held his legs up and outwards, and leather straps kept his feet pointed away from him. His arms were restrained at wrist, elbow, and upper arm, while his chest and stomach were likewise pinned down.

Surprisingly, he was left with his clothes, still. Most of the prisons he'd been in had taken all but a loincloth away.

I wonder why they bothered letting me keep this?

Unfortunately, they hadn't left him with any of his equipment. The Khajiit shook his head, somewhat annoyed at the loss of his few tools, but it was more than he'd expected to hold onto. If he'd been allowed to keep even a lockpick, it would have been like not being in prison at all.

"Hello? Hello?"

He didn't expect an answer, but he got one. The door to the prison opened as the echoes of his voice faded away, and in the light from the hallway, a silhouette stood, staring into the room with his hands folded behind his back. J'Raksha groaned, shaking his head a bit more as he tried - and failed - to make out some of the details.

"Hello? Who's there?"

"Your jailer, and your interrogator."

The feline groaned at the sound of that. He'd known that it was an inevitability if he survived capture, but he'd been hoping to avoid it. The last time that he'd been...interrogated...hadn't gone well for him, nor for Do'Randargo, though the laborer had suffered the worst of it back then. He'd been taught a lesson in...other ways.

The silhouette stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. As he moved closer, the Khajiit immediately noticed that he was a Dunmer. That was bad enough, with their slave-trading activities - and with how many of his people were still in their clutches - but what was worse were the clothes that the dark elf wore.

Shimmering robes, butterfly style, this level of cockiness...he is a Telvanni. The thought alone sent a shiver up and down his spine. The noble house - noble, what a joke - was the only house in all of Morrowind that only allowed wizards into it. Magic was a paramount study for them, and they were of such strange minds that they would pursue hobbies that many would consider unnatural. More than that, they had a reputation for being among the most perverse of all Dunmer, seeing nothing as taboo and everything as permitted.

He really didn't want to find out if that was the truth.

Renewing his futile struggles, J'Raksha squirmed back and forth in the tiny chair as the elf got closer and closer. It wasn't until the Dunmer stood right at the foot of the chair that he stopped pulling himself back and forth, unable to summon the energy to fight when the interrogator was so close.

"This one will say nothing."

"You won't have to. Not at first, anyway."

"...This one doesn't understand."

"You slaves never do."

The Telvanni shook his head, raising his hands above his head as if giving some great statement. His robes were so thick that they slapped against the undersides of the Khajiit's boots, and he grumbled at that; he didn't want to be touched by one of them.

"You animals don't know how to think, don't know how to understand. But you can learn. Habits, information, if you hear it enough. Oh, I'll learn what I want from you. But if you think that all I want is your information, you'll find that you're incredibly mistaken."

The elf bent forward, and as he started undoing the straps on J'Raksha's boot, the feline shuddered. He remembered other times, older times, back when he was still on the old plantation. Times when he'd been tied down, stripped, made to pose for his old master before -

No, I will not think of it. That was the past. I do not do that anymore!

He shook his head, turning to look away, but he couldn't ignore the feeling of his boot slowly being slid off of his foot. There was no sock beneath - with all the fur, all the claws, there was no point - and the elf started sliding a finger along the underside of his foot. Memories bubbled beneath his will, including memories of feathers and other things sliding along the bottom of his feet. Suppressed giggles - more from old times than now - were barely held behind clenched jaws as the Dunmer continued his speech.

"You creatures are beyond teaching...but you are worth owning, in your own way. You have such exotic forms, and since it is so hard to find willing volunteers among other elves for some...proclivities, you provide a much needed outlet."

Oh, divines...no...

"You see, I have often used my slaves for personal relief. Perhaps, after I have conditioned you properly, you will serve that way as well. But in the meantime, you will serve as an excellent experimental subject for new spells. Starting with Everlasting Flame."

Before J'Raksha could say anything, the elf snapped his fingers, and a ball of fire appeared in his palm. He lowered it, and rather than simply removing the Khajiit's other boot, he burned it off. The fire seared through the boot immediately, but it was so controlled, so focused, that it merely burned away the underside.

Then, to his utter shock, the Dunmer pulled his hand away, leaving the fireball floating next to his sole. J'Raksha felt his foot start sweating like crazy, the underside bathed in extreme heat from his heel all the way to his toes. He shuddered, shaking his head as he curled his toes, trying to defend his foot, but it simply didn't work. He whimpered, shaking his head from side to side, particularly as the elf put another fireball in the air next to his other foot. The bindings on his ankles prevented him from doing anything to pull away, leaving him utterly defenseless.

"Hehehe, look at that. You are already squirming. How would you define the heat levels, little cat?"

"Too hot! Please! Stop!"

"Now, now, I'm asking for research. Would you say that it is more or less than a campfire?"

J'Raksha shuddered, unable to answer...And he had no idea how he could. This Dunmer was insane, and there was no escape.

Do'Randargo...come soon...

The End